Reflections on May
I finished out the month on a bittersweet note. I found a great $2/4 table, but the fish nibbled at me for 12 BB before I finally gave up. I was down, then even, then down, then even, then down. When several of the players I had marked as weak left I didn't stick around to see if they were replaced by other fish. I just bagged it. I was getting annoyed, and had made a few mistakes.
About an hour later I had decided to stay up to catch the outcome of the late baseball game, upon which I had some bets. To kill some time between score updates, I pulled up a .25/.50 SHLH table. I usually stay away from short hand as I nearly always take a beating, but at that low limit, I figured, "who cares?" I sat with $20. About half an hour later I got up with a bit under $30. 20 BB in just half an hour. The players at that table were so wonderfully weak and predictable. I should rename them, Rock, LAG, Turn-Bluffer, CallBot, and AnyTwoCanWin. At times I felt like I could see their cards. It made my play look real good, and that was very gratifying. Unfortunately it was not nearly enough to make up for the $2/4 losses earlier in the evening, so I finished down for the day. (But the Twins won, which is what I wanted!)
May started with a quest for fun. I think that was a splendid idea, and it has worked out well. February, March and April were so damn awful, but I was making it worse by trying extra hard to win. That was an utter disaster. I have been trying extra hard to make good decisions the last few weeks. It sounds elementarily ridiculous, but I had become overly reliant on my small edge as a four-tabler who played correctly pre-flop, and just OK post-flop because I didn't know my opponents. Backing off to two tables, paying closer attention, taking notes again, constantly reminding myself that I have put myself in a +EV situation - all of these things have helped me play better poker all the way to the river. I'm up about 35 BB over the past two weeks. Nothing earth-shattering, or even statistically relevant, but encouraging. And fun.
Have I found my "Fu"? I am not sure it will be something that flips on like a light switch and becomes readily apparent. I did note that for most of May I was apprehensive about getting to the online tables, but last night I was complaining to Mrs Bull about the slow service at the restaurant we were at because it was cutting into my poker time. That's got to be a good sign. 