Concentration

"I've got to concentrate... concentrate... concentrate... I've got to concentrate... concentrate... concentrate... Hello?... hello... hello... Echo... echo... echo... Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon... Manny Mota... Mota... Mota..."

-Airplane!


My buddy Josh wrote a really good post about patience and concentration in poker.

I experienced it firsthand tonight.

Normally when I come home from work, I'll hang with the BPlings for awhile, play, have dinner, then fire up the mansy pansy poker machine. Tonight was no different. Well, except for one thing.

I couldn't concentrate on playing poker. There were too many updated websites to check out, the kids wouldn't leave me alone, and Seinfeld was on the idiot box. I played three consecutive SnGs, and bounced out of the money in all of them. Why? Because there was too much fucking shit taking away my attention from playing poker.

I was on tilt again. Mostly at my stupid, careless mistakes. Example good: I have AJo, the flop comes down Jack high, I bet out, am called, the turn and the river are both under cards. My lone opponent goes all in against me, and I call, thinking I'm good. I almost type in the chat box, "I gotchya". Until, of course, I realize a split second after I hit 'call' that there's a straight draw on the board. And he/she hit it.

D'OH!

So. Right. I'm a donkalemur.

I decide I need to walk away for a bit. I go play with the kids a bit more, relax, grab a Parliament and a beer and decide to shut out all distractions. I turn off the tube, close all windows on the mobile poker machine but Titan, and put one kid in the washer, the other in the dryer the kids in the family room to watch movies, and sign on to another SnG. No distractions.

I won the donkey fucker, went off tilt, and realized that the distractions were keeping me from playing even my "B" game.

I honestly have no idea how some of you can multi-table. I've tried it once or twice, and my teensy tiny brain goes on overload. I basically become a fembot when I try to multi-table, and the crazy windows flashing every 3 seconds are Austin Powers' pelvic thrusts. Even at low limit bullshit games, I can't do it.

Maybe someday, but right now I'm still working patience and concentration.