Now I don't generally go with conspiracies ...

I am in a world of on line poker pain and confusion ....

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I go through times of really wanting to play on line ... and then I sit down to play and all of the passion just leaves me!

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It can take just one "On Line" hand for me to lose all confidence in it again.

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Tonight it was holding TT against AJ pre flop ... and the board runs 45678 to split the pot ... ( I switch off) ... makes a change to the A on the river I suppose.

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At the weekend it was running deep in a tourney until that guy hits his 2 outer to knock my short stack out for a min cash ... (I switch off) ... it happens oh so (too) regularly!

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Now I don't generally go with conspiracies ...

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In my (approx) 10 years of online poker I have played thousands of games, nay, hundreds of thousands on over 30 different poker sites. In that time I have seen massively varying results from my style of play on different sites, so much so that there is one particular network I will not play on because I cannot turn a profit ...! Is it coincidence that most of the brands using that network consistently offer the best bonuses?

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How can my results on this network be SO consistently poor?

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Can it really be that all of the tens of thousands of players across all of the different providers on that network have a different style of game that beats mine?

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I often hear "its because you play so many hands that you only remember the bad results" or "its variance". Well I have played hundreds of Double up SnGs month after month in the past and the spots in which I get my chips in (or not) are very similar ... I know the expectation for my play.

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So is this sour grapes from a bad run of form?

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I don't think so ... In fact I don't think I have had a losing year besides my first year of playing.

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My graph below shows the first two months results on my Zero to What? challenge brought on by my lack of confidence in on line poker.

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So why this sudden change of heart?

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Well to be honest I have always thought that on line play is a bit different to a real pack of shuffled cards, I have just tried to repeat the multitude of different mantras supporting it ...

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... "What would the poker sites gain from fixing?"

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... "You are just having a bad run"

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... "Just because you are ahead it doesn't mean you will win the hand"

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... and of course I wouldn't want to be subject to the bad press you receive from even suggesting that On Line Poker might not be right.

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But would I really be out of line for suggesting that? Am I really out of order for thinking that the operators of poker sites could be so unscrupulous as to take a bit more juice from their customers? I think recent events in the On Line poker world have answered that!

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But what has really got me going is that I am convinced that the graph above has not been achieved by good poker play ...

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Now I am not on a crusade to try and put people off on line poker and it is not as a fight back to any particular site. I also know there are people out there who have played far more on line than I have and are happy with the results.

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However whilst I am thinking like this I can't put in a stake of value on line, regardless of the prize ...

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Am I talking rubbish? ... that is for you to decide!

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Until Next Time

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Keep it Tight!