OK, maybe Thought of the “Week” is becoming a misnomer. I apologize for the lack of frequency. I do enjoy writing these, but I have had some other things on my mind. I still keep up with the forum, answer posts as I can.

I have been playing more in the past week, which is a good sign on several fronts. One thing I have noticed in the past few days is several instances of totally wild play. You just do not see that many $30-$60 maniacs in the course of year, and this past week there have been four different players assuming the maniac role. By this I mean raising with far to many hands, sometimes all of them, going too far after the flop, and, naturally, laying a series of beats on the other players.

Maintaining your equanimity under those circumstances is critical, and for many, quite difficult. When I started playing, it was impossible. Every time I lost a pot I “deserved,” it tied may innards up in knots. A guy would hit is kicker, make runner-runner miracle, flop trips with his 3-2 when I had kings, and find other creative ways to drive me nuts. I tried to remain stoic looking as I played through the psychological pain, but it was tough. Often, I tilted (some), and tried to give them a dose of their own medicine. Usually, I just gave someone else a dose of my chips.

One day, still several years ago, I took a terrible beat. To my surprise, nothing happened. I was looking for that familiar intestinal-clenching, blood-rushing sensation, but nothing was there. I sat there in amazement and tried to decide what happened. I still have no idea. Maybe I had passed the statute of limitations on beats. Maybe I had been playing enough years successfully that somehow inwardly I realized that either these were a part of the game I had better get used to, or my results over the years were good enough that I knew I was winning player in spite of these (actually because of these, but I did not understand that for a while).

Since then, the evil sensation has not returned. I still suffer flashes of annoyance when someone shows me two rags that beat my lovely premium holding in an unlikely scenario for a huge pot, but I no longer get upset. I do find myself playing too loosely with these characters at time, as did last night, and had to rein myself in. I set a goal of folding hands for 45 minutes to get better control, and came close, playing only one hand (and losing that one after putting in multiple bets on the flop with a large advantage).

Overall, I am glad I spent so much time in low limit games, learning, among other things, how to play with wild players, how to take the ridicule they heap on you when they are winning, and how to control myself when “unfair” things are happening. While it was surprising to see that many “any two cards” guys and “I raise two-thirds of the pots” guys in a short period of time in middle limits, it helps to have lived through the range of experiences and wild swings before.