4. Concentrate!

Well, it's been quite a hectic few weeks for me with my final exams at school now at an end. It seems kind of weird to think that I'll never sit another exam at school again, but I'm looking forward to a change of scenery when I go to university in September.

Poker-wise progress has been slow. Since my last post, I managed to rocket my bankroll up from $75 to $90, but I've been floating around the $90 for the past week despite playing a lot more poker than I usually do.

As I've said before, my focus at the moment is $2.20 Hold'em Double Or Nothing Tournaments. I know that I can beat these games in the long-run, but recently I've started to make a few silly mistakes and the drop in results and profits has had a negative impact on my confidence. There's a lot of criticism about Double Or Nothing Tournaments on various poker forums as many people describe them an being boring and monotonous. I'd probably have to agree with them.

Others argue that it doesn't teach you any poker skills which can be applied to other types of the game. I'm not so sure about that one, but the boredom factor is something which I believe has played a role in my recent slump. As I have increased the length of my sessions and the number of sessions I play in recent weeks, so have the number of silly mistakes I've been making.

If there's one thing that this game teaches you, it is the art of concentration. If you are going to succeed at Double or Nothing's, you have to be on the ball pretty much all the time. You have to stop and think about whether you'll get a better opportunity to shove - should you be shoving in the first place if you're on the bubble and there's one guy who'll be all-in by the time the blinds get to him. All these questions need to be whizzing through your head. You need to accurately and consistently evaluate these questions in order to beat the rake and make a profit at Double Or Nothings.

I've shown that I can do that in the past and I need to remember that if I concentrate, maintain focus, don't go on tilt, I have the requisite skills to beat this game.

Even though I've been going through what seems like a rough patch, I haven't really lost any money at all, and I know that once the cards fall my way and I take advantage of that by concentrating, I'll be able to get my bankroll moving forward a bit faster.

I think there could also be the mental factor of approaching the $100 mark. There's something very impressive about hitting those three figures isn't there?

If I can maintain concentration and focus, play when I am able to be at maximum concentration, I think I can reach $100 by the time of my next blog in a few days time.