Maybe I Need Blinders

No, not Blinders, just blinders. I'm addicted to the $26 45-man turbos on Tilt. Yah, they can be a minefield, but if you can double up early, you can coast to the final table. And since the top 3 prizes are solid for a $26 entry fee, people tighten up like mad near the bubble. This can be taken advantage of easily.

Unless you decide, with 13 players left, to start editing some old pictures to upload to Flickr. While watching The Daily Show. While surfing the web.

I believe a key difference between a terrible player and a decent player is the ability to self-assess quickly. The donkeys will blame others, the cards, the dealer, the site, or luck for their loss. Someone who actually pays attention and learns will ask, "What did I do wrong? How can I avoid that in the future?" If you've been at this long enough, then most of the time, you should be able to answer those questions in a matter of seconds.

I bubbled in 7th place. I had nobody to blame but myself. I had been coasting in 1st place since the start. At one point I had 67% more chips than 2nd place with around 15 left. But instead of buckling down and punishing the medium stacks and gambling with the shorties, I sat back and played around with Photoshop. I went from being the feared aggressor to an angry frog (or Swedish Chef from my view) who might as well have been sitting out. When I finally realized the danger I was in, it was too late. AJ didn't beat KK, and a once might chipstack could suddenly barely cover the big blind.

And therein lies my (oft-repeated) biggest Achilles' heel when it comes to online poker - distraction. I focus on something else entirely, and the rhythm, the groove, the zone - it dissipates and I find myself struggling and trying to grasp onto a horseshoe that I shouldn't have to rely on.