Bullies at the table....

I played a cash game tonight. It's been two weeks since I played for cash and it feels like it has been forever. I am trying to be conscious of how I play and to play consistently. Last night, a woman mentioned that she has been playing poker at a casino quite a bit, and her style of play is all mixed up. I'm pretty sure that I am playing the same. I noticed that this week, the bullies at the table were really beginning to piss me off. I'm on a pretty short fuse right now anyway, so of course, I am aware that that wasn't helping my mood any.

What I realized is that the men that were being bullies at the table would eventually do themselves in. They think that they can continuously push, push, push and keep stealing the pot. And then they don't seem to be able to stop themselves---when someone calls them. Don't they know that no one is going to call them unless they "really" have something? It seems like women are able to fold much easier than men.

Last Monday, a very rude, arrogant male kept pushing the table every hand....and at one point, he was definitely the big stack at the table. After the break, the cards changed for everyone except him---and we all started calling him...and winning. In no time, he was out of the tournament.

Another guy displayed terrible sportsmanship at the final table during heads up with another gentleman. Do these guys think that by displaying arrogance and attitude that it makes them a better poker player?

Tonight, I almost folded pocket Queens because someone went all in pre-flop with 16.00, and one other person called. Naturally, I thought one of them had pocket kings or pocket aces--something told me to call (thereby putting myself all in, also). I did, and how exciting! I had my first Quad Queens! One of the guys had absolutely nothing....and I'm not sure why he called the all in except that he didn't expect me to call. Especially since this group can count on one hand the number of times that I have gone all in.

Again, I think the lesson of this week for me, is that I need to accept the fact that there are always going to be bullies at the table and that I just need to play the cards that I have and listen to my own internal guiding system that says to play or fold. If I let my emotions get tangled up with wanting to "get" the bully--I will end up playing sloppy or more loosely. Sometimes it might pay off. I know that I get bluffed out of many pots.

I gotta work on bluffing a little bit more. That will certainly help me win some more pots! I have got to keep my emotions in check though when playing poker. I can't let other people get to me, or throw me off my game.

Taking A Break

I played in 3 tournaments last week. Made it to the final table in 1. We had the final tournament for our 12 week women's league...that was alot of fun....and I am so happy to have been the catalyst behind it getting going.

Last night, I did go play regular poker...and ended up coming in first by default because the person working couldn't come in first! Wooohooo! And up until the blinds went up to 5,000/10,000---I hadn't won any hands! And then the cards seemed to change!

I did notice that I get VERY irritated with people that raise WAY beyond a normal raise....and then they either get mad cuz they got called....or they have absolutely nothing. Good thing I have pretty good impulse control, though....there were a couple of people that definitely were PUSHING my buttons big time!

So while I planned to play poker tonight....I decided that I would stay in and not play....instead I worked on building this blog site! It's almost as addictive and fun as playing poker!!!!!!!!! haha....just kidding! I don't know that there is anything more enjoyable to me right now than playing poker!