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Keeping Warm in Winter

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Newportlad:
I"m playing the £35 at Les Croups tonight if you fancy coming along.

AAroddersAA:
Was working today so did not play poker during the day. I logged on at the end of the rugby and played for about two and half hours (5 tables). How bad were both Wales and Scotland in the rugby today? I am happy Wales won as we really needed to win after eight losses on the spin (although 6 of them were to the big three teams). Anyway Poker:-

Didn"t have many big hands but ended up £77 up. Which takes me back into profit for the year in online cash, and overall. Bit of a roller coaster this year so far. I think I made some good calls on the river and think my reads on the regular players is improving.

I did win a nice pot with KK where I got allin against A9 and JJ pre flop and it held up. I really wish I had poker tracker working so I could review and post the hands better. Again I feel I played well but a break from cash games is going to be coming up anyway as I am still a bit concerned about my recent poor play and last time I brought it back into profit I then dropped back down almost straight away so want to give myself the best chance to pull away. So taking a break even though I am very happy with today. I now have 1308 poker points and I am aiming for 2000 as that will give me £30 rakeback (or cash for points).

One hand I did misplay is the following:-

I have A3s in hearts and I raise (to 80p) from the button and get called by both blinds. The flop comes down 10d-6h-4h with two hearts. The SB bets £1.20 and the BB calls. I call as well and the turn is a blank and the SB again bets £1.20 and we both call. The river is 10h which makes my flush, the SB now checks and the BB bets £4.50. I then become scared of the paired board and flat call. He shows the 10 which was alway the biggest part of his range so I shoudl be raising on the river there. He probably would have called another £10 so maybe I lost some money there.

Next game will be the Blonde league on Monday and I might even give cash a miss until next weekend and just play the two Blonde league tournaments next week.

Online Cash = +£33.46
Live Cash = +101 (2 Sessions)

Online Tournaments = +£7.50 (11 Tournaments)
Live tournaments = -£125 (2 Tournaments)

AAroddersAA:
Poker is, by it"s very nature, a game that can become all consuming. There is the obvious financial element to it, none of us enjoy losing money and when we do the immediate reaction is to try and get it back. This is especially true if we have lost money in a situation that we see as being "unfair", for example having our pocket aces outdrawn by a smaller hand. There is more to the game than that though, it is the way it always make you feel either at the top of the mountain or within the depths of despair.

When we are winning, poker can feel like the greatest game in the world. When playing online, logging on, expecting to win, and proceeding to do just that, can convince you that you are a great player (and that feels good). Your confidence grows and you find yourself playing hands well and therefore having better sessions and getting happier. Even taking a bad beat does not hurt because you are often still having a winning session and you just feel confident that you can still play well and win. Playing live can be very much the same, walking into a poker room and feeling like one of the best players in the room, and honestly believing this gives you a massive edge before you even start. When this feeling is backed up by a good result and good play it can get even better.

I clearly remember arriving at the Fritz in Dublin this year to play the APAT Irish Championship. I was coming off the back of 3 straight cashes in live poker, 2 APATs (including 2nd in the main event of the WCOAP) and a local tournament at Les Croupiers in Cardiff). I was overflowing with confidence. Play began and I started building a stack, I was making good reads and playing good poker, my hands were holding up and I was confident. I made day two and the final table, that evening as far as I was concerned, I was invincible.  I ended up coming second in that tournament the next day. The feeling of playing good poker and the cards being with us is not matched by much in the gambling world. That night I felt on top of the world.

Is it the money we win that pleases us so much? Well it is a nice bonus, but it is not the main thing that make for that feeling, it is rising above the competition, coming out on top against excellent players and just the overall feeling of winning. In November I was playing in the Blonde League, by the time this was nearly over I was in third place with the Jack Prime (who is a great player) in the lead. At that point we were both fully aware the league win was worth nothing but pride to either of us. However the way we both tried our very hardest to win it showed that pride means a lot to poker players, we both wanted to be able to say we beat the other. I ended up winning that league and even though I got nothing for it (the winner was to be named the Captain of the Blonde Poker team for Bolton, which I would have loved but obviously in the light of the offer from APAT could not accept), it still felt great. The fact that the run in was against Jack who is a mate of mine and somebody who I consider to be a better than good player made it better.

Coming top of the APAT national rankings, just a whisker ahead of my good mate Darren Shallis, who I consider to be overall the best player of all the APAT regulars was probably the biggest honour of my poker career. When I was confirmed as the winner it felt great, again it was not really worth anything, but I am still probably more proud of it than anything else I have done in poker and still take satisfaction from that.

So what is it that makes for that feeling you get when you are winning? I think it is a mixture of the self belief it gives you, the recognition you get from peers who you yourself recognise as being good and the pride you feel after a good result in a tournament or a really good cash session.

At APAT it is this that keeps driving us back to the tables. This is what makes us push for another result, another final table, and the holy grail of an APAT National Championship. This is what will drive me and many others to get on planes, trains and auto-mobiles in season five. To make the long journey to play that tournament which just could be the one. It is never going to be easy, the competition is fiercer than ever, but we would not have it any other way. The desire it to take on the best and to beat the best. The need to be the best.

Onward and upward

pables:
Great post Rodders!  :)

technolog:
Good post Steve. Nicely written. Would read again :)

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