Poker Progress

I wrote about becoming a pro poker player a couple weeks ago. I was going to write about something else, but two things sap my motivation:

1. I have wicked bad allergies to something, probably the Cedar-Elm, and can hardly focus on anything for more than 15 to 20 minutes before I start rubbing my eyes and sneezing.

2. All I really do now is play poker, so it’s on my mind.

I’m playing .25/.50 NL Hold ‘Em. I’m down $650 so far. I lost more up front than I did recently, and the losses up front were more due to stupid play than later ones. That’s not to say that I don’t still make some incredibly dumb plays – I do – but I’m making less of them.

I’m totally indifferent to the money lost. Some people make a big deal out of it, but I see it as nothing other than paying for education. To expect to become a pro without losing any money up front would be totally preposterous. If I can consistently make money before losing $5k first, I will consider that to be a pretty cool achievement.

As I learn more about poker I really just cement in how little I know. There is so much underlying math which must be grasped at an intuitive level to play properly. I’ve watched six hours of an eight hour series on the Math of Poker at deucescracked.com, which is amazing. I now understand the math and can work it the “right move” on paper, but I’ll need to be able to approximate it MUCH faster. Some I can, some I can’t.

My biggest problem is that I’m having a tough time letting go of big hands when it’s very likely I’m beat.

“But my hand is so good…. what if he’s bluffing?”

This is a classic newbie mistake which I’m working on eliminating. Another is to play when I’m tired. As alert as I think I am, a good portion of my losses have been after my normal bedtime.

I’ve heard a lot of people warn me that poker is a hard way to make a living or that there are too many bots, etc. I appreciate the advice, but I also disregard it. I have several friends that play poker and make a living doing so, so OBVIOUSLY there’s some way to do it, and that’s what I’ll do.

Every day I educate myself by reading parts or all of that Sklansky book, watching videos on DeucesCracked.com, or reading posts on the TwoPlusTwo forums. I play for maybe 4-10 hours depending on circumstances, probably averaging around 6.

Once I get a bit better I’ll join the TwoPlusTwo forums and start posting hands and getting involved in that community.

Some quick updates on other projects:

Dvorak: Still using Dvorak exclusively. I can type about 80wpm now and I’m not convinced I could actually type faster than this on QWERTY. I said 90, but I wish I tested myself before learning Dvorak.

Crossfit: Slacking big time. I was working out with Doug because he has weights and air conditioning, but he’s been out of town a lot. I’m looking forward to it getting colder because there’s an awesome hiking trail I can run right near Casa and I can do kettlebells outside.

MaxDiet: So good to be back to 100%. I should have done my once a month cheat meal a couple weeks ago, but I keep putting it off. I did eat a piece of peach cobbler that my genius-chef Jonah made.

LifeNomadic: We’re starting to plan 2009. It’s looking awesome!

RV: Living the good life with solar power and a working fridge. Every night when I sit in my RV I feel very happy and thankful.

Make Her Chase You: Despite stopping all of my advertising campaigns, sales are going pretty well still.