On the Uni Grind

Hey

I have a lot of work to do for uni and will be doing that now. I am going to be concentrating on this mainly and play poker whenever i have time. Doing this just so i can live with myself next october when we all graduate and i can be truly happy with the grade i get. If i don't get a 2:1 then i will be content that i did all i could, and whatever grade i got is what i deserved. However, i am a relative perfectionist and if i don't get a 2:1 I will be dissappointed, so i need to assure now that thats not going to happen. So while i have loads of time before all of the deadlines I am going to prepare the work properly for the deadlines set and then see where i can fit poker in.


As i find if i have any nagging thoughts while i try to play i lose loads. When i am content and eager, with no other worries, i often have eye of the tiger like concentration levels and make a serious killing. Like the run i had recently of having £500 nights was made because i was playing with a inpenetratable swagger on the tables. I just followed my instincts and wammo i was pulling off some great calls, some great bluffs and it was like i was in a boxing match bobbing and weaving with superior confidence.

However if i have anything else on my mind at all that day that will annoy me, it all goes to pieces and i needn't have started. So the lesson here is to only play when i feel comfortable doing so. I have been talking a while about preparation for poker and along with the general knowhow of the game (mathematics and stuff like that) you are nothing without your temperament. I am noticing now how strict and disciplined i need to be to play poker for a living after uni and i won't play another hand until all other things in my life (uni mainly) are in place, so then this will allow me to enjoy my poker, the success that it brings and play with a long lasting confidence. Which in the past i just haven't had.

This may sound negative but my bankroll is healthy and i am keen to get back into the game as soon as possible, but i just won't rush myself. Uni is first as it is the backup to the "real world" so it will ease the pressure on me having to sustain only poker for the forseeable future. I will also be looking into getting a part time job to help the CV tick along.

So thats it for the meanwhile i hope to come back to you with news of a big win and eventually next year with my uni success, because if i am being honest the latter means so much more to me.

Ant