Volatility and the Challenge

I played live poker last night, which I don’t get to do nearly often enough. I played just OK. I played well on about 90% of the hands that I played (didn’t fold PF). Playing 10% of your hands badly can be costly errors in NLHE. I misplayed 3 critical hands for a loss of about $225, and I got very unlucky on one hand for about $300, which accounts for the total loss of $525 on the night. The remainder of my hands were a mix of good plays and OK plays, for break even poker.

Tonight, after I had a very long 45-minute reading session with the kids (a whole Berenstein Bears chapter book in one sitting!), I decided to sit for some 6-handed $3/6 NL. After about 10 minutes, I drop a buy-in when I flop a set, we get all the chips in the middle and opponent hits a gutshot straight draw on the river. (All-in on a gut-shot draw – what the hell are these people thinking?!)

So I sit at another table, and after about 5 minutes I’ve cleaned two players out and I’m sitting on about $1400, just like that, more than making up for the initial buy-in that I dropped. Huge swings, and I was only looking to sit for a while and play some easy poker. You’ve got to bring it each and every time. No-limit can produce giant pots in a heartbeat, and when the cards hit you can’t hesitate to put your whole stack at risk. Do not play unless you’re willing to take these risks and can live with the consequences without tilting.

I closed the table where I was the big stack to lock in the profits and get away from two very tricky players, and as I type this I’m up about $130 on another table so I’m going to pack it in for the evening.

Last night, I sat next to a guy who was very chatty. We got to talking about poker in general. At one point, he said “I just love this game. The money is nice if you win, but that’s not why I play. I just enjoy playing. I love the challenge and strategy and competition.”

From time to time, I’ve wondered why I like playing so much. This pretty much sums it up.