Hopping the Pond

I've been in Atlanta for the past two weeks, putting the final touches on my plan to backpack solo through Europe. It's amazing how much time and money you can eat up preparing for a trip like this. I'm pulling it all off about as cheaply as possible, with advanced airfare, youth Eurail pass, and staying in hostels; still I'm slightly alarmed at the overall price tag. I expect my bankroll to take a sizable hit over trip, factoring in not only travel costs but also the two months without any income. And screw the whole "separate poker and life bankrolls" ideal; it's just not realistic if you want to enjoy yourself. I'd rather go broke than not make it to Europe before I'm 30.

In addition to staying at hostels, I'll be using the couchsurfing.org service. If you're unfamiliar with it, I suggest you check it out. It's a global community of travelers who offer host fellow wanderers as they pass through. The site offers a member-to-member vouching system as well as optional identity and location verification processes. By being selective, both parties can ensure personal safety. I've met nothing but outgoing, inspirational people through couchsurfing; entertaining international guests and showing them my view of New Orleans has been the highlight of my experience and has definitely broadened my horizons. Check it out.

Between packing and putting together an itinerary, I've gotten back to regularly grinding online. I played what felt like a million tournaments, cashed in only two. Suddenly reacquainted with the pulsating levels of stress and anxiety those goddamned things bring into my life, and feeling as though I was being swallowed by kudzu, I promptly returned to playing heads up cash. What a fucking difference! Not to lose 5 out of 6 times I play, and even then barely turn a profit, if at all. I cannot fathom how kids make runs at winning the Tournament Leader Board, grinding away day and night for an entire year. How do they have any hair left?

I gladly suffered a significant upswing the first week of playing cash, though it's been a bit more up and down since. I've gotten my main account back to a healthy level, which I'll put more time into once I get back from Europe. It's strange how you can travel around, playing live cash games and never really have "time" to play online. What I mean by that is I find myself so well-adjusted to live cash, find it so comfortable and profitable, that making the switch to playing primarily online would not only take months to adjust to, but would also significantly decrease my winrate for an extended amount of time. One does not simply go from playing 5/10 and 10/25 live to the same stakes online, there is an enormous fissure between the two. Online games have espoused a higher average skill level and monumentally larger swings than their live counterparts.

But there is another part to the puzzle. Whenever I'm isolated in Atlanta, with online games as my sole outlet, my overall skill level seems to make new leaps and bounds. I hardly go a day without having some great revelation about poker. I post on forums, watch training videos, review my sessions, and am generally more focused on improving my game. Then when I play online, it is against people who actually have the capacity to put me in difficult spots over and over, and there's no substitute for this when trying to iron out the wrinkles in your game. I can tear through weeks of live sessions without second guessing myself about a hand. Don't get me wrong, it makes a great day job, but that endured lack of brain function can make you impotent as a poker player. You could consistently beat a 5/10 live game and never show a profit at 1/2 online. That is why you must always always keep studying.

My recent urge to dramatically improve my game has made me consider trying my hand at coaching, at least for small stakes players and relative beginners. But like all things, it'll have to wait until I return from Europe. By the way, that continent is going to be nursing an ghastly bruise when I'm done with it. I'll make sure to report on the cash action at the major Euro casinos, and how myself and all the money mysteriously seem to leave at the same time.