CARDRUNNERS

What's Your Edge

Mr. Menlo's Poker Blog

December 12, 2008

Since I haven't updated in a while (as usual) I guess I'll start by saying how poker is going... Like the whole year it has been extremely swingy. I had a huge month in October playing and taking pieces of others playing Rail Heaven and also a bit of PLO and won somewhere around 750k. At the end of October I decided to make a decent-sized cashout, and immediately after that could not win a hand. Since November I have lost about 500k back playing mostly the same games as well as heads up no limit. This is how it has been all year and it's been a crazy year especially compared to last year. While I have profited about as much this year as I did last year it has been in completely different fashions. Last year was just a pretty much constant upswing, I ran very well in tournaments all year and did not have any extended downswings in cash games and won every month except one. This year I have had some really outstanding stretches and some really bad one, and also one huge score, it seems like this year whenever I have an extended good streak an extended bad one follows it, luckily the good has outweighed the bad, but still the swings have been brutal. I feel like there are two big reasons for the difference in the results from last year to this year. One, poker is way harder, the bad players are all getting better, the good players are getting great, and the great players are getting unbeatable. The influx of flat out fish is just way less than it was this time last year, and way way less than it was in January of last year. Two, my focus just hasn't always been there, last year I was on a mission, I played my A game almost always and really just dedicated myself to poker non-stop. This year, I have lost interest in poker a bit (not to say I have lost all interest by any means, just that it doesn't hold the same interest as it did last year) and because of this I have not always brought my A game. So basically, what I've taken out of all this is that from now on I am going to do my best to only play poker when I want to play, even if there is a really good game or a really sick tournament, if i don't want to play it I am going to do something fun instead. Before I had myself convinced that not playing in such a game or tournament is basically losing money, but what I've realized now is that long term I am winning money because I will always bring my best game when I do decide to play.

Anyways, sorry for ranting, but besides poker I have been very busy. A few weeks ago, I went to Vegas for my friend's 22nd birthday. It was awesome to be there not for a poker tournament, I have been to Vegas a few times since turning 21, but each time I was there for a poker tournament. This time all we did was go to some really sick clubs, eat at amazing restaurants, and gambled. After that I was home for a week or so for Thanksgiving and hung out with some old friends and relatives. Then it was off to Florida for the Cardrunners team builder get together. I had a lot of fun and it was cool to get to know all the CR guys better and meet the Stox guys. All the Stox guys seem like really cool guys and also all seem to know the game very well. Since then I have been hanging out back at home and enjoying life, and plan on continuing to do so until I fly to NYC to spend Xmas with my family and then going straight to the Bahamas. If you see me in the Bahamas holler at me.

peace,

Isaac

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