As wierd as it seems, I'm excited to get back home for awhile. I've been on the road now for two months, and I need some time with some familiar surroundings. I haven't really played online all month, and for the first time since last summer I'm really excited to start playing again.
I will be home on Friday, and will start with my schedule on Saturday. I'm not sure at this point how much time I'll take off of traveling. It really depends on how everyone goes over the next month. It's possible I'll be back on the road in late March, but I might just stay home until the WSOP. One thing I do know for sure, is that I can't go into the WSOP burnt out, so I'll be home for the last month of May for sure.
Tomorrow I think I'm going to put in one last live session and I'll get up my months numbers.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
lapc busto
I saw 5 hands today. On our starting table I played the small blind and the big blind, then we broke and I got moved back into the fray. I opened A4s and got a caller in late position. I bet the 665 flop, and he put me all in so I had to fold. Two hands later I find 22 UTG and with only $6000 chips left I moved all in, only to get overcalled by UTG+1 with ATo. The board came an amazing AKJT9 and I took the walk to the rail.
Overall this event went terribly. It was just small things where the flops were always great for my opponents. How can I push people off hands when the flop is custom talored to their hand every time? I feel that no player getting the hands and spots I was in would have been able to come out of it with any chips either.
I will be flying home sometime soon and I'll have to figure out what my plan is for March.
Overall this event went terribly. It was just small things where the flops were always great for my opponents. How can I push people off hands when the flop is custom talored to their hand every time? I feel that no player getting the hands and spots I was in would have been able to come out of it with any chips either.
I will be flying home sometime soon and I'll have to figure out what my plan is for March.
lapc championship day 1
I would make a long post here, but the day was extremely boring. The whole day can be summarized as me winning every pot where I flopped a monster and losing every pot where I flopped air. I can't remember a single hand where one of my continuation bets worked.
I ended the day sitting at 12.3k and will be looking to make a move early tomorrow. Hopefully I post again tomorrow night talking about how great day 2 way.
I ended the day sitting at 12.3k and will be looking to make a move early tomorrow. Hopefully I post again tomorrow night talking about how great day 2 way.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
took a shot and it backfired
I squeaked into the money last night with barely any chips left. We started up play again at 7, with 36 players remaining. I only had $5000 chips left after the disastrous end last evening, and with the blinds 800/1600-200, I had to make a move fast.
I got 72o 62o 84o and then I was utg with j2o. I thought it was close inbetween pushing with no folding equity utg, or just playing my BB all in. I decided to take the BB. The Grinder limped UTG, and it was folded to my blind. I looked down and found 72o again, and just figured pushing flop made more sense. The flop came 57T and Michael called my bet pretty fast with A6. The turn was the Ac, and my tournament was finished. The $2375 payout was fine, and almost all I could ask for.
Then the fun started.
I decided that I was going to play 20/40nl this evening. It looked like a good game all week, and tonight was no exception. After a long wait, I finally got a seat in the game. There were so many players spewing chips, yet they would be saved on the flop every hand. I sat back and avoided the carnage for awhile, but eventually started picking up hands and losing chips. In 3 hours of play I managed to lose $12,375. It felt as if I was playing with a rigged deck, and after beat after beat, I think it started to affect my play. I started questioning myself "Do they always flop the nuts vs me?" Which exactly what I said on the last hand before I left the game.
A few of the gems from the session include:
I raise TT get 2 callers. Flop is 964ss, it's checked to me I bet out $360, they both call. Turn is Qc, and it's checked to me again. I made a mistake of checking here even though I was almost certain I had the best hand. It was my first pot at the table and I wasn't sure how the higher limit players were playing hands like sets. The river was what I thought a great card with the 2h. The BB lead out for $800, which left me wondering what he had. After thinking about it the only hand he had that could beat me was 53, and with all the other missed draws, and the fact that my hand looked very week, I made an easy call. Of course he just looked at me and said "I got the nuts".
As a precursor to my next hand, there was a player at my table who just limped in in late position with AKs, called a big raise from the blinds, then called a $800 pot sized bet on a qj2 flop. The turn was obviously a ten and he won a huge pot at showdown. I honestly have not seen someone play a hand so bad in a long time. But hey, he won money and I went bust so what do I know.
And orbit after I saw that I was in the BB with A8. This guy limped in UTG, and we took the flop 3 way after the SB completed. I want to also note that UTG was sitting and playing a gameboy, not paying attention to the table at all. He was playing tight and very bad, and the gameboy just made me laugh. The flop came down 885, which I bet $100 on. He called pretty fast, and the turn brought another 5. I bet out $200, which he also turbo called. At this point I have no idea what he has, but figured him for a big hand preflop. The river was a jack. I thought about checking, but there was really no way I was behind in that hand, and wanted him to call with ace high or whatever he had, so I bet $300. He raised to $1500 pretty fast and I was just like "Wow did you really play JJ that way?" After some thought there was just no way I could not call, so I called and he showed me his ridiculously played pocket jacks. I tossed him $1500 and told him he was a terrible player and didn't know how he was up money.
After that hand I took an orbit off to cool down. I seriously was questioning if I was playing against a rigged deck. Just seemed like some of the bad players would put in money behind so confident that they'd make it there on the river, which they did every hand.
The rest of the night I was just battling check raises and folding hands. I never had anything to call with, and the times I did they always showed me monsters. When I was down to $3000, I picked up AK and raised to $210 over some limpers. We ended up getting to the flop 4 ways which came down A95. I bet out $700, and the crazy asian that rivered the nuts vs me with 53o raised to $2000. I sat and thought for a second on his possible hands. I realized how short I was, and I'd been getting played back at so often that it seemed that I had to take a stand at some point. I moved the last of my chips in and he once again showed me a monster with A9 for top two pair. In retrospect I think I misplayed this hand, as the board was so dry that AQ AJ where really the only hands he could have had, and he might not have raised them considering the board texture.
It was 1am at this point and I decided to just go back and get some sleep before the big $10,000 WPT championship. Hopefully I can pull together a bit on my own good luck and have a good showing.
I got 72o 62o 84o and then I was utg with j2o. I thought it was close inbetween pushing with no folding equity utg, or just playing my BB all in. I decided to take the BB. The Grinder limped UTG, and it was folded to my blind. I looked down and found 72o again, and just figured pushing flop made more sense. The flop came 57T and Michael called my bet pretty fast with A6. The turn was the Ac, and my tournament was finished. The $2375 payout was fine, and almost all I could ask for.
Then the fun started.
I decided that I was going to play 20/40nl this evening. It looked like a good game all week, and tonight was no exception. After a long wait, I finally got a seat in the game. There were so many players spewing chips, yet they would be saved on the flop every hand. I sat back and avoided the carnage for awhile, but eventually started picking up hands and losing chips. In 3 hours of play I managed to lose $12,375. It felt as if I was playing with a rigged deck, and after beat after beat, I think it started to affect my play. I started questioning myself "Do they always flop the nuts vs me?" Which exactly what I said on the last hand before I left the game.
A few of the gems from the session include:
I raise TT get 2 callers. Flop is 964ss, it's checked to me I bet out $360, they both call. Turn is Qc, and it's checked to me again. I made a mistake of checking here even though I was almost certain I had the best hand. It was my first pot at the table and I wasn't sure how the higher limit players were playing hands like sets. The river was what I thought a great card with the 2h. The BB lead out for $800, which left me wondering what he had. After thinking about it the only hand he had that could beat me was 53, and with all the other missed draws, and the fact that my hand looked very week, I made an easy call. Of course he just looked at me and said "I got the nuts".
As a precursor to my next hand, there was a player at my table who just limped in in late position with AKs, called a big raise from the blinds, then called a $800 pot sized bet on a qj2 flop. The turn was obviously a ten and he won a huge pot at showdown. I honestly have not seen someone play a hand so bad in a long time. But hey, he won money and I went bust so what do I know.
And orbit after I saw that I was in the BB with A8. This guy limped in UTG, and we took the flop 3 way after the SB completed. I want to also note that UTG was sitting and playing a gameboy, not paying attention to the table at all. He was playing tight and very bad, and the gameboy just made me laugh. The flop came down 885, which I bet $100 on. He called pretty fast, and the turn brought another 5. I bet out $200, which he also turbo called. At this point I have no idea what he has, but figured him for a big hand preflop. The river was a jack. I thought about checking, but there was really no way I was behind in that hand, and wanted him to call with ace high or whatever he had, so I bet $300. He raised to $1500 pretty fast and I was just like "Wow did you really play JJ that way?" After some thought there was just no way I could not call, so I called and he showed me his ridiculously played pocket jacks. I tossed him $1500 and told him he was a terrible player and didn't know how he was up money.
After that hand I took an orbit off to cool down. I seriously was questioning if I was playing against a rigged deck. Just seemed like some of the bad players would put in money behind so confident that they'd make it there on the river, which they did every hand.
The rest of the night I was just battling check raises and folding hands. I never had anything to call with, and the times I did they always showed me monsters. When I was down to $3000, I picked up AK and raised to $210 over some limpers. We ended up getting to the flop 4 ways which came down A95. I bet out $700, and the crazy asian that rivered the nuts vs me with 53o raised to $2000. I sat and thought for a second on his possible hands. I realized how short I was, and I'd been getting played back at so often that it seemed that I had to take a stand at some point. I moved the last of my chips in and he once again showed me a monster with A9 for top two pair. In retrospect I think I misplayed this hand, as the board was so dry that AQ AJ where really the only hands he could have had, and he might not have raised them considering the board texture.
It was 1am at this point and I decided to just go back and get some sleep before the big $10,000 WPT championship. Hopefully I can pull together a bit on my own good luck and have a good showing.
Friday, February 23, 2007
overcoming procrastination and self-handicapping
Last night I was browsing the web and came along a post about not having the drive or motivation to get anywhere. I started at this interesting post and ended 3 hours later having a deep understanding of myself.
The original post seemed alot like where I am at. I've been searching for what's wrong for a long time. I'm fine, but there always seems like something is missing and I don't really understand myself. Someone linked to the wikipedia page on self-handicapping, which talked about limiting yourself by giving yourself an excuse if things don't work out the way you want. As interesting as it was, I couldn't find a link to it in myself.
I spent some time looking around google and ended up on the wikipedia procrastination page. I was amazed at how it linked procrastination more to a psychological problem, then to just standard laziness. The whole text was just everything about me. I fit all descriptions, but it wasn't surprising. I know I procrastinate alot and I know that it affects parts of my life. I opened up a few more pages, and then I found it. I found the link and everything made sense.
Learning Commons had a short list of ways to deal with procrastination, and it said "Students for whom nothing less than an A will do may procrastinate on an assignment so that when their mark is not up to their standard, they can blame it on the fact that they did the assignment in a hurry. They create an emotional "out" - the low mark does not reflect their true ability, so there is no loss of self esteem."
Immediately it all clicked and was so very clear. The type of self-handicapping I use is procrastination and lack of effort. If something doesn't work out for me, I can almost always tell myself "well if I'd have given it my all I could have done it." As sad as that phrase it, I've used it before.
I started to think back to when I first started procrastinating alot, and couldn't put a date or time on it. My best guess would be sometime in late elementary school. I was only able to figure this out because it was the last time I can legitimately remember giving something my all; Not sitting around and putting it off, but giving it my full effort and attention.
I was pretty upset at myself. I honestly could not think of something I gave my full effort and attention to since elementary school. I'd tried many times to get my life focus on track and stop procrastinating, but I have never been able to do it. Further reading gave me an idea why I was never able to break out of this cycle. It was an addiction. My brain craved the anti-anxiety drug that was this cycle. It protected my self-esteem from getting hurt, but also removed the chance for my self-esteem to grow and be healthy.
How am I to gain self-esteem if my brain is working to make myself fail? Not only does it hurt my self-esteem, it hurts my self-image and holds me back from the greatest things I could accomplish.
I'm working on a plan to set my life straight. Now that I understand the factors at work, I can take the right steps to fix the problem. With the help of some guides, I've created a simple beginning plan that will be as follows:
1) Never put something off til later. No matter how small it is, I won't allow my brain to feel the 'drug'. Easing down might work for smoking, but it has been terrible for my procrastination.
2) Do as planned. If I plan on getting up at 11am and then going to the gym to work out, then I'll do it no matter how tired I am in the morning or how much I'd rather be doing something else.
3) Play time ONLY after work. Instead of playing games or watching TV before poker, these will come only after I've spent time being productive.
Just last night I understood how strong of a hold this has on my brain. The very first thing that I was going to do, take my bed time vitamins, I didn't think of until I was laying down. My mind immediately said 'oh I'm already laying down', and I had to really kick myself to roll over 3 feet to grab my vitamin and some water.
I realize how hard this will be, but this is probably the single greatest self improvement project I could ever give myself. I may even go as far as to get professional help to help break my addiction.
The original post seemed alot like where I am at. I've been searching for what's wrong for a long time. I'm fine, but there always seems like something is missing and I don't really understand myself. Someone linked to the wikipedia page on self-handicapping, which talked about limiting yourself by giving yourself an excuse if things don't work out the way you want. As interesting as it was, I couldn't find a link to it in myself.
I spent some time looking around google and ended up on the wikipedia procrastination page. I was amazed at how it linked procrastination more to a psychological problem, then to just standard laziness. The whole text was just everything about me. I fit all descriptions, but it wasn't surprising. I know I procrastinate alot and I know that it affects parts of my life. I opened up a few more pages, and then I found it. I found the link and everything made sense.
Learning Commons had a short list of ways to deal with procrastination, and it said "Students for whom nothing less than an A will do may procrastinate on an assignment so that when their mark is not up to their standard, they can blame it on the fact that they did the assignment in a hurry. They create an emotional "out" - the low mark does not reflect their true ability, so there is no loss of self esteem."
Immediately it all clicked and was so very clear. The type of self-handicapping I use is procrastination and lack of effort. If something doesn't work out for me, I can almost always tell myself "well if I'd have given it my all I could have done it." As sad as that phrase it, I've used it before.
I started to think back to when I first started procrastinating alot, and couldn't put a date or time on it. My best guess would be sometime in late elementary school. I was only able to figure this out because it was the last time I can legitimately remember giving something my all; Not sitting around and putting it off, but giving it my full effort and attention.
I was pretty upset at myself. I honestly could not think of something I gave my full effort and attention to since elementary school. I'd tried many times to get my life focus on track and stop procrastinating, but I have never been able to do it. Further reading gave me an idea why I was never able to break out of this cycle. It was an addiction. My brain craved the anti-anxiety drug that was this cycle. It protected my self-esteem from getting hurt, but also removed the chance for my self-esteem to grow and be healthy.
How am I to gain self-esteem if my brain is working to make myself fail? Not only does it hurt my self-esteem, it hurts my self-image and holds me back from the greatest things I could accomplish.
I'm working on a plan to set my life straight. Now that I understand the factors at work, I can take the right steps to fix the problem. With the help of some guides, I've created a simple beginning plan that will be as follows:
1) Never put something off til later. No matter how small it is, I won't allow my brain to feel the 'drug'. Easing down might work for smoking, but it has been terrible for my procrastination.
2) Do as planned. If I plan on getting up at 11am and then going to the gym to work out, then I'll do it no matter how tired I am in the morning or how much I'd rather be doing something else.
3) Play time ONLY after work. Instead of playing games or watching TV before poker, these will come only after I've spent time being productive.
Just last night I understood how strong of a hold this has on my brain. The very first thing that I was going to do, take my bed time vitamins, I didn't think of until I was laying down. My mind immediately said 'oh I'm already laying down', and I had to really kick myself to roll over 3 feet to grab my vitamin and some water.
I realize how hard this will be, but this is probably the single greatest self improvement project I could ever give myself. I may even go as far as to get professional help to help break my addiction.
Monday, February 19, 2007
finding the right spots to bluff
There's always one aspect of poker that I've never been able to explain well. It's those situations that aren't black and white, and are simply described as 'spots'. It can be a spot to bluff, it can be a spot to value bet, but they are significant to bringing your game up a level. Last night I had a hand that was one of the clearest bluffing spots imaginable, and I can illustrate what a good bluffing spot is.
The game was a $10/$20 live NL cash game at the Commerce Casino. The table was generally playing passive, and this hand was no exception. There were 3 limpers, and I found 52hh in the big blind. I checked and the flop came out ks qh 5s. It checked to the button who bet out $80. I recognized right away that this flop most likely could not have hit anyone. Some players might look at this and just throw there hand away, but I know that this player would have raised the hands that hit this flop (meaning that the button is trying to represent a pair of kings, such as KJ, which he most likely would have raised preflop). With the players in early position checking, it's likely they don't have much either, and with me being in the big blind, I could have almost anything.
I check-raised to $260, which he though for a second and called. I didn't expect a call, and that gave me an idea of the types of hands he could have, which were almost all draws. JT, and flush draws are consistent with his preflop limp and bet/call on the flop. The turn came a 8d, and I bet $600. The button only had $1800 in his stack, so I bet an amount which would persuade him not to try to bluff me, but one that also wasn't giving him the correct odds to draw.
He mucked pretty quickly, which was what I expected. On the surface this hand might look dangerous and risky, but I believe that this was a very clear spot to run a bluff.
In looking for similar spots, you should look for bets where he most likely does not have a strong hand, and where you CAN have a strong hand. It's important that both clauses are met to truly run a pure bluff.
The game was a $10/$20 live NL cash game at the Commerce Casino. The table was generally playing passive, and this hand was no exception. There were 3 limpers, and I found 52hh in the big blind. I checked and the flop came out ks qh 5s. It checked to the button who bet out $80. I recognized right away that this flop most likely could not have hit anyone. Some players might look at this and just throw there hand away, but I know that this player would have raised the hands that hit this flop (meaning that the button is trying to represent a pair of kings, such as KJ, which he most likely would have raised preflop). With the players in early position checking, it's likely they don't have much either, and with me being in the big blind, I could have almost anything.
I check-raised to $260, which he though for a second and called. I didn't expect a call, and that gave me an idea of the types of hands he could have, which were almost all draws. JT, and flush draws are consistent with his preflop limp and bet/call on the flop. The turn came a 8d, and I bet $600. The button only had $1800 in his stack, so I bet an amount which would persuade him not to try to bluff me, but one that also wasn't giving him the correct odds to draw.
He mucked pretty quickly, which was what I expected. On the surface this hand might look dangerous and risky, but I believe that this was a very clear spot to run a bluff.
In looking for similar spots, you should look for bets where he most likely does not have a strong hand, and where you CAN have a strong hand. It's important that both clauses are met to truly run a pure bluff.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
sunset boulevard
My friend Iwind final tabled yesterday, but busted out in 10th. He busted in time for us to hit the bars, and he wanted to go to Hollywood. It's always fun telling a taxi driver that you don't know where your going, we just asked for a good place on Sunset Blvd. After the $50 taxi ride, we ended up at a pretty nice place.
We found a seat in the back and sat down. Immediately two girls came over to chat, and Iwind had the blondes number in less then 5 minutes. Damn euros. Unfortunately the bars close at 1:30 (wtf yo) in LA, so we were only there for a bit over an hour.
We left the bar, and while waiting for a taxi I really had to pee. We happened to walk past a strip club, so we paid the $20 cover to use the bathroom. Best use of $20 ever. We took a ride back to the Commerce and played some 3/5nl for an hour. We both managed to win money just playing crazy. I don't know how people manage to go broke as poker players, there's always games full of brain dead fish.
Although the night was short, it was nice to finally get out in LA and do something besides play tournaments.
We found a seat in the back and sat down. Immediately two girls came over to chat, and Iwind had the blondes number in less then 5 minutes. Damn euros. Unfortunately the bars close at 1:30 (wtf yo) in LA, so we were only there for a bit over an hour.
We left the bar, and while waiting for a taxi I really had to pee. We happened to walk past a strip club, so we paid the $20 cover to use the bathroom. Best use of $20 ever. We took a ride back to the Commerce and played some 3/5nl for an hour. We both managed to win money just playing crazy. I don't know how people manage to go broke as poker players, there's always games full of brain dead fish.
Although the night was short, it was nice to finally get out in LA and do something besides play tournaments.
Friday, February 16, 2007
friend is in town
A guy I know flew in Wed night to come down and play. He's a pretty good medium-high stakes player online, and is from somewhere in Scandinavia. I'd tell you his name, but I can't spell it or say it and my keyboard doesn't have the correct characters. I met up with him yesterday and we played some 10/20 no limit holdem. We both finished up, but I finished with about $10k on the table for a net win of just over $5k. It was nice to book a good win, as I haven't played live cash all year. I think I'll be playing some more live while he's in town, mostly because the players at the Commerce are terrible.
Earlier this week I limped into the money of the $2500 nl event. There was really nothing interesting about the tournament at all, and I was to annoyed to write anything about it. Cashing is fine, but I want to make a final table sometime.
Today is another $2500 event, and we both will be playing. Depending on how we do we might spend the night out somewhere. He's said he really wanted to party in Hollywood at least one night, so either tonight or tomorrow we'll likely make our way out there. Should have some good stories from that night!
Worst case scenario is I make this final table and can't go, wouldn't that be some ironing.
Earlier this week I limped into the money of the $2500 nl event. There was really nothing interesting about the tournament at all, and I was to annoyed to write anything about it. Cashing is fine, but I want to make a final table sometime.
Today is another $2500 event, and we both will be playing. Depending on how we do we might spend the night out somewhere. He's said he really wanted to party in Hollywood at least one night, so either tonight or tomorrow we'll likely make our way out there. Should have some good stories from that night!
Worst case scenario is I make this final table and can't go, wouldn't that be some ironing.
Friday, February 9, 2007
the pros are finally out in la
Yesterday was the $1500 no limit event. The day was very wierd, starting right at my hotel. I ran into John Racener in my elevator at the Wyndham. He's staying here also and was headed over to the event. I found out that they have a shuttle service to the casino, so no more walking! As we are waiting for the shuttle, 'Miami' John Cernuto walks by, looks back at us, and says "Oh, you guys headed to the tournament? Need a lift?" We of course accepted and hitched a ride over the the Commerce.
In the High Limit area there are alot of pros playing, some just waiting for the tournament to start. The biggest game I saw going was $600-$1200 limit holdem, with JJ Liu and Tim Phan playing. Eventually we made our way to the tournament, and I happened to find Miami John directly to my right. Seemed like a funny coinodence.
The first interesting hand came up in level 3 (75/150 blinds). I'd worked my 3k stack up to around 6k mostly stealing pots. There was an Asian kid on my right that had been getting very aggressive raising alot of pots. Was perfect person to steal some more chips from, so I decided I was going to re-raise him the next time he opened a pot in late position. He raised to $500 from the CO, and in the Small Blind I looked down at 53o. Not a good hand, but I didn't intend to get this pot to showdown anyway. I raised it up to $1600, and he looked pretty shocked, thought for a second, and called. Whoops, clearly he picked up a big hand, so I'd have to just give up without a nice flop. The flop came down 367, which was great for me, so I went all in for my remaining $3700. He didn't call right away, and that was a great sign for me. Eventually, he looked at me and said "Ok, let's gamble" and showed AKcc for a flushdraw and 2 overcards. I'd much rather he folded, but I got to proudly show my 53o. The turn was a 3, removing about half of his outs, and he missed on the river to double me up to about $11,000.
My image was destroyed, but our table broke right after the hand and I was sent to a new table. Looking around the room I noticed a large number of pros in the room. Allen Cunningham, Victor Ramdin, Nam and Tuan Le, John and David Phan, and others that I can't remember. On the break I walked by a chick that I swore was familiar. She was tall and extremely skinny, but I didn't get a great look at her face. I saw her again later and realized it was Clonie Gowin, and I was shocked. I pictured her as some short girl, but she had a models body.
For the rest of the event I just jockied around 10-15k in chips, not able to get much going. I wasn't getting any cards, and a player was moved to my table that clearly love Kill Phil. He was going all in over everyones raises over and over again. I'm not talking shortstacked either, he was moving all in for 10k over players $1200 bets. It was amazing how for 2 hours he never once ran into a hand. For me, I sucked as he was on my left and I kept having to lay medium hands down. With 15k in chips I can't call his pushes with AJ,AT, KQ type hands. I couldn't pick up anything big enough to call his pushes with, so I blinded down to around 8k by the 300/600-75 level. I picked up AJs in the Big Blind and tried my first push-over-someones-raise play, and of course ran into QQ and was sent packing.
I just shook my head and walked out, frustrated again by how the cards fell.
Today was a limit holdem event, which I skipped in favor of some online play.
In the High Limit area there are alot of pros playing, some just waiting for the tournament to start. The biggest game I saw going was $600-$1200 limit holdem, with JJ Liu and Tim Phan playing. Eventually we made our way to the tournament, and I happened to find Miami John directly to my right. Seemed like a funny coinodence.
The first interesting hand came up in level 3 (75/150 blinds). I'd worked my 3k stack up to around 6k mostly stealing pots. There was an Asian kid on my right that had been getting very aggressive raising alot of pots. Was perfect person to steal some more chips from, so I decided I was going to re-raise him the next time he opened a pot in late position. He raised to $500 from the CO, and in the Small Blind I looked down at 53o. Not a good hand, but I didn't intend to get this pot to showdown anyway. I raised it up to $1600, and he looked pretty shocked, thought for a second, and called. Whoops, clearly he picked up a big hand, so I'd have to just give up without a nice flop. The flop came down 367, which was great for me, so I went all in for my remaining $3700. He didn't call right away, and that was a great sign for me. Eventually, he looked at me and said "Ok, let's gamble" and showed AKcc for a flushdraw and 2 overcards. I'd much rather he folded, but I got to proudly show my 53o. The turn was a 3, removing about half of his outs, and he missed on the river to double me up to about $11,000.
My image was destroyed, but our table broke right after the hand and I was sent to a new table. Looking around the room I noticed a large number of pros in the room. Allen Cunningham, Victor Ramdin, Nam and Tuan Le, John and David Phan, and others that I can't remember. On the break I walked by a chick that I swore was familiar. She was tall and extremely skinny, but I didn't get a great look at her face. I saw her again later and realized it was Clonie Gowin, and I was shocked. I pictured her as some short girl, but she had a models body.
For the rest of the event I just jockied around 10-15k in chips, not able to get much going. I wasn't getting any cards, and a player was moved to my table that clearly love Kill Phil. He was going all in over everyones raises over and over again. I'm not talking shortstacked either, he was moving all in for 10k over players $1200 bets. It was amazing how for 2 hours he never once ran into a hand. For me, I sucked as he was on my left and I kept having to lay medium hands down. With 15k in chips I can't call his pushes with AJ,AT, KQ type hands. I couldn't pick up anything big enough to call his pushes with, so I blinded down to around 8k by the 300/600-75 level. I picked up AJs in the Big Blind and tried my first push-over-someones-raise play, and of course ran into QQ and was sent packing.
I just shook my head and walked out, frustrated again by how the cards fell.
Today was a limit holdem event, which I skipped in favor of some online play.
Monday, February 5, 2007
i promise
- to always take the more aggressive action in close spots
- to avoid playing the short stack early in prelims
- to hit on more asian chicks here in LA
I've decided that I'm going to do everything in my power to get a big stack or bust early in prelims. If I get any decision that's close, I'm going to flip for my stack every time. You start the events low on chips, so you only have limited time to make moves. If you lose a few pots early you end up short stacked. If you just tread then you are shortstacked by level 4.
I have come to find that there is such an edge to be exploited over the weak fields in the prelims, that even neutral decisions are in your favor to take. Getting chips to work with allows you to run over the field as it gets into the middle stages, when the blinds work up, antes kick in, and the dead money tightens up. Also, if you happen to bust early, it means you didn't waste your time sitting for 10 hours only to bubble the money. Ten hours of play online nets me thousands, enough to pay the tournament buyin multiple times. This means at the very least I get to spend more time playing online.
Taking this appoach will most likely reduce the cashes I get, but will allow me to go deeper, with more final tables and more wins.
- to avoid playing the short stack early in prelims
- to hit on more asian chicks here in LA
I've decided that I'm going to do everything in my power to get a big stack or bust early in prelims. If I get any decision that's close, I'm going to flip for my stack every time. You start the events low on chips, so you only have limited time to make moves. If you lose a few pots early you end up short stacked. If you just tread then you are shortstacked by level 4.
I have come to find that there is such an edge to be exploited over the weak fields in the prelims, that even neutral decisions are in your favor to take. Getting chips to work with allows you to run over the field as it gets into the middle stages, when the blinds work up, antes kick in, and the dead money tightens up. Also, if you happen to bust early, it means you didn't waste your time sitting for 10 hours only to bubble the money. Ten hours of play online nets me thousands, enough to pay the tournament buyin multiple times. This means at the very least I get to spend more time playing online.
Taking this appoach will most likely reduce the cashes I get, but will allow me to go deeper, with more final tables and more wins.
schedule of a traveler
What's interesting about traveling is that you never have the same schedule. Every location has something different. Here in Commerce the tournaments don't start until 3:30. This means that I really don't have anything to do in the mornings. Room service stops breakfast at 11am, so this means I need to be up at 10:45. That gives me extra time, so I've decided to start working out again.
Typical day:
Get up at 10:45am
Get breakfast, shower, and eat by 12 noon.
Go workout, and waste time on the internet until 3pm.
Tournament from 3pm until bust
Evenings eat dinner, play poker, and waste more time on the internet.
Sleep
In the Bahamas I had to make room for plenty of party time. Tunica faced me with travel issues. AC was nice staying at the Borgata which meant anything 24/7. Here we have late starting events. At the very least it keeps things new and interesting.
And now I'm going to be late for the 1k. later
Typical day:
Get up at 10:45am
Get breakfast, shower, and eat by 12 noon.
Go workout, and waste time on the internet until 3pm.
Tournament from 3pm until bust
Evenings eat dinner, play poker, and waste more time on the internet.
Sleep
In the Bahamas I had to make room for plenty of party time. Tunica faced me with travel issues. AC was nice staying at the Borgata which meant anything 24/7. Here we have late starting events. At the very least it keeps things new and interesting.
And now I'm going to be late for the 1k. later
Sunday, February 4, 2007
if you are a terrorist
and you don't want to get searched at the airport, then don't buy a one way ticket. If you weren't aware, those 'random security checks' aren't random at all. Apparently one of the flags is a one way ticket, and you will get searched every time. I've gotten searched on my way to Memphis, from Memphis to Atlantic City, from AC to Chicago, then from Chicago out here to LA.
It's not a big deal, but I hate getting told "You've been selected for a random security check." Random? Bull Shit.
That being said I'm out in Commerce now. Tomorrow will be my first event, a $1000 No Limit Holdem event. The wierd thing is out here the events start at 3:30. I like it a because I'm not used to getting up early, so being able to just wake up at 11am will be great.
That's all for now
It's not a big deal, but I hate getting told "You've been selected for a random security check." Random? Bull Shit.
That being said I'm out in Commerce now. Tomorrow will be my first event, a $1000 No Limit Holdem event. The wierd thing is out here the events start at 3:30. I like it a because I'm not used to getting up early, so being able to just wake up at 11am will be great.
That's all for now
Friday, February 2, 2007
taxes give reflection
Tonight I went through my 06 records and compiled information for my taxes. Tomorrow I have to go to my accountant and find out how much I owe the government. Can't wait for that! Going through the months brought back memories, and I could remember almost every upswing, and all of the painful downswings. I got upset when I finished July, as I realized my profits from the rest of the year totaled less then $10k, and July alone was a $200k month.
I started the year with two simple goals: Get back into shape, and make $250k. By July I had accomplished both. I was in the best shape of my life, and I surpassed my yearly goal. It seems as if I just quit for the rest of the year, as I ended the year fat and out of shape without having won much on top of what I'd already done. I will do everything in my power to make sure 2007 doesn't turn out the same way.
I went to eat dinner, a bit upset, and determined not to be in the same place in 08. It got me thinking back even farther until I remembered a specific night that likely changed the course of my life.
It was sometime in the Fall of 03, after Moneymaker had won the World Series and started the poker boom. I had always liked cards, and I knew most of the poker games. Texas Holdem was just starting to get popular in my area. We played for fun every so often, sometimes for quarters, but it was just a game to pass the time before we went out drinking.
On this night, for whatever reason, I had a lot of alcohol in my car. My friend and I had taken some trips to rent a movie and couldn't find anything interesting and came back empty handed. He invited me to a poker game, which is what we decided on doing. My mom knew I drank, and was very much against it. When we came back without a movie she thought it was a cover to buy booze and went to search my car, where she found the alcohol that had been there for almost a week.
The typical argument ensued, and she wouldn't let me go out for the rest of the weekend. By some act of god, she relented, and let me go with my friend to the game. The game was the first time I'd played for decent stakes, and the blinds were $.5/$1, which was high for a highschool kid who made $6 an hour working a few nights a week. It was early morning when the final player went broke, and it was me and my friend sitting with all the chips in play. My stake was well over $300. I had just won a paychecks worth of money in a single night, all while having a blast. I was hooked. Through the next year I was a regular player with these guys, and won $5000 before I left for college in 2004. They also introduced me to online poker; likely I'd have never found it without them.
To this day I don't know why my mom let me go out that night. Most parents wouldn't have believed we were just going to play cards, but for some reason she believed us. If she simply told me no that evening it's very possible that wouldn't be here writing about traveling and playing poker.
So as I sit here a bit disappointed looking back at 2006, I know that if I could have seen my future in 2004, that I'd be very, very happy.
I started the year with two simple goals: Get back into shape, and make $250k. By July I had accomplished both. I was in the best shape of my life, and I surpassed my yearly goal. It seems as if I just quit for the rest of the year, as I ended the year fat and out of shape without having won much on top of what I'd already done. I will do everything in my power to make sure 2007 doesn't turn out the same way.
I went to eat dinner, a bit upset, and determined not to be in the same place in 08. It got me thinking back even farther until I remembered a specific night that likely changed the course of my life.
It was sometime in the Fall of 03, after Moneymaker had won the World Series and started the poker boom. I had always liked cards, and I knew most of the poker games. Texas Holdem was just starting to get popular in my area. We played for fun every so often, sometimes for quarters, but it was just a game to pass the time before we went out drinking.
On this night, for whatever reason, I had a lot of alcohol in my car. My friend and I had taken some trips to rent a movie and couldn't find anything interesting and came back empty handed. He invited me to a poker game, which is what we decided on doing. My mom knew I drank, and was very much against it. When we came back without a movie she thought it was a cover to buy booze and went to search my car, where she found the alcohol that had been there for almost a week.
The typical argument ensued, and she wouldn't let me go out for the rest of the weekend. By some act of god, she relented, and let me go with my friend to the game. The game was the first time I'd played for decent stakes, and the blinds were $.5/$1, which was high for a highschool kid who made $6 an hour working a few nights a week. It was early morning when the final player went broke, and it was me and my friend sitting with all the chips in play. My stake was well over $300. I had just won a paychecks worth of money in a single night, all while having a blast. I was hooked. Through the next year I was a regular player with these guys, and won $5000 before I left for college in 2004. They also introduced me to online poker; likely I'd have never found it without them.
To this day I don't know why my mom let me go out that night. Most parents wouldn't have believed we were just going to play cards, but for some reason she believed us. If she simply told me no that evening it's very possible that wouldn't be here writing about traveling and playing poker.
So as I sit here a bit disappointed looking back at 2006, I know that if I could have seen my future in 2004, that I'd be very, very happy.
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