Hello. Here is my story. I have consistantly played on line for 5 years but only recently I have admitted that I suck. I thought I was good mainly due to a few early scores. The big one was 3rd in a bodog 70K for 4500 about three years ago but nothing to speak of since. Overall I am up but only slightly. If I invested the time I have played in a minimum wage part time job I cold buy a sweet car I would guess.
How do I know I suck? Well I have virtually no control of the action. I thought I was unlucky with more bad beats than the average Joe. Not bad but unlucky I always thought. Then I started listening to the mediocre poker podcasts and I began to see the light.(not sucking up I mean it)
So I began to evaluate my game. Here are the obvious negatives. I call but rarely raise. I am often right in my reads….but rarely take action to secure the pot. I have the money management skills of the U.S. Government…..and a big one I have a fierce temper in relation to poker.(sometimes I need to decompress) The temper and the fact that I was always building a small roll and jumping up beyond my skill level playing scared and donking it off have made me a poker loser.
So I have accepted those facts and decided to become a real poker player. I am starting from scratch. I am playing sit and go and mtt 3 bucks and lower. No exceptions. I started at 12 bucks one week ago and that is my limit until I hit 300. So far I have rolled up to 213.00. At 3 hundred I will play 6 buck and lower until 900. We will figure the rest when I get there.
I have made the mild improvement through aggression mainly. I was stealing in the past at less than 3 percent and I am now at 22 percent over 3500 hands. I am not talking about just running people over. I am just strongly betting good pockets and getting money in on strong hands. Stealing when I think I can and not worrying about the bubble. I’m having a blast and I think it’s because I am not worried about losing because I am at the correct stakes for my game right now……….
Finally the temper thing. Still having some problems there. I have a long history of losing my cool at the table. On poker stars my chat has been banned more then Rosie Odonnel has said I’d like to super size that. I still get mad but instead of going crazy I have been stepping away from the laptop and going to pet my dog for a minute. It’s getting better but I need to get a handle on it before I make my way up to the higher level games.
I hope to soon be one of the next “good” mediocre plyers.
Thanks
