TOM BOYLE

Weblog: Playing his cards right . . . some of the time

Getting my mindset right for defeat at poker table

It has been a quiet time on the blog front but I'm just back from my holiday and ready to launch myself back into the fray. My colleague Matthew Robinson blogged recently about the merits of taking a break and, after a spell in the Mediterranean sun, I can wholeheartedly agree.

I don't have long to recover before I put my reputation and some cash on the line in the Racing Post Poker Open, an internal staff tournament,  later this week.

When I go on my hols I travel light - but when one is associated with a poker website and participates in live games one tends to bring a fair bit of mental baggage along for the trip. The luggage I bring with me to a game with friends or novice playersis easy to handle. It's not so easy when playing against my peers and anyone of reasonable skill.

The big guns of the game have justifiably built up their reputations through force of their poker personality and heroic money-generating deeds. In contrast my power to intimidate is derived from my job title alone. As long as I make purposeful moves naive players are inclined to believe I know what I'm up to and fold into submission.

It's a different story when I'm faced with experienced mob from the Racing Post. There will be, as you can imagine, plenty of shrewdies among the competitors and it'll surprise no one that the current holder of the magnificent trophy is Paul Kealy, betting editor.

It is, as they say, a 'zero-sum game'. My role with racingpostpoker.com will carry no weight with my co-workers but when I get dumped out of the competition in embarrassing style within 20 minutes eyebrows will no doubt be raised.

So this little event will be my World Series of Poker. I cannot allow myself to vacate the room too early. I must hope for a steady start and consider, when I put all my chips on the line, whether I'll be credited with going out in a blaze of glory or whether I've failed on account of a self-inflicted error.

It is depressing to think that I'll likely go into battle hoping people say when I'm putting on my coat; "well, you had to go all-in with that hand -  you just got an unlucky break".