Stop

Well obviously I couldn't get through with the challenge. Knowing me, I'm actually surprised it got to day one! Variance is a bitch and the truth of the matter is that to properly take on a challenge of this nature, I'd have to be focused on it and not just play on a now-I-can-play-for-half-hour basis. That or losing sleep playing poker which only adds up as the week goes on.

No matter. Not a problem. We'll put this challenge of mine on hold and focus on more important things on my path to become a better poker player. Today I feel like talking about burnout.

Too much is too much

Whatever you do in life, if you do too much of it, you will eventually (and occasionally) get sick of it. Sometimes it gets borderline compulsive and obsessive and when it gets to that, you better watch out and do something about it. Gaming and gambling are among those activities with the most propensity for compulsion and damaging your life. I obviously do not jump in the "if it's gambling, it's evil" bandwagon, I'm a player after all, but I do believe in balance.

Sadly, I've never had much balance in my life. When I find something I like, I have trouble letting it go and do it almost obsessively. I'm just not very good at giving myself orders so in the past, when faced with the necessity to study and the will to play, I very rarely studied. It was only when things got out of hand and the prospect of flunking became a very real threat, that somehow the switch was turned and I did apply myself to the books.

Poker, obviously, is a perfect ground of confusion and losing your balance. It's obviously a notion quite impossible to grasp for people who don't play or are not interested in it, but it's definitely a game that can mess with you, as it deals with both luck and skill. While I'll postpone a discussion of skill vs. luck in poker, for now suffice it to say that Poker being the game of incomplete information and skill that it is, it can lead you to an insatiable desire to improve your game, to become better, to become closer to the best players out there.

In my case, while I do have a strong urge to learn and improve my skills, I'm guilty of a bad learn/play ratio. Too often I forfeit reading and thinking about the game outside of the tables, for time spent sat down at a table, especially online. And if you think rationally about it, this behavior can only lead to disaster. If you play a very competitive game but don't spend enough time improving your skill, it's obvious the results won't improve either and the longer you play with less than satisfying results, the more upset and frustrated you become. And I've already started feeling the burden some time ago.

Don't Erase, Yet Rewind

So, the conclusion is that I need to stop thinking about challenges and about enlarging my bankroll and, god forbid, making a living through Poker. If I have a genuine love for the game, which I do, I should put my foot on the brake pedal right now and for a while play less poker and think/read/learn/study more about the game. I do believe I got to a point where I evolved into an slightly above average player, which doesn't necessarily mean a winning player and maybe not even a break-even player. But I do feel I need to take it down a notch, reducing time spent playing, especially online, and using that time to read and think more about strategies, situations, analyzing hand histories, watching videos, etc.