I Quit..........

..............Until Late 2007.

This isn't really that big of news. I am moving to Thailand on Monday. I got a gig as a research assistant studying leaf monkeys. Should be pretty cool. I'll still be posting occasionally. However, gambling is illegal in Thailand so no poker for me.

The only real surprise with my announcement is that it is coming a couple nights early. However, I am completely totally fed up with poker right now. I am in that vicious cycle where bad luck begats bad play which begats more bad luck.

I was planning on grinding through my current bad streak. I already dropped somewhere between 400 and 600 this week. However, I felt I could just drop down a few levels of money, regain some confidence, and save face before I left. Now I know that is just not possible.

Why do I know it? Well let's look at my first 10 hands of holdem tonight and then my first 5 hands of 7 card stud. I played these hands aggressively. I had just sat down at the tables, knew nothing about my opponents, and therefore was not going to try anything tricky.

Holdem Session:
Hand 1: Pocket 7s in big blind... flop q-j-8... i bet out... guy folds...
Hand 2: A-J... flop top pair of jacks... short stack moves all in... i call... he turns over k-j... hits king on turn
Hand 3: pocket kings: flop is 8-8-9... i bet out... different small stack moves all in... i call... he turns over 7-8
Hand 4: A-K suited... miss flop... have to fold when someone bets and its called to me
Hand 5: A-Q... flop top pair of queen... king hits on turn... we both check... he bets min on river... i call... he turns over king low
Hand 6: Pocket 10s... I am short stacked by now... it is raised with no callers to me... I push all in... he calls with pocket queens
Hand 7: Pocket Kings... A-4 reraises me all in preflop... flops an ace
Hand 8: 5-7 offsuit... see a cheap flop... miss and fold
Hand 9: Q-10 of clubs... flop is 9 and J of clubs... open ended straight flush draw w/ an over card... I check... it is bet and raised... I check raise all in... Q-10 calls me... I miss the flush and we split
Hand 10: I flop Jack high flush... someone else flopped the nut flush...

Note... these arent the first 10 hands I played... these are the first 10 hands I was dealt at my table. If you don't believe me I'll send you my hand history. Actually I won't. I'll be in Thailand. So just believe me.

I'm not going to share my hand history from my stud session. I've changed my mind. Let's just say that I thought a change of game might do me well but it really just ended up being more of the same.

So yeah, I am quitting poker 2 nights early. My poker bankroll aka my vacation account lighter by quite a few Benjamins. Good luck to everyone elses poker lives. Hope that all the bad poker luck goes with me to Thailand and stays away from all you.

I'll leave you all with my addition to the Zen of Lebowski.

Big Lebowski ~ "Strong men also cry. Strong men also cry."

To all my fellow semi-pro and pro grinders out there. Deep down, you know you are good. Your bankroll and winning history speak to that. But lately you've been hurting. It's okay. From time to time, it happens to all of us. Strong men do cry and good poker players do go on losing streaks. But then we stand up, dust ourselves off, and go back to what we are good at. That incredible bit of trickery that includes kicking a donkey in the ass in just the right way that he doesn't even mind it until we are long gone.

Until that time comes for me next year, I guess I'll go read a book.