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Bigshots and Distractions

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

cash roll Bigshots and DistractionsThe world of poker is full of stories about players who come into the game with some big initial success. They tear through the game and bankrolls rapidly climb giving the common impression “this game is easy!”. Dreams of enough disposable cash to challenge any whimsical fancy, TV time during major events, and the inevitable sponsorship deal from every angle. Then Mother Variance has something to say about those dreams as well as real life stepping in to insist on it’s proper place and time.

It’s not hard to imagine becoming a “big shot” in the game of poker and not necessarily a bad thing. Setting goals and working hard to obtain them should be common among all serious players. Our new guest poster Swail is here with his first entry about his big start and how life can change things before you know it.

Enjoy

I Thought Being A Bigshot Pro Was Supposed To Be Easy
by Swail

Sometimes I get the impression that I used to run like God, and now I’m just average. I hate that feeling. Is it just me? When I quit my job as a blackjack dealer at the Casino De Montreal back in 2004 I was running really hot at poker. I’d picked up over 10 grand in just a few months playing online, while also studying and working. I was gonna take over the poker world! Next thing you know I was in Los Angeles at the Commerce playing $80-160 with guys like John Phan and Greg Mueller, up over 35 grand on my first ever serious poker trip! How did I go from being such a promising up and comer 6 years ago, to some broke guy in basement apartment in Calgary? I can think of a few reasons.

The Canadian poker scene is really small. There are a few really big games that come together here and there, but the action lacks the consistency you’ll find in U.S. cities where poker is popular. I’ve played plenty in the States but only in little bursts here and there. There’s always been something going on back home to keep me rooted in Canada. And it’s not like that’s necessarily a bad thing. Over the past few years I’ve created me own webzine, I’ve been in a few bands, worked on my own music and art. I’ve also become a freelance writer and learned a lot about web design and web production. All these things have really expanded my horizons, while simultaneously keeping me bankroll-less and at the bottom of the poker pyramid.

Some days I just wanna scream. It’s like I’m mad at myself for not having the motivation to grind the games I used to LOVE to play all day everyday. I usually try to make a few changes to my routine to improve my motivation. I’ll try playing a ton online, choose different games, or play at different times. These things don’t really work in the long run. Eventually I come back to the feeling that poker is distracting me from my true calling as an artist or writer or something, and I’ll put it down for awhile. Now that I’m getting close to 30 and I’m married, I have to face the facts about who I really am. I am a poker player. Yet, as serious a poker player as I could ever be, I’ll never be comfortable letting the game define me.

Chics. I can’t believe that didn’t cross my mind first. A huge distraction for me over the past few years has been meeting my wife. We were married in a mellow ceremony in the rockies in British Columbia this past August. I love her to death, like for real, I think that was even on the vows, but I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t point out how much of a wrench in the wheel of poker profit she used to be. When you’re a single guy you have all the freedom in the world, and you do things your way. It’s great. If you decide one morning that you wanna go to Macau to play some poker, then you just do it. What’s more motivating than that, being the complete and only master of your destiny. I think that while I was a bit of a space cadet in my early twenties, before I met her, that freedom propelled me to excel in the things I got serious about, like music and poker. Being tied down to a woman changes everything. Today, after coming full circle to a point where maybe our relationship isn’t as destructive to the poker profits as it used to be, I know why us men get so sidetracked by girls, and I may even have a few solutions. Here are a few of the main reasons:

1- Sex. When in the early stages of a relationship, maybe even for the first year or two, I think most men care more about getting enough alone time with their new honey than anything else in the world. Poker or business may still take up a lot of a man’s time, but their mind is somewhere else. For a guy like me who is the offspring of a poet and an art history student, passion is/was pretty important and I most definitely got lost in it.

2- Money. I don’t know about you other guys but my girl barely ever works. I mean, I don’t wanna seem like I’m knocking my baby, but I basically carried her 100% for several years. It was my pleasure to do so, but it didn’t help the bankroll any. All of the sudden I found myself with less time to play poker, but mammoth sized expenses.

3- Time. Beyond sex I suppose I love nothing more than to just kick back and hang out with my wife. She never seems to have anything pressing to do, so we spend a ton of time chatting about every little thing and planning our lives. Planning, planning, planning, hey wait a minute? When I was the young up and coming pro with all the right moves, did I plan like this? OMFG things were the opposite of the way they are now! I was GO GO GO, take off at the drop of a hat. I was mister impulsive, now I’m kind of… domesticated. The trade-off maybe be worth it, but it’s still a trade-off. You lose a ton of time.

So how do you avoid these pitfalls? Honestly, I don’t think you really can. These are the facts of life, and if you want a happy relationship than you’ll have to play the give and take game with your partner. But keep this in mind, you should get as much as you give. In other words, don’t spoil your girl or let her walk all over you, that ain’t healthy. As long as you’re willing to change a little from whoever you were before, sharing a reasonable amount of your money and time, you’ll continue to get the sex, and eventually you’ll come to a point of self-realization. Writing this today I realize that I really am at a crossroads, but most of all I realize that it’s time to play some serious poker.

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Permalink | January 13th, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

3 Responses to “Bigshots and Distractions”

  1. bill Says:
    January 13th, 2010 at 5:21 pm

    its funny how i can be 1 upped all of a sudden when i can reach over 100000 and then every hand is beat. if u want me to believe u dont rigg this site ill be glad to hear from u 321-663-(redacted).

    Edit #1 by AlCantHang: If I could “rigg” this site then I would certainly have more in my bankroll than I currently have.

    Edit #2 by AlCantHang: If you have $100,000 in real money, please let me know so I can railbird your action.

    Edit #3 by AlCantHang: If you have $100,000 in play money, please let me know so I can avoid your railbird action.

    Edit #4 by AlCantHang: I can assume you don’t mind that I didn’t publish your phone number on the blog.

  2. Swail Says:
    January 14th, 2010 at 2:23 pm

    it’s funny how ‘Poker From The Rail’ get railbirded by dudes like this.

    bill, it’s called variance bud. Poker ain’t only about winning.

  3. gaming platform Says:
    January 22nd, 2010 at 1:40 am

    Poker is not just skills but also attitude. Your attitude at the poker will go a long way in determining how often you win. The better your attitude the more chance you have of being a success when you play poker.

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