Giving myself a chance

I was reading through some blogs today and found an interesting post by TripJax. That really hits home with me. Granted, I don't sit on the couch or lay in bed and play much poker, but I still do things that put me at a disadvantage. For instance, it seems like I'm always playing poker when I'm tired.

The largest part of my play comes directly after work, but directly before bed. The problem is that I suck at sleeping. I run worse in the bed than I do in the tables (hah! no shit)...anyway... I'm always in this insomnia induced fog. I could get more sleep if I just applied myself. But no, I'm usually up past my bedtime trying to break even on the virtual felt.

I remember back in my 2004 years when online poker was the equivalent to robbing an ATM. I slept better back then. I also stayed stoned out of my mind, so that might have had something to do with it. Creative thought and all that you know? If it works for Pauly, then why not me? In all seriousness, I don't think bong rips are the answer to my struggling poker game.

My biggest flaw is that I'm results oriented. I love to win and hate to lose. When I lose, I get upset. Admittedly, I'm a lot better at handling tilt situations now than I was 4 years ago, but I still am prone to tilt. It's not the fact that I'm losing money, but the fact that I'm losing that bothers me. Especially, when I feel like I've worked on my game so hard and I'm trying to take it to the next level. I honestly feel that I possess a train of thought on the tables that should be profitable. And for the most part it is. However, I have to get it out of my head that I'm going to win at a rate of 15 PTBB/100 in NL or 4 BB/100 in limit. It's just not going to happen post UIGEA.

Some things I've done to help give myself a chance are as follows: I have started renovating my office. I picked a nice warm color to brighten things up and help me stay alert while I'm grinding. I've also ditched my poker workbook/spreadsheet/timeclock thing I started on Jan 1. I don't need to keep reminding myself of my wins and losses on a constant basis. It just adds to my problem. The most important thing I have decided to do is keep the Pokertracker results window closed. I'm not talking about keeping it closed until the end of my session either. I'm talking the only time I'm allowed to open it is on Sundays. There used to be this brilliant piece of software back in my limit days called TiltBlocker. All it did was cover up my chips so I couldn't see if I was winning or losing. It was brilliant and it worked. I'm effectively doing the same thing by only allowing myself to check my results once a week.

I figure these few simple things can only help out. Times are tough and you need to do what you can to have an edge in the tougher games.