Tues Update

Better night last night at the tables.Decided to two table at .25-.50nl 6 max and made $37 for a couple of hours work which may not set any heather on fire but will more than do for me.

I had a couple of moments which made me think.I folded a set of 8's when I was sure the board gave the villan a straight on the river and looking back I think my hand may have been good.I'm trying to avoid donking off chips when I've not been at the table long enough to see how its playing.I say trying because my first hand was KK .I bet $4 hoping I'll look like a maniac,get a caller and chicken out of the continuation bet when the flop comes with an Ace.I folded to the villans bet.Weak maybe but I didn't want to start by losing my first hand.

Called down a couple of bluffs and noticed that at .25-.50nl 6 max bluffing seems to be very popular just now.Missed your draw? Just go all in on the river.

I'll probably stick to .25-.50 6 max for a while and try and rebuild my recent losses bit by bit.I did try and tell myself I should have more faith in my game and the knowledge I have.I worked in sales jobs since I left school until recently and sales reminds me of poker in that your only as good as your last sale.

The film Glengarry Glen Ross summed it up beautifully.( Al Pacino,Jack Lemmon '92).Sad but true that a girl who worked next ( about 8 years ago) to me taped it from tv and lent it to me to watch over the weekend and when I came in on Monday to tell her how great I thought it was we were told the girl had hung herself.She had underlying problems but the pressure of our job didn't help.At one centre meeting they wheeled in a fake life support system so we all entered the hall to take our seats to the sound of beep..beep..beep.This was supposed to show us what a critical situation we were in.Fuckin' laughable.

Back to my point....

In poker your not only as good as your last session obviously because we all know its about the long term but shaking that "I'm a loser" feeling after a bad session isn't easy even if you have a decent record over + 100k hands.Gaining too much confidence from a winning streak can mean complaceny and sloppy play creeping in so you have to be careful and strike a balance.

Did the last of my Christmas shopping at lunchtime.Bought loads of stuff from the Art store for the wee one.All sorts of creative stuff from glass painting to fingernail stuff all of which will probably remain under her bed whilst she plays her X box but you have to try!

Busy time just now with the holidays coming up.Visited my Gran last night to give her birthday present.82 and still going strong.She's the only grandparent I have left and I've tried to make more of an effort in recent times to visit more.I did voluntary befriending work with local kids for 8 years until this May and always felt guilty about devoting time to strangers and very rarely seeing my own Gran.

Only 3 days to go or 2 1/2 including my half day for our team lunch on Friday.Looks like we'll be asking friends over for Hogmany but still not decided 100%. Mrs A and I are going out on the town at least once over the holidays to celebrate our 6th aniversary of being together.I'll maybe suggest a casino....

Remember your abc.Always be closing...