Casino Play Better, Home Game Worse...

Now, this is a switch.

For as long I've been playing poker, I've held my own at the home games, but been very inconsistent at the casinos.  Part of the reason is that I've played most of my casino play in Minnesota, where the cash games are limit poker only.  That's the only time I ever play limit poker, and I've never been a winning player in that game.

Lately my issue has been losing in home games.  I'm afraid my play has become too predictable.  Am I running bad?  Playing too many hands?  I've focused on not playing out of position.  I'm really confused about why my results have changed over the past several months.  I think the remedy is some time off.

Maybe I'll hone my skills online at low stakes for a while, and go back to the live game refreshed and less confused.

It's not good to play poker confused.

Respect the Game

This has been a tough week.  On Sunday I lost a personal friend who died unexpectedly and way too young.  It has also been a busy week, with more than usual routine "errands" to deal with.  I have ended up coming home late in the evening, logging on to PokerStars, and escaping reality for a while.  Last night, I was tired but logged on and played anyway.  It is relaxing to get your mind away from the affairs of the day.

Well, it turns out that I was so tired, I actually turned my brain off (which on some level was probably good under the circumstances) and played poker in a mindless escape from reality.  In recent nights I have played well, gotten some good hands, been patient, and turned $1.36 into over $20.  Last night was different.  I had been at the funeral home, and it was difficult.  I logged on out of habit and hopeful to return to my recent success at the table.  After all, I had to miss my weekly Wednesday night home game because of the funeral services.  Anyway, I played until I was dozing off to sleep and had mindlessly gone through seven $1 re-buys at the same table before I woke up and logged off for the night.

Poker is a solace at times, and occasionally luck can make winning easy.  However, as I have found in the past, playing poker as an escape from reality clearly does not pay; in reality performance and mental sharpness matter, which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill.

Roller Coaster Month

Sometimes the worst thing that can happen is to get lucky.  Recently I was fortunate enough to increase my bankroll by almost 50% in a session of 13 hands!  I played only 2 sessions that day, each for only $1.  The first one went 9 hands, and since I doubled up, I had to leave by the blinds.  The second one went a whopping 13 hands, and after doubling up (or better) right away, I caught another monster hand in a 3 way pot and turned my $1 buy-in into $9.32!  That was the good news.
The bad news is that I apparently came to expect that kind of luck a little too much, and began taking too many chances again.  The result has been a month long roller coaster ride and an effort to get back on an even keel so as not to play like a maniac just so I can double or triple up real fast.
Could my bankroll have been better off without the windfall of luck?