Etiquette

I’ve been living fairly well since I began house-sitting. Doing some press-ups, taking care of my skin (I have dry skin problems), eating some vegetables and fruit, drinking juice. These are things that often go by the wayside in my normal life; because so much of my time is fucked up by having my mother around (talking endlessly) I want to squeeze every moment of lazy pleasure out of my time, and taking care of myself goes out of the window.

With as much solitude as I like, I can find time to cook, groom and exercise. But what good it is when I still smoke (and drink a little too much)? Sigh…

To quote the late, great Jeffrey Bernard; ‘Starting tomorrow it’s all going to be the same’.

Last night I did not speak to a human soul (apart from a shop assistant when I bought milk and lager) from leaving work and going to sleep. That’s not ideal; for all my love of solitude I am also a social beast. My best mate preferred to watch cricket on telly.

So, either side of a baked potato and broccoli dinner, I played poker. The pattern of the weekend continued, in that I won handsomely at Pot Limit Omaha and lost at other games. I can’t really complain, since PLO is where the biggest wins are possible. It has been possible to find a suitable game quite a lot since Friday, and I have been lucky enough to hit some hands. I have also been playing nice and tight, while being prepared to stick the chips in when the situation demands it, and have avoided any of the annoying beats that blighted last week.

Let’s take a look at the numbers: In eight hours of PLO cash from Friday through Monday, I have won $293. I’ve made some good folds, played tight pre-flop, raised when it was warranted, hit some hands, avoided suck-outs. I have borderline sucked out myself a couple of times, but nothing outrageous – just borderline calls where I was getting 2/1ish on my money and figured I had those kind of odds, and with a decent stack fancied the gamble. I’ve either hit, or discovered the guy had basically nothing.

But by far the biggest factor in this performance has been the fact that I am ONLY playing when the table is predominantly weak. Its like Tommy Angelo said; compared to game selection, my individual betting decisions are relatively unimportant.

Besides PLO, the night was a small loser. Heads-up limit hold ‘em has slipped to less than 8 bucks an hour. I think I have lost my focus a little bit and played my cards rather than my opponent. I also came 5th in a $10+1 sit and go. That means I am fractionally down after three of these games, and I have to say that the last two have definitely played differently to the £5 games.

I did take ten bucks from a guy at $1/$2 heads-up five card stud. He only had $10 – five big bets – at the table, and since I got (K)K and 9(9) in the first few hands he lost it pretty quick. I then left, even though he brought another $10 to the table. I think five stud kinda sucks heads-up. The antes are so small that they’re hardly worth stealing and it can get very dull. Still, I think often about the etiquette of leaving a heads-up game. I don’t ever want to be seen as a hit-and-run merchant, but I think if you bust a player out of what he was prepared to put on the table then that’s probably fair enough. I saw an opportunity where a player had a tiny amount in front of him, which usually indicates weakness, so a chance to take a few bucks for minimal risk. I would be interested in any comments on the etiquette, anyway.

Finally, I made a snap decision to keep seeing The Girl, last night. But then I couldn’t get hold of her on the phone, so we will talk tonight. It is dependent on her accepting a couple of things, including the fact that I am not going to stop having a close friendship with my ex.

Really finally, following yesterday’s comments on booze, I worked my way through four cans of Stella Artois while I played last night.