The thin red line

Today was a good day and I finished up around 5 buyins. I think I played well but the biggest factor was undoubtedly running into good situations and then my hand holding up. i.e. LUCK.

It's funny how often you see poker players (and professional sports people in general) put down success to factors within their control and failure to factors outside their control. When we have a good session, we put it down to being in the zone or the result of tweaks to our game. When we lose, it's being coolered or run down with the best hand. The reality is almost every hand we play is sub-optimally, so even bad beats or coolers could have been played better. To my thinking, for every hand we play there's a 'perfect path' which involves the best decision and the perfect bet amount. Every hand we stray anywhere from a little left of centre (right decision on every street but slightly incorrect bet amounts) to making the completely wrong decisions on every street.

Speaking of tweaks, there are some changes which do seem to be making my decision making simpler.

1. I'm raising pre-flop almost every hand. In particular, with small-mid pairs I never open limp any more.
2. My table selection has improved significantly. I now open up 6 or so (loose) tables and I stay at the tables where I have position on the LAG's.
3. I've started taking enforced breaks every couple of hundred hands. A quick stretch and splash of water on the face and I feel fresh again.




FG