In SW Minnesota, it's finally starting to warm up. It might've hit 40 degrees today...and it's supposed to continue to get warmer as the week goes on.
Last week, I got the Harley going for the first time this year. My wife, Christine, was gone with the pickup and I had to bring some packages to the post office, so that was my mode of transportation.
It felt good to feel the wind in my hair, even though it was only about 34 degrees out. I only had to go about 1 mile maybe. Good thing because I'd probably have gotten cold fast on the bike.
When the weather warms up, the question for me becomes.... To play or not to play poker? I've always enjoyed being outdoors ever since I was a kid, so that points me towards the answer to the question usually being, 'not to play'. I can probably come up with just as many reasons to not play....as I can to play. It always depends somewhat on how busy we are with our website too. It also depends on the games available and how far I have to travel to get to them. This year I hope to get to a few tournaments, etc... on the bike. I just got a flyer in the mail today from a Deadwood casino that's having a tournament the first part of April with a guaranteed $40,000 payout. Not sure if I'll make that one though... I'd also like to ride motorcycle out to Vegas sometime soon. I've been through those CO mountains many times, but never on a bike.
I did play poker twice when we were vacationing in AZ in February and enjoyed it. Nobody knew me at the little casino I played it, and I relish those little sessions. If you walk into a place and anyone knows you, it doesn't take long at all for people to find out you know what you're doing. In Arizona, I played for at least 2 hours and stacked up quite a few chips before anyone figured out I really knew how to play.
Whenever I play cards, I ALMOST never show my cards after the hand's over unless if I have to, to win the pot. I know lots of people who love to show their bluffs, and to make other people feel kind of 'small' by showing them that they outwitted them, and I also know lots of people who just can't stand it to drag the pot after everyone's folded and just quietly muck their great hand without showing anyone.
People also can't bear to throw their hand away without showing people if they've just taken a really bad beat! They want the other person who got really super lucky, to know that they are an inferior player, or an idiot... To do this of course, they have to show their hole cards to illustrate to the idiot (and everyone else at the table) how lucky they got.
I simply believe this is all counter-productive. Pro's can figure out so much about a player by the cards they show, and how they act after losing a big pot....or winning a big pot. I have decided to never give information for free, unless I am forced to.
For the most part over the last few years, I've been traveling to MPLS for long weekends, whenever it works. My wife goes with me and she'll play a little bingo at one of the large Indian casino's. We get a place close to the card room and she'll pick me up when I call her, and she will also drop me off before she leaves for the afternoon.
There is a new place opening this summer, pretty close to where we live, and I think I saw on their website that they plan on having an 8 table cardroom. I'm hoping they'll have some decent games...and decent limits. If so, I hope to play there frequently.
I know I mentioned in the last post that I would share some little 'rules' that I have for myself when I play cards. I've already shared one with you. Before I share any others, I want to let you know that unless you have the talents, skills, and gifts required to win at poker, in the long run.... you WON'T win. You can use all the little money management tricks and bankroll requirements in the world, but if you don't have what it takes, eventually you'll go broke or lose your bankroll. You may have some huge wins, but you'll also have some bigger losses. You may be stuck a lot of money and get it all back after putting in a 30-40 hour session, but more often than not, you'll just keep losing more money.
If I were forced to give an estimate on how many people actually play good enough to make a comfortable living, solely on poker, I would give an educated guess that about 1 in 100,000 people would meet those requirements.
One of the things I've implemented since coming out of 'retirement' is this: If I'm playing limit poker, I will not lose more than 40 x's the big bet in any one session. All this does is stop the huge losses. So, for ex: if I'm playing 15-30 hold-em I will not lose more than $1200 in one session. I do not have any limits on how much I can win in one session.
Another thing I've done is put some arbitrary bankroll requirements before I move up in limits. This just helps build my discipline and also insures I won't have any huge losses in relation to the size of my bankroll. Just as an example, I had set a dollar amount of $10,000 on my bankroll before I would start playing 30-60.
Before I play 50-100 limit, I will have at least $20,000 in my bankroll.
Again, these limits are not really based on anything. They're simply numbers I've come up with.
If/when I drop below these dollar amounts, then I'll also drop down in limits.
I learned a long time ago that you can't care much about what other people think about you. There is an unspoken pressure on many people to play the 'highest game in the room'. I do not feel that pressure at all, but I have in the past, so I know it's there. I'm not embarassed to play 3-6 limit and I'm not ever going to belittle those that do play it. (or .25 to .50 limit for that matter) In fact, every once in awhile, I like to join those players, because they know how to fun when they play at those limits....
That being said, these rules of mine are not 'set in stone'. If I'm in a great game and go over my loss limit, and I'm playing good, but just have been unlucky, I'll throw some more money in the game and see if I can make a comeback. I won't do this very often though. It's relatively simple to come back from a $1200 loss if you're playing 15-30 limit, but if you get 2-3 grand in the game and have to walk away, it can take awhile to get that back... plus your roll of $100 bills is a lot smaller than when you came. It just isn't much fun going back to the room with a lot smaller bankroll.
If there's a bigger game where a guy's really throwing money around, just giving it away, then I'll jump up to that limit. The exceptions to my rules though are few and far between....
I don't have any poker trips planned right now....but I'm gettin' a bit antsy, so I hope I get a chance to play soon. I know we do have to go to MPLS for other business around the end of the month, so maybe that will turn into a long weekend. I'll keep you posted.....
Last week, I got the Harley going for the first time this year. My wife, Christine, was gone with the pickup and I had to bring some packages to the post office, so that was my mode of transportation.
It felt good to feel the wind in my hair, even though it was only about 34 degrees out. I only had to go about 1 mile maybe. Good thing because I'd probably have gotten cold fast on the bike.
When the weather warms up, the question for me becomes.... To play or not to play poker? I've always enjoyed being outdoors ever since I was a kid, so that points me towards the answer to the question usually being, 'not to play'. I can probably come up with just as many reasons to not play....as I can to play. It always depends somewhat on how busy we are with our website too. It also depends on the games available and how far I have to travel to get to them. This year I hope to get to a few tournaments, etc... on the bike. I just got a flyer in the mail today from a Deadwood casino that's having a tournament the first part of April with a guaranteed $40,000 payout. Not sure if I'll make that one though... I'd also like to ride motorcycle out to Vegas sometime soon. I've been through those CO mountains many times, but never on a bike.
I did play poker twice when we were vacationing in AZ in February and enjoyed it. Nobody knew me at the little casino I played it, and I relish those little sessions. If you walk into a place and anyone knows you, it doesn't take long at all for people to find out you know what you're doing. In Arizona, I played for at least 2 hours and stacked up quite a few chips before anyone figured out I really knew how to play.
Whenever I play cards, I ALMOST never show my cards after the hand's over unless if I have to, to win the pot. I know lots of people who love to show their bluffs, and to make other people feel kind of 'small' by showing them that they outwitted them, and I also know lots of people who just can't stand it to drag the pot after everyone's folded and just quietly muck their great hand without showing anyone.
People also can't bear to throw their hand away without showing people if they've just taken a really bad beat! They want the other person who got really super lucky, to know that they are an inferior player, or an idiot... To do this of course, they have to show their hole cards to illustrate to the idiot (and everyone else at the table) how lucky they got.
I simply believe this is all counter-productive. Pro's can figure out so much about a player by the cards they show, and how they act after losing a big pot....or winning a big pot. I have decided to never give information for free, unless I am forced to.
For the most part over the last few years, I've been traveling to MPLS for long weekends, whenever it works. My wife goes with me and she'll play a little bingo at one of the large Indian casino's. We get a place close to the card room and she'll pick me up when I call her, and she will also drop me off before she leaves for the afternoon.
There is a new place opening this summer, pretty close to where we live, and I think I saw on their website that they plan on having an 8 table cardroom. I'm hoping they'll have some decent games...and decent limits. If so, I hope to play there frequently.
I know I mentioned in the last post that I would share some little 'rules' that I have for myself when I play cards. I've already shared one with you. Before I share any others, I want to let you know that unless you have the talents, skills, and gifts required to win at poker, in the long run.... you WON'T win. You can use all the little money management tricks and bankroll requirements in the world, but if you don't have what it takes, eventually you'll go broke or lose your bankroll. You may have some huge wins, but you'll also have some bigger losses. You may be stuck a lot of money and get it all back after putting in a 30-40 hour session, but more often than not, you'll just keep losing more money.
If I were forced to give an estimate on how many people actually play good enough to make a comfortable living, solely on poker, I would give an educated guess that about 1 in 100,000 people would meet those requirements.
One of the things I've implemented since coming out of 'retirement' is this: If I'm playing limit poker, I will not lose more than 40 x's the big bet in any one session. All this does is stop the huge losses. So, for ex: if I'm playing 15-30 hold-em I will not lose more than $1200 in one session. I do not have any limits on how much I can win in one session.
Another thing I've done is put some arbitrary bankroll requirements before I move up in limits. This just helps build my discipline and also insures I won't have any huge losses in relation to the size of my bankroll. Just as an example, I had set a dollar amount of $10,000 on my bankroll before I would start playing 30-60.
Before I play 50-100 limit, I will have at least $20,000 in my bankroll.
Again, these limits are not really based on anything. They're simply numbers I've come up with.
If/when I drop below these dollar amounts, then I'll also drop down in limits.
I learned a long time ago that you can't care much about what other people think about you. There is an unspoken pressure on many people to play the 'highest game in the room'. I do not feel that pressure at all, but I have in the past, so I know it's there. I'm not embarassed to play 3-6 limit and I'm not ever going to belittle those that do play it. (or .25 to .50 limit for that matter) In fact, every once in awhile, I like to join those players, because they know how to fun when they play at those limits....
That being said, these rules of mine are not 'set in stone'. If I'm in a great game and go over my loss limit, and I'm playing good, but just have been unlucky, I'll throw some more money in the game and see if I can make a comeback. I won't do this very often though. It's relatively simple to come back from a $1200 loss if you're playing 15-30 limit, but if you get 2-3 grand in the game and have to walk away, it can take awhile to get that back... plus your roll of $100 bills is a lot smaller than when you came. It just isn't much fun going back to the room with a lot smaller bankroll.
If there's a bigger game where a guy's really throwing money around, just giving it away, then I'll jump up to that limit. The exceptions to my rules though are few and far between....
I don't have any poker trips planned right now....but I'm gettin' a bit antsy, so I hope I get a chance to play soon. I know we do have to go to MPLS for other business around the end of the month, so maybe that will turn into a long weekend. I'll keep you posted.....
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