Marathon session

I played for roughly 5 hours tonight; 136 hands in all. I saw the flop 105 times; 77% of the time. I won 13 of 25 pots at showdown, 52% of the time. I also won 5 pots without a showdown. My fortunes went up and down over the course of the session. Poker is like the tide. If I'd been more disciplined, I would have quit the first time I was up by more than a grand. But I was enjoying bantering with my fellow players, and also simply enjoying playing. I didn't panic when the tide went out, since I knew in the natural course of events it would be coming back in before too long.

The more I play, the more I realize the undeniable value of patience. You just have to be willing to fold, fold, and fold again, until the stars align in your favor. That won't always happen, but it has a way better chance of happening if you're being very patient.

You have to concentrate on keeping an even keel. Don't get too up; don't get too down. Just sort of hang around, but recognize your big opportunities when they appear. A big opportunity is three of a kind or better, in my experience. When one comes along, put your money in the middle! That's what I did, my last winning hand of the night. In this case, it wasn't a three of a kind; it wasn't even two pairs. It was just one pair, but a pair of aces, and was worth $5,230. That's an unconscionable amount of money at a $5/$10 table!

delta: $3,292
balance: $277,198