I haven’t blogged in a while and I am sure it isn’t hard to guess why that is…. I CANT WIN!!!! Or at least that is the way it feels right now.  The real reason is probably because I have been playing in games too big and have refused to move down in limits…  It seems like in the old days I used to never get punished for making a bad bankroll decision, but now, if I play too high or take a “shot” at a big game then I always end up going off for a big number.  I am going to try to get back on the grind and regain my interest in poker again.  Just try to grind out 500-1000 a day for a while.  I can do that by playing 2/4 PLO everyday for about 3 hours.. so it isn’t too much to ask.  It is just hard for me to do that because of how competitive I am…. I see these big games going with bad players and I KNOW I CAN BEAT THEM but that isn’t the point.  I am really starting to realize that I care more about the money now than I do about being great.  Which is fine but that means I really just need to grind out a living for a few more years and give up on the idea of being a multi-gallizonaire… at least for a while.  The good news is that in PLO it usually doesn’t take me much time to get back on my feet.  I had alot of stressful things going on in my life while I was out in Vegas, family and friend type stuff, and I know I should have been tougher but it really did effect my poker. 

As for my Vegas trip… I played golf a few times, got to see alot of old friends, and proceeded to lose about 100k and to be honest, it couldn’t have been much worse.  I lose the 3 biggest pots of my life…. In one pot I was a HUGE FAVORITE.. having the guy draw to a gutshot 3 that wasn’t a spade.. and in the 100k pot i flopped top two and a gutshot and lost it 2 times to aces and the nut flush draw… there was a side pot and I only got 3/4ths of that because the kid made a straight both times….  The thing about it though is that I KNEW the game was too big and that there were alot softer spots around the casino.  It wasn’t that the big was tough, because it wasn’t… it is just we were playing 100 dollar straddle on the button and people were re-straddling 200 and 400 and sometimes 800 dollars…. that means we were just GAMBLING.. and with stack sizes around 5000.. that means there is almost NO PLAY….  I guess you live and learn though from the mistakes you make and I think I have finally learned from mine.  I am ready to live the good life from poker, not the easy life.. I am going to have to really get motivated again and constantly remind myself of what I want out of poker…..

-200k later I’m ready to grind :)

Wish me luck,

Matt