All Hold'em, All the time...?

On Sunday night there is a $40 buy-in NLHE tourney. There is only one optional rebuy/add-on, to be used within the first hour. If you bust out again, too bad, so sad, you are out. So it's usually an $85 investment ($40+40+5 optional dealer's add-on).

I started out playing very well. That is usually when I get into trouble. I had increased my starting 3000 chips to about 4000 or so, when I decided to get fancy. We had a guy at our table who was playing almost any hand, and raising with any ace, any pair. The rest of the hands he limped. So when he raised up front with A3o, I decided I would trap him with a bad ace, with my AKs. The flop came A3x. I figured I had him, and put him all-in. Yeah, he had a bad kicker, alright, a bad kicker that gave him two pair, lol. The board never paired, nor did I catch my king, so I was crippled down to about 1000 in chips. I did the rebuy.

Glenn felt bad about the hand, because he dealt it to me, but I just laughed and chided myself for trying to get fancy. Had I reraised him, I'd have been HU with a woman who had 66, and the trey wouldn't have mattered. Live and learn.

Not long after that, I misplayed another hand, and then didn't play again until we were down to three tables and I was a short stack with only four BB's left.

Suddenly it hit me again, as it has several times in the past. I simply don't care for Hold'em. I don't like it enough to be concerned about the outcome. I don't care if I play the hand or not, if I win the hand or not, if I outplay my opponent or not, if I get outdrawn by a one-outer or a twenty-two outer, if I make the final table, if I bubble, if I win. I just don't care. It's become like video poker, I just sit there like a zombie not caring about the game or my investment.

This is when you know you're in trouble.

So once again, I'm going to stop playing HE. I'm just wasting my time and money. I'll stick to other poker games and tourneys when they come up.

After the tourney, a Stud game got going, and I sat in that for about an hour. Didn't make a penny, but had a good time. I don't care for 1-5, but I was just relaxing, so it didn't matter. All of the dealers were scared to deal, most of them have never dealt anything except HE. Glenn was my first dealer, and I got to laugh at him making little mistakes. For whatever reason, I thought he'd be okay, because we played so much Stud in AC. But it wasn't to be, because he has gotten used to HE, HE, all the time, every time. It's a curse.

My brain started cooking again playing Stud. My adrenaline kicked in, my power over the table came back to me. What have I been thinking, playing a game I don't even care for? And why do I have to ask myself this question all of the time, and keep coming back to it? The only thing I can say is that I'm off balance. I should be put away in the nut house.

I know, you guys knew it all along!

Felicia :)