Took a break (sorta), thought about it .....

[DeanCarl]

.... and talked to some very good friends who have carte blanche to tell me when I'm screwed up (and exactly HOW I'm screwed up ). Spent a lot of time thinking about why I'm playing this game in the first place and what changes I need to make in me to be able to play, play well, and enjoy the game.

And so now I'm ready to get back to playing. Hopefully with a new and improved attitude toward the whole thing. I've given my self a goal (to build my paltry $53 dollar bank roll to $500 (I do have an "out" toward this as, out of our budget, I get $50 bucks a month "allowance" I can do with whatever I want.)

I've added some disciplin (sp?) to my game by setting up a schedule of when I play. Since I'm disabled and homebound I play from 8 or 9am to 5 or 6pm, 45min sessions with 15 minute breaks inbetween (this fits my background as my job, before I got sick, was a city bus driver (very precise on times and such) and I'm very comfortable doing it that way.

I've made a promise to stay inside my BR. Right now I'm playing nickle/dime limit poker on Poker Stars. Since I can't afford Poker Tracker (yet) I made up a Works spreadsheet to keep some accurate records on various important (to me) aspects of my game.

And I've started doing a LOT more studying. I can't afford books right now but there's plenty of on-line stuff out there (including here) to keep me busy until I can.

So the hope is this game will become, again, the enjoyable passtime it used to be and maybe I'll make a buck or two along the way.

I apologize for the previous rant and "I quit" message. Just goes to show just how far into the "tilt zone" I was.

Dean

[gabe]

keep a postive attitude. always.

[dalai007]

Glad to have you back! Sounds like you did the right thing and are now in a much more positive frame of mind. Use that to your advantage and take the small steps to build back up. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

[UG]

Glad to see you're back. Hopefully you've ironed out the kinks in your game and can start whipping some ass.

It sounds like you're still new at this, so let me offer a piece of advice to you...In the early going read as much as you can. Read stuff online and in books (check out the library, you may stumble upon some really great finds there). Apply what you read to your game.

After you've got a decent grasp of how things work.....Play, play, play, and play some more. Experience is so crucial, the more hands you see, the greater number of tables you play on over time, the better you'll understand how to be a winning poker play.

Ohh yeah, become a bonus whore.

Good luck!

[Grand_MasterB]

it will turn around buddy...glad to see you didnt give it up!

[Trikflow77]

Now you have the right attitude towards improving. I would suggest that you also have a study time during the day where you either go over previous hands or read up and strive to improve your game. I dont play poker on sundays, I spend the time reading and going over the weeks play and seeing what I need to work on. When you build your bank roll up alittle more, PM me and I will tell you how to get pokertracker free. Good luck!

[Pizzaman]

Great to see you back DeanCarl. I went through a little of what you did, and I'm sure that by reading some of the posts, you can tell that a lot of people do. The break and good attitude will help. Also, as others have already stated, read read read read everything you can get a hold of. It'll get better.

[ensign_lee]

I'm still in the middle of my break right now. Good to see that someone finished theirs. I hope to do that sometime.

[ekillian]

I just took a week long break. It was easier than expected.