Did anyone watch the World Series (of baseball, not poker)? If you were on a short vacation, you might’ve missed a Boston Massacre. The Colorado Rockies had a 9 day layoff as a result of their sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and as much as they told the media this layoff wouldn’t affect them, it did. Hitting is a game of timing, pitching is a game of disrupting that timing. When one has played baseball for six and a half months straight with no more than a 3 day layoff (the all star break), a nine day layoff can come as quite a burden to a hitter’s timing.
Timing is a big part of the game of poker. If a player has poor timing, he/she could lose a lot of money. Timing seems to develop with a feel for the game. The more feel you have, the better idea you have of when the right time is to make a play at the pot.
I’ve recently started playing poker again after a long layoff. My timing sucks right now, and there’s no two ways about it. I’ve lost that feel for when players are making reckless moves at my pot, and I’ve lost that discipline required to get myself deep into tournaments without the best of cards. I’ve lost more money than I should because I haven’t made a conscious decision that I want to get better - I just expect myself to be as good as I was before I had the layoff. It’s taken me until now to realize what’s really going on, and I hope that I can save the rest of you from making my careless decision.
What’s the cure to losing that timing and feel for the game after a long layoff? For one, don’t stop playing. If that’s not an option, it’s best to ease yourself back into the game. Put yourself in the best position you can to win or at least break even. Typically that will involve stepping down a level or two from where you’re used to playing. If you don’t let your ego get in the way, playing patiently at these lower limits will help you re-develop that feel you know you once had back in the day.
If only the Rockies could’ve eased their way back into the World Series by playing a couple more games against the Diamondbacks while they were waiting for the AL winner, maybe everyone would’ve had time to enjoy the fall classic a little more.
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