last year...

As an addendum to the previous entry...

Last year I played 137 tournaments of various buy ins. I was in the money 32 times for a very nice profit. One in five is about what I kind of expect, I can definately live with that.

Books...I love books but am questioning the value of most poker books. I've read all the most recommended ones. Maybe I didn't read them good enough. I'm not giving up on them but...

One problem seems to be that most people have NOT read them. They play nothing like the books would lead you to expect or say is correct. I don't know how those people do long term but I know that they beat me pretty consistently in the short term.

Are poker books for real? Can they really help? Are they a scam? I'm talking here about some of the most recommended ones..."Harrington on Hold'em", "Winning Low Limit Poker" by Lee Jones, "Supersystem", "Theory of Poker" by Sklansky...and many others. They are a mint for their writers no doubt and I honestly feel that they MAY have helped me.

I have no doubt I am a better player than I would be without them...but can they make me good enough to actually be GOOD? This is what makes me wonder if I have what it takes. Am I alone here?

Oh...and yes I realize that my 2005 results added into my 2006 results so far are still in the 1 in 5 range...so maybe I'm just panicking early but 1 for 17 just sucks. So far the hardest part of poker for me is the emotional side which really should not be a surprise now that I think about it....