They’re putting in a skate park where I hit wedge-to-six iron when the weather is nice. We’ve had a sunny, warm spell lately. I hit balls all weekend. The skate park is supposed to be done by the summer, which will effectively end my short iron work because I don’t want to brain a kid with a slice. It almost happened anyway.

I aim for a tree and had been at it for half an hour,nobody else at the park, dialed in with my 9-iron. Bad shots ended up only as far away as thirty feet or so. Most were inside 20 feet.

Then a gaggle of park-goers parked under a nearby tree—they were about 60, maybe even 70 feet away. I saw them, of course, and didn’t think about stopping or moving because I hadn’t hit a ball close to that other tree. It was left of my tree and I was going left-right with the shots, meaning I was addressed toward the left tree and the people. I told myself to err on the side of over-drawing it right. That’s what I told myself. That’s what I should have said.

What happened was I didn’t close the face at all and the ball sailed perfectly straight, straight down, straight to the first row of bollards. I yelled but the other people around me made a ruckus, so I ran after it and told myself to get the f**k outta there and probably would have anyway. Especially after what I had seen that Sunday afternoon.

At that same bluffing stakes I had been hitting a little more than half the balls for the day. It wasn’t because of bad shots. It was simply that I was so focused onatinumuggets that I wasn’t spending enough time watching the other balls fall. It was a numbers game. Bad shots could happen any time. They could be totally random or they could just be flying straight up Whereas a great shot could not come off the floor for another 7 or 8 times in a row. I figured the more the merrier so I pumped both ends of the ball into the ground. Luckily, the ball popped right back out of the ground and by itself it had half the group following close behind me.

I haven’t busted a wheel in ages. The only other time I can remember being busted was on the first of my two bracelet days with Sportsbook. At the time, the blinds were the non-tournament equivalent of today’s online NL hold’em high. I busted in a $1k 9 player event which doubled to $2k once I got to the final table. Since then, I’ve learned a lot, learned how to play better, and learned when it’s time to stop.

Bottom line?

If you want to spend your time watching TV, running the risk of losing a lot of tournament chips, or sitting on the sidelines watching others play Poker. All I can say is Good Luck.

Now, more than ever, online poker is a game of skill. Learn quickly to improve your skills and continue to build your bankroll online.

I’ve learned to never get in “over my head”, to not try to “depo 20 bonus 20“.

A common beginner mistake is to “pretend” to like it when they have a good hand. Instead of challenging other players directly, they win counters by imitating others actions, and if they are successful, players at the table fall for the deception.

Also, it’s smart to stay generally skeptical of your hands – besides a real, strong, long-term advantage.

You want to attract not only your opponents into a false sense of security – you want them to think you don’t yet know how to play, which is a good way to steal blinds and antes.