New WPT Beauty and Fatalism
I see that PokerNews.com broke the story that Sabina Gadecki, actress, model, former Miss Polonia and former Miss Western Massachusetts, will be replacing Courtney Friel as the hostess for the WPT. I swear, one day we will have a brunette. Pictures of Sabina's 2002 pageant win and Courtney empty handed.
I was reading Felicia's post about her recent ambivalence about winning. If Felicia is in the middle of the "outcome belief" spectrum, I have definitely slipped into the dark side. Lately I have been experiencing an almost out of body fatalism about my game. It's not tilt. It's not frustration. But appears to be as costly. Even as I go through the motions to register, I mentally anticipate with detached resignation that it will all end with a near-bubble bad beat. And it does.
When it happens, I feel nothing. Well, not completely nothing. Somewhere deep inside, satisfaction lurks. Apparently if I can't have the satisfaction of winning, I have the satisfaction of being right about losing. I don't hold much cotton with superstition. I don't think I'm cursing myself. But I am more than willing to believe that I am not playing as I would without my new fatal attraction.
My losing hand yesterday (20 from the money in a 1000 player MTT) was pocket kings. I pushed all-in with limpers already in the pot. A player behind me reraised all-in with a bigger stack. Even with that protection the BB thought and called us both. It was my KK to the reraiser's TT. The BB's AJo took us both when he flopped two jacks. And I'm OK with all that. The thing that bothered me was that I actually almost balked at pushing in with the kings to begin with. And I thought to myself, if I was reluctant to commit with kings here, where else might I have held back.
I think I need to rekindle the passion. Maybe a work-free Vegas trip with my brother Matt is in order.
On the international front, new countries weighing into the blog: Aruba, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Lithuania, Norway, Dominican Republic, Portugal, and the Philippines.
posted by amy at 5/15/2006 04:58:00 PM
8 Comments:
I've always felt that way. It's not really anything recent, but it did get worse over time.
Sorry that you are experiencing the same lack of will to win.
Sorry to hear that your feeling that way. I'm an avid follower of your stuff, and I hope you can get out of that phase.
Might I recommend something to help remedy your problem? Watch some type of inspirational movie. Whether it be Rounders, Rudy, Miracle, Coach Carter (recommend this one), I don't care, but I do think that watching one of the pieces will get you "pumped up" and you will get your will to win back. This has worked for me, I can only hope it works for you as well.
Do you feel the same way when you play cash games and SnGs too or is the losing mindset only when you register for a tournament?
It sounds like you might need to step back and re-analyze why you're playing poker. Either that or maybe you need to set a goal.
Sorry you're in a mental funk and I hope you break out of it soon!
If you aren't enjoying playing, take a break. Come back refreshed and just play your game. You will make a money finish and magically your will to win will resurface once again.
Great to see that you have gone "independent" with your blogging!
Matt's right. Unless you are completely disenchanted with all forms of poker, change things up. Switch from NLHE to PLO8 or Stud/8. Go play some live cash games. That "change of scenery" argument really does seem to work. Good luck with it.
Amy, just do whatever you have to do to make sure that you're not really considering folding the KK in that spot. I mean, we've all been there yes (those of us who play regularly on pokerstars, in particular), but if you can't play two Kings preflop, then you clearly need to change something up. I can certainly conceive of a situation where I would lay down KK pretty fast (think one spot from the money in a big event, and 3 allins ahead of me preflop), but from what you described, you just can't let the bad beatage get you down to the point that you're making poor decisions with good cards.
Several months ago in my blog I detailed a streak of 14 consecutive tournaments where I took a bad beat to get knocked out. When I think back about that streak now, it's all like a bad dream or something, and I can't even really remember how I found the strength to persevere through it all. But in general I agree with Felicia that in the end, Variance is Variance, and everyone takes it on the chin from the big V sooner or later (who are we kidding, it's always Sooner isn't it?). My view is you just gotta keep playing what you know you're best at, and when on a big losing streak, just try extra hard not to let it affect your game.
Do you ever play in the WWdN tournaments? Next one is tonight (Tuesday), 8:30pm ET. You should join in the fun.
Am there, doing that, so hopefully we can crack out of the fatalism. Not healthy for sure.
Hey felica. I, too, have never had that Hellmuthian drive and will to win. I am a competitive person by nature, but I've always had a fairly realistic assessment of my chances. And I have alwasy suspected that my realism was potentially an attitude leak in my game. This new (and hopefully temporary)fatalism is a different spin entirely.
And All. Thanks for the advice. I'm trying it all. I think some of my problem has been online play. I'm probably a little weary of NLHE sngs. NLHE isn't my favorite game, but the sngs have been my bread and butter. Other than the WWdN (which was a blast) I'm taking a little break before Vegas. I think some non-hold'em live play may do the trick. Here's hoping.
Thanks y'all,
Amy
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