As our fellow poker player and (more famous than us) blogger Wil might say - you all must have been sending me some really good mojo 'cause I had a good day today (Wil, do you ever stop by? Just wondering).
It didn't start out so great - only making it halfway through the Party $5 multi and then some more coinage wrung out of me at the cash tables. I took a break, had some lunch, looked around at the things needing doing around the house and decided to catch up on the TV I'd DVR'd (read: TIVO) earlier in the week (Lost is hooking me). Inspired by the re-run of the WPT Party Poker Million Cruise limit tourney, which I had missed at first broadcast, I got back to the tables. Only I abandoned Party and went back to Empire - I know - same place different colors, but even a slight change can help.
I jumped right into a $25 Sit-n-Go and won it. Then I selected a $25 NL table. I ended up misreading an opponent and leaked away my stack on the flop then pushed on the turn. But, I didn't let it get to me. I loaded back up and then it got good. Real good. I kept trusting my reads, and upped the aggression factor, as well.
One critical part of my play I am attempting to change is to quit cold-calling. I am starting to raise or re-raise if I'm of the conviction I have the best hand. If I don't have that conviction, well, then it's up to my read of my opponent. Sometimes a correct read gives me the steal, others it's obvious I must fold. This particular session, my reads were dot on.
I followed up that game with a stab at the $25 5K guaranteed multi on Empire - long story short, I went out at 46th out of a field of 198. I seem to have gotten very good at survival when the cards are mediocre. My few good hands were about 50/50 in helping me along. I am making fewer mistakes - but the ones I do make are doozies! I really need some help with short-stacked strategies.
Daniel Negreanu (Wils' pal) nailed it when he said something to the effect of how great it is and how on top of it you feel when the cards are going your way, but when they don't you start to wonder if you even know how to play this game. If a World Class Player can have insecurities, well then, I guess I'm in pretty good company - **chuckle**.
Once again - I appreciate greatly the support from my compatriots out there - you guys are the best!
