 Keep HFL Free |
11:31pm: Today is the first day of the rest of your life!
That’s a very powerful statement that we are all familiar with. Short, to the point, with meaning. I would be so bold however to change the wording on this one.
Let’s change it to:
Today is the first day of the rest of your poker life!
WOW! Adding that one word really makes a big difference doesn’t it? I know it changes my perception of the statement completely. Whether it affects you personally or not, by adding the word poker to the mantra we can see that it could be used as a vehicle to create winning play.
For example, Joe 9 to 5 works 40 hours a week at his regular job and takes home $500. He broke up with his longtime girlfriend last night at a Friday night happy hour and he just got his tax refund. So Joe, with his whole weekend free, decides to deposit $250 into his favorite poker site. Joe joins a $11 MTT and plays great for four hours. The tourney is paying the top 30 and it’s bubble time with 31 left and Joe is in 6th when this hand comes up. Joe is on the button and gets dealt AhAd. When the action gets to him, Joe realizes he has six limper’s in front of him so he shoves all of his chips in the middle. Only problem is, the BB has Joe covered and he insta calls. When they turn over the cards Joe sees he is dominating his opponent with AA vs Ac10c. His first thought is that if this hand stands up he will have the chip lead. The flop comes KdQd9d and even though Joe is still in the lead and has the nut flush draw, his opponent also has an inside straight draw needing any non diamond jack. The turn comes a blank 6c and now Joe is getting very excited. He only has to dodge 3 outs in the deck and he will be the massive chip leader with a chance to take down the tournament. A Jc hits the board on the river and Joe gets knocked out on the bubble. Joe continues to play that day and it’s like a never ending story. Much like the movie Groundhog Day where he continues to play solid poker in every tournament only to get sucked out upon to bubble. So now, it’s Midnight and Joe sits bleary-eyed in front of his computer screen and realizes that his $250 stack has just dwindled down to $90 in less than 24 hours.
Joe is not happy, but decides to go to bed. Should Joe have played at all that day? Maybe not, he did after all just break up with his girlfriend of 8 years the night before. Maybe he was affected by that subconsciously and didn’t realize it. Whatever the reason he just played a losing day of poker.
So Joe wakes up early Sunday morning and decides that yesterday was just a “Bad Day” and he’s gonna go give it another shot. Well, today Joe is on fire, he’s hitting every card in the deck, making all the right moves and he takes down a $22 MTT in the first one he plays. Joe goes on to win two more tourneys that day and places in the top five in four others. So now it’s Midnight and Joe sits in front of his account screen and he sees that his balance has skyrocketed to over $3,000 and he is smiling from ear to ear. And simply put, it all happened mostly because Joe shrugged off his Saturday and started new on Sunday.
I can tell you that during the many years I have played poker I have been the Saturday Joe many times and the Sunday Joe not nearly enough. But as of today I proclaim that:
Today is the first day in the rest of my poker life!
And I will live by this Mantra for the rest of my days.
And you should too.
Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process
