Stop gain

Tonight, I doubled my initial stake on my very first hand. Not only that, it was a two pair! I can't give them up, no matter what I say, even though I know they're not good for me. I was all in on the hand, and would have had to end my night if I'd lost it (which would have set a new record for futility).

Seeing that I'd doubled up, you're now asking yourself whether I ended my night right there. I couldn't pull the trigger. I felt I was playing with house money, and even if I went on a cold streak, I could still quit later while I was still ahead (or so I rationalized; there's a lot of rationalizing in poker).

As it turned out, I needn't have worried. I was on a hot streak. I only had three showdowns tonight, and won them all. The second one was a split pot, on another two pair. On the final one I had trip nines; that pot was worth $5,460.

At this point, I implemented my "stop gain" strategy, and ended my night. I knew I'd be pressing my luck to continue to play. Tonight's winnings cover over half of my slump losses.

It's amazing how confident I feel right now, poker-wise.

delta: $4,815
balance: $266,712