A little history... before the journey

I consider myself to be a competitive person that strives for and expects excellence.  I've been playing poker for about 7 years... I learned to play when my daughters softball team had a fund raiser Texas Hold 'em Tournament.  I had to use a cheat sheet that helped me with what hands beat what... it only took a few hours for me to be hooked on the game.  There's something to say about the dynamics that happen at a poker table.  There are many factors that come into play.  Not only the power of the cards but the interactions between the players.  Being a woman in a male dominated game also adds to the experience... some consider it to be an advantage... I believe often times there are men that think they have the advantage over a woman at the table,... that's my favorite position to be in... because little do they know, I always have the advantage.  :)  
(That's not the case for all women... I'm just sayin')


I've been a nurse for about 17 years and am working toward becoming a member of the executive team. It's the beginning of softball season and my daughters games start next month... we will be at games 1-2 times a week and about every other weekend traveling out of town for tournaments.  


About 2 1/2 years ago we moved to our current home, in a place where there is limited access to poker games.  There are about three card rooms that I have access to play in and truly only about 20-30 consistent players in the cash games... we average only one table, sometimes two.  One card room has a game every night that goes as long as I need it to go... before I have to go home to bed.  The other two close around midnight or 1:00 am.  As far as competition goes... well it's pretty average for a small local game.  There are a variety of players and only a few of them play with a dedicated poker bankroll that they manage.  The rest of the players pretty much gamble with their money... sometimes they borrow money from other players... some go far too deep.  I still feel bad when I see people losing more than they "should"... but then again... the purpose of the game is to take their chips and if my goal is to build my bankroll I can't let my heart get in the way.


I like to learn from other players - especially the ones that are truly dedicated to the game and respect it.  Some I talk to about strategies and others I watch and listen to ... Players that win and players that lose... I think I learn more from their experiences than they do sometimes because of the way I analyze the situations.


Before we moved here, I played primarily tournaments at the casinos, some small limit games and a friendly home cash game on Saturday nights.  Since we moved here, I don't have access to any casinos without a good 2-5 hour drive so I pretty much only play cash, with the occasional tournament.  I never had a bankroll before we moved ... I just enjoyed my winnings and spent them.  Now that I'm playing in a cash game regularly (1-2 no limit regularly and 2-5 once a month) I see the value in building a bankroll and a back up for when things run cold.  It took me a few months to get to a point that I had started building the funds... Last year I played on average about 2 -3 times a week, had a profit of about $4k and spent over half of it on personal things ... it was fun.


Now I'm starting to view life a little differently, visualizing my goals and focusing on my game in a different way.  I recognize that when I strive for excellence at all times with work and play all things come together even better.  When things are running good at work and I focus on my game in the right way I book wins, have successes at work and the good vibrations carry over at home... and all is great! 


I had a pretty bad cold streak at the first of the year and made a big dent in my bankroll - lost about $1200 in 4 sessions - majority of my bankroll.  I recognized what I was doing wrong but still struggled with my discipline... folding, or just surrendering and getting up from the game.  I talked through it with a couple of my poker buddies and my husband,... I adjusted my thinking strategy ... and now I'm back in the game.  
NOTE:  You might realize that for the size of my bankroll and my losses I'm allowing a loss of more than I should with each game based on the size of my bankroll.  I'm doing that because I have the income to support my game if I do go broke and I'm building a savings account as a third back up.  My intent is that savings account never goes toward poker.


You can read a lot in the books and take away great hints on how to profit in the game... the absolute most important thing is discipline and knowing when and how to shift gears.


Well, I'll stop for now with a final note about where I'm at with my game;

• One of the poker rooms I play in right now builds a bad beat jack pot that is currently over $9000 with the qualifying hand going down on a weekly basis. It's down to Aces full of 6s.
• The game is getting juicy because players that don't play regularly are coming to try and hit the bad beat. 
• The regulars (like me) have been the players that have built up that jackpot and many of us are playing more frequently... the game is extremely juicy and full of "fish".  Not to mention, we would like to be a part of the payout since we are the ones that built it up.
• This week's record; I've booked two wins and two losses - unfortunately last night started off good... but the young guys came after being out drinking and I just could not beat the All-In's that kept happening preflop.  Normally I don't mind a reckless player at the table, it's usually to my advantage, but there was 4 of them and I had to surrender and cash out after being down about 190.  I'm still in the black with a profit of $60. I'm playing again tonight and plan on a good profit.

Cash me out!