You’ve gotta love this game!

It turns out that March Madness isn’t just about basketball.  March Madness is basketball, right?  :)  Well, March was definitely a cray month for me.  Somehow I managed to weather the worst of it, and still come back fighting.

I’m happy to say that April has started out much better; I’ve said it before, but my favorite part of this game is depositing my winnings at the end of the night.

Psychologically, weathering a difficult string of losses is kind of hard.  I know that I am a winning poker player; I know that I am better than most of my opponents.  I enjoy hearing other players tell me that they respect my play, and don’t want to tangle with me.

So when I experienced a difficult losing streak a few weeks ago, I knew that I couldn’t let that get me down.  I knew that I had to believe in myself, and I had to get back into the game.  I had to review my strenghts and weaknesses, and correct problems.  I had to jump back into the game and rely on my knowledge and abilities.

Well, the big lesson I took away from March is how important sleep is to my game.  This point couldn’t have become more clear than it was on one of the biggest tournaments in the Seattle area.  The Northwest Women’s Championship at Tulalip was last weekend.  Last weekend was also a concert I had planned to go see with a friend.  Last weekend, I didn’t get very much sleep.  Here’s how it went down:

Saturday night my friend Dana and I drove to downtown Seattle to watch “Blue October” – an alternative band that has become popular.  (I felt like the oldest person in attendance.)  It was a good show, and we had a great time.  At about 1:00am we left, and started driving home.  At about that time another friend sent me a text message telling me that there is a great 2/40 spread game going on at The Crazy Moose.  The players were perfect, so he said, “school is in session.”  I had to go play.

By the time I got there most of the pretty bad players had busted out and lost enough money that they left.  It was still worth playing, and I ended up staying until 5:00am.  I get home at about 6:00am, and manage to get about 2 hours of sleep before I have to wake up and get ready for the REALLY BIG TOURNAMENT, which starts at 11:00am Sunday morning.  I pick Dana, my friend up at 9:00am and we stop through Starbucks for some coffee on the way.

I kind of knew I was in trouble; I felt irritable, and uncomfortable – but I was with my friend, and we were going to play poker – how bad could it be?

Well, about halfway through the tournament I’m doing okay.  I have about an average chip stack – not too bad, but not great either.  I’m still definitely in the running.  Our table breaks up and I’m seated at a new table, directly across from one of my favorite dealers – except she’s playing, not dealing.

The table seems tight; we hardly see a flop for the first 3-4 hands, and I look down at King, Ten offsuit, one off the button.  Everyone folds around to me, and I decide to make a move and raise to steal the blinds – a pretty standard play in this situation.

The button and small blind fold, and my favorite dealer calls.  The flop comes 5, 6, Jack – rainbow.  I think to myself “I have top pair with a King kicker.”  (I know- it’s not a typo.)

Big Blind bets out – a pretty substantial bet, which would put me close to all-in if I call.  The first thing I think is, that she hit a set.  I consider that she might hold pocket 5s or pocket 6s, and disregard the thought.  She might have called my raise with Ace Jack – actually it’s worth defending the big blind with a pretty wide range of hands – so it’s kind of difficult to put her on anything.  All I keep thinking is that I have top pair with a great kicker, and I can’t just call – I have to make a stance and move all-in.

I announce all-in, and ask my favorite dealer if she hit a set.  She nods affirmatively, and I say, “I have Jack King.”  To my horror, I turn over my cards and show 10 King offsuit.

Wow.

Well, even if I were correct about what I actually had I was still beat.

What a way to end a tournament.

Lesson learned.

I dedicated the remainder of the weekend to sleep, and tried to get 8 hours per night after that.  Now feeling better and more prepared I’ve gone back to the tables and managed to come away with a few wins, and deposited some money into my bankroll.  It feels good.

Lesson learned.