Looking at my stats in May, I have to come to the conclusion that it was quite devastating. I had a streak of about 70 events without a single win which is quite unusual, since out of 760 events on ACR Poker so far, I have won a total of 42 events – in theory about 1 in 30.
Apart from experiencing the usual suckouts and bad beats, I probably included far too many shots at 22 and 33$ tournaments, tried to clear the bonus too often without playing with the required focus, and did not bring my A Game to the tables.
I came to realize that my edge is far narrower than initially assumed – and this is totally fine. Back in the day, some 20 years ago, I had this “revelation” already that I will never become a poker pro, and I also do not want to become one.
Quite the opposite: I am very happy that I was able to create a life with purpose, earning money with meaningful work, and having enough funds to also purse one of my beloved hobbies (again): playing occasional poker.
I consider poker as mental training, and surprisingly, I took it with some indifference that I lost. Thankfully, the weekly bonus of 50$ evened it out a bit, so that the actual losses are more in the 250-300$ range which is still significant, since it was about 30-40% of my bankroll but it is not the end of the world.
Playing my first set in June with a profit of 80$ (which was about 13% of my bankroll) showed me, how fast I could gain again, and I want to be more disciplined in the month of June: No shots at 22-33 or even 55$ tables, and consistent play at ABI 7 for the next 150-250 events.
Then, I will analyze my performance again, once I have reached about 1000 events on ACR Poker; however, I have the feeling that witout any pressure, I will perform much better again. One of my biggest takeaways is that you just can´t force it in poker, you have to accept variance and also tilt.
But the better players realize earlier than other players that they do not play their A game, and that it would be better to step down in ABI, take a break, and reduce their losses.
I also accept that I might be a slightly winning player with maybe around 2-5% ROI but I am not a crusher at the tables – and that´s perfectly fine. Given that I am running a few companies with a few dozen team members, and that I am training about 10-15 hours per week for my triathlon events, there is also not enough time to become a much better poker player – at least from my point of view.
So, I will my next events with more ease, without any musts and set-in-stone goals. If I make a profit, then ok; if not, it is also ok – as long as I play to the best of my abilities, focused, and with the intention to make the best decision in each and every situation. I think this is the best approach for me right now, and the most likely one that will bring sustainable success!