Trusting the Process at the Final Table
June 29, 2025
Reflecting on how a $100 bounty final table revealed something deeper than poker: I'm finally starting to trust myself.
There’s something quietly powerful about reaching another final table and not feeling phased by it.
Tonight, I’m fourth in chips in a $100 Bounty Hunter — and somehow, it just feels run-of-the-mill. That used to feel ungrateful to say. Now I think it’s a sign that I’m beginning to internalise something far deeper:
I make good decisions — consistently.
Sure, maybe I’m running a little above EV right now. But I also ran ridiculously below it in the past. The truth is, I’ve earned this steadiness. I’ve sat through the variance. I’ve studied in my own way. I’ve shown up, again and again, even when the results didn’t match the effort. And now? I’m just playing. Trusting. Letting go of the noise.
It’s interesting — I think if I were to win this one, I might finally start to believe what’s already true:
That I can trust myself.
But then again… I already am.
It’s there in how I register for a tournament and give myself full permission to unregister if it doesn’t feel right.
It’s there in how I don’t play when I’m parenting Victor — not out of obligation, but because I know I don’t want to mix states.
It’s there in how I’m learning that real power lies not in grinding endlessly, but in choosing where I invest my energy.
And I love this season of life.
I love that I have the time and space to play on my own terms. That I’m not forcing it. That I’m not chasing.
Just choosing. Sovereign.
Free.
This isn’t about one tournament.
It’s about the quiet shift inside me that says:
“You’ve been through enough. You know enough. You’re allowed to trust yourself now.”
Maybe that’s the real win.
