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I bitch, I moan, I whine, I complain

Posted By: Chuck Bower
Date: Tuesday, 21 October 2008, at 3:28 p.m.

In Response To: I bitch, I moan, I whine, I complain (Stick)

I'm probably the last person you need to get advice from, but since you posted this (and the way you wrote it) I think you were looking for some. And if you weren't, well, other people may gain from responses.

As I read through this, several things come to mind but one stands out. So I'll forget the others and hit what I consider the main point.

I believe you (and most of us) go to these tournaments with one main goal and that is doing the best you possibly can in the Open. That event has the most prestige (don't kid yourself, anyone here, it matters to all of us), obviously the most ABT points (and more prestige), and potentially the best return on investment, particularly when you throw in sidepool and Calcutta.

So you start out playing a VERY VOLATILE position as a prop with Ray and lose $600 you still (I'm not arguing that either way) think you shouldn't have lost. Strike 1.

Then, still on the afternoon of the first day, you beat Ray in the first round of the Masters (maybe that was before the prop) but then lose another match you don't think you deserved to lose. Strike 2.

Finally, to top off the FIRST day, you play doubles and lose another match you feel you should have easily won. Strike 3?

So as you go to bed the first night you are already smarting, and the main reason you showed up hasn't even happened yet.

I know you're a young guy (31 is very young to someone who is 55) and you are used to playing games for long hours, sometimes without a lot of sleep, sometimes with a bit of refreshment, etc., etc. I've met a ton of people (young and old) who claimed they were as sharp after many hours of effort who were just kidding themselves. They weren't.

It's not just the physical exertion (which usually isn't a big deal at BG :) but the mental effort, anguish, even torture. Obviously you are bothered by losing, and from what I can tell, at about the average level for many players. Furthermore, the more you are bothered by losing matches you don't feel you should have lost, the tougher the psychological beating you take. In your case (again, not unusual -- happens to me, too) you have said in the past that you don't always sleep well at tournaments. All the more reason (IMO) to take it a little easier on Friday. I know in my case it's hard to get to sleep with visions of cubes dancing in my head.

Three strikes here don't take you out, but the fewer strikes you have, the better you will hit.

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