New year, new computer, new results

Winter break has concluded but it was a nice break. Always nice to spend time with family and friends. I am now back at Duke and have just finished my second day of classes. I won a laptop through Cardrunners' promotional giveaway and received it on January 2nd. Since then Ive been losing. Even though losing sucks, its good to get a taste of humble pie every now and then.

The more I play, the more I realize how important it is to have a terrible short term memory. In sports it is also important to have a bad short term memory. A pitcher who gives up a home run must quickly eliminate any negative emotions or thoughts to optimally pitch against the next batter. In a tournament, a wrestler must forget about a loss almost as quickly as it can happen. Most tournaments are double elimination. Once you lose, you are placed in the consolation bracket and are essentially wrestling for third place. It is easier to take first place than it is to take third in a tournament. A quarterback must also possess the ability to forget things quickly. After an interception, he is still the leader of the offense and cannot dwell on a previous bad play. A good quarterback stays focused on the task at hand. This easily correlates to poker. The hand histories are stored in a database for review. There is no need to dwell on an error or bad beat while at the table, because we have all the time in the world to dwell on it during our session review.