Good blog post that got my thinking

[2Tone]

I was feeling all proud of cashing out another $100 from Party last night after a good 2/4 session, and then I read this ...



-- START QUOTE --

"The question "Am I a good poker player" seems, for the moment, to be superceded by the question "Am I a poker player, period?". Does playing tighter than lousy players make me a better player or just a tighter one? The skills that good poker players possess--discipline, patience, aggression, cleverness, and heart--can I claim any of those for myself, or do I simply have a higher negative score than the people I play with?

If you play poker seriously, you play to win money, and therefore the rational player prefers to play with people who stink opposed to people will skill. But playing the low-limits at Party, be the game Omaha or Hold'Em, at times I don't feel like I'm playing poker. I feel like I'm gambling--and I'm the House. Oh, you'll bad beat me here and there, but in the long run I'm going to get the money, because the odds are in my favor. Because I don't play Q-10 out of position in a raised pot, and you do, and in the end I'm gonna outkick you right in the balls.

If I don't have ambitions to be a great poker player, I do want to be a very good one. I just don't know how good you can get playing ABC poker night after night with people whose alphabet starts with Q and jumpcuts to Z."

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As a self-proclaimed grinder, I should have no problem with any of this. But it did resonate. I play only ABC poker, because when I deviate from that, I make less money. But I haven't varied or incorporated any real new thinking into my play in a long time -- I haven't had to. And that's fine for the bankroll, but not for any of the other motivations for playing. Winning should never get old ... should it?

Thoughts?