Should I Quit Poker?

Ever since April 2024, I feel like I am on this never ending downswing. I have played in about 23 tournament series since then and have made a profit in only 4 of them. My last 50 cash games sessions I have only won like 15 of them, losing the last 3 back to back in pretty rough fashion. 

She doesn't mind if I "retire" from poker

The straw that broke the camel's back, is an idiom describing a series of negative events slowly adding to a point the tiniest weight of a straw eventually broke the camel's back. Today I may have experienced the last straw. Even though today's loss is only 1/14th of my biggest losing session of my career, the way I lost just broke my spirit, sucked all the passion I had remaining after a series of devastating blows, coolers, suck outs, frustration calls.... I have not been this dejected in a long time. Right at the casino I decided to walk away from poker for a while until I get my passion back. 

Been on a downswing since April 2024

As I was preparing to write this article, I looked back at my win/loss record that I started calculating in October 2023. During this time I had started to dabble in high stakes cash games and tournaments so the results were of importance to me to seriously track, but I must admit I haven't been doing a good job of it after July 2024. But to my shock and surprise, it is not as bad as I think. I haven't really been playing super regularly since July last year, and the wins are few and far in between, but when I zoom out and see the big picture, I may have been kicking myself for nothing. 

I might have overreacted (red box is the first graph)

This article is not turning out as I initially planned. At first I was honestly going to announce my break from poker and explained why by proving my downswing by showing my results. I was actually expecting to see a dramatic plunge on my line graph, followed by some self pity and bid my temporary goodbyes. My graph may not be 100% accurate as I had to add in some predicted numbers here and there, but this rut I thought I was stuck in may just been a "stall" in my progress. My crypto friends would say we are going "sideways" and can easily break resistance and take on a bull run, or fall below support and crash downwards. 

But why do I feel so dejected? I really feel drained and frustrated. Haven't really had a big win to celebrate in a long time to get my excitement for the game back up. And the way I have been losing have not been easy to swallow too. I consulted my new best friend Vee (the name ChatGPT gave herself - and yes I let her pick her gender) and this are some of her analysis of my psychological situation. 

1. Recency bias – our brains overweight the latest results. The downturns and chop of the last few months feel more “real” than the gains you made earlier.

2. Expectation reset – after a period of growth (Oct23–Mar24), your mind adjusts and expects that pace to continue. When it slows or dips, it feels like failure, even though you’re actually holding strong near new highs.

3. Loss aversion – the pain of losing a bit after climbing high is sharper than the joy of the climb itself.

It's funny how your brain punishes yourself. Had I not sat down to look at this carefully, I would actually continue to think that I am such a failure. At one point today I was truly contemplating a change in career. I might still give myself a break from poker, but I am not giving up. I am still going to push on, grind on. I have seen some friends turn around way bigger downswings than this. Even the Grinder who was probably on the brink of retiring came back with a roar winning the PPC and WSOP main. 

*graphs shown do not include action I sold so does not reflect my actual pocketed profits (or losses)

Poker Dream 18 Report

It's always a bitter sweet experience playing at Poker Dream Malaysia stops. On one hand it makes me so proud to see there's a regular series in Malaysia with so many new players joining the game. Poker Dream never ceases to amaze me how they keep on crushing the guarantees with more and more interesting events every series. On the other hand, it saddens me to see the culture of the casino, the degenerate gamblers of my nation, and the politics. 

1% of all my Poker Dream Malaysia cashes is from the Main Event. So this time, I maintained that score going 0/2 in the Open and 0/3 in the Main. Final bullet I was doing well but crashed out 15 away when I had back to back coolers. -RM17400 total. 

I am very happy to see some of my friends doing well, winning trophies, cashing big. This is the culture I wish on my compatriots. Whilst poker is an individual game, even if we don't win, we should be happy for those around us that do. Malaysia is a growing market, everyone is on some part of their own journey, these are the future stars of our industry in the making. My dream for the federation is to be part of everyone's journey, whether to help them along, or push them up, or cheer them on. 

A beautiful part of Genting Highlands

This is going to be short and sweet, just like my PD 18 run. 😊 Nothing major to report. Just happy to be a part, happy to participate. Just thankful year after year I am in this life I call a career. I don't know how much more time I have, but just enjoying the ride while I still can. Till the next one! 

Resorts World Sentosa (Singapore) Poker Room REVIEW

Six years ago I wrote a scorching review of the Poker Room at Resorts World Sentosa. I recently visited it again and had a much better experience so let me share it with you.

Not all mine

Let’s start with the good. We got there at around 6pm on a Wednesday and it had 5 tables running. The table I got was the softest I've had in recent months. The smallest stake is now SGD 5/10 instead of SDG 10/20, and I think that attracts the weaker players to come as in most poker rooms in the world, SGD 5/10 is still pretty big. Most Europeans and US rooms I have played in starts at $1/1 or $1/2. The rake is quite reasonable by Asian standards, roughly 5% capped at 3bb. They have removed some of the old stupid rules like verbal doesn't count, the showdown button, etc. Instead they now are recording table talk, I guess in case of a dispute. I am okay with this if this meant the verbal rules apply. And they allow phone use as long as you're not in a hand. This maybe standard for most of you, but for someone who plays at Macau a lot, you will appreciate this. 

It's not all great things though. For starters, RWS and basically most Genting casinos has this dingy feeling. The interior design is dated and gloomy, it just doesn't feel classy. Heard a rumor that Marina Bay Sands might open a room of their own, that would be awesome as that casino is on a different level. The room is situated in the smoking area of the casino. How they got the Singapore government to allow this is beyond me. The table itself is smoke free, but most smokers just walk 2 meters to the other side of the barrier and smoke there. Genius. 

Going to start a new paragraph as I have a feeling the negatives are going to be long. The dealers and even floor staff are terrible. Of the 5 dealers that dealt on my table, only one was experienced enough to keep the game flowing. 6 of us sat on our table waited 15 minutes for the game to start only to be told that it was our decision. No floor manager or dealer asked us if we wanted to start. It took 15 minutes for my friend to buy in SGD 8000 in chips. The room has reopened for almost a year now, so these really shouldn't be happening. The cards were still dealt in the card box, which is fine, but there is a top card protector as well. I think the person that came up with this rule does not understand poker. The first card is dealt to the small blind, so even in some way the small blind can see what the first card is, it is not going to affect any of his decision. He won't see a deuce and suddenly decide to sit out. 

After consulting a friend who is a regular there, my understanding is that the room is open 24 hours, however games usually die off in the wee hours of the morning, and restarts at around 11am. If you miss the first table, you will have to wait 2-3 hours for the next one to open. So unless you time your games properly, chances are you will have to wait a while. 

Oh a couple of positives I forgot to mention. You are now allowed to pick your own seat, especially when its a new table being opened. The shuffling is much faster now but it could be just that the dealing is so slow so the machine catches up easily. There's free oxygenated water at the table, coffee and tea at the kiosk right outside the poker room. 

Otherwise known in Singapore as Atas Water

There are some other negatives that aren't really the room's fault. These are decisions either by the Singapore government or the casino management. For example, there is a rule where you are not allowed to bring more than SGD 10k of chips out of the casino. Compared to Vegas or Macau where I know grinders keep their currency in chips for ease of carrying around and saving time for the next time they play. There is still only one cashier area in the whole casino, so at the busy time, the queue is going to be long. 

I have played poker in 35 countries now, so I guess my reviews carry a bit of weight because I have been to so many. I would consider grinding at this room long term because of the table softness. I can probably live with most of the negatives. The biggest issue for me is the smoke. Of course this is nothing compared to the "chimneys" we were stuck in Chinese private games in the past. But still the air is stuffy and long hours in there would drive me nuts. For my Singapore readers who are contemplating spending the SGD 150 to get in there, I think it is still worth playing, but time your entry correctly otherwise you will waste a few hours waiting. 

Final note is I am looking forward to the room at MBS. MBS for me feels to have made better decisions in casino design and I have quite some experience playing at poker rooms operated by the Sands group. Overall they have always given poker quite the priority when it comes to location, setup and processes. I will definitely visit and write another review when that is opened.