Rollercoaster Ridin’
Thursday, July 23, 2009 - HollywoodDave
When I was a kid growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, my favorite place to go was our annual summer trip to Cedar Point. Its the world’s coolest amusement park, known for having the best rollercoasters on the planet, and its only 2 hours or so outside Cleveland. So every summer I would eagerly look forward to a weekend full of twisting, turning, high-speed awesomeness!
Years later, I gotta be honest. The rollercoaster rides haven’t stopped, only this time they’re not at the amusement park, they’re on the felt! We all experience the highs and lows of poker (and in my case, professional blackjack as well), but this year for me has been particularly erratic. I’ve had some great highs — winning a WSOP Circuit ring, final tabling a Bellagio Cup event, having some killer sessions online playing poker (and live playing blackjack, hallelujah), but unfortunately for every 2 steps forward it seems as if I’ve also taken 3 steps back.
This is usually the point in my pro blog here on UB that I’d offer some sort of ‘lesson learned’ platitudes, but not so today. Today I’m just frustrated. Frustrated at the negative sessions I’ve had over the past few months practically negating all the successes. And its a frustration I’m sure a lot of you can understand — getting excited about winning a ton one day, only to lose it all back & then some a day later. And its a rollercoaster ride that for once, instead of getting excited over, is starting to make me feel a little sick!
I guess if there is something to be gleaned from these experiences, its that poker, at the end of the day, is a game of swings. Its rarely a straight path upwards, but rather a jagged journey full of plenty of peaks, dips and valleys. And sometimes the best we can do is hold on, focusing on playing well & having the trust that proper money management can see us through the low points until the variance evens out & the wins overtake the losses once again.
What’s difficult for me right now as a professional player is feeling as if I’m playing some of my best poker ever, and having it not ultimately matter at the end of the day. It makes me question and second-guess everything that I rely on in my arsenal of the critical thinking, analytical skills I bring to the tables. There’s only so many times you can get rivered for a monster pot before you start thinking to yourself that maybe there’s something else that you coulda done to avoid the situation. Constant questioning can ultimately be good to improve your game, but at what cost to your in-game confidence along the way?
So, this is where I am this week. Confronting the big questions about my game that hopefully will continue to make me a better player. I know I am on the right track, and I know I have a talent for this game that many others in it don’t share. So I owe it to myself to continue to grow and develop my skills to become the best player I can be. And along the way, maybe I can start to love the crazy rollercoaster ride once again.
-hd.
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Tags: Bellagio, Hollywood Dave, Poker Poker Poker, poker tournaments, ub, WSOP
