Poker is not just grinding cards

I've had an interesting last week. Started by a horrible hangover, and continued by three days in a row staying up most of the night with schoolwork or waking up at 7am for school, really tired me out. I broke my day rhythm, and I was really exhausted the whole week. On the following days after that, the few times I tried to sit down and play a few sessions, I quickly started yawning and got really fuzzy and bored feeling. My thoughts were nowhere near poker, I just clicked the buttons here and there, instead of playing alert poker. It's strange that even though I had enough sleep in thu-fri, and otherwise free time, I couldn't get a grip. That said, it's good I realized to quit immediately and go play Elder Scrolls: Oblivion instead of tilting at my bankroll.

Then, on the weekend, winter finnally ended and there was a really nice weather outside. The sun was shining, and suddently you didn't need half as much clothes on as you did earlier that week. After spending a nice deal of time outside and absorbing sun, at Sunday evening I finally felt that urge to play poker, and I felt completely focused, at peace and relaxed. I could put my complete attention in the game. After getting nice reads on my opponents, I could milk some marginal situations quite nicely, which I would have failed to play correctly if I hadn't been so focused on the game.

Playing 6-max has really improved my game a lot. I finally realize what this talk about position and reads is. While I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface - I know I'm heading in the right direction. So yeah, if I had to make different decisions in my poker career, I would have started 6-max earlier. It takes a bit of time and money to learn first, but then you quickly surpass your 10-max earning rate. It's much more enjoyable to play as well:) A few tough weeks aheads of me now... maybe it's better to call it a month, and I'm really determined to pass all my courses now, so I don't have to bother with them during the summer. With that said, I'm gonna reduce the amount of time I put into poker for the next 3-4 weeks. On a positive note, I've had a few successful $100nl 6-max sessions now, and I definitely think I can break these stakes. Thought it'll take me around 50k more hands to get more in touch with 6-max style and learn the moves typical to that level.

Until next time -_-