Yesterday (3/18/2020) the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was down 6.30%.
My Ignition Poker online account was up 10.85%.
Since March 8, the last time I played live poker, the DJIA is down 23.07%
During that same period, my Ignition account is up 48.95%.
To be clear, these are short-term metrics. The short term is deceiving and recency bias frequently clouds our decisions. The long term is very long and unforgiving.
It’s not that I’m enjoying this period of self-isolation, or social distancing, or sheltering in place, or whatever else you want to call it to stay out of the way of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m not enjoying it at all. Online poker provides a distraction for portions of my day.
Mrs. works in a leadership role at a local hospital. Contingency planning out the wazoo. While she doesn’t have direct contact with patients, she is onsite and that brings her a major step closer to the risk of infection. I’ll stay isolated, just in case she becomes a carrier and brings it home to me. I don’t want to infect my friends.
On the other hands, I’ll stay isolated just so as not to inadvertently become infected by a friend or random encounter in a public place. Should I bring the virus home and infect Mrs., that would remove a key resource from the hospital at this time of crisis. She is too valuable to the hospital; my hermit-like approach is designed to protect her too.
Confined to online micro-stakes PLO and NLH is a small price to pay. Nowhere to go, little else to do, patience is a virtue.
They Always Have It 