First Winning Week...

This game we play called poker is as fickle as a beautiful women. Just when things go well, they can go badly. Well it is nice to report that I have logged my first complete winning week. What I mean by winning week is, every session is in the green. Mind you it is not a big gainer, but a gainer no doubt. This is a mile stone for my improvement. I have been a losing player, and by following this blog, you will understand my desire to get better. I have really been patient, picking spots, solidifying an image and being selectively aggressive. I have not won every hand, but I have overcome my mistakes by hitting my strong hand well. My biggest loss was a half stack on the river, and I doubled twice in the week. A lot of credit goes to Dan (fruitypro) Weston, the coach who will hopefully pull me up to $200NL, sooner rather than later.

I will turn 45 on the 27th, and that prompted me to post on Card Runners a general question about age. I was a little encouraged to see three around my age, but really, this online thing is a young man's game. Then I spent about and hour in an Indian Casino (Jackson Rancheria) in Jackson, CA. What did I see, KIDS, KIDS and more KIDS. These kids are playing 1/2 NL, and very aggressive. As the game changes from No-Limit to Limit, so did the ages. I saw more older men on the $3/$6 Limit tables, then on the No-Limit tables. How does a middle aged man overcome such youthful recklessness. See us fathers, have some much to concern ourselves with. Hell, my daughter will be able to play in the same casino next year. I wonder if that is what holds me up. I guess my long term goal is to play well after I retire from the "system". I don't want to just play, I want to be successful.

But this week was good. I actually won. I made good calls and bad calls, I made huge raises and big lay downs. Oh, I know I folded the best hand sometimes, and I called the river with a dog, but when it was all said and done, I won. I used some pot control took reduce my swings because at $25NL, I could easily lose with QQQ to a rivered straight when the villain called my PF raise with 59 suited. This level is funky because most bets are the size of a 32oz. fountain drink, and the all-in shove is equal to the average cheap buffet dinner. But hey, green is good. Green is good! POKER!