Why Do You Play Poker?

For the money?

For the rush?

For the mental challenge?

For fame?

For fun?

Personally, I play for the money and only the money. I would much rather be wealthy and unknown than wealthy and known. Of course, I have been poor and unknown and was still fairly happy, so poor and known would have to be the worst of the lot.

Recently someone won a large pot in the Mega-Millions Lottery and had an attorney claim the prize to keep his/her identity a secret. Brother, I've always said that I would do the exact same thing. I would be here one day, and fishing in the Carribean the next.

"Hey, where did QA go?"

"Don't know, haven't seen him in a while."

Perfect.

Good luck and don't suck,

-QAsRevenge

I'm Baaaaack!

Yep, I'm back!

In full Thong Loving, Poker Playing Glory!

Just needed a little time off to get my mind fresh.

Guess the combination of crappy cold weather, the holidays, a hurt shoulder, and years of grinding at the tables finally got to me. Add to that, my new-found love of the Ukulele, and I was happy to not have to spend hours a day staring at a computer screen, battling avatars for money.

But, after a nice long break I finally started to get the itch again.

No real reason that I can find, I just felt like playing again. Rather than jump back in at my normal Pot Limit Omaha game though, I decided to ease myself back into the water, and played Limit Hold-Em for the first time ever.

And you know what? It's actually kind-of fun! I can open a table or two, watch a little TV, and practice the Ukulele all at the same time. And still make money!

After so many years of playing Omaha and No-Limit cash games, where focus is paramount and any mistake can cost you a buy-in, it's kinda fun to just splash around a bit. It's been a good lesson, and I know that I'll start mixing my games up more when I feel myself starting to get fried in the future.

Another benefit is that as I have started to go back to my normal games now, I feel that playing Limit has actually helped my hand reading. So many hands go to showdown that you can't help but to get better ideas of people's hand ranges. Guess that's how Daniel got so good at it.

So, there you have it. I'm back, the Thongs are back, and there will be lots more to come. Well, after I replace my PC, which went Blue Screen-O-Death on me last week.

Good luck and don't suck,

-QAsRevenge

Ukulele Time

Ever got burned out playing poker?

I did.

But I'll admit that I have a tendency to take my hobbies a little too far.

An example; The AVP Pro Volleyball Tour came to a beach close to me when I was about 18. I had just become interested in volleyball due to a weekly game that we played behind a friend's house. Beer, gorilla rules, you know what I mean.

Anyway, I sat my chair down right next to center court and watched Randy Stoklos, Sinjin Smith and all the guys all day. I was instantly a Stokey fan, and I immediately thought, "I can do this! We're the same size!"

I was supposed to go home that day, but instead, I sent my girlfriend home with her parents, slept in my car, and then watched every minute of the rest of the tournament.

Three years later I was playing Open. Then played for twenty more.

Similiarly, I caught the poker bug about 8 years ago. And I dove in. I read everything poker related, watched all of the shows, played every chance I got. Thousands and thousands of hours. Quit my job and played poker for forty hours a week. Had great days, crappy days, great runs, crappy runs, and everything in between. It was fun, it was not fun, it was a great mental challenge, it was tedious. But all of the sudden, I stopped.

Don't know why, but I just stopped. I haven't clicked on one of those little poker icons in more than a month, and have had absolutely no desire to do so! None! Nada! Now I just skim the articles in the magazines I once devoured, and it's shocking how quickly I went from always playing to not playing at all. Like a light switch was turned off. (Hmm...I have taught my girlfriend a lot about Hypnosis. Just sayin)

Hell, I played volleyball until my body's bitter end. It told me when to stop. And yet, I still work-out as if I could take it back up any day now.

Guess this time I was mentally fried.

One thing I always tried to teach people in my hypnotherapy practice was that your actions always follow your strongest subconscious (emotional) desire. And that it then fell on your conscious (logical) mind to rationalize your behavior. Well, I haven't been able to rationalize this one yet so I'll just have to trust my subconscious.

I'm sure I'll start to get the itch back soon, and that I'll start playing poker again. But first, I want to get Jack Johnson's 'Breakdown' perfected on the Ukulele.......

Christ. Here we go again.

Good luck and don't suck,

-QAsRevenge

PS. The Ukulele in the picture is a custom model made by Dave Means at www.glyphukulele.com

Don't Be That Guy

"OMFG! How could you make such a stupid play!?"

"Another idiot gets lucky!"

****ing moron!

Etc.

All poker players are familiar with the chat box chastising that happens during online poker play. And occasionally, the person doing it may even be you.

The truth is though. Berating your opponents cost you money!

Look, no poker player ever plays perfectly. Even Phil Ivey once stated that he had never played a perfect session. As is often said; "Poker is a game of incomplete information". Even the best players err or have lapses in judgment.

That said, sometimes what look like mistakes are actually done intentionally to help create a more profitable table image. I personally have no trouble throwing away my first buy-in making loose calls or showing down light to create an image that will get me paid off time and time again.

But what happens when you start berating the average opponent or opponents for their mistakes? They either tighten up, or leave. The exact opposite desired result. You want players that are playing poorly or tilting to continue to do so. Calling them out does not achieve this. In fact, what often happens is that not only does the offending player tighten up, the entire table does, not wanting to risk being publicly flogged for their errors.

As a therapist, I understand that the psychological need for retribution, but, the satisfaction of this desire does nothing to help satisfy one's other desire. The desire to make money! All it does is create a nit-style, less profitable, poker environment. Not an optimal result.

So, the next time you feel the need to call someone out for their play, remember two things.

1. They know they made a mistake.

2. It will cost you money to tell them so.


Good luck and don't suck,


-QAsRevenge

QAsRevenge Poker From The Mind Up

Can you make a living playing online poker? Some do. Most don't.

Some play for fun, others play for distraction, but some have the same goal as I. To become wealthy playing poker! I want to be able to make my own hours, travel to various Carribean Islands as well as other countries. Go fishing, play golf. All on my own schedule, and all while using bad poker player's money!

Even though there is a wealth of written information out there, most of it is geared towards learning poker skills, and not the emotional toll of playing poker for money. Anyone that has tilted off a huge chunk (or all) of their bankroll knows what I'm talking about. Learning to deal with poker's ups and downs will be the main focus of this blog. There will never be a bad beat story or whining here! Nobody cares!

Now, let's be real. It's not in my best interest to help bad poker players, as my goal is to take as much money from them as possible. But hopefully, writing and sharing my experiences will help me to improve my game, and if it helps a few others at the same time, I don't see the harm. There are millions of players that I'm sure will never read this.

I intend to use my previous training as a Clinical Hypnotherapist to improve my game and will be happy to explain the techniques to my readers as I go along. That way, we can both learn to strengthen our minds and improve our poker games at the same time.

Good luck and don't suck,

-QAsRevenge