Eclectic slide

After a full month of solid, profitable ring-game results, the inevitable slide has occured. Nothing startling. Every bluff is picked off. Every preflop raise is called by junk that hits. Every continuation bet gets called or raised. Every mid-pocket pair runs into flops full of overcards. Every big made hand gets little or no action, regardless of whether I play them fast, slow or medium. Every big pair raised preflop get no callers, save the pocket aces that were called by 6-7 sooooted and benefited from an orgasmic flop of 4-5-8. (His smooth call post-flop and all-in for another $40 on the turn should have told me something. Blinded by the rockets' red glare, I failed to see the obvious.)

I feel as if I'm dealing with this unfortunate market correction with more equanimity than in the past (although I have looked backward in the mirror in search of a hidden "kick me" sign.) I've continued to play the game that propelled me through the good times and have been hyper-alert for any warning signs of impending tiltage. I've been playing as long as I feel I'm concentrating well and quitting when I do not, regardless of how much I've lost during the session.

The only (small) saving grace is that I've managed to turn a couple of spectacularly crappy sessions into just plain crappy. But it's a bit depressing to watch my once healthy bankroll reduced to barely one-third its former size.

Matt at The Poker Chronicles wrote awhile ago that the only real solution to a shooting slump is to keep shooting. Trust me, I'm still firing. I just need to hear swish of the nets instead of the clank of the rim right now.