Back To The Trap House

I've never really put mass amounts of Volume with cash games. I've always been a tournament player but since I have been puttin in a lot more hands I can finally appreciate the skill gap between the two.

You can sit on DC and watch videos till your eyes bleed and then go over to card runners and go blind watching their videos. At the end of the day you can't develop the necessary skills needed to succeed at cash games with out puttin in volume.

There are things I can see in the rabbit hole that I never was able to see before. The angles, the equity, the skill gaps the leaks all of this I didn't fully grasp playing tournamnets and SNG's that I can see as I strive to become a profitable cash game player. Its a great feeling!

There are things you just cannot teach in this game, things that you must do yourself repeatedly until it becomes 2nd nature and muscle memory. You can label them but in reality they are invisible to most. It's like looking upon the ocean and seeing a beautiful sunset shimmering off the water. That in itself is an amazing thing to see but if you could only see what lies beneath that wouldn't even perk your interest any longer.

Its that pure emotional control that a grinder really develops that makes him/her really special. That control to completely immerse yourself in the game and then turn it off suddenly. That hurts to change gears like that it really is a shock to your system and your inner degenerate. They don't let the degen run them they run their degen.

When you play in the zone like Michael Jordan its such a calm tranquil feeling like nothing else matters at that moment in time. Its a great feeling When you can shut the anxiety off and the world that spins around you. But this as I have learned comes at a price for some winning poker players.....

My friend Russell/Loosefer told me that most poker players have an escapist mentallity. They can't deal with the world around them so they try to escape into another world. Its the same as a thrill seeking/addivtive personality. Many of these players he mentioned are depressed or infinitely hurt about something. Focusing on the logic and shutting off the emotion gives them a tremendous edge. The emotion is too painful.

In particular one story that perked my interest was of a high stakes player whos family treated him like complete shit. While he was supporting them financially they would berate him for playing poker and then turn around and ask him for money. Last I heard he ran his bankroll into the gutter and was basically broke. He used poker to escape from his awful family life but eventually it became too intense to deal with.

My friend who was also coach backing me has gone through a similar situation. Once one of the best Midstakes FR players in the world to just about broke the last time I talked to him. He desrcibed it as he was able to shut off his emotional pain completely in the past and only focus on what he could control. After a while the emotional pain became too intense and he just couldn't handle it anymore. He literally said that he just can't play Hold em anymore. He's giving PLO a shot and if that doesn't work then he said he'll just work as a server until he gets back onto his feet. He dropped out of college, made mounds of cash and is basically broke as you read this.....

I'm sure this isn't the case with all of them but when you start looking around its a consistent pattern in the Poker world. You have to give these players props for having the discipline and control to shut that emotion off. That in itself is an edge that most people cannot do......