Time flys when you're having fun. A week went by without me noticing. Only played one session (think on 30th Nov) and lost $65. One iffy spot for a buyin (all in on 3-bet flop w/ NFD v's bottom pair after being 3-bet by 64o ffs). Just really wasnt there mentally.

http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/tip-ema...sit?utm_id=379

Not sure if people can read that, hope so. Its a bit about taking a break, heres a quote:
The main sign to look for is that your desire to play is waning. You should play poker when you want to play. It sounds obvious, but too many of us inexplicably keep playing even when we don't want to.

I also find that when I'm experiencing a lot of negative feelings, that's a good time for a break. If I'm feeling negative, not just from poker, but maybe from something else going on in my life, that's going to affect my play, usually for the worse.

The other thing I keep an eye out for is when I'm gambling more than usual. If I'm playing tournaments and I'm finding that I'm too willing to get all my chips in on a coin flip, that's a sign that I'm not playing my best and I need to walk away rather than let myself burn out.

Whatever your particular signs may be, the fact is that if you're consistently losing, chances are there's a reason for it. A lot of players will say, “Oh, I'm just running bad,” but it's rare that that's all there is to it.
I think that sums me up. Now he talks about taking a few days off, but I'm just not there yet. Its Wednesday now. Next week I'm away all week, and then the week after that I take leave from work on the Thursday until early Jan and will be away most of that time. Unless I feel good and WANT to play, I think I'll just take all of December off as well and come back pumped next year hopefully. That'll blow my VIP rating at noIQ, so I may also reconsider where I play. The new Everest points system seems cool and thats the fishiest site I've played yet, and maybe FT for guaranteed rakeback and many more tables to select from. Will have time to think about it later.


Btw, contrary to an earlier post, as part of this break I'm really removing myself from poker a lot. I'm only checking FTR maybe once or twice a week and really only this forum and PMs, and not logging into IRC. If anyone wants to chat I'm still on MSN, AIM, email/etc.