In The Long Run

I read the Antonius article in the most recent CardPlayer issue, noting with particular interest where he called out Doyle Brunson to any game for any stakes at any time. Doyle!

Then I read the most recent entry in Doyle's blog last night where he accepts the challenge. The interest part is where he says "I’m willing to commit to for at least a seven figure match." I can only assume that this statement means that the match could also possibly involve both players putting up eight figures. Yikes. I just think its cool that Doyle has a blog. It certainly sounds like his voice -- I can hear the folksy, easy-going southern drawl in my head as I read his blog.

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Dr. Pauly devoted an entire blog post to my all-time favorite hand, which is T8s, and specifially T8-spades if I can select a suit. Cool.

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I read poker blogs much more than I write in my own. I try to learn what I can from the mistakes and discussions of others. There are not to many that consistently stick to the meat of the game -- strategy, hand analysis and review of their own play.

One thing that I have noticed to be almost a universal truth about the way poker players think. In the early and middle stages of a player's career arc, there is intense focus on hand analysis and learning game strategy to reach a desired skill level. Then when the player believes they have reached that skill level, they slow down or entirely stop the strategy discussion and just play, and their focus turns to other aspects of the game.

This is when many players get beat -- they focus more on bad beats, variance, the behavior of other players, and generally stop learning the game. But I have noticed that the very best players acknowledge that they are always learning. They learn from each mistake in each session.

When you read poker blogs or maybe the poker forums, you can quickly tell where players are at in their career arc and which players will continue to learn the game.

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I went skiing today in Utah. Actually, the rest of the family went skiing, and I went snowboarding for the first time. Learning to snowboard involves a lot of falling down. I already know that tomorrow morning I will feel like I have been beat up by secret police during the night.

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While on vacation, I still get a bit of poker in at night after everyone else crashes. Its still my refuge from the world, no matter whether I am at home or on vacation. Its my thing that I do for myself and that I don't have to explain to anyone else, except those that are interested in listenng. My charm at the on-line NLHE cash games seems to have returned. Despite my prior whining about the downfall of on-line cash games -- of maybe because of that? -- I have rediscovered a winning game. I think I know why.

I saw the movie "No Country for Old Men" a few days ago. I will save a full discussion of that movie for another time, but the movie had an interesting effect on my mindset toward life, and also poker. Only the poker part is relevant to this blog. It made me realize that life is very long and that over the course of my life, God willing, I will play hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of poker hands. I will be playing this game for the rest of my life. I already know this to be true.

Consequently, I am in no rush for immediate victory. I know that my "long run" will be as long of a run as I can put in -- the rest of my life. I have a newfound contentment to play at a steady, even pace and patiently wait for the good starting hands and the best board cards to get my money in the pot. This is my style. Its wonderful when you can dig deep into a work of art -- a book, a movie, whatever catches your interest -- and pull out meaning that changes your life. These sort of events don't happen to often, and you have to pay attention or they will slip out of view like a ghost.