After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser

I arrived home on Saturday evening. The drive back from school wasn't bad because I didn't hit any traffic in DC. Finals were pretty rough but I did good. I received my final grades from three courses so far. I'm still waiting on one final grade, though. If I can pull out an A- then I'll make the Dean's List for the first time. Right now I think its borderline between an A- or a B+. Say a prayer for me.

Ive been able to log some hands since getting home but not as many as I would like. The times have been quite hectic around here. Last night was my best friend's and my sister's birthday. My sister turned 20, Ill be celebrating her birthday on Friday with some of her sorority sisters. Last night was my friend's 21st, so we went out last night relatively low key, but he has an entire evening of festivities planned for Saturday night. Some great times ahead in the near future.

Anyways, I played on Sunday night and lost about $700 over 2k hands. Not too bad considering I was down $1.8k about 1200 hands into the session. I took some donk for a BI and a half at a 3-6 table when it broke and left us heads up. Beautiful. Monday night I came back with a vengeance. Was playing really LAG and started catching hands at the perfect time. I cant believe how many bluffs I induced. People were putting their stacks in the middle with absolutely nothing and I happened to have a hand. Finished up $3.8k in 700 hands. $1.9k at both the 400s and 600s. Best night yet.

My coach is excellent in keeping things in perspective because he has emphasized that the good and bad nights are only a small squiggle on a long term graph. Yes, its cool to win nearly 4k in one night, but its tough to quantify because its only a number. I want to get to 5-10 as soon as possible, so this is yet another step in the right direction. I'll never be complacent with my results because satisfaction is only good for stalemating my progression as a player. Ive seen it several times in the poker community already where someone experiences substantial success for the first time and automatically assume that their abilities are near perfect.

Too many players worry about winning and losing. They think, "If I run good..." or even worse "If I don't run bad..." This is a loser's mentality; one who is not confident in their abilities. If you are truly confident in your abilities as a player, you should focus on playing your best. Playing your best and losing is fine. However, playing bad with bad results is obviously not OK. Some people even play bad and win, thus allowing them to believe their play is Hellmuth-esque. Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that if you feel you have an edge in a game, then you should really focus on playing your best and nothing else.