September ended well and was NOT my worst month after all, but it was the most challenging. I went through my biggest downswing ever ($13.5K, or roughly 17 buy-ins). On a positive note, I did not let the downswing affect my overall outlook on life. I have a tendency to get depressed during downswings, allowing it to affect my entire life. 2008 has been a mostly joyful year with few bumps in the road. I had a conversation with a friend about this, and we agree that good HU players at mid-stakes NL rarely go through big downswings. Rather, they do endure breakeven stretches. Thus, it is a testament to my mental toughness that I stayed strong during this downswing, in spite of it being my first big downswing in a long time.
My confidence in my poker game is higher now than it was 30 days ago (surprisingly). Now my work ethic is what needs improvement. Playing 15-18K hands a month is not sufficient. Granted, I do lead a more balanced life now. I have other hobbies, difficult classes, and make a stronger effort to socialize on weekends. However, I should still be able to log about 100 hours a month (which comes to 25-30K hands of heads up). Do you guys do anything specific to push yourself to play poker during times when you aren't busy, but don't have a strong drive to play?
I'm going to make more of an effort to discuss my private life from now on. I find that the most interesting poker blogs are ones in which the blogger updates about their personal life. Writing is very therapeutic for me, and my blog would likely be more interesting if I include aspects of my personal life. I'm a very extroverted person by nature, and enjoy expressing things to others. Besides... I'd like to think that my life is somewhat interesting enough. ;)
Goals for October:
-Play 20 to 30K hands
-Ease back into playing 5/10 NL heads up
-Play live a couple times
-Begin playing tennis regularly
-Continue practicing piano for 5+ hours a week
8 years ago
2 comments:
I get in my hours by playing the same time everyday, and schedual my life around it.....you know.....like a job.
I get my hours in because I love to play poker. When I start to get really down about it, I do something else, like I did yesterday. It refreshes you to take a day off. My biggest drive though to be honest is that I want to become better and move up the stakes and become proficient and be on of the better players. I don't have dreams and aspirations to become aejones or sburugby, as I honestly think it just isn't attainable for most people. But to be a very good midstakes regular or maybe even be a winning high stakes player can be achieved if I work hard and that is what drives me. I am not there yet, but I will be sooner rather than later. That drive keeps me playing a lot of hands.
When I don't want to play, I like to just do my other hobbies. I spend time with my wife, play the drums, or I work on my golf game.
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