What’s up with the PPA? Are they untrustworthy, as Gary Carson says? Are they the only sensible alternative, as Bill Rini seems to suggest? Generally speaking, my life is easier when two sources I trust don’t say diametrically opposite things.

Anyway.

I don’t like losses. The red numbers in PT don’t appeal to me, and I try - for seemingly no other reason than not liking the numbers - to make them green. To combat this particular behavior, I once set a “100 hands per session” limit. That’s a really small limit as most of you probably realize, but it was getting bad enough that I needed to learn how to get up and leave. I think it worked according to plan; I’m not a LOT better at getting up and leaving when I “should” rather than when I happen to be up.

That said, I still have a slight obsession with the color of the numbers in PT. It’s just that now, I’m strong enough to choose to ignore them. The reason I’m bringing this all up is because I’ve noticed a behavior that’s detrimental to me and in the off-chance that you’re the same way, maybe you can learn from my mistakes.

If you’re like me, don’t look at your gains/losses per session. Or worse, per table. I had this thing for awhile where I’d feel I couldn’t get up from a table if I happened to be stuck precisely there. Since I often play 3 or 4 tables at once, this mindset doesn’t make sense; I can be up at three tables, but still agonize about getting up and leaving the fourth. That’s pretty messed up. I’m working on that now, though, and my way of dealing with it is the most confrontational one: I’m practising getting up and leaving tables where I’m stuck. I’m borderline taking pleasure in it now.

And that’s a good thing, too. The last four days have been nothing short of brutal to my bankroll (roughly a third of it went bye-bye), so being able to stay calm about it helps, but not feeling like I have to make it all back fast is crucial - and I’m happy to report that I don’t feel that way.

Now, before you leave, go check out Ed Miller’s blog if you don’t already check it twice a day.