Teaching under; Playing with; & Defeating Stress

Pretty good today, +$200 ish and given the sample size I’m pleased with that (around 900 hands). Yesterday I won about $50 so a very small profit but worthwhile nonetheless. I cleared the hand target by a good 200-300 a few days ago but fell short today. A mix of fatigue, and not getting started early enough through other reasons. Mainly my brother. He works alongside me these days and I was watching him, analysing his play which for the most part has some large holes in it. Easily solved in my opinion. This unfortunately was realised by him into a 4-5 buy-in loss in a short time period, so I sat and observed a bit, trying to guide a little. Admittedly, I’m not the best teacher, yet what I lack in that area of expertise you can be sure I make it up through my knowledge of the game. It would be useful to him if he would listen and not get so defensive.

 

To be honest, this has been the situation for some time, and my patience is a little thin on the ground given my own stresses that I have to deal with. My tone is probably not at its most persuasive, but really, I don’t see him putting the work in like I did to learn the game, when he should be! I question his commitment to it, and inevitably it makes me want to help him less.  Disappointing, as I would love us to both be successful at this, but I’m not sure if that will ever happen now given his temperament. Maybe he’ll just learn that psychological side of the game slower than I did.

 

I’m not going to exhaust myself trying to make up for the supposed deficit of hands that I should have played, but I will endeavour to make a concerted effort to beat it again. I feel a little silly even mentioning it as I used to crush that number and put in 3000+ hands a day quite easily. I’m sure I can move past even that, and a controlled effort will help me maintain that work rate when I do achieve it again.

 

As well, I feel more comfortable breaking out of poor starts recently. As it seems that is the norm. However, I don’t believe it to be down to bad play but more just the run of the cards. I took some pretty cold deck hits early on like set over set (against the fish I was targeting! Uhh!), flopped straights vs. my over pair (Fish again) and then watched him lose it gradually through the day to other people, typical! However, I did the same thing  to some other fish that was winning from better players and then giving me the money, so patience won out again and I finished profitably. It certainly helps my confidence knowing I can get out of a hole in a relatively short space of time.

 

A positive day, monetarily and mentally as well. I’m coming to terms with a lot of changes in my life right now, and the whole prospect of seeking out a better life again is quite exciting and fulfilling. Who knows what the possibilities are? Something I said in an earlier post caught my attention about how i’m focusing better using music. I did a fair bit of study as an Undergraduate in Sport Sciences into the psychological effects of music and tempo, on workrate and stamina. I’m very proud that I can say i’ve drawn many useful lessons from those years that are holding me in good stead now. Just thought i’d mention it

 

Next Task: Once I settle in my new home, I can get a routine going again and really get down to work. There’s a lot that I want to do again. More sport (Basketball, Golf); more trading (Forex, Stocks); more partying and meeting new people. Got to build the confidence for that one again seeing as I’ve been out of the dating game for sooooo long. A focused look at my health and how I can improve it consistently. A little attention here and there really won’t cut it nor should it (It’s a big deal! The biggest!) so i’ll make sure to spend a suitable amount of effort on those issues.

Until next time…