February 28 - Running bad

Bankroll: ~ $25.700
Monthly goal: None
Monthly win: $5.400
Hands played: 5000

I have had a terrible month this February and I have not felt like writing about it. Every time I felt the inclination to update my blog I have postponed it, telling myself that I could get back to even before making an update.

Despite the urge of the loss to convince me otherwise, I am more confident than ever that I play a winning game at $5/$10. $10/$20 is another matter and time will tell if I will ever feel confident at that level.

This is not my biggest losing streak, whether tallying it in time or loss. However, it has been tough, as losing streaks always are. We humans have a sense of justice, so when we see a month's worth of wages unjustly go the wrong way due to suck outs, this sense of justice infuriates us. Needless to say rage and fury has no good effect on the game of any poker player, but overall I believe I have handled it quite well this month.
One good aspect of a bad run is that it tends to enrage the urge to play more. I want my money back, but more than that I want to prove to myself that I can beat the game.

Summer is approaching all too rapidly and with summer comes the WSOP and slowly I start to long after the city of sin. 20 hour sessions at the MGM and check-raising tourists at the Rio is too much fun to pass up, especially since it comes only once a year. I do not want to dig into my savings or cash out too much of my bankroll for an adventure that most likely has a negative expectancy. So I need to get in some winning sessions again.
Party Poker is already running entry tournaments each Friday. The structure is good and the buy-in is agreeable, so I will take a few shots at getting to Vegas on the cheap.

February 2nd - School starting and goal missed.

Bankroll: ~ $31.100
Monthly goal: $6.000
Monthly win: $4.000
Hands played: 15000

I didn't reach my goal for the month, but I am happy with the result nonetheless. I managed to play a nice amount of hands and most of them I played well. Most of my profits came from $5/10 and overall I made money on all the limits I played except $10/20 where I lost $800.

I have been thinking about whether or not I should move up, but I guess I am not quite ready yet. It will require a bit more confidence and some more free time before I can aim to move up limits.

QQ in the Small Blind: This was my biggest single loss from the hands I played this month. I remember thinking that I was a bit deeper than I realized when I pushed. Re-raising wars are a common feature of the high stakes tables and I must admit I have not mastered how to adjust to them fully yet. I think I should read up on some strategy for re-raising before I get another month where I can play some more.

For now though school has started again. I had my first class yesterday and it feels good to start studying again. The teachers I have met so far seem nice and competent and the subjects are very interesting.
British History and Literature is one and American History and Literature is another. Both try to tie the impact of history with the literature of that period and I look forward to getting some reading done.