Poker Challenge Day 4

Day 4 of my Limit Poker Challenge was not as lucrative as the first 3 days but was a winner none-the-less adding $4.85 to my bankroll.. My streak is still intact, 4 days and counting. I received an excellent comment on my challenge from Sloe Times who has done a couple of Challenges of his own. I had stated a couple of times that the reason I ended my Challenge sessions was because I was starting to play so I wouldn't lose instead of playing to win. I was not willing to make the correct moves because I was afraid of losing the money I had already won. He states that I should consider the $25 I put up for the challenge to be already gone. It is an investment on my Poker Education and that the challenge is designed for me to get better and win or to bust out and if I am concerned about losing $25 then your head is in the wrong place for the challenge. AND HE IS EXACTLY RIGHT!! He goes on to put into perspective what $25 amounts to, i.e. a night at the movies, a munchies for the week-end, etc. He goes on to say the “$25 is the price of invaluable experience and opportunity to improve your poker play. Write the money off as gone already and what you're playing with is the ultimate in tournament chips. There's no limit to how many you can acquire and you win when you get to... that's a good point, you've haven't stated what your goal is.” HE IS EXACTLY RIGHT AGAIN!!

So here are the goals for my challenge (in no particular order):

• Become Comfortable playing at higher limits - After challenge is over I should continue to play at limits that I am unwilling to try right now. I would hope that at the end of the challenge I will only sit down at $1/$2 tables or higher. Some of this will depend on the size of my bankroll.

• Develop my game to its highest potential - This is harder to measure but I think the amount of increase, or decrease, in my beginning bankroll along with self evaluation should be able to determine this.
• Increased bankroll to at least $200 dollars or more or bust it completely.
  This goal may be changed as the Challenge goes forth. If I bust out the challenge is over and if I continue to do well then the upper end will have to be increased.

This morning I stopped because I had a tee time to play golf. I felt I was in the proper mindset to play on especially if I won even more money but man does not live by Poker alone. Sloe Times was extremely helpful with helping me fix this major leak in my game. Goal number one, To Develop My Game, means just that and it isn’t always leaks in how you play the card dealt, there are leaks in money management and in the psychological part of the game. My leak was not wanting to keep playing after I had won a certain amount for fear of losing it. This is a psychological leak that I can start fixing right now. My Challenge is already a success in that I have found and am fixing one major leak in my game.