[jasonHoldEm]

David,

As someone who is just starting out in poker I always love reading your posts because they give me an opportunity to see what is possible for someone who works hard at the game. It's also good because you don't pull any punches and are very open about how those big wins and big losses effect you. In other words you don't paint a picture of making fist-fulls of money everyday before breakfast...you keep it real and I thank you for that.

It's been very exciting to watch you develop as a player over these posts as well, and it teaches the important concept of constantly evaluating your play. Any player can profit from this concept, but many of us don't play enough to realize just how important it is and how quickly you can see the results. Watching you fine tune your game and reap the benefits has been amazing. It's inspired me to take a closer look at my game (and I only play 1/2).

A few observations;

1) Other players bad play will make me far more money than my fancy or brilliant plays.
2) The guy that leads with a bet on the turn after not betting previously, has a big hand.
3) Folding costs me nothing pre-flop. If it’s a close decision, I can’t go far wrong by folding. (I need to tape this to the computer)

IMHO this is best thing you've ever written, and I did tape it to my computer. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

One more thing, and I'm not in your shoes so I can't know exactly what your needs are, but I think you should forget about playing poker during your vacation. Go and have fun with your family and forget about your "job" for two weeks. If you were working a real job would you be dragging that along with you? Probably not. From your writing during your recent losing streak I think you could use a break...you'll come back refreshed and thinking more clearly; ready to take on those rocks at Paradise and beat up the softies at Party.

I wish you the best of luck, and I sincerely hope you'll consider keeping the column going.

-Jason