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  Monday, February 23, 2004

I deserve a break today

Made a couple of journeys over the weekend, neither of which went very well.

Gil and I headed up to Soaring Eagle, which has reopened their poker room. Contrary to what their web site says, the games they're playing are $3/$6 and $6/$12. But they've only got six tables, all squished in one corner of the poker room, and the lists are so long (at 10:30 AM, with snow on the roads) that we both are left with bad tastes in our mouths. Gil loses $20 playing blackjack, and we go home. This is the first time I've ever been to Soaring Eagle, having taken up the game after they originally closed the room. I'm not impressed; tables are ripped, the debacle of the poker room, and other things make me less than anxious to go back.

So we headed over to Manistee and Little River. We have a little bit of a wait here, too, but it's not too bad, and we're at least comfortable. (Little River has a self-serve beverage area, so I'm loading up on coffee, and reading the paper.) I'm tired, tho, and so even though the table is soft I lose about $100, mostly through trying to be too clever in the first few hands. Like going up against an obvious fish with only second pair, and having him turn over top pair. I'm tired, too, having basically not slept the night before. So we cash in (Gil won about $65, I think) and go home.

Sunday morning Gil, Dave, and I all go down to the Trump in Gary, Gil and I sit $5/$10, and Dave sits $3/$6. I make the same mistake I did in Manistee, trying to be too clever early on. I go down about $150, and hover there for a long time, bleeding off chips and winning small pots. I make a straight with a possible flush on the board, and the straight is good, for a nice pot but not a huge pot, and I end up cashing out for $150. Gil says he could tell that I wasn't getting cards, but I didn't notice until I reflected on the day. I mostly blamed playing like an idiot for my loss: playing weak starting hands ("But I'm in the blind!"), betting out with scary boards, and other stupid moves. If it wasn't nearly a three hour drive down there, I would have left after 60-90 minutes, disgusted with myself.

That's three trips in a row, four sessions, where I'm down. Plus, things aren't going as well online; I'm losing at $3/$6. Not a lot, but I'm losing. Enough to make me question this new career of mine.

I should remember that down weeks happen, cold cards happen, and that I can absorb a couple of them, but it's still depressing. Truly, what I need is a break from the game. I planned to do that today, but I just couldn't stay away. I went out middle-of-the-pack in a $20 tournament, and now I'm in a $100 tournament (that I shouldn't have joined, I know, but my other option is to play some more Empire Earth).

Oh well, I'll just win this, and then I'll be on a good run.