Take Your Beating Like a Man

I "played" in a $5,000 Freeroll tournament at "The Office" on Sunday and got the elite distinction of being the 3rd person out.

Usually you would think sitting down and finding QQ for your very first hand of the tournament would be a good sign...well that's what you would think. The problem wasn't lack of hands during my brief 23 minutes stint in this event, it was plain old bad luck and lots of it. I actually got a disproportionate amount of premium hands, the kind of run you hope and dream about, and here's the part where I say, "but the odds were against me today", but then I would be totally lying.

You see sometimes, the odds are WITH YOU and you still lose, sometimes somebody else does something that costs you money, and sometimes you just get unlucky, cause no matter how much skill you think you have, there IS still luck and random chance involved.  "Sometimes shit don't go right."

I won't bore you with the play by play details of my contrarian defeats but here are the hands I received IN ORDER and the results:
QQ(w)
1010(w),
JJ(L-This was the crippler and left me with only $1,100 chips, on the third hand of the tournament!)
AA(w)
KQ(l)
KJ(l)
55(f)
KK(l)
OUT!

The point of all this isn't to write about yet another bad beat story, it's to write about something else entirely,
Losing.

You can pick up a ton of books that talk about how to win, what to do when you win, how to win more, but none of them really addresses the worst and one of the hardest parts of the game; taking a beating like a man.

I truly feel that besides natural skill and reading your opponents, being able to handle beats is absolutely vital to your success at the tables. If you can't routinely shake off beats, (bad or otherwise), and if you can't handle the many, many ways you get screwed over in this game (often through no fault of your own), then you should probably just stop playing right now and go play kickball or something. 

If you can't handle losing, then your going to steam off all your money, go on tilt or try to "Get that Jackass back" by playing back at them when you have the worst of it. Or your going to fall victim to what I have always had trouble with; becoming totally distracted by endlessly pondering how someone could possible play that horribly, or why god hates you. (Trust me I'm working on it.)

It is only when you can accept the weight of the the fact that even if you are the best player, even if you do everything correctly, even if you are statistically the favorite to win, sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. Just take a deep breath, blow it off, slug down that cocktail, and get ready for the next time it happens, cause trust me Brother it won't be the last.

Today's Hourly Rate: -$55.28hr

That's all I got,
raychihasspoken

General Contracting

You can stop worrying, I'm back.

No I haven't gone crazy(ier) from prolonged sleep deprivation, just taking a break from the daily grind (otherwise known as all the other useless crap in life that's not gambling.) Ray Chi hasn't been to "The Office" for awhile, so hence no office, no thrilling entries on my masterful play or devastating defeats at the tables.

You see sometimes you need just need a break. Maybe the cards aren't coming right or long shots are bombing and FN up your action. Maybe your playing like a jackass and need to reassess your game plan. Maybe you just need a little time to cleanse your palate and  "Get Your Ch'i Straight." 

Or maybe you're just broke and need some time to get some scratch together to get back into action. You see unlike your "job" where you just show up day in and day out doing whatever BS you people do in a cubicle and they (they being "THE MAN"), give you a paycheck, (I've heard of these, but it's been a while since I've actually SEEN one...) My "job" is vastly different. See just like "You can't build a house without tools", you can't make any money if you don't have any you can afford to wager.

Gambling is weird in that the tools of your trade are the exact same thing you are trying to acquire: Cold Hard Cash. You can't sit down at the tables, play any tournaments, or put together any well planned part-wheels at Hollywood Park. In fact without cash you can't do anything, put gas in your ride, have cocktails, take some honey out on the town, or pay bills, (notice how this is last on the list) NOTHING.
AND THAT SIR SUCKS.

One of my Minions dropped some pearls on me the other day;
"You know what would solve all of our problems?" 
"No. What?" I say waiting expectantly for this sacred knowledge.
"Being Born Rich."
No Shit.

So you do what you gotta do to get back in action; pick your spots, play smaller limits, place smaller wagers, play tighter, keep it simple, ( layoff the big multi race wagers and Superfecta plays), and try to build your bankroll back up to where you can get back in action, and in the style your accustomed to.

Or you do what I do, you get on the Hustle and beat the bushes for some cash, cause there's money out there you just have to get it. Call in some markers or rifle through some of your useless crap and see if you can sell it off on Craig's List, or theres always some professional enabling (pouring drinks) if all else fails.

Cause here's the deal, if you have an honest assessment of your own ability, a reasonable expectation of winning, AND the right R.O.I (return on investment) you should be playing, and you just need to figure out how to do it.

SO here's what you do: Frame out a solid foundation of some cash, grab your tools, and start hammering these fools.


How much are Mr. T lunchboxes going for on EBay?

That's all I got,
raychihasspoken