By nath on August 19th, 2008 (more posts by author)

Wow, apologies for taking so long in between posts. I thought I had written something last week.

I barely played any FTOPS events. I couldn't quite raise enough money, and I turned out to be too busy away from the tables-- I couldn't even make it out to Fresno. In short, my niece came to visit me about a week and a half ago; last week I went home to visit my family and have my permanent replacement teeth installed; and Saturday was my birthday. Between all of those things, it's left little time for poker.

I've started to feel better about my game, though. I'd been pressuring myself too hard to make money until recently, and it was affecting my play. I really relaxed and loosened up and I think it helped a lot. For example, I bubbled the Sunday Million this week, and on a pretty aggressive / questionable play, but I had also made a bunch of other aggressive plays that had worked and helped me build a big stack (in fact, before I busted, I lost a flip that would have put me top-3 in chips on the bubble).

I've been moving back to heads-up NL cash, as well, where I feel my edge is even more pronounced when I'm playing well. It fits my lifestyle better, too; tournament poker is a time commitment and very psychologically draining. Heads-up cash is easier to play in short sessions, which fits me because I value having flexible time. It's also more consistent than tournament poker (well, what isn't?), and since I'm spending less time on the road, I'm more interested in making my monthly nut than in a big score. I'll still play tournaments from time to time, when it's worth my while (the WCOOP I'll be selling action to, for sure), but I'm just not as interested in the grind these days. I'd rather hone my skills at a game that allows me to make what I need without too much work, and leaves me the free time to live the rest of my life how I want to live it.