Poker is a game defined by your actions and results at the tables. It is in its purest form an individual endeavor. You against the world. Something that I never really appreciated until I landed here at TPE though is that you can never really rise as an individual player without the people around you. I know in just about every leadership seminar or experience that I have ever been through you learn that you succeed by surrounding yourself with people that augment you strengths and who you can rely on in areas of your own weakness. Find experts in their field, surround yourself with them, learn from them and don't be afraid to lean on them when you need them. So what does this have to do with anything you may ask. Well there is only one way to get to the top in poker, continuous improvement. How do you achieve a state of continuous improvement….with a little help from your friends. Find a group of players whose game you respect, who you enjoy talking to about the game who you are compatible with and get along well with. Surround yourself with them. Talk. Interact. Grow. The free exchange of ideas is one of the most powerful mechanisms in society for advancement and it is no different in poker. Being about to talk about the game, hands, lines, strategies, thoughts and perceptions is a powerful tool to grow as a player. The greatest side effect of this relationship is that they are there to help when you fall off the horse. When you find a solid group that you fall in with, each ones successes and failures become the groups successes and failures. Triumphs by one become triumphs by all. Failures by one become opportunities for all. This is what has been happening of late. I know I have been leaning on my group of poker friends a lot of late to help get me out of my leak filled mess and with a little help from my friends I am rebounding stronger than before. Last night was the first sparks of life in a long while. A 17th place finish out of 357 runners in an On-Demand 4.40 Rush Tourney on FTP and a positive cash session at 50nl. Solid results and solid confidence. I have to than Kuroshi for the couple of hours we spent chatting last night. It was great to bounce ideas and talk general strategy (and just shoot the breeze) and have a net positive result. I am looking forward to a nice solid session Friday night and hoping back into the Mini-UBOC over the weekend. I think taking a step back has allowed me to make sure I am not setting money on fire with stupid mistakes and give myself a real chance to do it right. This is the Gman signing out. May all your flushes be royal!
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