Heads up headaches.

Hi, my name is Bryan, and I have a short attention span. I am the posterchild for adult-onset Attention Deficit Disorder...but only when it comes to poker.

If I had to name the biggest leak in my game, it would be, by far, my tendency to get bored with a game and instead of waiting on solid opportunities to make money, I try to go out and make something happen.

Such was the case last night. I sat down at two mind-numbingly slow 9 player tables at AP (whose software is still dragging ass on my PC by the way), and after 30 minutes or so I could take no more. So I found myself checking out the heads up tables, and after 10 more minutes of absolutely nothing happening at the two 9-player tables, I ditched them both and sat down at a .25/.50 heads up table with $5.00.

That's precisely when the worst possible thing happened. Fun, fast-paced action - just the fix I needed. Not only that, but I started off winning like there was no tomorrow. My opponent at the table reloaded twice for $5.00 each time, and within 5 minutes, his money was mine. I played very aggressive, didn't waste money drawing dead, and forced my opponent to pay to draw out on me. After twenty minutes or so, I was up $12 bucks or so (the rake really takes it's toll at these heads up tables), and my opponent called it quits.

Feeling as though I was at the top of my game, I moved up limits a bit and sat down at a .50/1.00 heads up table with $10.00 vs. my opponents $40. That was my first mistake. $10.00 at a .50/1.00 heads-up table won't last long when your opponent has 4x your stack and is playing hyper-aggressive. I was fortunate though - I caught a couple of nice flops early, and made him pay. Pretty soon, I had tripled my stack ($30 now) and my opponent brought another $20 to the table, telling me, "You'll give it all back".

At this point, I should have stuck with my instincts. My mind was screaming at me to pick up my $30, hold my head up high, and call it a night. But the more devilish side of me just wanted to prove this poor bastard wrong - after all, I'd just cleaned up at one table, and had now tripled my stack at this second table. Who's to say I won't take this rest of this guy's money? The poker gods, apparently.

I took $10 more of this guys money (up to $40 now), and then things started going sour. I'd flop top pair, bet it like a maniac, and he would catch his 2nd underpair on the river. I'd be dealt JQs, flop a Queen, and he'd have pocket aces.

Long story short, I did end up "giving it all back", and then some. Another break-even night, with only my rake rebate to bring me out of the red.