(13) BACK TO WORK

During my time in the Bahamas, I received the greatest prize of all... money for nothing, and even Dire Straits would be jealous of the $860.85 rakeback that appeared in my account. Previously, blonde had tinkered with the notion of depositing loyalty bonuses into players' accounts in $9 increments as opposed to monthly installments. Having experienced both methods, there's no comparision. Receiving a bit at a time doesn't actually feel like you're receiving anything at all, but finding a lump sum of wonga awaiting you one dreary morning feels like a genuine award. It's amazing really, both ultimately pay out the same, but one is just so much more satisfactory than the other.

I returned to Hampstead on the night of the 14th, but didn't hit the tables until the 17th, by which time I hoped that I'd recovered from my trip and shaken off the unwanted jetlag. However, I'm not convinced I succeeded, as after just several minutes of play, I really didn't feel like I was on the ball. With Dana working in Brighton, I thought I needed to take advantage of my opportunity to play, which was probably an error in the end.

I didn't play particulary bad, but made some questionable River calls that seemed obligatory at the time, but in hindsight, could have been avoided if I'd followed the story of the hand closer. One hand I also doubled up this dude with K-Q versus A-K on a King high Flop. He was pretty loose and played the hand well, but I almost exploded when the same situation cropped up later and he showed me a bluff. Again the board was King high and I'd called a bet on the Flop. He then overbet all-in on the Turn for around $300. I put him on A-A or A-K and folded at the last moment, but he showed an Ace high flush draw. I wondered if I would have called that if I'd been on top of my game or if I hadn't doubled him up previously. Poker psychology is a complex thing.

I did win a few big pots, $561.44 with 7-5 versus A-K on a 9-K-3-4-6 board (he checked the Flop) and $792 with a well played (well, I thought so anyhow) 4-x versus J-J on a T-4-4-4-7 board. Overall though, my timing was just way off and after yoyo-ing around for a few hours, left the tables about $500 down, it was just one of those days where everything I touched turned to shite. Whether that's because I'm not playing as well as I was before, or simply bad luck I'm not sure, but I guess I'll have to reassess my game if I continue to lose. I won 11 out of 12 sessions before the Bahamas, so I probably can't complain about one bad day.

I can always tell if I'm not in tip top condition: skipping meals, biting my fingernails and generally not enjoying playing poker. The latter is normally a sign that I should stop, although it's not always that easy. I wasted a whole day yesterday, and it's pretty demoralising. The one thing I find hard about poker is when you eat up the whole day paying poker and have nothing to show for it at the end. I value my days in this world, so it gets me down if I waste one unnecessarily.

With this in mind, I jotted down a list of to-dos for today, which includes playing online. At least if I encounter another losing session, but still tick of some of my to-dos, I can feel satisfied that I have done something constructive with my time.

It's hard to moan for the time being, I'm up with the rake. Does that make it a losing session or a winning one? Rake is part of your profit, so it would be foolhardy to exclude it. At the same time, I'm aware that this might be the start of a bad run.

biggest pot won: $792.00
biggest pot lost: $561.44
time at the table: 5hr 30min

profit = $342.24
blonde poker account = $4,548.04
$451.96 to go before the tax man goes away

Days played = 13
total time played = 43 hrs 33 mins
total rake earned = $860.85
current $ per hour = $74.58
current $ per day = $249.85