January Summary

There's an oft quoted saying that in poker it's not about the result, it's about the performance.

Which I tend to agree with. Though it still hurts like hell to see chips sliding across the table to someone who displays scant knowledge of the rules, and even less awareness of the location of their fold and raise buttons.

That said, performance was my crutch, in the face of some very nasty results during January.

On the whole, I was very happy with the way I was playing. With the exception of one very tilty session which contributed half my total losses of about $230.

A painful lesson learned. Big bet poker punishes tilt much more than wimpy old limit betting.

Even that session may have been worth it, since it's the first time I've experienced such an excrutiating explosion of pent up frustration, built up over a series of punishing sessions.

Everyone runs bad sometimes, and everyone has sessions where they can't win a hand. But I've never gone through such an unremitting run of bad cards, and vicious suckouts spread over a sustained time period.

Suffering the run, and the consequences, should set me up well for the future.

Reading through the inhabitants of my bloglines account. January seemed to be very much the month for bad runs, and bad feelings about out games.

It was nice to find the antidote within the very same pages, as Maudie succinctly summarised some of the thoughts of Michael Craig.

My focus for the entire month was almost exclusively on Omaha - more by accident than design. The only Hold Em I played was two NLH freerolls. One for a juicy $50k from Party Poker, and one for a very decent $10k from Rake The Rake.

Mrs Div actually played some of the Party Poker tourney for me, as I was on baby bathing duties. She did ok, too. I've set her up with her own Party Poker account now.

Look out TPT - the Mrs will be gunning for us all soon!

Only playing one game type worked out pretty well for me. I want to learn a few new games this year, but chopping-and-changing too regularly can be distracting and off putting.

Sticking with one game forced me to think harder about how I was playing, and gave more of a focus on maintaining discipline rather than stomping off in the huff to play with other toys when things were running bad.

So, I've decided to follow up Omaha January, with Omaha Hi-Lo February. A gentle transition into split pots.

I've also got reviews pending of two Omaha books, which should be on the site soon.

Away from the wonderful world of poker, the new job continues to run much better than my poker playing.

The role I'm performing is old hat technically, but involves a lot of delving into how the business is operating, and the interactions between various systems - seeking out clues as to why strange faults are occurring.

My job is to fix the complicated faults which have been set aside over a period of time, in favour of resolving bigger numbers of simpler problems.

I'm cautiously optimistic I've found a nice little niche, and I'm already hoping the contract will be extended. The management seem pretty decent and I'm pretty much left to my own devices to forge ahead.

Parenthood continues to go very well too. We had Baby Div out with the grandparents and my brother tonight for my dad's birthday, and she's now happy enough to keep herself occupied in a restaurant high chair.

Still no teeth, but rosy cheeks have been promising an imminent arrival for weeks now, and she has a rottweiller-like bite on hand for anyone, or anything, which passes within range.

The most noticeable change is in mobility. Whereas previously she hated lying on her stomach, now she can't wait to roll over and make strenuous - though as yet unsuccessful - attempts at crawling.

When all else is going bad, the baby is an eternal source of joy and an all encompassing feeling of wellbeing. I only have to look at her to feel simultaneously inspired and restful.

Heck, I think I'll sneak in a picture down here where Felicia might not notice ;)

Mrs Div was experimenting with some black and white shots...



Finally, I didn't win Euromillions. A 76 million to one shot, and I didn't even get close. How unfair is that?