Wanted:Tin foil hat

I've always said the greatest asset a poker player can have is resilience and mine has been tested more than I've ever known by the variance biatch since last weekend.I thought failing to cash in sng's twenty times in a row on four or five occasions had toughened me up mentally and I could cope with anything that was thrown at me.I had hoped writing about my nightmare 50 game,11 hour session at the weekend would somehow free me from the downswing I've been on and perhaps some sort of normal service would resume.

I've been asking myself if playing four tables at a time has caused my game to slip massively and I genuinely don't think that's the case.What it does do is accelarate the variance and that's something I'm learning to deal with.

I had written the stuff below during the heat of battle last night and as it's essentially a boring bad beat post, I resisted posting and planned to delete it today.Thankfully, I won my last two $16's of the evening back to back and actually made a decent profit for the night.I decided to post it anyway (edited:deleted the bad beat hand histories) as I think it helps demonstrate perfectly why I feel mental toughness is just as important as skill in this game.

Horrible suckouts, a load of lost races,one second place and two wins actually made for a good night in the end.I read Mark at Planet Gongs post asking people to think why they play poker.My instant answer is always "the money", but on reflection I think I'm a sicko and much of the time I really thrive on the mental battle to keep playing well and not be affected by the repetitive beats which are a huge part of the turbo sng world.I enjoy giving myself "get a grip" pep talks and ( hopefully) bouncing back from bad beats and recording a profitable night.I also love the buzz of feeling truly in the poker zone, but that's maybe for another post.

Original boring bad beat post below....


Last night was more poker hell.Tin foil hats are not funny anymore.I want to know where I can buy one!

My last two games summed up recent luck when my Aces were busted by JJ and my AK was beaten by AQ.

Tonight I've lost to k5 sooted on the bubble with a pair,Aces busted,Kings busted.Had enough.Took a 2nd place and then the hand below.I don't think I post a ton of bad beats on this blog because I know they're boring as hell, but this is how I'm running ,these are standard, and I need to vent!

I heart Stars random number generator..really...I do.

Ok,off for a few more beats before bed.Back when this poker nightmare is over.I may be some time...

Edit: Deleted the bad beat hand histories.This blog is boring enough without 'em.