Living in the Past

First hour or so in the game nothing much happened. Fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, raise, win a small pot, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, raise, fold on the flop, fold, fold, fold, fold, fodl, fold, fold, fold, etc.


Then a rush of cards. Just like when I had my biggest night in history a few weeks back. And before you know it. . .I'm down a rack and a half.


The usual assortment of disasters. Pocket Aces bight the dust. Pocket Aces bight the dust again (to 6-5o, must be an Angelo wannabe). Flop top set and lose. A-Ks flop top two, lose. You know the drill.


Then I'm first in and raise with pocket 9s from the cut-off. Button 3-bets and I find myself thinking, "here we go again."


And then it hit me. What do you mean, you idiot, here we go again? This is a new hand. That was then, this is now. This is the first hand of the rest of your hands.


Think, focus, think. Not about what happened, about what's happening now.


Button sure raised quickly and decisively. Strong means weak, especially for this guy.


Flop is K-Q-x. Bet. Button folds, showing me pocket tens.


Free play in the big blind. Raise a bettor and a caller with kaakaa doodoo on the turn after a checked flop in an unraised pot when a second King

hits. Neither one of them can possibly have a King. Fold, fold.


Two hours later, the wife calls, need to come home pronto. Cash out $2245 for a modest $245 win. Felt like a million bucks. Or the first $245 of the million to come.

It's really important to not let the results of previous hands affect the way you play the next one. If you are affected, that's a good time to quit, whether you be winner or loser.

"This is a new hand. That was then, this is now."


This is Zen, what is now?


And now you got me living in the past while that song silently plays back in my head. Happy and I'm smiling, walking mile to drink your water. Okay, I'd better stop there, lest they talk.


Tommy

n/m

great post! those long strings of improbable losses to incredibly pathetic two-card combos like wehn 54o reraises your aces pre-flop then flops a boat on your sorry little pathetic pair really get to you after a while. BUT - when you can put that in the past and get on with the present, you are doing what it takes to get past all those beats that will put you on tilt. way to go!