Attitude is Everything

Played in my usual game again last night. It was…ok. My table draw was juicy! I had 3 players who call way too much and never think you have anything, 2 raisers, a couple lower level players (they play A, B, C poker…and very easy to ready) and a couple tight players. I knew right off the bat what kind of hand I would want to look to play against each opponent. It was all good…until play started.

The cards were horrible. I haven’t been that card dead in a LONG time. It ticked me off. Really, I was starting to get mad at what was dealt to me. Other than stealing the blinds once or twice, I think I might have raked 2 pots in the first 4 or 5 blind rounds. Here comes a new hand…oh look, another 6 2 off suit. OK this one has to be better. I peel the first card back a Q of diamonds. Alright…I can work with this. Let’s peel the second card up…wow a 3 of clubs. Into the muck they go.

As I was sitting there steaming and it hit me- my attitude sucked! Here I was sitting at a table playing poker, but my head really wasn’t in it. Yea, so I got some bad cards. I got them over and over……and over again. BUT- it happens! I sat there for a minute and thought, why am I so out of it? I made a mental list. It was getting longer by the second.- I hadn’t played in almost 3 weeks, now I'm back and this is the type of crap I get dealt? Was the wife happy when I left the house? I lost 20% of my on-line bankroll over 3 days. My live bankroll has been suffering lately…..work….finances…the list kept going. Then I stopped.

What a wus. Stop whining.

I had been wasting time. So the cards smelling worse than the ground beef that fell out of my grocery bag and had been sitting under my car seat for 3 weeks. It happens. The question is…can I get better by being here? Yep. Sure-nough.

I had been choosing to have a negative attitude, but not any more. I was going to use this situation to work on something. Two things came to mind…1- reads (you can always work on reads)- I will definitely be playing against these players again. 2- bluffing.

My reads were on point. There were a couple of times that I was going to come into a pot (pre-flop), but before I did I took a second and scanned the table (like I should anyway). I ended up saving myself a decent amount of chips- example- three limpers in the pot. I am on the button with KsJs. I was about to come in raising. I took a second scanned the table- got a great read off the guy to my left. I muck. Player in the SB raises to 4 times the blind and gets one caller. Ended up he had pocket jacks, and the board was all unders. After that I just sat around and played the “what cards are they holding game.” Sometimes I was right and sometimes I wasn’t, but I was having a better time. Plus…I was working on becoming a better player.

I never really took down any monster pots or made some HUGE bluff, but at the end of the night I was glad I was there. I was able to see how my attitude impacts my play. If I have a positive outlook I am going to come away from the table with something, but if I have a negative attitude…well I’d be better off staying at home and trimming my nose hairs.