Fuck 'Fuck Poker'

Is that a double negative?

The thing that irritates me about my 'poker is so hard' cry baby rant a couple posts ago, more than anything else, is that it reads like a carbon copy of one I wrote last year. I would have liked to have thought that a couple million hands would have taught me a new trick or two. Yet there I was, whining as much as ever.

Well, not again. I mean, the first obvious thing is that poker has extreme swings and if you are surprised by them, you're an idiot (at least after you've played long enough to really get a proper sense of it). Secondly, any energy put it into complaining, or fixating on the swings in general, adversely affects my performance (which is a disastrous result, letting the part of it I can control turn for the worse). And finally, I choose to play poker, understanding that the swings are part of the game. I mean, they're not a necessary evil. They're just necessary. Without the luck factor, the game can't thrive and while skill edges would win out quicker there'd be much less reward.

So I'm done complaining about results. Period. Doesn't mean it's not frustrating when you're on the worst down swing of the year (like I continue to be). Just means that it's pointless, and weak, to bitch about it.

I shouldn't play poker if I can't handle variance. But I do, so I have to. Simple like that.