January 2011 – Spencer Heckathorn

January 1, 2011, 5:23 pm - The date here is potentially wrong I think this might have been 2009 (note that the prefix old means I have not updated the grammar or spelling mistakes it is posted as it is from an old version of this site) So I have been KO' ed recently by allergies. I have now comeback over the last 2 days and I was so looking forward to playing but I have been playing so bad it's unbelievable. Mostly my poor play is due to tilting after taking beats and wanting to play too many hands, however a part of it significant enough to mention is due to something else entirely it's like I somehow forgot how to play well...... Really odd right? It's only day two and its only been a week since I played but somehow I find myself unsure if a play is correct or what to do in different spots, and yes this is something I might normally suffer it just somehow seems that recently these problems are more pronounced and present then before. More than likely though, it is nothing, just an odd facet of variance, only it would be the kind that opens one up to making incorrect changes in their game. For instance, today it seemed as if I was playing in the twilight zone, people were drawing to crazy hands with no regards for odds, players were making the worst folds, bets, calls, and in general plays, the problem comes in that I was also doing this! I found myself several times calling post flop looking for a gut shot (WTF), somehow when I would fold I would say something like, "was I supposed to fold there?" Sadly every time I would see this only after the hand was completed and this is a problem I noticed just as my allergies were starting to kick in, I had several days where everything just seemed "off" one of the most notable days was that of the very day the earthquake hit Japan, I'm not saying there is a relation but I have always wondered if some of us are more affected by happenings such as this then others....On the notorious Friday I was completely unable to follow any action, I had to use the replayer as a crutch, I did manage to sneak my way into the money I think it was 14th place finish in an 180, but that was nothing because I did not realize how bad I was playing till I went and played live that evening, oddly my fist clue that I might have had a problem that day was that I even went and played my general thought being I do not have the bankroll to play live games on Friday and Saturday when the players are more aggressive and fishy than normal, I found myself completely ill-equipped to categorize any play by my opponents nor could I develop decent counter strategies, it was like I was on drugs or drunk but neither was true. That night I also went on to lose way more than I would normally allow myself to lose, mostly due to unclear thinking. This is mentioned because here I am now somewhat in a similar state of mind, just clouded, and I am thinking that it's a good time to do a blog post or anything other than play some more.