Things That Increase (Decrease) Your Bankroll

I have been looking over the bankroll for the past two months and its not pretty. A two month slide when I was supposed to be gearing up to bring extra cash to Vegas for the WPBT Aladdin event is not going "as planned".

Here's a list of things that have increased my poker bankroll:

- Bowling (won most improved bowler, high handicap series, and got money back in a fund we put money into each week)

- Pull Tabs (probably won at least $150 over the past month, minus any multiple replays under the beer taps)

- Handouts from the wife (once in a while she'll give me $20 to spend which I usually pocket and save... after she goes shopping of course)

- Volleyball (see below)


Things that have NOT increased the poker bankroll:

- Poker (a longer dry spell than John Travolta in a hit movie)

- Casino Whoring (even losing while clearing bonuses and betting on the Kentucky Derby)

I tell ya, losing streaks really test your patience for this little card game we play. For instance two hands cost me four hours worth of playing on Saturday. I ran QQ into AA twice on rag boards with no overcards. Once was in a cash game when I was testing the 200NL tables (luckily I was up a little and it didn't cost me my entire buy in. The other was deep into a $10 tourney on UB where I was in the top 15 in chips and called the only person who could bust me at the table.

I'm not upset by the losing, I'm more upset that I correctly put them on Aces or Kings, yet I still CALLED (not raised). This has been a tremendous leak in my game. I scoop the little pots with steals but when the big pot comes along, I seem to get the worst of it too often.

Impatience perhaps? Could be. I know I should stop, drop, and roll before leaping into a decision for all my chips. Too often I find myself hitting the all-in button before thinking out the possible hands they have and what they think I have. Just a few plays this past week and I would be praising the poker gods instead of cursing them.

Away from poker I played a volleyball tourney all day on Saturday at the 152 Club in Albertville. Top shelf liquor here included a bottle of SoCo, Al would be proud. Even though we went 8-0 during pool play, we lost in the championship match but managed to pay off our entry fee and some of the bar tab (One2Many? Guilty).

Mother's Day included a huge brunch at my place with family. Egg bake, mammoth muffins, cheesy potatoes. Yummy. Even a bottle of Lipitor wouldn't lower my cholesterol enough after stuffing myself silly. Of course, my wife decided it would be great to do some yard work immediately after everyone went home. My body politely disagreed with her, especially after playing and drinking all day the previous day. Her cool stare into my soul called my bluff and I found myself sawing branches and hauling brush for the remainder of the day.

So much for a relaxing weekend.

Thanks for dropping by now go read about this horse who managed to cost me a couple of bucks this weekend. Had I been properly drunk at the time, I probably would have bet on him.