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What a funk!

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Ok, finally the funk is done with a FT and decent payoff of about 10x ROI! Solid tourney. No getting into bad situations. No sucking out from bad situations. Survived a couple of tough beats and still made out ok. Could have been better, getting KO'd holding AQs v JTo, but all in all still very satisfying.

For me, one huge key was when the game went down to the last 20. Me and another smallish stack got put in with the top 8 in the field. All the middle stacks went to the other table. The big stacks tightened up and me and the other guy were able to pick off pots. Both of us ended up at the FT, while a couple of those bigger stacks went home early. Reminder to self: When into the money, play the players and the pot size as much or more than the cards in the hand.

So how bad did it get?

My previous losing streak (MTTs without a cash) was 15. This one was 22! But the previous cash before this was a FT and this was a FT. So that's not all bad.

So what did I learn?

1. Always remember what Einstein said: "The more I learn, the less I know."

2. I got frustrated many times during this losing streak. But I held my composure throughout. No going on tilt. No flaming the chat line when an opponent lucked out on a bad play. Just stay cool and steady and take everything in stride.

3. I thought I knew something about variance. Now I know something else. I don't know "jack" about variance. It can almost always get worse. Keep tough. Keep composure. Keep plugging away. Eventually things will sort themselves out.

4. At times, I'm not nearly as good a player as I thought I was. Still making stupid plays against bad players.

5. At times, I may be a better player than I think I am. Many times during this bad run, I feel like I outplayed players of equal or better caliber.

6. Probably most importantly, I still need to work very hard on my reads. It almost seems paradoxical, but in those situations when one is either way ahead or way behind, those are sometimes the hardest hands to get away from if actually behind. Whether bad luck or bad judgment, a lot of times lately and many times during this funk, I found myself getting busted holding dominated hands. More specifically, I've been getting hurt getting up against over pairs and bigger kickers, 77 v 88, 99 v JJ, KK v AA, AQ v AK, QQ with an Ace on the flop, etc. There's more than a decent chance that I'm way behind or way ahead. The hand is too good to lay down against a possible bluff. But I'm dominated none the less. It's very clear to me that this is the next step for me, if I am to become a better player, how to become more accurate in judging if way ahead or behind, and how to have the stones to lay down a good hand in critical situations.