Terrible week so far, but looking ahead.

Well, I just can't seem to make anything happen. I don't know what's going on, or maybe I do... I'm losing. I'm not only losing, I'm losing bad. I've played 10 sessions this week so far and came out a loser in 7 of them! That is just horrendous. I could look at the bright side and say that I've had 3 winning sessions, but in those I barely won. I don't know what's going on, but I really need to get a hold of things on the felt. I just feel like I'm running all my big hands into bigger hands and losing all the hands I should win. I can't get lucky to suck out on someone, even just once, and I am also finding luck is against me when the odds are in my favor. Variance is an absolute pain in the ass and I can't stand it right now. I've dropped down to the lowest limits in order to try and recoup some of the feel for winnings, but I am running into more and more people that are just cleaning me out. It's not their good play, but just ungodly amounts of stupid plays that seem to be holding up.

As always, I will look at this like a test. A test of my will and fortitude to stay in the midst of the battle and pull through. There are good times and bad times in poker. I had a heck of a good time last week just dominating people, and now they are all banging me up this week. I've been through runs like this before and it sucks going through it. Hopefully I can manage my way and keep my head up. I try not to get discouraged, but it's hard when you keep tallying up negative scores at the end of the day. I'm not going to back down or take a break. I don't really believe that will help. A bad streak is a bad streak and the only thing I think will get me out of it to to play through it and keep smiling when I know I have made the correct decision. It's been pretty hard not to go on tilt. I'm usually pretty immune to losing hands because I've been playing for so long and it's just part of the game that I have built up a tolerance for it. Sometimes though, when it just keeps coming and coming in waves, you're left wondering if the seas are ever going to be calm again.

I have gotten back into reading some of the poker books on my shelf. Whenever I go through a bad run, I usually resort to studying the game even more. Looking for ways I have to plug the leaks in my game or insights on different strategies or philosophies. I went to the shelf the other day and found:


This book is decent. I'm not going to engage in reading through the entirety of it, but I am certainly going to pick out some chapters that I feel I should be getting in to. I didn't buy this book, it was given to me by a friend so I'm not as inclined to have read it cover to cover right when I first got it. It's been sitting in my room for a while and I'm going to see what is has to offer. I started off towards the middle-to-end of the book with the chapter entitled Data Management. I also plan on reading the chapters Winning Tactics for Online Play, Online Tells, Found Objects, and Tips, giving me five chapters in all to read through. So far the reading has been fairly straight forward and quick.

One thing I enjoy about poker books is they will always get you thinking. I know a lot of experienced players will read a few books when they first start off, but then give up on reading book when they become a better player and play often. I don't think one should do so. Even if a book doesn't have much insight on the game or new tactics that you have never heard of, it's always a good idea to refresh on some basic strategies and ideas. I like to go into reading a poker book with the mindset that no matter what, good or bad, I'll get something out of it. If the book is bad and offers me nothing, it'll show me how not to play or what not to do. On the other side of things, I can gain extra knowledge and new ideas from books that I would deem "good".

On the topic of poker books, are there any anyone out there suggests I read? Here are some of the books I recommend:

• The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
• No Limit Texas Hold'em by Brad Daugherty and Tom McEvoy
• The Psychology of Poker by Alan Schoonmaker
• 7 Card Stud by Roy West
• Super System 1 and Super System 2 by Doyle Brunson
• Caro's Book of Tells by Mike Caro

All of these books have provided me with great insight about poker and they are definitely some of my favorites. I plan on reading a bunch more poker books in the future because you can never study too much of something you want to be the best at. I'll be sure to post my reviews and thoughts on each book after I read it.

I am also hoping that reading some and studying a little more will keep my head in the right place even if I am running poorly right now. I need to keep myself looking ahead and focus on the positives while trying to fix the negatives. Even though the light at the end of the tunnel is dim sometimes and there's bumps in the road, there is still another hand, another game, another day. I'm sure I'll be out of this funk in no time!