My brother and I had a great time in Las Vegas. I watched a lot of football and was happy to see my Eagles pull out a tough win against the Ravens. I also ate at the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Vegas. They are famous for their bypass burges and I can see why. It was very good (and very filling).
I visited the new Venetian Poker room and was impressed. They expanded it to fit many more tables without crowding them closer together which too many cardrooms do. I played some live poker there and won almost $200 in a few hours of play Sunday night. I also played in their daily, $150 tournament at noon on Monday. Sorry to report that the breaks didn't fall my way and I lost a big race. When you lose the races in tournaments you usually don't cash and neither did I. I went out 34th out of 66 players when my JJ lost to AK all in preflop.
I ended up playing a few hours of limit poker with my bro who doesn't usually play no limit and I managed to grind out another $100 in profit there. And after throwing in about $60 profit in blackjack (The Gold Spike dealers were beautiful and delightful as always) for the weekend I had a small profit gambling. The only other casino game I played was roulette and after a couple of hours I cashed out even. For a while I was running real well as I hit the number 25 three out of five spins. But a long dry spell erased the profits and I was content to cash out even.
The month of September has not been real good at the poker table. I have had a lot of small wins, several break even sessions, and a couple of big losses. Last night was rough. I bought in for $200 and lost that. I bought another $200 and lost that. The game was only four handed at that point so I bought another $100. Sure enough, I lost that! I was $500 stuck and very frustrated. But the game was good and I thought I had an edge over the players. So, I went outside and sat in my car for 10 minutes. I let the air conditioning blow on my face and I sat back and listened to music and tried to relax.
I tried to remain calm and be professional. I thought of a scene in the film The Hustler. In the opening scene Fast Eddie Felson is destroying Minnesota Fats, game after game in straight pool. But Fats does not quit. His manager even advises Fats to stick with the kid, as he was a loser. Fats did not tilt. He did not storm out. He kept playing because he thought he had a long term edge. He went to the bathroom after more than 24 hours of losing and washed his face, washed his hands, cleaned himself up and came back out with a smile on his face and said to Felson, "Fast Eddie, lets play some pool." Fats kept himself in the game, kept his cool and focus and eventually outlasted the younger and more arrogant Fast Eddie Felson and took everything he had. I sat in the car and visualized that scene in my head and went back into the card room. I went to the bathroom and washed my face and hands and went back to the table. I put my ear buds in, listened to music and focused. I pretended it was a new day. Over the next two hours I proceed to win $189 of the $500 that I lost. Had I not had a set of Aces cracked by a flush it could have been even much better. But considering where I was at when I went outside I was happy to take the $311 loss.
When you gamble long term you are going to have nights and weeks and maybe even months where not much goes right for you. THAT IS THE TIME YOU EARN YOUR MONEY. Anyone can win when they make the nuts all night. But not everyone can limit their losses and stay in the game mentally and cut their losses. The real skill in poker is tested when things go bad. Last night and this month are not going great. But I look at it as a challenge to stay focused and earn my keep as an advantage gambler. I will be back at the cardroom tonight. Hopefully things go better than they have this month so far. I feel I am ready to handle the bumps in the road if they are there.
Last weekend was not great in football as I posted a 5-6-1 record. Still looking to gain some forward momentum.
2012 Football: 14-21-1 - 8.3 units
Western Kentucky -4
Oklahoma -14
Michigan +6
LSU -21
Falcons +3.5
Steelers -4
49ers -7
Bills -2.5
Patriots +3
Teaser: Packers +2.5 and Under 51.5
Disciplined Degenerate
No comments:
Post a Comment