Bellatrix’ 2008 poker

Posted by bellatrix

December 31, 2008

So the year is ending… I should be working, but can’t come up with the motivation of running a single simulation or analysis, so I’ll write about the year that was 2008 instead for me in poker.

It was a good year. I gotta remind myself of that. I dropped over 2000$ in just the last 3 days of playing online (mostly tilt issues, which bugs me even more). I learned what it takes to win. I learned to be patient. I had fun again. I felt my heart racing again while learning new games, whereas 6max LHE has become robotic. I learned to approach the whole thing very professionally.

What can I show for my work in 2008? Well, it sounds stupid, but it is the year I finally broke even again and then into positive territory for poker. Yes, I was a loser before, although already at the end of 2007 I was starting to figure out stuff. I made it to the WSOP this year. Yeah, it was only a 1500$ event out of which I busted after 5 hours, but I went, I saw and experienced…

I got a “coach”, not really regularly, because I can’t afford him and I’m not a professional, but the two sessions with him got me thinking a lot about stuff. Just a little nudge to the “yeah, I think that’s a good line, too”, gives you reassurance and playing with confidence works wonders. So coaches are definitely worth their money, but boy, it hurts to pay them

I kinda moved beyond 2+2 or hand posts. They are still interesting and I still need to read strategy to keep current, but the returns are marginal. I’m really proud of that, because that means I’m starting to reach the more “advanced” stages. Kinda like learning to play an instrument, where the learning curve goes up very quickly in the beginning, but them flattens off more and more as you get better (think logarithm graph). Since I don’t play professionally, I feel that keeping current, by skimming over hand posts and watching videos is enough… and of course reviewing my own play…

Yeah, and that’s where 2008 wasn’t so good. Ego! I need to let go of my ego. If I feel my edge is even just a little teensy weensy edge, let it go! Don’t go into fights about who’s a better poker player. There are enough other bad players waiting to play you. My fundamentals are strong, my application of them are not… gah!

2009 will be a year of a lot of playing. I have decided to go for Supernova. It will be hard, but I hope I stay disciplined! Wish me luck!

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