So I took a six month break from my online play and started reading everything I could find about online poker and poker in general. I read books, I read forums, I read online articles, I read everything. The more i read, the more I realized 2 things. 1) I was a total fish. 2) I didn't have to be.

I started developing a strategy in my head about what kind of player I wanted to be, (tight agressive) and how to do that with out being predictable. I also needed some way to read my online opponents, with very little information. In thinking about it, my job is very similar. I work in a state prison, where reading what someone is thinking of doing is not your bankroll, it can be your ass. So you get good at it or you get out. The way you read them is by knowing their patterns, and looking for variations. Online poker it seemed to me was the same. About this time I found both this forum and Poker Tracker.

So I decided to step back into online poker about the begining of October. I decided that I would stay with 1 site and basicaly 1 game. I also had a goal. If I could play poker and work up to where I could make about $300 a week, I could stop working overtime at work and improve my lifestyle without trying for the final table at the WSOP. I went with SnGs because they seemed to offer the best chance of return with the least risk. After a couple of weeks I was about even, with 1 huge problem. I was not earning enough points to collect my deposit bonus! That was free money, and I was gonna miss it! So I entered the world of NL ring games.

You never saw anyone play with more scared money than I did. well, after the 1st week of playing about an hr a day, I was still about even, but now I was converting the bonus. Then, as I began to relax and not be so scared, I began to win. Even better, I understood why I was winning now, and it was not just dumb luck. So in a week I doubled my deposit. Man I was good! So I moved up from the .10/.25 NL to the .25/.5 NL.

And then the very worst thing that could happen....well, happened. I got a hot run of cards. In 2 sessions I doubled again. Man, I was good! So I moved up again, to the .5/$1 NL tables. Now here was money! The max buy in here was $200. Half my bankroll. So I played, and even though I was back to being scared money again, I was still hot, and still winning. In a week I doubled my bankroll again. Boy, I am unstoppable! Maybe I am ready for the WSOP after all.

Then reality hit. The cards turned cold, and I could not catch a hand, and if I did, the flop did not match. So I started chasing hands. Hell, the K4s won me a ton in the button yesterday, so why shouldn't I bet it UTG today? I lost back $400 in 2 days.

But now I woke up. I had Poker tracker. I could look and see what went wrong. So I did and I see how I let the small hot streak open my play, to as much as 35% of the flops. I also see the junk I was winning with because weak tables let me limp in with em. I also see how often I got killed by chasing these 'b' hands at a more aggressive table.

I think this self analysis coupled with developing strategies for dealing with different kinds of opponents has saved me. I have survived this little cold streak, and have started back up. But I think I am wiser for the killing I took, and I play better now than I did just a few weeks ago. My postflop play is impoving now, and I have begun to see just how complex and wonderful this game is.
The funny thing is, I learned from the cold streak, and the hands I lost, not from the hot streak and the hands I won.

So I look forward to playing and I still have that goal of $300 a week in income, but I think I will take my time and work up to it.