Re: Humble Pie
Great posts, and great replies, especially William's, which I enjoyed reading very much.
I for one am a novice player, and never intend to go pro. I play much less than most here (maybe 20 hours/month 1 table with some tourneys). I did not start out great, but slowly realized certain hands simply can't be played and how important position is. With experience comes knowledge of studying opponents and knowing what to do after the flop and beyond.
Playing smarter, not more, has resulted in a nice couple of wins, but if you take out a second place win on a UB $50 multi I would be pretty much even for the last year.
It's been said a lot, but the easiest way to ENJOY playing poker is to play within your limits. I am a $3-6 player and have found myself not enjoying myself as much at $5-10 because I get nervous. So I stay at $3-6. Sounds simple, right? I read many stories, even on 2+2, where egos and a short winning streak make people want to jump for the "quick hit." That's fine for some, but when it swings the other way and mood swings hit, you can get yourself in trouble.
My general premise is that I have a certain amount a year in my budget that goes to my poker hobby. If I lose, and I have, I'm done for the month. When I win, I offset 50% into a slush fund and play with 50%. This 50% is usually what I will use to play in some tournaments. When I hit the money in the tournament, my wife and I go out for a nice dinner, we buy a couple CD's, or something we wouldn't normally afford (the UB tourney I mentioned before resulted in a very expensive and awesome digital camera with all the bells and whistles).
I've got 10 poker books or so, and love the game. But sign me up for the rookie camp who went the first seven months or so not able to play in any given month because the budgeted funds were in some other 2+2's account. Patience, discipline, and money management are the keys for enjoying the game for those of us who aren't planning on going pro or making a living off this.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not competitive. Every time I play I play to win. This forum (long time lurker before posting) has been wonderful in helping my game, and the last 6 months I've been able to play whenever I want in any given month and accumulated a nice little slush fund. But last night I gave away 15 BB in about 1/2 hour and shut it down b/c I could tell I was starting to go away from how I know I should play. Sometimes that's as important as anything else in saving some money to fight another day.
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