Partial recovery

Wow – morning mocha, hitting the reset button, and remaining unemotional about yesterday was good stuff.  On top of that admitting that the guy from yesterday, though a maniac, was able to play that style successfully turned out to be a recipe for good things so far today. 

I’ve played 4 tourneys in the last 3 hours and have taken 1st in 2, 2nd in 1, and did not cash in a 4th.  The recovery, though only partial, has exceeded what my ideal daily income would be…so that’s a step in the right direction. 

One key was an absurd amount of patience.  At one point in a 9-handed tourney we’d seen 45 hands, and I’d seen 8% of flops.  I got short-stacked, and rather than pick an A-Rag hand to shove with, I picked hands that would likely have live cards (like K9).  I was lucky enough to spike my card once (in a big-buy-in tourney) which put me on the path from worst to first.   My observation is that shoving w/ A2 when short-stacked, for example, is less profitable when you’re desperate than shoving w/ K9, J9, Q9, 78, etc.  The live cards is what I want – and I want a little bit of luck in exchange for my patience and my determination to avoid trouble. 

So – I’ve kind of come up with a little bit of an analogy for dealing with days like yesterday – tell me what you think:   Losing a big chunk of your bankroll is similar to a mechanic who’s garage has been broken into and his tools stolen.  It doesn’t mean the mechanic is out of business.  It just means he might have to do smaller jobs for a while with the tools he’s got left.  Save up to buy new tools, then take on bigger jobs as he replaces the stolen ones.  He might even become a better mechanic in the meantime when he have less to work with – he might have to get more creative and/or “return to basics” – which is almost never a bad thing.   It’s not like the mechanic was ever going to sell his tools to go on a luxurious vacation or something – he’d use the tools to make enough money to afford the vacation – without selling the tools. 

Similarly, with that bankroll – it’s not like I was going to pay myself all of that someday.   I was going to grow it and pay myself a small amount during each increment…which I can certainly still do.  It doesn’t mean I don’t care about the loss – but it does mean I understand that it’s a tool I use for my trade and that it should be respected/cared for – and that sometimes you make do with what you’ve got.  Work hard, replace your tools, take on bigger jobs, go on vacation!   :-)

Anyway – not at the finish line yet…but really, is there one?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Wednesday Follies – V2.0

After early morning success, I fell into a deep deep pit.   I found another “maniac” to play heads up.  I got down pretty quick when the guy flopped a straight vs my flopped 2 pair.   Big pot…lost my stack.  The problem is that it didn’t stop there.  I really felt I was playing pretty well and that I could get the best of this guy if I just stuck with it and didn’t get carried away with top pair or overpairs – he seemed willing to go broke with hands like that.  So I battled back a bit – though not fully.  As we were about even (though I was still down) – I flopped 2 pair again.  I bet the pot, he called.   The turn didn’t appear to be *too* threatening.  I bet, he hesitated – then re-raised all-in.  I wondered for a bit – and of course, called…after all – he was a maniac.  He’d filled a gutshot.  Boom – another stack gone.   Without going into all the gory details, he flopped a straight again and took me for a bunch.   This actually ate up a good portion of my bankroll.

While I would have liked to have battled back to recover that money from him (it was a very large amount) – I reasoned that he had so much behind him, he’d almost never fold and that all I’d do is lose more.

It was the largest loss to date.

All-in-all though, it was a good learning experience.  I think calling stations are a better bet than maniacs.  At least they’re passive and they’ll call a lot in less than favorable circumstances.  Maniacs are just that – maniacs.  They are dangerous and unpredictable and you just never know if they’re totally bluffing or if they’ve got the nuts.

Despite the hefty loss, I slept ok and managed to keep my wits about me.  I was able to separate emotionally from the loss and focus on a lot of the success that I’ve had recently.  While I’ve now got to re-build the bankroll to the healthy level it was at on Wednesday morning, it doesn’t mean I need to get there right away.

I’ll drop down to a safer buy-in.  Focus on tight-solid play in short-handed SnG’s for a while.   And I’ll continue to withdraw money as my bankroll builds.  When I initially set up the bankroll strategy – I didn’t really buid in any strategy for large swings – upward or downward.   My gut tells me that the downswings should be business as usual, build up incrementally with withdrawls according to schedule.  On the upswings, I think I’ll generally build incrementally with the occasional modest bonus if there’s a really hefty windfall.

Before getting back to things today, I plan to enjoy an iced mocha at my local coffee house and hit the books for a while – just to recharge the batteries and train the brain a bit.   I DON’T want to go back into battle with the feeling that I NEED to take people’s money – I want to go in feeling that I’m simply ready to perform.  I can only control the performance – not the outcome.