Confidence, Isaac Baron, and Vegas (Baby!)

One (on a long list of) leaks in my poker game is that my confidence goes up and down with the predicability of a yo-yo. I'm not sure if this is a common struggle among other players, but I regularly find myself unsure of how to play situations that, in other times, seem quite simple to me. I think this problem has to do with my confidence. It's absolutely ridiculous, I know, but I'll find myself actually thinking less of myself as a player after a bad beat. Like, I can lose a race in a tournament and immediately afterward, I'll feel like crap. Likewise, when I win the race, I feel like a huge pimp. These aren't productive thought processes. I imagine most players have similar struggles, but I'd have to guess that the top players don't.

And speaking of top players, I want to wish Isaac Baron luck in the EPT Monte Carlo. They're down to ten players, and Isaac is second in chips. First place is $3,000,000 and he's 20 years old. Figures like that aren't supposed to be in the same sentence. But jealousy aside, I had a chance to meet Isaac in Dublin and I was really impressed with how he handled himself. It would be easy, given his age and accomplishments, to think that he'd probably be pretty cocky or arrogant. Quite the opposite, he was the most down to earth individual you could hope to meet. A part of me always cringes a little to see the rich get richer in tournament poker, but if it must happen, Isaac certainly seems deserving... so... good luck to him.



Finally, I'm leaving for Vegas on Saturday 'cause some of Michael's cousins and what not from Israel are invading the townhouse for a week. Oh poor me. Someone's taking over my bedroom so I have to go have fun in Vegas for a week. What an awful life I lead.

There are some prelim tournaments for the Caesars Palace WSOP-C event that I'll probably play. On Sunday, I'm going to pass on the live stuff and play online. The monthly Full Tilt $535 $1M Guarantee is this week, which is probably my favorite online tournament. It has an absolutely sick structure, an incredibly soft field, and a huge prize pool. What's not to love?

Monday is a $1,060 and Tuesday is a $550 at Caesars. I think the Venetian is trying to cash-in on the "second chance" dollar by spreading $330s every night at 6:00 pm, so I'm sure I'll play those too if I busto the early stuff.

My next entry will be from Vegas telling everyone about how rich and awesome I am. Probably.