Let the Good Times Roll

Hello,

I have been playing really good poker over the past month or so, both online and live. My big hands are holding up which helps my bottom line but I am also playing well. I had a really good live session Monday night in the home game in which I play and despite losing two big pots and missing a bet in one, I played well and came out with a win. I was able to recover from the two hands I lost mostly because I was able to settle myself down and learn from the mistakes I had made. It helped me to stage a nice comeback and play solid poker. In one hand, I boated on the river and flat-called a raise from an extremely aggressive player who I knew had a straight. I am not sure why; it was just a mental mistake. It bothered me a little because this guy has been running really well against me and it was my chance to get a little back. I had to let it go because I knew it would kill my session if I didn't.

It seems that I can't do anything wrong online. Except for the gutshot draw this guy just hit against my top set after overcalling an all-in, I am on fire (it was a tiny pot and at the microstakes so I really don't care about the hand). I am playing two and three steps ahead of other players, I am making the correct laydowns with big hands, raising when it's correct even without a hand and hitting big wraps against sets all-in. I am doing all the things it takes to win at this crazy game we love and it feels good to be rewarded for it. I have had nearly two straight weeks of winning sessions with only two or three losing days in the past month or so. And I am not just getting lucky. I feel like I am in the zone. I am recovering well from bad beats and just re-buying without a second thought if I think I played the hand correctly. This enables me to jump back in with a clear head and continue to win. I don't focus on the player who "bad beat" me or anything like that. If anything, I use the knowledge of his poor play to my advantage. I use the table image I get from taking the bad beat to my advantage. Again, I am just in the zone.

This feels a lot better than those few weeks where I couldn't win a pot to save my life. If someone had even one out against me it seemed that they hit it. It caused me to play more recklessly that I should have been and as a result, I would lose more. It sounds like tilt, which it was to some extent, but even through the tilt I managed to get my money in way ahead and come out behind so to be on the other side of that feels great.

My PLO game is exceptional at this point. That isn't to say I have nothing left to learn, quite the contrary. I now feel that I am equipped with the proper tools to take my game to the next level. I think that I am light years away from mastering this game (which I think is impossible no matter how good a player is considering that we all play against other, unpredictable players). But that said, I needn't master the game to win. I just need to be better than the majority of those seating at the table at which I am playing (and stay away from those who might be better, at least for now). So I believe on some level the game can be mastered. I guess it's all in game selection. If a terrible player was able to recognize that he was terrible and only played against people who were more terrible that he was then I suppose he would have mastered the game on some level. I think they call that game selection and those who have good game selection are already one step ahead of their opponents and therefore, have mastered their game.

Well, I am done with my rant for now. Next time I want to talk about a strategy for a variation of stud that I play. I am curious as to what people might suggest is the best strategy at a particular point in the hand. More next time.

See you on the felt,