If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. I’m pretty sure I saw that on a beermat somewhere. However, recently that hasn’t been true when I’ve played poker. The online games have been getting steadily tougher and less profitable and (whisper it quietly) I’ve been getting worse.

If I’m honest the three or four months leading up to Vegas were some of my worst. I was rarely arriving ready to play and had become lazy and unfocused and was generally going through the motions. In fact, going into Vegas I was considering taking a long break from the game.