William James

"The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude."

Walking down B Hall to my locker, contemplating this quote.  It's a fairly vivid memory eighteen years later.  I've seen other quotes, heard revelations in classes, seen movies, and read articles that have added to it over the years, but those moments in B Hall still stand out.  Whenever you say something is the greatest or the worst, you're probably wrong.  Still, the weight of the truth behind this statement still hits me.

My current problems seem to radiate from a place of not doing the work to alter my attitude(s) about certain things.  I tend to find the low ground on a topic and let my viewpoint settle there.

Hmmm.  I hesitate even now to really tackle an issue.  This is a blog about "sports, poker, and a little bit of craziness."*  It's not a place to ruminate on my own issues.  At the same time, I think there's power in writing and power in putting things 'out there' as they say.

Ok, let me relate this back to poker.  Maybe it'll work out AND be on topic.  I hate running bad, and it always seems to happen when it matters most.  Despite putting a happy face on it and talking up how lucky I am, my true belief is that I am running well below expectation in my poker career.  I have run all the numbers, thought about theory, and play well enough - so why don't I make more money?  Why do idiots always hit?  How can I alter my attitude as a means to an end?  haha- That's awesome.  I'm already laughing at myself.  This is easy.  When I am running good, I tend to believe it's the way things will always go and is a reward for all my work.  When I am running bad, I tend to believe the idiots always hit - which is obviously dumb.  If I take both as an opportunity to really evaluate my play, and that of others, I'll be in position to appreciate the EV.  I have studied the game, but rarely do I break down hands any more.  I'll chime in when other people do, but I've gotten lazy.  There's a good future in there if I take this opportunity.  Thanks, William James.

*This is the tagline that my good friend and my amazing cohost helped me come up with for thejimshow on Big Stack Radio.  I often miss doing a podcast.