Taking shots.

Friday I had a long day working on the thesis, and finished up at about 1 AM. This is absolute prime time for action hungry and slightly drunk donkeys donating their money to the cause, so I decided to reward myself with half an hours poker before bed time.

It just so happened I ran into a known donk splashing around at 2000NL shorthanded tables, an interesting and potentially profitable situation. I decided that since I was only going to play for a short while, I might as well make it interesting and sit down in the big game (600NL being standard for me). As it happened there was a spot to the immediate left of our friend. Another donkey showed up at 1000NL, and yet a few more at 1000NL full ring, so I had an interesting half hour ahead of me.

Loke must have seen the injustice of me slaving at the office those many hours without poker, so on this particular day, he decided to reward me with a sick run of cards. I made sets, had AA-QQ, made weird two pairs and trips from the blinds and basically didn't have a tough decision for the full half hour. No interesting hands to report, since I seemed to have the goods every single time. The net result was $2500 for 100 hands, which was about 80PTBB/100. So it seemed I made about as much in half an hour as I did in the entire month of April!

I was briefly reminded of that crazy day back in March, which is still my second craziest poker experience.

Having hit jackpot in two consecutive shots at levels above my head entitles me to give you advice on how and when to take shots.

• Do it when the other guys are drunk, not you.
• Do it when you can afford to lose.
• Employ a stop-loss strategy.
• Do it when you are generally satisfied with yourself.
• Concentrate on the challenge.

These points in mind, I don't see a single thing wrong with playing above your bank roll. We mustn't forget, we are poker players, it is fun to gamble. It is much better to have an adrenaline pumped, fully focused session with marginal EV and high variance once in a while, than it is to burn yourself out grinding the same old same old. The danger of playing above your head is the pain, shame and despair of losing more money than you are mentally ready for, and if the above criteria are not met, this will feel so much worse, and could affect future sessions at your normal limit. Even worse, it could ruin other aspects of your life temporarily or permanently. With a solid mental and economic base, you are only gambling with money. Also, you might even learn something. That you have much to learn for instance, if nothing else.

Gamble it up, but keep ccol.

Btw., if you are a low stakes casual player considering taking shots at 600NL at Partypoker, send me your screen name, and the time you are going to play, and I will see to it that you get a smooth introduction to the game. You won't feel a thing, I promise.