A Quiet Week

I’m not playing much poker this week. Running errands and playing golf have put poker on the back burner for a few days. I did become a real money player at Poker Stars in anticipation of doing my Poker Challenge at their site. I sat down and played at a .10/.20 Limit Holdem table and won a $1 dollar after about 30 minutes of play. This was just a short test to get used to their tables and layout. I like the layout of the site and it works very much like Absolute Poker so I am very comfortable at Poker Stars. This week-end I will be playing a lot more poker there and hopefully will have much better news to report early next week. I am about half way through Miller and Sklansky’s book Small Stakes Hold’em: Winning With Expert Play. I know that I am learning lots but will have to reread it to really get the full effect as it is so full of quality information.

Golf has been about average this week. I have gotten my handicap down to 11 strokes for 18 holes and am working on getting it down to 10 by the end of July. My putting is doing quite well but now I am not hitting my irons very good. I am going to hit into my net quite a bit this week-end in preparation for Monday’s match.
I have been playing golf all summer with my friend Terry. He is a better golfer than I am. He carries about a 7 or 8 handicap for 18 holes. His drives are usually straight but not real far. His irons are so-so. It is his chipping and putting that keeps his scores down. He is an excellent chipper and putter. He gets at least one or two birdies per round which helps to wipe off any bogeys he gets and keeps his handicap low. It does get tiring to here him say how he was “lucky” to sink that putt or make that chip. If I played against him just a couple of times, I might agree that he was lucky, but I have played with him over 20 rounds and each and every round he makes excellent chips and excellent putts. He is not lucky, he is good. He is making me a better golfer but it is hard to get beat time after time. I have started getting strokes from him based on our handicaps. That is making our rounds very competitive. It is the only way I can compete on an even basis with him. He has shot in the 70’s or low 80’s more times than I have ever shot in my entire golfing career. My lowest 18 hole round is 79 and Terry averages around 80 or 81 strokes. My goal is to get good enough so I don’t have to get strokes from Terry. Maybe by the end of July I will be there. I hope so. I would really like to hear Terry comment on how “lucky” I am or to hear him say time after time, “nice par” or “nice birdie”.