Please buy my house

January turned out to be an ugly month for me in poker. I was only able to log 6 live sessions in a busy month of travel. But it appears to be my good fortune that the number of times I played was low since I ended up 0 for 6 in the month The good news is that the average loss was small enough that one good win will overcome the string of loses. Of course, that is what all gamblers tell themselves’, isn’t it?

After so many loses though, I have put myself on the rail temporarily while I try and figure out what the hell the problem is. I know I have leaks in my game, doesn’t everyone to some degree? Of course, some of my leaks are deliberate and can occasionally let me stumble into some monster hands….well, rather, monster pots. A little bit of gamble with a mediocre hand in the right position and it can turn into a juggernaut of a hand….but I digress. Right now, there is something that is killing my game, and it isn’t my known leaks.

After a bit of soul searching, data crunching, and analytical view of my stats for the last couple of months, the problem has become blatantly clear to me.

I need you to buy my house.

Well, that actually isn’t the problem. But it would help fix the problem. The problem is: I’m playing with scared money. Since I am currently paying two mortgages while I wait on my house in Texas to sell, you might make a logical conclusion that my cash flow is a bit strapped at the moment. Factor in that I haven’t booked a winning session in a while, and you have the recipe for my problem.

All of this is true, and while it is certainly a valid argument I have to tell you, that isn’t why my play of late has been with “scared money”. No the reason is because my money is currently in Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo does not operate in Illinois. They are in Wisconsin and Iowa, but not Illinois. And while I can access it at any ATM (for a fee), I am now limited to my daily ATM withdraw limit. I intend to sever all ties with Wells Fargo and move my money to a bank I can use locally, but I haven’t done that yet, and frankly, it is killing my game.

Guess what happens to you when you come to the game with $400 in your pocket with no ability to get more and the average stack on the table is over $500?