The One Less Traveled By

2011

2012-01-18T06:21:00.000-08:00

January: Began in Chicago with my quietest New Year’s in recent memory after nursing my body back to health from a brutal bachelor party. Take heed of my words and don’t go to Vegas for more than 3 days for a bachelor party. Two is probably ideal. Shortly after that I went to Bahamas for an unsuccessful poker trip, but discovered the drink known as the zombie, a combination of about every type of rum you could find. After winning a main event package for $350ish dollars, I could hardly complain to be in the sun and heading down water slides through shark tanks. Chicago winter was brutal upon my return and snowmageddon shortly followed. Before heading to Cleveland to celebrate my niece’s 1^st and 3^rd birthdays., I made a two day bachelor party stop in Las Vegas highlighted by two enjoyable craps rolls with the entire bachelor party. The first saw every person up handily while completely loading the board through the come line and with almost everyone at max odds and total points through the hot roll of the man known as Steele, the dice were passed from the floor man to Steele when an unnamed member of the bachelor party grabbed the dice out of turn. Immediate 7. I had a nice online poker month and everything seemed to be in line for a great start to the year.

February: Online poker turned completely the other way erasing almost all the profits from January. A package to Copenhagen for my first EPT event and visit to Denmark made the intolerable winter easier to bear. I only played one event in Copenhagen, but finished fourth place for 1,000,000 Danish Kroner. It was my biggest cash to date and one of the most exciting moments of my life. Competing on that stage was fun, challenging, stressful, and nothing I could have imagined without being in that situation. My own mistake unraveled my EPT title shot, but Copenhagen was beautiful and I look forward to revisiting. When I flew back to Chicago, I thought about how far I’d actually come from playing $5 buy in cash games with my friends in my buddy Dave’s house in high school. We loved to play and bluff and force another guy to go into his pocket to pull out another $5. I loved the challenge of figuring out people, finding a way to beat them, and of course, the rush in your blood every step of the way. Nothing has changed.

March: Online poker was up and down this month, but I had a great St Patrick’s day weekend in Chicago.

April: This is the month where I finally lost all hope with the US government. On tax day after sending in my tax estimate and starting my usual Friday routine of watching the markets and playing a few early Friday online poker tournaments, both major online sites that I played on had their domain names seized by the FBI. Online poker would never be the same. The debacle that ensued has seen one site, Pokerstars, returning all our money. On the other hand, Full Tilt Poker basically proved it was running as effective of a business as a kid selling .01 lemonade cups full of piss. I turned a lot of time into studying the financial markets and businesses, but was left with a huge void in my life. Being so close to family for the first time in a few years, I headed home to join family for Easter and had a great time in Ohio.

May: What wasn’t to love about May. The month before the World Series, I plotted what I would do to move out to Vegas for the summer while enjoying spring in Chicago, a Chicago area wedding, and watching Chicago come alive. Near the end of the month, I was part of a wonderful rapture weekend wedding in Columbus, Ohio celebrating a Miami Merger between the Brodas. We all had a great time yucking it up at world class facilities despite pending world apocalypse. The night before I drove out to Vegas, I attended a rooftop party in Chicago. I remember having a meditative moment looking out over the sky and imagining winning a World Series of Poker bracelet, but either way, I knew I loved my new city and was content even in the face of losing online poker. I left for Denver the next day and stopped to meet up with some bros. Denver cemented its place as somewhere I would love to live, but the two days there with the crew I was with was not what I needed before driving another day to Vegas. Luckily, I made it to my destination safely after a reflective drive.

June & July: THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER. Best finish 11^th. Second best finish 17^th. 5 cashes, and basically a wash in terms of profit. There is nothing not to love about the World Series of Poker except for the walk out of the Rio after busting a tournament, especially the main event. In between some of the events, it was fun to celebrate the marriage of one of my best and longest friends in my hometown Mentor, OH. Three days of the main event and not cashing again was frustrating. I think I’ve played close to 13 days without cashing in the main event. I’ve bagged chips every day 1 and 3 times on day 2, yet have never cashed. It remains a goal of mine. I know I’ll get there. After the main event, I decided to be a hero and drive 24 hours straight to Lake Geneva, WI to meet up with some Chicago friends and my love. Chicago summer was waiting for me. We golfed, tubed, drank, and caught up. It was also around this time that I officially knew I’d be moving to London. One more Cincinnati area wedding at the end of July allowed me to see my college town of Oxford, Ohio and Skippers, walk through a lobby in Kentucky with a life sized championship belt over my shoulder, and celebrate with some great people.

August: LOLLAPALOOZA!! Foster the People, Eminem, Foo Fighters, Skrillex, Afrojack, Girl Talk, Kid Cudi, Deadmau, Nas and Ziggy Marley, Explosions in the Sky, and others I’m sure I’m missing made for a great time. The highlight being a torrential downpour just before the main Foo Fighters act creating a mess of a savagery and mud only true maniacs can enjoy. I spent the end of the month packing up and readying my move out of Chicago.

September: Spent time in Mentor, Ohio before heading over for a London/Cannes poker trip and flat hunting. After living in Vegas and Chicago and not spending day in and day out with family, it was great to spend some quality time with Mom and Dad and see my nieces, brothers, in-laws, and friends. Flying over to London and searching for a place was slightly stressful, but being away from poker made me extremely hungry and focused. With tons of luck on my side for 5 days, I final tabled the EPT London Main Event and cashed in 6^th place of 691. It was my biggest score to date and back-to-back EPT final tables for me in Europe. Getting so close to a win was again frustrating and satisfying. I know I’ll be back again and win the next time.

October: Cannes was a beautiful venue for WSOP Europe. My poker results allowed me to explore the beach more frequently than I would have preferred. I failed to cash in five events. I flew back to Cleveland and Toledo to see a friend who I first met at age 3 get married. When his wife walked down the isle, I thought about how rare it is to have friends for that long and how appreciative I am of our friendship and others I’ve hung on to for a long time.

November: Moving and all the annoyances you could imagine moving to a new continent. Tourist stops included the Tower of London, London Bridge,

December: I began the month with a trip to Prague where I played the WPT, EPT and GSOP main events in addition to one side event. 68^th with 63 paying in the WPT wasn’t very pleasant. My EPT streak ended at 2 final tables as I busted day 1 of EPT. It was a tough first table and a pitiful performance by me in many regards. I didn’t adapt quick enough to the optimal strategy of tightening up. I made a deep run in the GSOP, but fell short with a min cash. Prague is a fantastic city and a must see for all European trips. When I arrived home, my grandmother was in poor health and dying. My whole family, a family she loved and was so much her responsibility surrounded her and said their goodbyes. It was a tough time for my entire family, but when thinking about her, I can’t help think about her love and care and what it meant to me in life. I have nothing but appreciation and gratitude for everything. She will forever live on through me. Some of my youngest memories with her was of her sitting me on her lap and letting me bet her chips when the family played poker. I couldn’t help but give a wry smile when one of her best friends told me at her funeral, “Shirley was always trying to get us to play cards!” RIP Grandma.

Cheers to 2012. Let’s make it a big one.

First Eurotrip a Success

2011-10-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

I arrived in my temporary new home in London with a bang finishing a strong 6th place in the EPT London main event. It was a great run and I spent 4 days getting my chips in good and holding and winning crucial 50/50 races. Almost every big race was JJ vs AQ coincidentally. The tough decisions came mostly on the second to last day as I was attempting to accumulate chips for the final table but was stuck in the card dead, flop dead portion and forcing things a little too much. After spending a lot of time folding, I won a miracle KK vs AA with a beautiful King of clubs on the river. It seemed like I was finally due for a title. The final table hardly went my way. 22 and A6 top out the high end of my range of hands and I whimpered out in 6th place after reraising A6 all from the small blind and having the big blind wake up with AQ. It was cool getting deep. I felt like I belonged there and I know I'll be back at some other stage. I remember calling somewhere that I was going to go 2/2 at EPT final tables when I came back. My main goal in poker is to win a big live tournament at this point.

I tried to carry that momentum to the WSOP Europe in Cannes. Cannes is gorgeous by the way and the weather hasn't failed to disappoint. I just busted my last of 5 tournaments here. Lost a giant pot 4h 7h vs 5d 3d on a 9h 6h 4s flop in the first tournament. In the second tournament, the 1k, I fought for a while from my 3k chip stack and then could not find a spot to get my chips in the middle after almost 5 levels (hours) of play. The third tournament was basically my main event, a 5k Pot Limit Omaha tournament. After doubling up early, things did not go my way and I was put to the test on a Th 9s 6s 9h board by a check raise all in. I eventually made the call with only a 78A5 no suits that mattered and was up against a KQJ5ss. The J sealed my fate, but I liked my decision at the point. I made it down to the final 3 in the shootout, but was short the entire tournament it seemed. I made one of my worst calls of the five days in that tournament early but fought back. The key hand for me was when my JJ finally had a chance to double against AQ, but the 98675 board saw a split pot and ultimately, an AT vs 77 race later, I was gone. The final PLO event was no different. I had a tough time getting anything going and made a bad pay off to a player who made quads, but could never seem to win an all in or racing situation when it would have got me going. 0 for 5 in Cannes, but I'm fairly pleased with how I played. I feel more and more comfortable live and especially playing in Europe.

As for my schedule from here on out, get back online soon from London and I'm certainly going to Prague in December for two events, one being the final EPT event of the calendar year. I'm looking to close out my best year as a professional with a BELT.

The Law of Unintended Consequences as it Applies to the Full Tilt Poker Situation

2011-09-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

As many people now know, Full Tilt was crediting player deposits without actually receiving funds. Many poker players knew this fact as every single person in online poker had at least one friend wondering why money wasn't drawn from their bank account by Full Tilt Poker yet they were still allowed to play. The new action today is summarized by The Feld on ESPN. What I want outsiders to understand before they just see the words Ponzi scheme and immediately move on is that this is just an unintended consequence of our corrupt/broken political system and one of it's laws, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

The UIGEA was passed in 2006 and was NOT DEBATED IN CONGRESS FOR ONE SECOND. It sent banks into a defensive mode where they would no longer consider transactions for online poker. Online poker wasn't specifically identified as illegal, but lumped into gambling, a category banks feared to process. This consequence removed liquidity in the online poker world. Poker players need access to their bankrolls to be made available online to play through the swings and now players were forced to get find another way. Some traded cash for online money in unfavorable circumstances or went through some other 3rd party processor that was or wasn't legit(how could you know) in order to keep playing. How to deposit online became a much bigger issue. Several sites left the US and few remained. Given fewer options of sites to play on for US players a few things happened. Serious players had an increased need to have more money sitting in an online account because of the inability to deposit. Poker has swings and you need money to earn in case you have none. Fewer sites and now an increased need for money to be kept into these accounts likely created a windfall amount of cash to be kept on sites like Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars.

We may never know is how many excess dollars were held in the Full Tilt Poker system by players that feared the illiquidity, but it did happen because of the UIGEA. Did these excess funds in the system contribute to the wild bonuses/dividends/ownership payouts that we are now hearing about or an inflated value of the company? We may never know, but I like to think I kept 500% more money in my account than I would have ever kept if this law didn't remove the ability to deposit what I needed to play for that day. Why would anyone ever take 0% interest in an online poker account instead of using a pay as you go system? We all took our own individual risk in this scenario to earn money or play for fun or whatever your motive, but it would not have been there with proper regulation or even in absence of the UIGEA.

So now a law attached to a Port Security bill probably meant to get some corrupt politician re-elected has in some way contributed to this Ponzi scheme. I can call for more regulation of online poker in the United States, but it's far too late. Instead of doing their job, Washington was more concerned with getting elected and passing bad policy to do so. 5 years of tax revenue and regulation would have gone a long way to preventing the pain many poker players are now feeling.

Post World Series & Some Words About Trading/Poker

2011-08-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Four Horseshoe Hammond poker sessions since my return to Chicago and my 1 winner out of 4 was for less than you can pay in tolls to get there. I got beat up in HORSE, PLO and Hold 'em on separate occasions. Live poker is slower and more boring and losing certainly doesn't change as quickly as it can online into winning over the short and long term. Truly, I miss playing tournaments and having the shot to throw up the belt every day whether it's something small online for a few thousand or a Sunday major or a WSOP 6 max tournament. Competition fills my blood, so I've been channeling that energy into trading lately, which is more rigged than any human should care to think about, but I have managed turbulent times in markets fairly well lately and can't complain.

Similarities in the lessons around the games of trading/investing are much more than just risking money. Bet sizing, bankroll management, mental flexibility, discipline and patience are all required to be successful in the brutal games being played in your respective financial markets. Knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em as Kenny Rogers would sing applies to trading as much as it does to a single hand. Decisions are constantly changing by many inputs and outputs. Buy here and sell here. What price do you want to get? How can you maximize value in any one situation by using both volatility and price? It's tough to explain, but I feel more and more comfortable finding situations and understanding what's going on. The true test though will always be protecting money and growing it in the lowest risk way for the maximum return. It doesn't mean you can't push a lot of your chips in the middle with a strong hand, but it does mean that you are prudent in times of market correction and when your trades just simply aren't working.

I may be adding more business and investing/trading things into this blog mainly because it's been keeping my mind sharp during the lull in poker. There is a ton to learn on the subject and if I could say the most important things I've learned so far about it they would be:

1. No one cares about your money more than you. No advisor, tweeter, blogger, person on CNBC, or even your parents can you tell you what you want to get out of investing/trading and what your actions are going to be when you lose money or win money. Winning money in poker or trading can easily go to your head. The money needs to be bound by a purpose, goal, and risk management.

2. Pigs get slaughtered. It only takes a few bloodbaths to learn this. Gains aren't gains until they are booked. Getting too greedy is one of the worst things you can do.

3. Much like in poker. When you bet, ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN. You must have a method because actions of the game will change and not always go according to your plan.

4. Nothing comes easy. Everything takes work. Poker/Investing/Trading/ LIFE!!!

5. Don't listen to anything I say. Mistakes are how I've learned my most important lessons in both poker and trading, but I'm not advising you. In fact, not once unless you are my close friend have you even talked or heard my theory behind investing/trading.

There are tons of resources on the internet and the two things I use most are Stocktwits and Finviz.com. Stocktwits is a great idea generation site as their founder always says, but don't get caught up in the panic or try to trade based on some random tweeter's ideas. Finviz has tons of good research tools/charts/etc.

On Saturday, The Horseshoe Hammond is holding a $1500 tournament and it will be a nice going away present when I win it. The next few months will be hectic as I'll be traveling for poker/moving/getting back online (fingers crossed). London is my next destination for EPT London, and I will be in Europe (hint,hint) a lot in the next few years. I'm excited to get back to Europe. I am 1/1 at making final tables in that continent.

The 27th day.

2011-06-27T00:46:00.001-07:00

I warn readers that I've played 26 days of poker straight, and I'll be playing my 21st event today. My mind is in a weird place, but relentless positivity and thoughts of being a champion still pervade. I have been battling a cough for the last three days or so, but if Dirk Nowitzki can play like a sick champion while spanking Lebron James in the NBA Finals, then a little bug isn't going to affect me. It's pretty easy to catch something in that giant Rio petri dish passing around chips that each person has coughed all over.

I arrived about an hour late to the $1k NL Hold 'em today. After losing a key pot early QQ vs AK and KJ, I rallied from just 1400 chips (starting 3k) all the way up to 11k. The key hand of the day came as I held AQ out of the small blind with blinds at 100/200 25 ante. An aggressive player raises the cutoff position and I call out of the small blind. Flop comes A95 two of the same suit. I decide to check raise his 800 bet to 1900. He calls. Turn card is a 4 second suit of spades. Two flush draws are now out. He was the type of player that was literally raising any two cards at this point. I decided to ship in 9075 into the 5200 pot b/c I sort of put him on a draw or a weaker ace and really thought he might call me off. I wanted to push this for value and protect my hand. I thought he'd be more likely to call a shove then two bets in a row. I was pretty confident I had the best hand. If I bet into a better hand then fine, but I just didn't care about controlling the pot. When I pushed my 9075 in I still had a 25 chip on my cards. The dealer incorrectly announced that I was all in and I pointed to my chip a few times but didn't want to say much as the player hadn't acted yet. The player thinks for a while and calls immediately flipping his A4 over for two pair. The dealer says "ok we are all in flip them over." Then they call the floor because I point out that I'm not all in. First floor guy somehow rules it's an assumed all in and I say there is no way I'm going to put that chip in the pot when there is one card to come and I know his hand. Now typically they penalize someone for exposing a hand before the action is over, but I'm glad to see the 2nd floor man decided not to penalize my opponent and ruled I didn't have to bet that chip. The bad news is the river was a 6 and I check folded my cards face down. I'm really fine with the play. My 25 chips and my 28 of diamonds failed to beat AK on the next hand.

The 5k NL Hold 'em event concluded for me on Saturday with a teasing day 3 11th place finish. It was the 3rd biggest event so far this series in terms of prize pool out of the first 40 events. My day 3 began with me pushing A8 of diamonds at 5k/10k blinds 1k ante into the short stack big blind and losing 85k from my 866k. I then immediately raised KK and everyone folded and that about sums up the day. I made a bluff that eventual champion Matt Jarvis made a nice call with J9 on a K Jd Td 9d 2s board. I missed my straight flush draw with A7d and almost moved all in there. Who knows if he calls? The deck put me in a few less than lukewarm situations as well. My AA had the board run out Kh4h4sThJh. I bet on the flop and the turn because I felt like he could still be drawing with a KQ, KJ hand or even have something like nines with a heart. I folded to his river bet. I believe I was right on both decisions, but I'll never know for sure. After the bluff, I won a KQ vs AT all in by hitting a K on the last card. Shortly after, I 3 bet Jarvis again with TT only to see him call in position and flop come out AJ4. After my bet on the flop, the K on the turn made me just give up with my 19 bb stack. He could have been bluffing, I think he probably had me beat at that point. If he didn't, then he just owned my soul. I then moved all in over a raise 5 handed with AQ and the small blind called with 99. The 9 on the flop sealed my fate. It didn't occur to me until later that I shook everyone's hand because I was kind of in a daze at the time. 3 days of poker and all the excitement of achieving my one goal this summer was on hold. Props to my opponents as they deserved to be there getting through that tough field.

Overall, I'm happy with that tournament, I'll learn from it and move on. I made a couple bad plays in the event, but also made some good ones and rallying from just 16,000 chips with blinds at 800/1600 all the way to 11th makes it hard to complain about luck. It was probably the best competition in a tournament I've played to date. Some extremely talented tables played throughout that tournament. At the same time, it's extremely painful to be so close to a huge score and a bracelet again and come up short. The swings in emotions are just mind boggling. I slept extremely well the night before day 3 despite it being the biggest tournament I would ever win if I beat the 20 remaining players. I feel much more mature as a poker player in terms of how I manage my emotions. At the end of the day, it's just a game and you have to have confidence in your ability and reads and play great poker.

I've been having a lot of fun this summer and wouldn't want to be any place in the world but in the biggest poker tournaments in the world. I do miss my girlfriend and family/friends. 27 straight days of poker probably isn't helping my relations to any other human, but I get to take a break and head to Cleveland for July 1-5 where I'll see a lot of great people in my life. I'm super excited for that. Then I'll return for maybe one more event and the Main Event. I'm feeling ready for that after immersing myself in poker this month.

It's 2:21am and somehow I haven't gone to bed yet, but I'll decide how I feel tomorrow and play either the 10k six max NL Hold 'em tournament or the 2500 Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi/Lo 8 or better Limit tournament.

Five Simple Reasons to Regulate Online Poker

2011-06-06T00:32:00.000-07:00

#1 To protect players. The government in collaboration w/ players needs to make sure people's money/financial info is safe.

#2 To create business in the United States. New businesses are good. Competition helps players. Jobs are created.

#3 Tax Revenue in US. Needs to be fair to players and cover costs of an efficient regulatory body.

#4 Poker is different from gambling. Gambling is a part of the game as is sometimes the case in strategy games. Poker is a game of skill and needs to be treated different in public policy.

#5 Poker is played by millions... MILLIONS of Americans...Prohibition and resources wasted towards stopping this activity are counterproductive to business and government.

I probably have 10 more good reasons.

Time for Reflection

2011-05-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

Post online poker in the US has let me reflect. Let me make the first statement more accurate. The post US online poker world where US players could actually compete in a large enough player pool to matter and create enough value to make it worth it has disappeared. Online poker still goes on in the USA if someone wants to go through the avenues to play. Prohibition never works.

As for my reflection, there has always been a battle in my mind and spirit about what poker has meant to me. Sometimes I think about it more, on long plane and car rides, sometimes I think about it less. I've been consumed by the game at many points in the past 4 years to the point of playing 14-20 day series nearly every day and regularly playing 12-16 hours on a Sunday. That doesn't leave much time to reflect on the big picture. To be away now for almost 3 weeks without a chance to compete is tough. I can say without a doubt that I loved what I was doing. Online poker is a training grounds. It's the best value place to hone skills in many games. I believe the only way to be great is to practice. Online poker lets someone like me who deposited under $1k of my own money initially to work my way up. Along the way, I made enough that I could focus on it full time. Less than 2 months off my largest cash win (not online), my training grounds are gone. The repetition that online poker gives me is no more. I now must travel away from the comfort of my home, live in and around casinos, risk more of my money for less value, and most importantly, put a shirt on to go to work.

Practice is essential for the World Series of Poker coming up from June 1-July 20. Of the over 50 events, there are many different games and buy in levels not just the most popular No Limit Hold 'em. You can't play these games regularly aside from a few venues and very rarely in a tournament of a size that matters. This hurts US players against our competition from non-US players that continue to improve at this very moment through experience.

At this point, most online player's careers earning a living doing something they loved online. While nothing changes the fact that online poker probably won't be available to us, we are all still going to Vegas to play in the most meaningful events for poker players. Events that allow us to win a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet. A brand that was built from the inside out of America that should be the biggest brand in poker now pales in comparison to other international poker growth because of a law that was not once discussed by our "representatives." Many players win their way into the main event for $1-$1000 online and can compete for upwards of $7 million. That is now impossible for the majority of US players and will hurt attendance.

After the World Series of Poker, some of us will win and some of us will lose. We will all have to make a decision. At that point, I will have to decide if I want to leave the country to be able to play online and evaluate what that means I'm giving up in the US. These are not light life decisions and require the maturity of years to probably make correctly. Since I already know that the government doesn't believe we are mature enough to handle our own money against other players in an online poker game, I'm sure they will offer us assistance in making our decision.

I've read other blogs where most players talk about a gaping 5 year hole in their resume, but I see this as hopeless talk. I'll list below a few of the things I've learned.

I've learned to able to ignore money to make a profitable mathematical decision.
I've learned to control unwanted negative emotions.
I've learned to manage money.
I've learned to understand and respect the results that come with luck.
I've learned I don't feel right if I don't give something back when people are in need.
I've learned inside of me, I have the ability to become a champion and compete at the highest level.
I've learned how to not live outside of my means.
I've learned about human nature in pressure situations.
I've learned a lot about different cultures and their players.
I've learned how to take a risk.
I've learned how to survive out of the comfort zone of a steady job and income.
I've learned how to objectively examine and review plays in poker.
I've learned the value of hard work (but I was actually taught this my entire life, nothing changed in poker)
I've learned there are always people in life cheering for you and always people rooting against you. The people rooting against you are louder than the people cheering for you.

"Stay far from timid, only make moves when your hearts in it, and live the phrase sky's the limit."

The Hangover

2011-03-10T18:02:00.001-08:00

It's what you can call the week after your most exciting moment in your career. I remember it after June 2010 and the infamous KK vs AK hand. (forgot the hand write-up is wrong on pre-flop action). While that wasn't yet the final table it was the closest to the biggest goal I have, a WSOP bracelet. The EPT championship would have easily been just a hair under a WSOP bracelet, but the hangover has been worse. The hangover refers to the fact that every morning I wake up thinking about hands from that final table. I even think about the first hand and things I couldn't control, the fact that my QT suited was calling the 3 bet of a player with KK if QJ doesn't 4 bet shove. The flop of QT5 would have likely seen me stack a player and take a dominating stack through. Poker doesn't always happen the way you want it to.

Nor should it.

I'm still teetering back and forth about calling off my chips with 0% chance of winning. Generally, you don't want to do that too often in a poker career. While I navigated my stack properly to the four handed game, I think I would have had an advantage keeping things in front of me and small. I hadn't tested one of the other four at the final table's post-flop game at all to that point in the tournament and with two player behind me, John Eames and Michael Tureniac that were clearly strong in that regard of the game, why not wait to get into more situations with Per Linde. Those are the strategic hangover thoughts. The truth is that I got up from the table and was so pissed off because I felt the championship was in my blood and my soul that tournament. It was an honest thought and one that still resides. I needed just a little more from myself. It could have been that one decision, maybe it wasn't, but in poker you can't know after you have no chips left.

The hangover extended to online play this week. I didn't bring my A game all the time. I wasn't as hungry as I needed to be. The standard winner's curse I've written about before followed me. I shouldn't have let it. Each day is a new day, a clean slate. Your record before that doesn't matter. All that matters is if you bring it or not. A week off may have been a good idea, but the hangover of such an exciting atmosphere made me want to create it again, even if it was for something smaller.

Oh well, I don't anticipate playing any tournaments Fri-Sat unless they are super duper turbos. I'll be celebrating St. Patty's Day in Chicago and hopefully not freezing my arse off looking at a green river. Happy St. Patty's Day and celebrate with your safety and others in mind.

EPT Copenhagen: So Close

2011-02-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

"Fold or hang tough. Call or raise the bet. These are decisions you make at the table. Sometimes the odds are stacked so clear there's only one way to play it. Other times, like holding a small pair against two over cards, it's six to five, or even money, either way. Then it's all about feel, what's in your guts."

Mike McDermott from the movie Rounders

One of the best quotes from one of the best movies. It can't describe my tournament with anymore precision. Day 1 was jet lag day, but it worked. Get it in good and win. Control the pots. Day 2 was a struggle, card dead, but one last hour rush of aggression and nicely played hands kept me in contention. Day 3 was seize the moment, play with no fear, and enjoy every minute as we entered the money and set ourselves up for more. Day 4 was the craziest day of my poker life. It was the day of the biggest bluff I've ever pulled off. A bluff about feel, guts, your opponents, and knowing something would work. It did. It took me from 11th of 12 remaining players to in contention. A couple well timed hands later I was playing with one table remaining. The goal was so close. A major title against a talented field.

The final table was a struggle. It's always tough to win tournaments without flopping pairs and always having inferior holdings to opponents, but with the stroke of luck on the shortstack, my 44 beat 66 all in. I still had a shot. Then, I kissed my shot away with an incorrect read. See quote above. One critical mistake in my eyes over the course of 5 days. Not all that bad, but given my holdings today, I needed to be slightly better than that.

I can't help but smile when thinking about the last five days and how much fun I've had. I came up just short of a huge goal of mine, but recognize how much I've matured as a competitor.. I can smile because I never lost faith in knowing I'd win or in my own abilities. No matter what happened, I kept the game in front of me while always telling myself to pay attention to the 3-8 other opponents. I know I fought with my heart, my guts, and with every inch of poker talent I have. A taste of a major no limit live final table is intoxicating, but tournament players must always remember, the next time around, you all start with the same amount of chips. You start from scratch with your poker tools and your guts and of course, hopefully a little lady luck.

January Update, February Plans

2011-02-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

January flew by in large part due to a 9 day trip to the Bahamas, the cleansing of my mind through a tougher yoga practice, and lots of poker in between. January really felt balanced. Let me first say that I really enjoy getting to meet my adversaries and friends at the poker table at the live tournaments. So often, we spend time looking at each other's screen names and competing online that we forget we are actually other living people. At least in competitive sports you could look another player in the eye all of the time. Playing online doesn't afford you that opportunity. I met some great people and had a blast despite playing two other events in the Bahamas and not cashing and an exact bubble (43rd place with 42 paying) in the 1k six max. I did, however, have an outstanding month online both in cash and tournaments. I was able to throw up the belt Aaron Rodgers style in my home by winning the 6 max $75 tournament on double guarantee multi-entry week and narrowly missed my first life ever title in a hyper turbo event during double guarantee week. In that tournament, I refused a chop for the 5th straight time and for the 5th straight time turned in a 2nd or 3rd place performance after refusing a chop. I don't think it's stubbornness, but when I get that deep in the tournament, I want to win it outright. Why play if you don't want to win the maximum? This works both ways in poker, but if the situation really calls for a deal, I'll make it. It usually doesn't.

I've had a lot of time to think about my goals for this upcoming year. My halfhearted approach towards the goals in the earlier blog is unlike me, but many of the goals that I haven't accomplished are the same from the year before. I will add a few things as I go along and think of them.

February is started with a great trip to see the family with two wonderful nieces having birthdays as well as my Grandma. Then the FTOPS begins on Full Tilt for what will prove to be two grueling weeks that should get me into a great poker mindset for the EPT Copenhagen at the end of February. Normally, I'd make my way out to LA for the LA Poker Classic, but the Commerce selfishly (against the poker community and spirit of the game) tried to get online poker legalized as a statewide initiative through California earlier this year. I think a one year break from there is fine enough for me on the boycott level. This initiative of casinos, states, and countries looking to restrict the access of local players to the same sites is anti-free trade and completely against the spirit of the game. If anything, the World Series of Poker has taught me that poker is an international game enjoyed by men and women from all over the world. It's equality in its purest form. States like New Jersey, countries like France, and poker rooms like the Commerce have all done or are in the process of restricting access to poker pools of money to their own states to make a profit. Now, I have no problem if the Commerce wants to compete in its own niche market, but everyone in the world needs to realize that the bigger the pie of players, the better for everyone, players, tax collectors, media, live casinos, etc.

PCA Update

2011-01-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

Let's do a quick summary. I played the Main Event of the PCA Day 1a today and made it a meager 6 levels into the tournament before my short stack was busted when my KQ failed to improve against AJ. Two hands before dinner break, I flopped a straight with my 67 of clubs after calling a minimum raise of 800. After betting 2100 into 4 players, I was raised and subsequently called by AQ of spades after I put my pile of chips in the middle. With the board reading Ts 9s 8h, I stand as a slight 53%? favorite, so basically a coin flip for 35k in chips. The 2 of spades crippled my stack down to a paltry 6k from starting 30k.

Chips were not easy to accumulate today. The table was very tough relative to fields I've played in the past. I have a pretty good knack for being able to succeed in these tables in the past but today wasn't meant to be. I can pin two mistakes on myself, one where I just leveled myself into calling. This is when I begin to think he thinks I think he thinks I think he thinks when really he just has a hand better than mine. The other situation was typical of the table on a QQ4 board when I bet the button against two players and was check raised. I really needed to see through that, but I folded my TT here and another player paid the player $100 to see the hand. He showed 89.

That leaves 8 days in the Bahamas to figure out what I want to do with myself. I may enjoy the sun or go on water slides through shark tanks or whatever else people do on vacation. There are several mixed game side events that I would actually be excited to play, so I'll probably win one of those. I really want to get to the point where I have that killer instinct at a live poker table. Sometimes I begin to get chatty and see other players as humans and that affects my play. It's a leak and I'll get over it. All other players shall not be seen as friends while cards are being dealt. Poker is supposed to be a social game and what not, maybe it is. The problem with that idea though is that we are all chasing millions of dollars.

2010 Accountability and Reflection

2011-01-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

Putting the words in front of all 10 of my blog readers: I will update this blog more frequently this year. Sometimes I go on these kicks where I feel the need for privacy in life. In this entrepreneurial endeavor you are measured by your recent results and not by how you are playing. It becomes tough when people ask "how much are you making this year?" "how much is your biggest win?" Answering both of those questions answers nothing about how I've progressed as a professional poker player, a competitor, and as a person. The wins are excellent, but if I would have told you that I was one 70% - 30% hand from a life changing moment in poker, you could very easily respond with a Mike McD quote "you don't hear about the guys who took their shots and missed."

To summarize this year, it was a battle. I hopped out of the gate with a 5th place finish in $1 mill guarantee on Full Tilt for $50k. This provides a nice mental cushion for any player being backed on his own. If I learned anything in this business, mental cushions are only as strong as the mind behind them. Rough downswings can shake your bankroll and rattle your cage more than anything. Heading into the WSOP, I was exhausted physically and mentally. May was the toughest month of my poker career. Poker giveth and poker taketh away. Being the month before the biggest tournament in the world, if you would have told me that I was going to have my best financial year as a poker player, I would have laughed at you. That fact alone snapped me into a better mental state. Doing anything for the money in life is stupid, but it is a factor. I remember thinking this is a game I love, one that's supposed to be fun through all the challenges. If I'm not enjoying it, then why the hell am I doing it. Coupled with living in Las Vegas far away from friends and family and the relationships that mean the most to me, I just wasn't happy. June provided a great distraction in the WSOP. I was fortunate enough to put myself in an outstanding position to win my first bracelet. A rough KK vs AK loss for 3x the 2nd place player with 11-12 remaining sent me out of the tournament in the hands down most brutal beat of my poker career. With the flip of one river card my poker destiny was altered, a dagger 4 of clubs making my opponent the nut flush and the eventual champion of the tournament. I made another run in the Pot Limit Omaha $2500 tournament but ended in 14th place painfully short of a 2nd consecutive PLO WSOP final table. The main event gave me another shot at redemption. I made day 4 while never holding over 80,000 in chips until day 4. Just when I started chipping up, another brutal hand (AQ vs KQ river K) sent me to the short stack followed by my AQ losing to JJ shortly after to send me to the rail. While I did book a tiny winner in the overall series, it wasn't enough. When is it ever enough?

I gave a lot a thought about what I wanted to do in my future. Since then, I have moved out of Vegas. September was my second best month ever in poker overall. This also didn't come without mistakes as I believe I made one of my most regretted plays to bust 117th? in the $5k World Championship of Online Poker Main Event. With close to $2 million to first, it's a mistake that I haven't forgot. I focused on becoming a better NL tournament player this year. I believe that I have achieved that in short. I also believe I am a much stronger mixed game player.

I'll get more to results in the goals, but mentally, I've never felt better about poker and life. Many people are ready to fill you with doubts in this world. I learned to laugh and enjoy these doubts because they are that person's own fears about life. There is nothing in the world a competitive person would love to hear than someone else in the world doubting what they can do. Doubts are gasoline to a competitor's fire. I'm fortunate that in the year 2010, I was able to love what I do day in and day out. Balance has been semi-restored to my life. I've never been happier in poker and never have there been fewer FML's muttered out of my mouth.

Now on to the goals from last year.
1. Win a World Series of Poker Bracelet----if the deck cooperates, I would have had a very good chance, 12th and 14th
2. Cash in the main event of the WSOP--finished in top 15% for 3rd time in 4 years, but still have no cash in the main event
3. Win a live tournament--I played a very light live schedule this year, but still remains a goal
4. Win 10 NL Hold 'em tournaments--As it turns out, I won 8 NL Hold 'em tournaments outright. I also won 2 HORSE tournaments and smaller mixed game tourneys. I'm pretty satisfied here.
5. Final Table 100 tournaments--This is a really lofty goal in retrospect, but those tracked by Pocketfives, I'm at 54 for the year. I know there were more in the smaller field non-NL Hold 'em events.
6. Final Table 15 Sunday Majors--I believe this stands at 2.
7. Win a Sunday online major tournament (Tournaments that count on Pokerstars-Sunday Warmup, Sunday 100R at 2:00pm Est, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Second Chance, and Sunday 200R, on Full Tilt--Sunday Brawl, Sunday 750k or 1 mill, and Sunday Mulligan---I made a very nice run at it in the Sunday Mulligan late in the year, but it wasn't my day. That was also the last time I've lost a mouse in the heat of battle. Losing 6 showdowns in a row isn't fun at a final table with over 50,000 on the line
8. Win a major series live or online (UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP) tournament. I had a 4th in the WCOOP Stud and a 7th in the UBOC 100 Rebuy Turbo.
9. Final Table 5 major tournament series both live and online.--This will stand at 2 same as 8

If you look at them on the surface, I could say I missed a lot of goals, but it doesn't feel that way. I'm ready to go for 2011. These goals are all things that I still want. The most notable addition to my own poker goals will be updating this blog more regularly. Even better, I'm in the $10,000 Pokerstars Carribean Adventure Main Event beginning Jan 7th for a meager $350ish dollars. I get a shot at much of the glory right out of the gates. Cheers in 2011 and best of luck in whatever you do.

Know Thyself

2010-04-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

By Sunday's end, I sat in silence as disgusted with myself as I've ever been. I've learned through this entire poker experiment that if one thing will burn me in poker, it's not keeping my emotions in check while playing a game that tirelessly tries to light me on fire. Three days of fluky bad beats finally got to me. The worst beat was the crazy Friday Night Fight hand (Full Tilt's $500 tournament) where I lost an AA vs JJ vs Q9 for a triple up with approximately 20 to go in the tournament. I was certainly running below expectation early on Sunday, and my emotions soon got the best of me. By reading through the hand histories at the end of the day (a process by which I review my play), I was looking at an entire different player. It wasn't the player I am or want to be. I was uncharacteristically building big pots against my instincts, gambling in situations where I shouldn't, and by the end of the day, not playing up to my full potential. I can't say how many times I made mistakes, but I wasn't acting like a professional. Being professional means playing through rough swings objectively, staying in the moment, and having a short memory of what just happened. Each new hand presents a new problem that should not carry the weight of any past occurrences. I certainly wasn't acting like it.

It may have been the other stresses of life seeping into my work. No one should ever let their work cross into their personal life or their personal life cross into their work. I was tense and stressed and that doesn't lead to anything positive. The takeaway from of all of this though is that you must "know thyself" in the game of poker. Being truly in tune with who you are as a person, as a player, and as a competitor are so essential to being successful. Being successful in poker doesn't always mean winning on any given day either. That's probably the most twisted thing about the game. Being successful means being professional despite what happens.

After thinking about what had happened, I did some yoga Monday morning to channel the emotions and worries of the past few days. Life has been stressing me out beyond belief and I came to peace with letting it all happen. I kept asking myself what really is the worst that can happen and is it that bad? (wise teacher once told me that) I responded tonight by playing in the moment and not letting the negative throw me into a tailspin. The beats today were just as bad as the days prior, but I played objectively until the last tournament was done. That anomaly that was my emotional unwinding on Sunday was temporarily conquered.

Every poker tournament has it's own life. I've learned that knowing thyself is a valuable skill in poker. It's a prerequisite to keeping an open mind, following the correct instincts, and being in the right position mentally to make correct decisions. The best players out there know who they are, know how to keep negatives at bay, and ultimately, know how to live in the moment.

What's up Next

2010-03-02T22:48:00.001-08:00

I just saw today that Pokerstars updated their SCOOP schedule coming up in May.

SCOOP Schedule

I really like this schedule as some of the high buy in events are actually going to be reasonable enough of a buy in to play. Having this in May is seriously great for most online players as it serves as a serious warm up to the World Series of Poker. My goal now is to prepare myself mentally by playing a variety of games and looking through hand histories. I've been in a great habit of going through hand histories the last two days to find mistakes and successes.

Whoa I just 3 bet a guy all in with A7 of spades in a Turbo on Full Tilt................typing dots until something happens................he folds...want proof?

Full Tilt Poker Game #18924271013: Turbo Fiddy (143601761), Table 23 - 120/240 Ante 25 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:50:10 ET - 2010/03/03
Seat 1: watson5j (8,659)
Seat 2: ProjectSix (6,200)
Seat 3: luckyML97ft (1,720)
Seat 4: bigace223 (3,580)
Seat 5: gettym (2,031)
Seat 6: MikyMcDermott (5,380)
Seat 7: Michael_Bosco (4,375)
Seat 8: kice32 (4,180)
Seat 9: quantum leaper1 (3,980)
watson5j antes 25
ProjectSix antes 25
luckyML97ft antes 25
bigace223 antes 25
gettym antes 25
MikyMcDermott antes 25
Michael_Bosco antes 25
kice32 antes 25
quantum leaper1 antes 25
watson5j posts the small blind of 120
ProjectSix posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [7s As]
luckyML97ft folds
bigace223 folds
gettym folds
MikyMcDermott folds
Michael_Bosco folds
kice32 raises to 480
quantum leaper1 folds
watson5j raises to 1,200
ProjectSix folds
kice32 raises to 4,155, and is all in
watson5j has 15 seconds left to act
watson5j folds
Uncalled bet of 2,955 returned to kice32
kice32 mucks
kice32 wins the pot (2,865)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,865 | Rake 0
Seat 1: watson5j (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: ProjectSix (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: luckyML97ft folded before the Flop
Seat 4: bigace223 folded before the Flop
Seat 5: gettym folded before the Flop
Seat 6: MikyMcDermott folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Michael_Bosco folded before the Flop
Seat 8: kice32 collected (2,865), mucked
Seat 9: quantum leaper1 (button) folded before the Flop

They think I raise so light sometimes...well I do sometimes, but I like to 4 bet shove.

I want to play in the next NAPT event in Connecticut come April 7-11, and I'll be doing my best to win the package through Pokerstars.

whoa whoa whoa whoa I just blew up with AK. I mean is this guy ever showing me not at least one Q with a straight draw.... enough blogging after you see this horrendous play. Spit blahhhhhh pukee....get that out of me. I just 9th leveled myself in a $26 sit n go.

Full Tilt Poker Game #18924337244: $24 + $2 Sit & Go (143856378), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:54:31 ET - 2010/03/03
Seat 1: IWantUrMoney515 (4,626)
Seat 2: crisp714 (5,390)
Seat 3: robo_1985 (1,005)
Seat 4: plzdontcall1 (855)
Seat 5: kice32 (327)
Seat 7: loosenuts99 (2,490)
Seat 8: happymonkey123 (3,080)
Seat 9: Djibril Cisse (4,200)
IWantUrMoney515 posts the small blind of 80
crisp714 posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [3d 7s]
robo_1985 folds
plzdontcall1 folds
kice32 folds
loosenuts99 folds
happymonkey123 folds
Djibril Cisse folds
IWantUrMoney515 calls 80
crisp714 raises to 480
IWantUrMoney515 folds
Uncalled bet of 320 returned to crisp714
crisp714 mucks
crisp714 wins the pot (320)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 320 | Rake 0
Seat 1: IWantUrMoney515 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: crisp714 (big blind) collected (320), mucked
Seat 3: robo_1985 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: plzdontcall1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: kice32 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: loosenuts99 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: happymonkey123 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: Djibril Cisse (button) didn't bet (folded)

To LA and back

2010-02-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

I made a trip down to the Commerce Casino and the LA Poker Classic on Monday. I immediately learned lesson #1 of the trip. Don't play immediately after driving from Las Vegas to LA. I don't know if it was because I hadn't released any of my pent up 3:30 hour drive energy, but I played the first $335 tournament like most of the other Commerce players with a dream. Starting with 3000 chips doesn't give much time to get it going. I played a hand with JJ where there were 3 callers, so I called from late position and the button came in. We went 5 handed to 8 7 6 two club flop. 3 players check to me and I bet 300 into 500. The button who had been playing pretty tight thinks for a second and makes it 1250. With only 2500 in my stack, I either play for it all or fold. I regret not playing for it all here since in a tournament like this, especially since I eventually called this guys all in later in the tournament with an impatient 77 vs his 99. Chalk up tourney number 1 to some bad decisions.

Tourney #2 was the 1k the next day. With 260 players, I got knocked out around 69th place on the second hand back from dinner break. I raised the button and was reraised by an internet regular and good player. I decided to go all in with my A9 suited here despite a tiny instinct to keep grinding. My entire tournament was a grind of small ball and dead cards. He showed AK, game over.

I picked up my game for the $500 shootout as I have total confidence in winning a one table tournament. I drew a great table where the talented and unpredictable Chino Rheem only made it through about 2 hands. Other than him, I only recognized one other solid internet player, but pretty much avoided confrontation with him despite getting it in AK vs AQ and splitting the pot early on. Despite not participating in probably 95% of hands for the first few hours, I managed to get all the money in KT vs JT 3 handed for a chance to go heads up with an older, southern gentlemen who was aggressive, but who I believe I had a very solid read on. Several times, I made laydowns to him and was shown the best hand. KT vs JT happened and the 789 flop sent me out in 3rd.

I only played one satellite to the main event and made a 3 bet with 22 to a late position aggressive player raise. Unfortunately, the BB overshoved with 99. The pot odds were close to 4.2 to 1. Since even the worst case scenario of an overpair is 4 to 1, I made the call and missed after the 3 4 6 flop. This hand did bother me a little bit because I wasn't really prepared to call the stack behind me and would have elected to fold had I been paying a little closer attention to stack sizes. My style has always been to understand the math of the game and how the constant mathematical dynamics are changing. Stack sizes and paying attention to how they are changing, what odds you may be getting in certain situations, what stack sizes are going to force you call, what positions you are putting other stacks in based on your stack size, and many other factors go into a hand. It may just be the result of the hand and me not getting a chance to play for over $1 million in one of the best tournaments of the year, but I'm a little bitter.

I'm trying to close out February and finish strong with a good weekend showing. I'm looking forward to Saturday and Sunday and lots of tournaments. Regardless, it has been a fairly slow month with 1 tournament win in the $55 on Pokerstars. With an FTOPS all month and not much success, that won't often make for a winner. I've had worse months though and by no means is it over. We still have two big days ahead.

2010 Goals

2010-01-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

All of these goals refer to multi-table tournaments (MTTs)and apply to both online and live tournaments where I pay a buy in and prize money is rewarded based on place in the tournament.

1. Win a World Series of Poker Bracelet
2. Cash in the main event of the WSOP
3. Win a live tournament
4. Win 10 NL Hold 'em tournaments
5. Final Table 100 tournaments
6. Final Table 15 Sunday Majors
7. Win a Sunday online major tournament (Tournaments that count on Pokerstars-Sunday Warmup, Sunday 100R at 2:00pm Est, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Second Chance, and Sunday 200R, on Full Tilt--Sunday Brawl, Sunday 750k or 1 mill, and Sunday Mulligan
8. Win a major series live or online (UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP) tournament.
9. Final Table 5 major tournament series both live and online.

If I think of more, I'll add them later.

My Sunday Pledge..Everyone Wins

2010-01-19T11:55:00.001-08:00

I read a forum thread on Pocketfives on Saturday with a bunch of poker players pledging money to the Haiti disaster. I decided to donate 5% of my total profits at the end of the day before the day began. As it turns out, Sunday was one of my best Sunday's playing in a while. I was patient and cashed in several tournaments including a 5th place in the Full Tilt Sunday $1 Million Guaranteed. At the end of the day, Haiti was looking at $2650 from me.

I'm going to equally divide this between 3 charities, American Red Cross, UNICEF, and Doctors with Borders. I'm glad several people in the poker community pledged part of their biggest day of the week and number one ranked player "Doc Sands" started off the rally with a simple thread in a forum. Hopefully, everyone out there gives a little to help a country that is desperately in need. After reading through some articles and seeing a 200,000 death toll possible with over 1.5 million people homeless, my heart and prayers go out to that nation. At the same time, it's great to see the good come out from people in the world. The world needs more of that good everyday.

What are Goals Without Accountability?

2010-01-15T16:44:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! (half way through the month I know) While my blog entries have dwindled over the life of this blog, my focus on my goals for the year has not. Last year, I reviewed my goals through a blog. This year will be no exception. Without further ado,

After much thought and reflection, I've come up with some of my goals for 2009.

1. Win 1 major online tournament series event including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP.

Ship it!!!!!!! I won a WCOOP in September in the $215 Limit Hold 'em. I actually just returned from the Bahamas where they gave me my official WCOOP bracelet. I hope it's the first of many....
I know I got a 3rd in the UBOC Limit Hold 'em tournament as well....hmmm. Maybe I should play more limit tournaments even though that UBOC should barely count as a major online tournament series for a small limit tournament.

2. Final table 2 major online tournament series tourneys including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP

See number 1. Mission accomplished..kind of. The FTOPS has eluded me this year.

3. Win a World Series of Poker Bracelet
3rd place in Pot Limit Omaha...very close but no cigar and this will from now on be listed as the number 1 goal.

4. Win a live tournament
3rd place in the WSOP and no cashed in any live tournament outside of the WSOP. I don't know exactly what's going on in the live arena. I haven't played that many and maybe just volume is where I'll find that win.

5. Win 10 online tournaments
I think this needs to be more specific, but what I meant was online multi-table tournaments with probably over 100 players.
I won 10 on Full Tilt including those small $75 other game tourneys (3 wins in Pot Limit Omaha, HORSE, and Omaha Hi/Lo), a $26 7-game mix and $26 heads up, so not as impressive as NL Hold 'em wins.
I won 2 on Pokerstars, the WCOOP and a PLO8 $215.
I won 2 on Ultimate Bet.
Total wins of 14 and I don't feel satisfied at all. I had a total lack of no limit wins. (Foreshadowing my goals 2010 post of course...)

6. Play a satellite to every live tournament main event where I enter a preliminary event
I'm pretty sure I did this except for when it was not +EV for me to do so. I did not win any of these satellites, so while I accomplished this goal, it did not achieve the desired results of putting me in a big tournament.

7. Reach 80 final tables including all events with over 50 entrants (not including sit and gos)
45 final tables on Full Tilt
16 final tables on Pokerstars
7 final tables on Ultimate Bet.
Total of 68 final tables online + 1 final table at the WSOP= 69 final tables.

8. Win an entry to a European Poker Tour event and go play it.
Fail

9. Play at least 5 events in every live tournament series I enter where there are at least 20 events.

I did not complete this goal because the Bellagio had bad numbers for tournaments. That being said, it shouldn't be considered a failure because I had specific reasons for not playing at least 5 events. I played more than 5 at the LAPC and WSOP because they had great turnouts and soft fields. The Bellagio was a different story at certain points of the year.

10. Win 1 Sunday major from the following list of tournaments: Sunday Brawl, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Warmup, Full Tilt 750k or 1 mill, UB 200K, Full Tilt Mulligan, Stars 200 Rebuy

None of my wins included one of these.

Overall, I had an exciting year when it came to poker, but it was much different than 2008. In 2009, I had two larger cashes in games that weren't even No Limit Hold 'em that basically gave me what I needed for the year compared to 2008 where I won several more mid-range prizes. All in all, I'm still playing poker and have goals ready in the next blog....

My Mind's Battlefield

2009-12-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

So I can talk about the countless final tables coming up short in the past month, but that can only come off as whiny. I can talk about my inadequate performance at times, but that would deny that the fact that I've learned a lot. I just want to talk about the battlefield that is my own mind.

First off, I've just passed my two year mark of living in Las Vegas and earning my living by playing countless hours of poker. This is not video poker or something with a house edge, but a mind game between individual players where the outcome of the contest is determined by both skill and luck. I've won a lot of tournaments, made a bunch of final tables, and have not cashed in probably close to 85% of the tournaments I've played. That being said, I'm a consistent winner in the long run, which is all that matters in the game. The problem with the long run meaning more than the short run is that we live in the short run. My daily emotions are focused on the short run. My competitive desires strive for the present. Certainly, I've blogged about my long run goals and what not, but every day, I wake up and have to go compete. The ultimate determination of my long run success relies on my mindset as a competitor.

I play primarily tournament poker where the prizes are top heavy and 1st place is the only thing that feels great most of the time. I've walked out of the World Series of Poker with a 3rd place finish and over $90,000. At the time, I didn't want to talk to a soul. I went to a celebration dinner and night out, but all I wondered was why I didn't win. When I went to bed at night and woke up in the morning, I was haunted by being so close. Winning a WCOOP bracelet a few months later felt better for less money because I won. Over the last few months, I pondered what was next. Surely, winning a WCOOP bracelet and being so close to the greatest prize of them all had to mean something towards my talent........

So now, I've come to a realization. To take this thing to the next level, I need to control my mind. My mind has become a constant battlefield between snap judgment and reaction vs. the thoughtful right reaction. It has become a battle between good habits and a few bad habits. It has become a battle between curiosity (paying off players on hands that make no sense) and the correct decision. The battle lasts to the point where it's all about positive energy versus negative energy, the I can versus the I don't think I can. To really take this thing to the next level, I have to conquer my own mind. My goal for the next 6 months is to play the best possible poker 100% of the time. My A game needs to be my D game, and my D game needs to be my A game.

I'm writing this blog because something has been bothering me. When snap emotional decisions make up what is anything in my life, I've found it to be a harmful force overall. I've taken up the practice of yoga along with the meditation that I've talked about in the past. I've always succeeded at everything in my life, and maybe have never faced enough resistance in my own mind. This is a battle that I think we all have to fight at some point in our life. I'm glad I've found mine within the scope of a game I love to play and call my profession.

I took at class at Miami University that was a special sports psychology class. I often draw upon the things that I learned from this class, but now I think I fully understand how it relates to what I need to be. We are only as strong as our weakest thought or negative impulse. I'm going to be better.

Get knocked down 7 times, stand up 8

2009-10-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

It's Monday. It's also known to me as the day after Sunday. Yesterday was a awful mess of a poker day. While over the course of a poker day involving roughly 25-30 tournaments, I'm going to make mistakes. Minimizing those mistakes and being consistent are the keys to staying in position. Yesterday was simply one of those days where I kept getting knocked down. Even when it seemed the clouds were breaking, another bad beat or tough break. Countless big pairs into big pairs in situations where the average good player always goes broke. The number of bad beats and horrible hands that could have left a mark in my memory are gone now. It's Monday and time to stand back up. October is most likely going to be a negative month. I didn't really win anything this month and likely won't be playing too much until Sunday.

The takeaway from yesterday though is my overall demeanor. Even when the last bad beat took hold in the Sunday 500 on Pokerstars while we were in the money (QQ vs K2 with a shocking K on the turn), I stood up and was ready to live another day. I've had plenty of bad days since being a professional and even since playing poker. If you let them affect your confidence or your self worth, that's when it becomes a problem. Sometimes long periods of time don't go well. I've even had 4-5 months where it has felt like this. Then all of a sudden being able to manage the losses and staying focused leads to big cashes and those tournament victories when all the luck finally changes.

If you want to play poker even semi-seriously, you just have to learn to accept that losses are part of the game.

November starts the final FTOPS of the year, which is Full Tilt's big series. I've joined a 1,000 per man leaderboard competition for Nov 1-Nov 11 to really motivate me to play long and play well over those days.

On another positive note, I did get a 4 day trip to the Bahamas for the WCOOP bracelet ceremony. I'll also be working hard on satellites to the Pokerstars Carribean Adventure, which is the 10k main event down there. It's probably the 3rd biggest tournament of the year. They also have a full schedule of other tournaments that looks intriguing. The tournament takes place Jan 5-Jan 12.

Reflection

2009-08-24T19:15:00.000-07:00

There must be something that biochemically changes in my brain when enduring a long car or plane ride (more so on car rides because I'm not worried about any time sound change likely signaling a plane crash in my mind). I just got back from visiting a few of my long time best friends in Arizona. In the midst of my ride home, I asked myself some of the following questions:

What happens if my car breaks down and a violent dust storm erupts for 3 days?
Why do we think that other intelligent civilizations in the universe would even be able to build spaceships?
If aliens came from a barren, desert planet, wouldn't Las Vegas or an Arizona type climate be the first place they would try to land?
If the Twitter generation takes over, are people ever going to talk to each other again?
Will text messages eventually become obsolete just like so many other forms of communication have in the past?
and most importantly as related to the blog,
Why did I not win another huge tournament this month?

The answers flooded my mind with all sorts of words popping into my mind; fatigue, focus, skill, luck, real estate, stocks, money, pressure, competition, rigged, etc. Those floods of words were enough to answer the question in and of themselves. My mind just needs more breaks.

Truth be told, I had a unbelievable month in poker in June, took most of July off with a few tiny tournament and cash game sessions, and have come back to Vegas in August to probably my worst month in my poker career. I've engulfed myself in trying to better understand the real estate market here for my first home purchase while simultaneously studying options trading strategies and attempting to put them into practice. All in the meantime, I still have to focus and worry about my actual primary source of income, poker HELLO!!!

I've talked in the past about meditation and how a book titled The Joy of Living has driven me to practice meditation. I practiced several of the exercises in this book throughout April-May-June and made a point to meditate during the World Series of Poker on breaks, after tournaments, etc. My meditation has since been non-existent, while in the meantime, all I'm doing from 6:30am-roughly 9-10PM is immersing my mind with new data points, information, numbers, and strategies involving all 3 of the tasks I'm trying to accomplish. These all add up to a poor month.

I'd like to also throw in a little disclaimer as well in that it's almost impossible in the short run of poker to determine how much luck is playing a role in the results, so 20 days of a month doesn't tell much. When it comes down to it though, there have been days where I knew I was simply too inundated with information and not putting my mind in poker 100%. You can't win online nowadays doing that.

So going forward, the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) starts Sept 2nd-Sept 20th. Historically in this event (2 years), I have 0 final tables. I do have two final two table finishes and a 30 something place in the 7200 person event last year. I won't be playing every event in this series, but plan on playing as many as possible.

Focus and success coincide with a mind that is clear from distraction and free to innovate on its own.

Letter to State Representative

2009-07-29T21:53:00.001-07:00

I know I mentioned this letter in my Twitter. I've stayed very active in writing members of Congress at the federal level and sent this to my state officials.

"The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to license and regulate online poker. This legislation allows states to opt-out of the provisions of the bill. As a constituent, voter, and poker player, I ask that you support online poker rights by advocating against an opt-out by our state.

Poker is a proud American tradition. I believe the heart of that tradition is Las Vegas. Many residents here including myself now play online poker and poker in the many casinos in the state for a living. I thank this state for giving me that opportunity. It's an opportunity I hope will continue as I become a homeowner in Nevada.

The bill in Congress is U.S. House Bill H.R. 2267. It provides for sensible regulation of Internet gaming and puts the U.S. in charge of safeguarding its citizens. The bill mandates rigorous safeguards against underage participation and protections for those with excessive gaming habits while providing consumer protections for the millions of Americans who play online poker every day. This bill will also allow American gaming companies to participate in the world's Internet gaming market, bringing needed jobs to our state, one that is well positioned in that market.

What's most important to me is your support for my rights. Please respond to this letter and let me know you will support my freedoms. I will be watching your actions on this issue closely. I hope that I, along with my over one million fellow Poker Players Alliance members, can count on your support.

Thank you for your consideration."

For what it's worth, I have a blog I've been working on that will cover the WSOP. I'm writing a version of a highlights/interesting moments blog.

Best of the WSOP blog

2009-07-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

I know it's been quite a while coming, but I wanted to take a look back at my favorite moments and hands from the WSOP.

I played 16 events at the WSOP including the main event. I recorded 3 cashes and one final table. The 3 cashes came in the 5000 NL Hold 'em 6 max, 2500 8 game mixed event, and 1500 Pot Limit Omaha. 3 cashes in 3 different games in 3 different buy in levels is kind of cool looking back at it. My best finish was 3rd place in the Pot Limit Omaha event where I recorded my biggest live cash and second biggest ever cash of a little over 96,000.

Best bad beat I gave:

This one is too easy. In the 6 max tournament near the end of day 1, I was at a tough table with several primarily online guys. A very good online player "Bill Ivey" flat called an early position raise and I looked down at 88 with 16 big blinds and shoved it in. The raiser folded and "Bill Ivey" called and showed QQ. Crap. Flop 8Q8. Easy game.

Toughest Table at any one moment in a tournament:

This one also comes from the 6 max tournament. Seat 1 was an older European who I wasn't terribly familiar with but had a ton of chips and wasn't afraid to play pots. Seat 2 was me. Seat 3 was Rory "mafews" Mathews from Scotland. This guy wasn't afraid to mix it up with anyone and basically made a soul read on Shannon Shorr that left the entire table stunned. I consistently had to worry about being 3 bet if I came into a pot with this guy as he was right to my left. Seat 4 was "apestyles." I've played with him in so many online tournaments that it was nice to finally meet him and I actually won a coin flip 33 vs A4 to stay alive against him on day 1. I got knocked out shortly after he moved to the table, so we didn't get to play many hands. Seat 5 was Shannon Shorr. I've probably read his blog for the last 3 years or so, but I still didn't quite know where I was at in many hands against him. He mixes up his game so well and isn't afraid to do anything at the table. That makes him a very a dangerous opponent, especially when he has more experience than all the opponents at the table. Seat 6 is Online Player of the Year for the last 2 years on Pokerstars, Shaun Deeb. Although he sort of went nuts with a straight draw for against me, I know he's a very good player He is another player who goes out there and plays poker. If he gets chips, he's not afraid to do anything.

Most heartbreaking beat:

This comes from the toughest table. Let me set up the scenario a bit. We are playing for 1 million dollars in probably the toughest tournament field in any event aside from Event #1-40,000 NL Hold 'em, which I didn't play. I fought all day to build my chips and played solidly throughout day 2. While I don't know the exact details, I have a pretty good idea in the hand. Shaun Deeb raises in early position to some 10k at 2k/4k. I look down at KK and reraise to 29500 after seat 1 calls. This is a small reraise, and I did this on purpose. First off, I was in position, and I want value from my hand. I don't want to flat call here because we were deep enough at the time. I believe I had roughly 250k at 2k/4k, and he had me covered. Flop comes down JT5. Deeb checks to me and I bet something close to half the pot or a little over it. He check raises me and I thought for about 30 seconds about the situation. Clearly, I gave him odds to hit a set with JJ, TT, or 55, but a check raise with these hands didn't seem as likely as other ways he would play the hand. I actually just think I caught him in a situation where I got a perfect flop for him to do something that isn't profitable when playing as deep as we were. I moved all in and he called and showed KQ. The 9 was the first card off on the turn and I lose. 550k would have put me in 3rd with 55 to go and 1 million to first. No big deal.

Hand I've talked about the most:

This hand came in the 8 game mixed tournament in limit hold 'em. I was just beginning to rush at my new table when I raised 6 9 of spades on the cutoff and was 3 bet by Bryan "badbeatninja" Devonshire. I called. Flop 7s8s2h. Uh-Oh. We put 5 bets in on the flop. Turn card 3 of not spades. He bets and I just call. River T of diamonds. Bingo! He bets with headphones on I might add. I take a second and decide not to be an idiot and look back at my cards like I do too much when I have the nuts. I go to put in a raise and announce raise, but put out probably 1.2x the bet instead of 2x because I simply didn't have any more big denomination chips. In order to make the full bet, I had to grab a stack of 40 100's chips at the time, which is not easy to maneuver without two hands. He thinks I just called because he had his headphones on and tables 88 for a flopped set. The dealer instantly grabs his hand and puts it into the muck. He rightfully flips a switch and gets the floor over demanding his hand back. When he gets the correct ruling that they can retrieve his hand, the floor guy asks him "Do you want to call the bet?" At that point, in a weird way, he said "well yeah." I table the straight, and he blurts out a priceless "F*%& my life!"

Best Celebration in a Loss

In a 2k NL Hold 'em event, I went from the 6k chips early up to around 35k without much trouble. After dinner break, I went completely cold. I couldn't hit a flop or get a hand or do anything until I was slowly down to around 6k. Blinds were 300/600 and I was under the gun with KJ off suit. I decided to push in as 2 players had left early for break. I'm in Seat 1 to the left of the dealer, but my stack is clearly out there. The SB says call and lobs 300 more chips in the middle. The dealer says his verbal declaration is binding and makes him call 6000 total or so. The player in the big blind (BB) sees that the player in the small blind (SB) is so angry at this point that he shoves in his stack with AQ. The SB folds another 5k or so with 9 4 off suit face up. The BB shows AQ with the Ace of spades. Flop comes KhJs and some low spade. The turn card is another low spade giving him any T or spade except for the K of spades to win the hand. The K of spades comes on the river and he screams "YEAHHHHH" while clapping his hands as I laugh on the inside knowing I won. The dealer points out to him that he actually lost. I triple up. (Unfortunately, this was one of the tournaments where I missed the money by about 2-3 tables when I had KK vs AA)

AA vs KK count

I had KK twice run into AA and lost both times. One was in the shootout where you have to play to win your table. I'm never folding, and neither is probably anyone good. The other time was the 2k near the bubble and I'm never folding and neither is anyone good.

I had AA vs KK one time in the 8 game mix to double up in a nice pot in NL Hold 'em.

Bad Tournaments

The one tournament I regret was the 2500 NL Hold 'em right after I had final tabled the Pot Limit Omaha. I made a couple of wretched plays and got most of my chips in with 89 suited on a 8 6 6 board against AA. I simply wasn't locked in this tournament. This was a lesson that is so valuable to learn in poker. After a big win, there is no guarantee the next tournament will be an easy ride to the final table. I didn't respect the concentration needed every single moment for this one tournament. When looking back, I think this was my only egregiously bad play in a WSOP tournament.

The hand that won me 90,000

The stage is set. 18 players left. I'm in the middle of the pack with around 200k in chips, and my first final table painfully close. The small blind raises 24k on my 8k big blind. I looked down at AKsTs2 and decided to defend my blind. Flop comes down AhKh5c. The raiser checks. I bet 28k. He calls. Turn card is a 7h. He immediately fires out a pot sized bet. At this point, it's a decision for all my chips. My mind starts racing like Phil Ivey's in the commercial. This is one hand where every single thought that matters crossed my mind. Of course, the pressure is completely amped up being so close to a World Series Final Table. In the end, I eventually shoved the rest of my chips in and stared at the board in silence as the player took about 4 full minutes to fold. From there, I was able to take control of the situation and give myself a chip lead going into the final table.

It was really a great World Series for me and I can't wait until next year.

First WSOP Final Table Thoughts

2009-06-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

When I ran track in high school, there was a feeling before every race that can only be described if you have it. I'm assuming anyone who has competed in some sort of sport or game knows the feeling. That's basically what how I've felt for the last two full days. Going for the ultimate goal in poker, a WSOP bracelet, was every bit of what I hoped for. Falling two players short actually makes me understand how precious that title is to so many people.

After finally getting a chance to settle down emotionally and read through some of the hands on the live updates, I'm very pleased with my performance. I would say the key hand of the tournament came with two tables to go. I was in the middle of the pack with around 220,000 in chips and had Ad Ks Ts 2s. The SB raised to 18k at 3k/6k blinds and I called. The flop came Ah Kd 7d. He checked and I bet 25k which he quickly called. The turn was a 5h. He immediately bets the pot for 86k. Now at this point, I had a little over 100k in addition to that bet. It didn't really look to me like he could fold many hands when he makes this size of a bet. Then I ran through the options. He can't have the nut flush draw for obvious reasons because I have the Ad. I am most worried about some sort of set, but nothing like that made sense. AA or KK or 77 pretty much needs to try to protect that board with either a check raise on the flop or a pot bet on the flop. AK would probably bet as well. I just basically decided to go all in after thinking for about 2 minutes, and then he thought for about 3 minutes and folded. That gave my stack a nice boost and I was able to play lots of hands and put pressure on the table before the final table.

The final table was exciting. As everyone who knows me knows, I love competition and this is the closest I've been to both the coveted prize and 230k. I'm happy with my final table play and would actually say I was a little card dead and less aggressive than I'd hope to be early on, but I wanted to feel out the table. I had only played against two of the players at the final table for a good period of time, so I wanted to feel it out a little. I basically maintained a decent stack with a couple of rivered full houses and good value bets as well as the occasional bluff. After I knocked out a player in 7th, the eventual champion Jason went on a huge rush. He busted out several players and had a big stack get all his money in against him with 2 outs, which is rare to do in PL Omaha. Then we got to 3 handed and I found myself in 3rd place with around 700-750k I believe with the other two stacks somewhere close to 1.7 mill and 1.2 mill. The momentum wasn't on my side at the time and I think a short stack has a huge disadvantage in PL Omaha, so I made a move on a decent flop with KKJ3 thinking that I get a fold a good amount of the time and even against top set, I'm still 30%. Of course, he had top set and won. The cash is my biggest live tournament cash and gives me lots of room to play events I want in this WSOP.

I was excited and exhausted about it all, but am ready to get back to another final table. The next event will be a $2500 NL Hold 'em event on Friday. I'll keep doing the Twitter updates from my icekevin name. I can't say enough about all the people that supported me throughout this. The text inbox was full and getting home and reading the people following really meant a lot. I'm sure there will be more to follow at some point.

In the money, Day 2 tomorrow

2009-06-02T01:42:00.001-07:00

I'm exhausted, so I'm not going to say much more than I've logged my first WSOP cash this year and have 78,600 in chips going into Day 2 tomorrow. It should be a lot of fun. The winner of this tournament will get 230,000.

Again, I'm updating everything at this Twitter site and you can follow along there. It also feeds into Facebook as well.

The Long Stretch Begins..

2009-05-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Las Vegas for about two weeks of getting into the poker groove again followed by the World Series of Poker through June and hopefully late into July. The tournaments that comprise the WSOP are most likely the best value of all tournaments out there. With improved structures and all sorts of games outside of Hold 'em, I couldn't be happier with what's to come. My mindset towards poker and life has really never been better. I want to give credit to both hard work and support from family and friends. I give a heartfelt thanks to all the people that have supported me over the past 1-2 years through my poker journey. To all the people that call or text for updates, listen to my jumbled poker-related thought processes, get excited when I win, dream with me, follow me on the poker sites, genuinely ask and wish to learn about the game, and those that ease my mind and challenge me about the future, I can't thank you enough. The support of my family and friends is what keeps me going and often what I miss so much living out here.

To all those that continue to follow, look me up on Twitter by clicking that link and hitting follow on my name. Twitter is a great social media tool that continues to explode in popularity, but for me, it's an easy way to update everyone throughout the WSOP.

Catching Fire

2009-05-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

I had to cool off today after catching a string of fire.

I got to LA to play some of the California State Poker Championship. The online series at Full Tilt is also going on during this time. Nearly every tournament has an overlay meaning extra money is in the prize pool. I have thus been playing in the morning events along with a few other tourneys. If I busted, my plan was to drive to the Commerce for the live tournaments. I went deep in so many tournaments that I only played one tourney at the Commerce. I have since done the following:

1. Deep in the 100 rebuy during the day for 10th.
2. 2nd in the Friday Night Fight on Full Tilt for 20k.
3. I had a 6th in the Pokerstars Nightly for around $5k.
4. 1st in the UB Sniper for 6k
5. 1st in the UB 50 Rebuy for 4k which was on a Sunday to save my day.

All of this has led to a nice swing in the negative variance into the positive for me. It has been so nice going deep in something every day like I'm supposed to. I've been working on playing more creatively and adding different strategies to my game depending on the tournament. I'm feeling very confident and will be playing hard the next couple days before a much needed trip to Chicago.

I've also been twittering lately at Twitter with tournament updates for those who want them. Basically, if you like to watch online, just follow me on this site and then visit the site to see if I've updated my status. You can also follow friends, celebrities, news stuff, etc. The only disclaimer is that you get some really random people following you. Good thing there is a block button.

Twitter

2009-05-07T21:57:00.001-07:00

I've been doing twitter updates for tourneys. My site is http://twitter.com/icekevin

I just had a disappointing finish in the NL 535 Shootout on Full Tilt. 1k cash after having a rough second table.

Did I forget how to play Hold 'em?

2009-04-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

After a considerable slow and dragging downswing, I had several decent results this past week.

3rd in the Full Tilt $75 on Wednesday for about $5k which resulted in a net profit of $3500 on the day because I blanked in all the other majors.

1st in the Pokerstars $215 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $7k giving me about a $5k profit on the day because Saturdays are also expensive and I bricked in all the Hold 'em events.

4th in the Pokerstars $215 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo for $3k giving me about a break even Sunday after I bricked my first 19 tournaments. I bricked 19 straight tournaments. This is leading me to believe something is seriously flawed with my early stage Hold 'em game.

Before I hit the panic button, I have ran considerably bad on Sundays in the past month or so. There were probably 12 tournaments that I really felt I played fine in on Sunday and it just wasn't meant to be. Because I do a great job of managing my bankroll, all it really takes is one win to give me a great month or 2 month period, but it just hasn't happened lately. The shortcomings of my tournament results have really given me a lot of drive to get better. I've watched countless videos and tried to read about poker whenever I'm not playing. Then I have brief spurts of playing really well followed by some calling station atrocities. These are essentially when I decide to lose my mind and become a calling station. I'm not totally discouraged by my hold 'em game because I don't believe it to be bad as a whole. In fact, I played extremely well in the 3rd place finish on Full Tilt using my big stack to my advantage and finding great points of the tournaments to pick up and slow down the aggression. When I don't have a huge stack though, I'm probably just a little too tight in a lot of situations. I'm going to be doing everything I can to figure this out and try to get better.

SCOOP Day #1 and #2

2009-04-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

So there is good news and bad news.

I played Day 1 and Day 2 of the SCOOP and will be playing likely every day for the rest of the series. On Day 1, I had nice stacks in both the 5 rebuy and 55 rebuy, but cashed in neither. I cashed in both the 11 and 109 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better and made a grand total of $21 on Day 1. Fortunately, I've been using all W$ that I won initially off of a $44 satellite. Basically, I just keep playing tourneys to win W$, which can buy into any of these major events. In essence, I'm paying no cash out of my bankroll to play, but I get paid in cash.

On Day 2, I cashed in the PL 5 card draw $11 and failed in the 109. I played all 3 NL Hold 'em tourneys or 16.5, 162, 1575 (I won a w$ satellite into this one through a 280 turbo). I got around 420th in the 162 good for $0 as it paid 414. I ran AQ into AK in both big ones in completely standard plays with under 10 bb and with the blinds going up at such a rapid pace. All in all, it was a negative day, but Day 2 is probably the biggest joke games of the series as it's on a Friday when no one plays anyway.

I'm also in a leaderboard contest on Pocketfives with over 40 teams. It is 3 man teams with the top 15 scores of the group counting towards a final point total. It is for all the Low events. There are really two links to this. The most important one is probably here with the final scorings even though it is lagging behind. My name on there is iacog4.

SCOOP contest scoring

SCOOP contest rules and team listings

Hmmmmm....

2009-04-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to wonder. I'm in the midst of the first sit n go session of the day. This is the 3rd set over set where I was on the bottom end. It just makes you wonder sometimes. After posting my best sit n go session of my life last night, it seems convenient to have 3 set over set hands. Enjoy!

PokerStars Game #26605790684: Tournament #152497880, $25+$2 Hold'em No Limit - Level III (25/50) - 2009/04/01 12:27:37 ET
Table '152497880 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: Crisper (1670 in chips)
Seat 2: quinitto (2570 in chips)
Seat 3: GoeliO1 (2945 in chips)
Seat 4: danzin79 (1830 in chips)
Seat 5: iacog4 (730 in chips)
Seat 7: periko77 (1420 in chips)
Seat 8: hansapils82 (1260 in chips)
Seat 9: Trudoy (1075 in chips)
quinitto: posts small blind 25
GoeliO1: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [Qs Qh]
danzin79: calls 50
iacog4: raises 680 to 730 and is all-in
periko77: folds
hansapils82: folds
Trudoy: raises 345 to 1075 and is all-in
Crisper: folds
quinitto: raises 1495 to 2570 and is all-in
GoeliO1: folds
danzin79: folds
Uncalled bet (1495) returned to quinitto
*** FLOP *** [2d 7s 8c]
*** TURN *** [2d 7s 8c] [Qc]
*** RIVER *** [2d 7s 8c Qc] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
quinitto: shows [Ac Ks] (a pair of Aces)
Trudoy: shows [As Ah] (three of a kind, Aces)
Trudoy collected 690 from side pot
iacog4: shows [Qs Qh] (three of a kind, Queens)
Trudoy collected 2290 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2980 Main pot 2290. Side pot 690. | Rake 0
Board [2d 7s 8c Qc Ad]
Seat 1: Crisper (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: quinitto (small blind) showed [Ac Ks] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 3: GoeliO1 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: danzin79 folded before Flop
Seat 5: iacog4 showed [Qs Qh] and lost with three of a kind, Queens
Seat 7: periko77 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: hansapils82 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Trudoy showed [As Ah] and won (2980) with three of a kind, Aces

Slowly gearing up for the SCOOP

2009-03-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

The SCOOP is coming ladies and gentlemen. I'll basically be in a one tracked mind the first two weeks of April. This series is the best series I've seen an online site put together because it has three different target audiences. Every main event for the SCOOP (on Pokerstars) has low, medium, and high buy in. If the low starts at 10, multiply it by 10 to get the medium event, and multiply that by 10 to get the high event. I plan on playing basically every low and medium event. I'm working on playing step sit n gos at the moment to win my way into the bigger events as I'd love to participate in them. Aside from that, I have some aunts and uncles and cousins coming into town which is always good. It's tough being far away from family a lot of the time.

The past few weeks, I've been playing a very small tournament schedule. I've played most Sundays and Wednesdays and a few days in between, but I want to be totally focused and in gear come time to play the SCOOP. The Bellagio has another series coming up, but I only plan on playing one or two smaller events unless I ship a monster tourney in the SCOOP. I'm feeling pretty good despite no notable results.

One thing I've really wanted to address lately is my emotional control. I've been reading a book called The Joy of Living and also following some of the meditation practices in it. The self-awareness of how my own mind works has been quite enlightening to say the least. I plan on continuing the practices in this book. Everyone knows that I've had an ability to get caught up way too emotionally in the game of poker to the point where it's probably not even good for my health as far as the stress goes. For the last 4 days or so after putting a lot of this into practice, I've understood what my mind does in situations and how it often resorts to negativity which then spirals out of control to the point where it almost always ruins my day. As a tournament player, most days end in disappointment, but they don't have to always affect me. I would recommend this book for basically anyone, but especially poker players.

I'm Zonked

2009-03-15T23:34:00.000-07:00

14 hours later after about 20 tournaments, I bubbled both the Sunday Major HORSE Final Tables with a 10th and 11th. I'm playing that mix of games very well right now. I also ran fairly good in both to get that far, but just ran like absolute garbage near the final table bubble. I cashed in a couple of other tournaments and felt like all day I was just getting coolered hard and losing lots of races. It has been an absolutely long day. I'm a slight loser on the day, but I'm still fighting. It has been a rough few months, but despite all the bad that has come of it, I'm still not in too bad of shape for the year. It's probably likely I go on about a 120k heater in the next two months, so be prepared for good news.

Sit & Go Grind and some Cleveland talk

2009-03-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

With the big tournaments not going quite as planned lately, I've sat back and started multi-tabling the 27-38 dollar sit & gos on Pokerstars. I actually got 5th in the high orbit leaderboard for an extra $200. YAY! In all reality though, I just wanted a new challenge and to free my mind from the pressure associated with always needing to win a tournament. So far, I've done fairly well. I almost got my second Full Tilt HORSE title as well last night coming in 3rd. It made me a $1200 winner on Sunday, which I can't complain about at all. My plan for March is to keep the tournament volume relatively low. I played a ton in January and February, and a change of scenery was definitely needed. With the SCOOP coming up on Pokerstars, I want to be ready to go every day for 2 weeks when April starts. Getting a huge cash in the SCOOP makes the WSOP and some of the April WPT events a lot easier to justify playing.

I just wanted to spit out a few sports observations.

Cleveland Cavs

I don't know how this team is going to beat Boston if Boston gets the one seed and we have to play 4 there. If we get the one seed, I still think it will be an epic series. To me, Boston is the best team in the NBA until someone else proves otherwise. We haven't done that yet. Lebron needs to stop Paul Pierce if we are going to win in June. So far, Lebron has failed to show up against Boston on the road. I still like our chances and think that we are one of the best run organizations in professional sports. Our front office actually gets it. No trades to do anything crazy at the deadline. Lebron is happy even though everyone thinks he is leaving. Let's just break the Cleveland curse and win one and he'll never leave.

Cleveland Indians

When does baseball start? It seems like forever since I rooted for a game, but it's a combination of the idiocy of that league that restrains my excitement I once had as a youth. Steroids, A Roids, no salary cap, corruption, and what else is new.... I still think the tribe has a chance every year.

Cleveland Browns

I already love our front office. I don't love the fact that we are basically in rebuild mode. We have only signed players that will give our team more depth in crucial positions. I loved Kellen Winslow as a player, but since he only played about half of the games, getting rid of him was kind of a wash for me. I don't think he really every fit into the system in Cleveland.

As far as Braylon Edwards is concerned, everyone wants to trade him, but I'm not on that bandwagon. He had an off year last year. I'm expecting him to return to his form next year with the discipline of the new staff and a new QB behind center. Trading him in a fire sale isn't going to get us anywhere. We also have some upside in keeping him because if he sucks, we will get picks for him when someone signs him based on how the NFL rules work. I'm not exactly sure of all the details, but I think the best case scenario is 1st and 3rd rounders in 2010. If he's good, our offense will be explosive again just like it was two years ago. He is that good when he plays at his best. I just hope he keeps his mouth shut and does his playing on the field.

I'm looking forward to the draft. We will take the best player available. It appears Aaron Curry will be gone by number 5. If he's gone, I like Orapko or Andre Smith. Either player builds one of the interior lines.

Shaun Rodgers, please just stay and stop complaining. Every fan in this city loves you.

Wynn Poker Classic Event 1

2009-02-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

So I played event 1 of the Wynn Poker Classic which was a 545 buy in and attracted 450 players. Overall, I love playing the first event of tournaments because they attract a wide range of skill levels and generally generate the most excitement aside from the main event of any particular series. After a horrendous run in LA, I was confident and ready to go. Day 1 actually was painful. I've never seen more atrocious play in my entire poker playing career barring the first week on Party Poker. I was slightly amazed because although almost every single live tournament is pretty horrendous in play, they are usually never this bad. Actually in LA, I had a couple of decent first few tables from what I could witness. One guy had accumulated about 130k in level 4 from starting stack of 10k. The hands of consequence were extremely rare. I was playing extremely passive the entire day because when I was actually in a hand with someone and would just call with a solid hand, they would proceed to fire every single betting round. There were probably 4 pots where it went bet call, bet call, bet call and I scooped good size pots. They were the type of players that tended to think that as long as no one raised, their hand was good. Anyway, after a painful AK lay down right before the dinner break on Day 1, I battled back and ended the day with around 85k which was good for 20th out of 50. I actually survived an AK vs JT all in right before the bubble. Coming into Day 2, I was thrilled because I knew I had around a 20bb stack with blinds being at 2k/4k and that was plenty of chips against this field.

Day 2 was hell. I got there and notice that they had colored us up to the next level of chips and raised the level. The floor said that we only had a minute left at the lower level and they wanted to save time and color us up the night before. Color up is a term used to describe the removal of certain lower denomination chips as blinds go up. I could have sworn we had 20 minutes left in the level. The kicker was that there were two day ones playing down to 25 each day. The first Day 1 ended on 3k/6k while we ended on 2k/4k. Moral of the story is that they shouldn't have done this in the first place, but they definitely shouldn't have jumped to the higher level of the two. So while I'm expecting to go in with 20bb, I actually have around 14. Anyway, my table wasn't all that tough from the people I recognized from the day before. There was a solid girl about my age that was across the table that was at my table from Day 1, but with both our stack sizes, I knew if we collided, it would likely be in a situation neither of us could avoid. We lost 20 players rather quickly and I was dealt nothing the first level. We move up to 4000/8000 with a 1k ante and I still have around 80k because of a few timely shoves. Then some guy from Paris, who had easily won 20 pots on Day 1 and 2 by sucking out on someone shoves 280k from the cutoff. LOL!!! This guy tended to bet the amount that correlated to the strength of his hand. He was just precious. I look down at black kings and shove my stack in the middle from the small blind. He rolls over black queens and proceeds to beat me with a better flush.

WAIT WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????????? That is correct. The board rolls out T 9 8 all spades giving him more outs (jack or queen). The turn is the J of spades and his straight flush knocks me out of the tourney in 29th. It was actually my first big pair of the entire tournament. I did not see JJ-AA until that point. With 65,000 to first and a stack that would have handily put me in contention, I had nothing to feel but the urgent need to dropkick a slot machine. I did my standard quiet, "good game" and walked to the parking lot trying not to swear under my breath as I am trying extremely hard to quit swearing. Anyway, this is the type of thing that makes me never want to play poker, something that is currently my career.

Poker is just super funny. The last time I felt this confident about my abilities in something was when I used to ace finance tests in college. With some inevitable pressure involved (grades), I would sit down with full confidence and just get in the zone. If I made a mistake, it was likely just something that was lazy. Even when the problems weren't completely clear, I could eliminate a few options and proceed as follows. After playing now full time for a little over a year, I feel like poker is extremely similar. The pressure has changed because of the money and competition, but the overall confidence and methodical rationality it takes to succeed is exactly the same. Unfortunately, unlike in college where the Scantron would reward me for the correct answers, the poker deck does not always follow the precision of a multiple choice test. Either way, I'm prepared for downswings, but today was just an ugly, ugly beat.

Back in Vegas

2009-02-24T01:11:00.000-08:00

LA was fun, but not profitable. In the end, I cashed in nothing. I played 5 or 6 events and a satellite with nothing to show for it. I got put into a lot of tough spots in the tournaments, but in general, got slowrolled often. The deepest run I made was in Wednesday's 500. I busted around 68 with 54 paying. The bust hand was really quite complex. I raised UTG +1 with black fives to 2200 with 400/800 blinds at an 8 player table. The big blind can best be described as the exact stereotype of a player that plays live tournaments often. He plays fairly loose, so it wasn't a shocker that he decided to call. He has me covered with his stack slightly bigger than my 32,000. Flop comes down 7 6 4 rainbow. He leads out into me 4000 chips. I quickly called the flop bet. The turn was a K of hearts. It put two hearts on the board, but I wasn't worried about a back door flush too much because of his lead out bet. He bet another 6k on the turn. With this bet, I almost raised all in on the turn. This weakish turn bet seems nothing close to the nuts and almost certainly is scared by the K. At this point, I was kind of confused. Let me explain the confusion how I see it. He bet 6k into a pot that is probably 13-14k. The bet size to me could make sense for either the super strong hand or marginal hand here. On one side of the argument, the smaller bet could be a way to get more money in the pot with a set type hand with a K being a decent payoff card. The smaller bet could also be because the K is a scare card in a way. It turns AK into a better hand over 88 or 99 at this point. I really thought through it at this point for about a minute. I counted out my chips and wanted to see what my options were. I decided to call. I was basically drawing with implied odds to get paid off from a set or resigned to just fold and save myself the last 19k. The river comes an 8 of hearts. It is my money card.....oh wait. He fires 8,000. At this point, I have around 11k left. I nearly just called here. What made me change my mind was the fact that I really thought he would instantly call with any of the sets (not likely against an average good online player). I also could put him on absolutely no hand with hearts. I shoved my chips. He waited about a minute to slowroll me with 5 6 of hearts for the flush. His hand makes perfect sense now. It was a critical mistake in a way, but also probably for close to the chip lead.

In the Zone, Pump Up Blog

2009-02-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

First off, I'm not going to complain about anything.

I'm only going to get in the zone. This is the Pump Up Blog.

Tomorrow starts my second trip around at the LA Poker Classic. Basically, I drove 280 miles from Las Vegas to LA where I am going to play at the Commerce Casino. I was just looking at the remaining tournaments in the LA Poker Classic I will be playing this week. Tomorrow is a $335 NL Hold em tournament. The chips looks short and the structure looks good. Basically, it's going to strategically mean that you may get involved in several large pots early. I'm planning to just feel out the table pretty quickly. I expect it to be extremely weak tomorrow. It's President's Day and Americans and foreigners alike will spend those paper rectangles with President's pictures on the front them. Some have Franklin. Some have Washington. Some have paper ones printed with a top hat guy with a cane. They will likely be heading to the Commerce to play the great American past time poker. I have confidence tomorrow. I have been making deep runs, but have not been closing. I've been losing key pots deep and sometimes having bad days; however, I'm due. I've worked hard. I've studied the game. I've played thousands of hours over the last year alone. If I'm going to reach my potential in this game, it's going to come soon.

I've had a few live tournament finishes that were noteworthy. The most disappointing of those came in the $500 event at the Borgata. With $80,000 on the line, I played great poker when it counted, but got my money in with AA vs KJ after a JT8 flop for approximately 2nd-3rd place. The turn was a J and I was sent home with not even a five figure cash and lots of disappointment. The next tournament disappointment was the Belligio tournament last April. A 6th place finish in my biggest live final table was largely a lack of me never playing a hand. When I folded AQ off suit on the first hand of the final table, I think it may have been my only chance to alter the tournament. I folded to an early raiser with AQ off from the button. I had 90k chips with 3k/6k blinds at the start. You can read about that here I didn't realize we still had 2 minutes of time left in the 2/4k round. This makes kind of an interesting debate. In knowing that my stack is going to move from a range of over 20 big blinds (bb) to maybe 10bb if I call and lose the hand, do I play tighter or looser here. I say tighter, and I did fold. It was a pretty tough decision for my first hand at a final table with 6 figures to the winner. You can't help but wonder what might have flopped, or what would have happened if I just shoved. I heard he had 88.

The past is the past. I've had several big wins online over the past year, but I want success in live tournaments. I want people to know that I can look them in the eye and still beat them. This is the pump up blog. I'm pumping myself up for tomorrow and the rest of this week. It starts tomorrow.

Quick LAPC update

2009-02-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

My LA adventures can be summarized with hardly any results.

Tourney 1- $545 Shorthanded No Limit

In summary, I folded a straight flush pre-flop when neither player had any business playing their hands the way they did. I lost AQ vs QQ short stack and 99 vs JJ short stack to basically cripple me out of the tourney.

Tourney 2- $545 Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo mixed

I continuously missed in Stud Hi/Lo, and they hit. I didn't lose any chips in the Omaha portion but played big pot after big pot in Stud. It was the best structure at a live tournament that I've seen for a mixed game.

Tourney 3--$545 No Limit

I went from 4,000 to 15,000 in the first two hours by winning AA vs KK and set over set 99 vs 77. I proceeded to pick up several pots for the next 2-4 hours. I then when into an Iacofano frenzy and eventually was called by a guy who "just wanted to gamble" with the King Ten. I had 99 and lost the elusive race.

Online

Chewy's dog (my friend who I'm staying with) lived up to his owner's nickname and shredded my power cord. We think his dog's masochism is awkward as the cord was plugged into the wall while being chewed up. This likely means he was continuously receiving a 120? volt charge in the mouth.

When I got my new power cord back, I played a bunch of tournaments yesterday. I had a notable 14th place finish in the Stars nightly when I went into a super aggressive and failed to win lots of races with low pairs. I also took 2nd in the first round of a shootout. This is about the same as a bubble in a tournament because the 1st place person moves on and 2nd place gets nothing.

I'm playing the $1k with a rebuy today at the Commerce. Here's hoping that I have to skip the Sunday online tourneys.

Correction

2009-02-02T12:28:00.000-08:00

In the last blog, I claimed to win the prop bet for 3 or more unanswered scores by either team by picking NO. There were 3 unanswered scores. The safety counted as one for Arizona, but I couldn't believe the guy at Red Rock. He went in the back and looked everything up for me. I really love that casino because I'm sure that even though he was 100% sure they wouldn't mess up, he went to check for me anyways and get a detailed list of the scores. That casino is really one of the best. On a side note, it's very close to Red Rock Canyon where I went for a hike last weekend. This is probably one of the best parts about Las Vegas. The hike was unbelievable. I'm hoping to do some more hikes in the near future.

Saving the Sunday

2009-02-02T00:52:00.000-08:00

After watching another exciting Super Bowl, I was manage to save the day with a 2nd place finish in the $215 Omaha Hi/Lo on Pokerstars for 5100. I got simply drilled heads up and am just going to chalk up the deck to my misfortune as I got scooped on several crucial pots. That brought me net on the day to about 2500 in the black as I blanked out of every other tournament. It was an absolutely dreadful Sunday. I probably lost every key pot but two that I can think of on the day. I can't complain though.

The real complaints come with watching Pittsburgh win the Super Bowl by having both my alma mater represented at QB for the Steelers and favorite team represented in the Super Bowl MVP. That last Miami U to OSU connection is going to haunt me for a long time. Since I pretty much will never get to see the Browns win a Super Bowl, all I have left is to hope for pain in Pittsburgh. Tonight, they once again figured out a way to win. It's something that team does so well. It's something I've only seen on my 7-9th grade basketball teams and the Mentor Cobras, my travel soccer team that just couldn't lose.

Good news from the game comes in the sports bets I placed at the Red Rock. I won 3/5 of them.

Winners: Arizona +7, Over 46.5 points, and "No team will have 3 unanswered scores or more"

Losers: Larry Fitzgerald 1st TD of the game, Arizona TD in 1st quarter

I'm heading out to LA tomorrow to play some live events at the Commerce Casino. I plan on playing 3-5 events depending on how far I get in certain events and which days tournaments fall on. I'm definitely playing Tuesday in the $500 shorthanded no limit event. If I can, the $500 Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud 8 or Better mixed tournament on Wednesday. If I can, the $500 No Limit Hold Em tournament on Thursday. Saturday is the $1000 with a single rebuy. I'm going to check the structure for this and see if this is a tournament where I will end up putting in $3000, $2000, or $1000. This depends on how they run their single rebuys. Wish me luck and I know I'll be winning something.

January

2009-01-27T20:56:00.001-08:00

The first month of the year has gone pretty well in poker. I've had 8 final tables and two wins. The two wins were both for about $3,000. I've had several close calls at big final tables, but haven't been able to cash in to the big tournaments. I've drastically increased my volume. I've been playing around 15-20 tournaments per day including some satellites. I don't quite know how I feel about this process just yet. First off, there are basically no breaks from playing starting at around 11am and playing until hopefully towards midnight when I put in a large volume day. This creates problems in both focus as it's very tough to maintain over 9-12 hours. It also creates problems with the amount of tables up at once (9-12). Furthermore, I get extremely hungry, so I usually wait until I'm down to 3 tables or so and then go make dinner, which is another distraction. Hunger is a greater distraction though, so I just suck it up and try to be quick and eat healthy to get ready to close out the night. I think that these large volume days might be better to limit to days like Saturday and Sunday. Also, from a bankroll perspective, if you are going to play this many tournaments in a day, it's going to cost around $1500-$2000. That means that you need several large cashes or at least a top 6 finish to just break even. The multi-table tournament game is about living on the big cash. The 5 figure cash is the goal. As a result, I want to add another goal to my list of goals for the year.

I want to record 17 $10,000 cashes. I had 14 last year including both online and live. I have just 1 so far this year. When putting in a lot of volume though, these are how you make money and have big months. Having at least 1 $10,000 cash per month when not playing live tournaments will basically give you a profitable month if you do even ok with a few cashes in between.

That's the update for now. It's been nice to start with some small wins and be in the positive for the year.

5th Sunday Mulligan

2009-01-11T22:59:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Sunday! $13k cash will get me out of the initial short term red for the year and into the black. I just took 5th in the Sunday Mulligan against a tough final table. Here is my knockout hand.

Full Tilt Poker Game #9994251120: The Sunday Mulligan (73518065), Table 57 - 10000/20000 Ante 2500 - No Limit Hold'em - 1:34:53 ET - 2009/01/12
Seat 2: BLUFFforRENT (1,481,939)
Seat 3: kice32 (427,611)
Seat 4: mman_status (658,613)
Seat 5: qjuice14 (297,716)
Seat 8: stpauli111 (389,121)
BLUFFforRENT antes 2,500
kice32 antes 2,500
mman_status antes 2,500
qjuice14 antes 2,500
stpauli111 antes 2,500
BLUFFforRENT posts the small blind of 10,000
kice32 posts the big blind of 20,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [Ad As]
mman_status folds
qjuice14 folds
stpauli111 folds
BLUFFforRENT calls 10,000
kice32 has 15 seconds left to act
kice32 raises to 65,000
BLUFFforRENT calls 45,000
*** FLOP *** [4s 3c Jh]
BLUFFforRENT checks
kice32 bets 60,000
BLUFFforRENT has 15 seconds left to act
BLUFFforRENT raises to 128,000
kice32 has 15 seconds left to act
kice32 calls 68,000
*** TURN *** [4s 3c Jh] [Qh]
BLUFFforRENT checks
kice32 bets 232,111, and is all in
BLUFFforRENT calls 232,111
kice32 shows [Ad As]
BLUFFforRENT shows [Jc Qc]
*** RIVER *** [4s 3c Jh Qh] [6d]
kice32 shows a pair of Aces
BLUFFforRENT shows two pair, Queens and Jacks
BLUFFforRENT wins the pot (862,722) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
kice32 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 862,722 | Rake 0
Board: [4s 3c Jh Qh 6d]
Seat 2: BLUFFforRENT (small blind) showed [Jc Qc] and won (862,722) with two pair, Queens and Jacks
Seat 3: kice32 (big blind) showed [Ad As] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 4: mman_status folded before the Flop
Seat 5: qjuice14 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: stpauli111 (button) folded before the Flop

I'm pretty happy with the finish to the day as I was pulling out my hair earlier in the day. I know I got lucky in several spots and had several key hands hold, so I won't complain too much. I'm still trying to think if I should have shoved the turn in terms of would he have paid me off with just a J8, J9, J10 type hand, or is the turn shove -EV. I don't know, but I feel like if I shoved the rest on the flop there is a slim chance he folds given my chip stack. Either way, I can't say that I saw a Sunday Major final table on Full Tilt all last year, so it's a good start.

I'll be playing the rest of the UBOC events mostly on the Absolute interface with my name on there being BINGORAT even though no one really knows this. I don't like how they merged the sites and I would have preferred to keep my normal name Absolute, but I wasn't given the option. Quite frankly, the Absolute interface is now far superior to UB. I've been unable to type bets in when playing multiple tables or type in the chat box. As for now, I want to get refocused and do some damage in some of these UBOC events.

2009 Goals

2009-01-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

After much thought and reflection, I've come up with some of my goals for 2009.

1. Win 1 major online tournament series event including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP.

2. Final table 2 major online tournament series tourneys including the UBOC, FTOPS, WCOOP, SCOOP

3. Win a World Series of Poker Bracelet

4. Win a live tournament

5. Win 10 online tournaments

6. Play a satellite to every live tournament main event where I enter a preliminary event

7. Reach 80 final tables including all events with over 50 entrants (not including sit and gos)

8. Win an entry to a European Poker Tour event and go play it.

9. Play at least 5 events in every live tournament series I enter where there are at least 20 events.

10. Win 1 Sunday major from the following list of tournaments: Sunday Brawl, Sunday Million, Sunday 500, Sunday Warmup, Full Tilt 750k or 1 mill, UB 200K, Full Tilt Mulligan, Stars 200 Rebuy

Goal Update for 2008

2008-12-30T11:06:00.001-08:00

Here are the goals from 2008 with the explanations of what I accomplished.

1. Win 15 multi table tournaments online.

Actual Result: 8 wins. The biggest was the Ultimate Bet Sunday Major for 45,000 followed by the Absolute Poker Saturday Major for 37,500. What is nice here is that my wins were all over 10k except for 1 tourney.

2. Win a 100 Rebuy on Pokerstars.

Actual Result: I didn't make a 100 rebuy final table on Pokerstars and largely quit playing the 100 rebuy throughout the year. I did win the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt which is a little bit easier field because it is a 6 handed tournament, but it pays more than a typical 100 rebuy on Pokerstars. So I'll call this one a wash.

3. 100 Final tables in multi table tournaments.

Actual Result: I'll count everything that I did throughout the year. 54 final tables is what it came down to online. I made 2 live final tables throughout the year not including satellites. 56 total for the year.

4. Live tournament win.
5. WPT prelim event win

Actual Result: Best finish was for 6th at the WPT Bellagio prelim 2k event for both above goals.

6. WSOP event final table

Actual Result: Best finish was for 53rd in the $2500 no limit.

7. 10 Live final tables.

Actual Result: 2 for 6th and 9th and not nearly enough money.

8. Final table Sunday Million on Pokerstars.

Best Finish: 274th

9. Win the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.

CHAMPION!!!!! Take that Diego!!!

All in all, I had a solid year monetarily and in the goal department. I think my goals were quite lofty, and I'm going to get making them lofty. I think that I could attain all the goals above in a year with a little more hard work. On the live tournament side, I didn't really make these that realistic in the sense that I didn't know how much I would be playing live tournaments. I played maybe around 40-45 tournaments all year and to final table 10 of these would be an astonishing rate. I think a more realistic goal would be maybe 4 or 5. Even then, the talent of live fields has drastically increased in the smaller buy in events and even the WSOP. As always though, I'll look to get better and find a niche in the live tournaments I enter. Part of the problem that I've always said with someone not being staked in live tournaments is maintaining a proper bankroll. Since a lot of the buy ins are drastically bigger and putting in one tournament for 2,000 is equivalent to maybe 2-4 days of online buy ins, the variance is so much higher.

In the online arena, I had a blazing first half of the year from January to June followed by a little lull in the action until a big 2nd place finish in the Wednesday $300 on Stars. My only second half outright 1st place came as part of the HORSE tournament for a little over $10k although that wasn't my biggest cash of the second half.

In retrospect, I think my best results came at the times of the year when I was focused and locked in to poker without any external distractions. Distractions started to include a number of things that I wouldn't want to be distractions. Playing when I was visiting back in Cleveland didn't turn out as well as I would want. The focus wasn't there. I think I changed that by really only playing a small amount and sit n gos when I was home this time so I wouldn't be committed to playing. I think on a larger scale I can accurately comprehend where I need to improve in my game for next year as well as the scale of variance that a professional player has to go through. Some months or stretches of the year, it's going to be great. One win for $30k plus can really carry the focus and momentum. Other times, it feels like nothing will ever go right.

Stay tuned for goals for 2009.

I know everyone is sad that.....

2008-12-29T22:13:00.001-08:00

The Cleveland Browns are finished this season. I am too. At least we get to watch the Buckeyes one more time. I wanted to chime in with some Browns talk. Let me first say that I think the fault of this team is in Randy Lerner. The owner has no clue how to run a football organization and is nothing like any other good organization. How many times have you seen the guy? Could you pick him out in a crowd? I could certainly pick out Jerry Jones, Dan Rooney, or Robert Kraft even though. Lerner has no rules named after him. Do you wonder if Jerry Jones connects with the guy in order to rob him of draft trades every year? That being said, it's easy to fire guys like Savage and Crennel when things go wrong.
Savage probably had too much on his plate out of his niche ability of picking talent. There are really three moves that sealed this guy's fate in my opinion.

1. The Derek Anderson saga
I think this selection ruined this team this year after it was apparent that he failed to win the big games last year. The move came too late in the season even after Anderson failed to lead the team in any matter early in the year. It also makes me wonder who made this choice. Savage's hubris led him to always place blame on others. An NFL team is exactly that, a team, not something we throw blame on a coach, or even a few players.

2. Donte Stallworth
He really helped this year. I don't want to look up his 6 year 45? million contract because it will make me puke when I see it. Here are the key stats for Stallworth. 10.0 Yards per catch!! WOW!! Except he had 17 catches for 170 yards and 1 TD. Of course, Stallworth can't be blamed for everything on offense because when Mr. "I'm from MeatChicken" Edwards drops every pass no one needs to double cover him. Ask Leroy Hoard from Michigan how much the fans truly cared about him being from Michigan when he consistently ran people over throughout his career.

3. F U Text
Just search Phil Savage and F U Text if you need more details. This is just unprofessional.

As for Crennel, he's not head coach material. I like the guy and think that he'll be another Super Bowl contender defensive coordinator if given the chance because that's what he does. Some people just don't have head coach in their genes. I wish him the best and if in some dream scenario, we could keep him as a defensive coordinator to give us some continuity, I would be happy.

As for the future, we need a game-changing defensive player at a linebacker position. You know what I'm thinking of too if you ever heard me describe any linebacker I liked in my life. A Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher vicious type that loves chewing on little babies arms. I truly think our offense can get to the right point with both better coaching and leadership from a player like Brady Quinn. I want someone to give the guy a chance to throw the ball down the field and give our playmakers a chance. I know that Derek Anderson has a cannon, but he doesn't have the leadership of an NFL QB. That's what I'm looking for in this team. Leadership on both defense and offense. I think we saw some from the defense before it's backs were broken late in the season by both injuries and the offenses inability to stay on the field for more than three plays. Rodgers was really a great trade in retrospect as he made several huge plays throughout the year.

I'm done with the Browns until the draft comes closer or until other big offseason moves come and go.

I love watching the best team in Cleveland basketball history every night they play. If this team doesn't win a championship, then I can honestly say to myself that we will never win a championship in the city of Cleveland in any sport other than at St. Ignatius.

As for poker, I'm not going to the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. I tried to qualify, but that didn't pan out, so I'll be back in Vegas early January and ready for the UBOC. That's a big online series on the new Cereus Network of sites. Both of these sites have lots of issues in their past and also with current software updates. I just sent a nasty email because you can't play one table tournaments without having your one table pop up to the front of the entire screen every half second. You can't even type in your bet amount. It's absolutely absurd how poorly that site is run. If and probably when US sites come into the market, that site is going to get blown out of the water.

I'll do a goal update at the end of the year as I still have a couple more days left. Then it's on to new goals for the New Year. Happy New Year!

Vacation

2008-12-21T22:41:00.000-08:00

Cold weather is much more brutal than I remembered, but the family and friends have been worth it. I'm enjoying being out of Vegas and not being entirely focused on poker for a while. I know it's going to pay dividends in the long run. I'm planning on doing a goal wrap up for 2008 after the year is over as there will likely be a poker club or two before the year is over. (Poker club is friend lingo for when a bunch of my friends meet up and play online together while usually watching sports and laughing at each other's outlandish reactions to bad beats, especially when Jay cries, Keith or I slam a computer or Mike does a duck and cover scream similar to when some misaligned, psycho 1st grader was pummeling him and the recess aide in 2nd grade). Other than that, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukkah and Happy New Year!

New Games

2008-12-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

Every time my mind gets caught up in one thing, it gets a little tedious and boring. Lately, I've been still playing a few NL hold em tournaments, but I've also mixed in some Omaha Hi/Lo cash games and tournaments. I had a positive Sunday after a 2nd place finish in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament on Pokerstars for about 4k. Other than that, I've had a bunch of small cashes in tourneys here and there.

I have been studying up in Omaha Hi/Lo and really trying to perfect my cash game skills. It's not quite as exciting as winning a huge tournament, but I'm hoping to make it a profitable avenue to turn to when things get too boring. I think anyone who plays should always consider learning new games or new forms of the game. If you play heads up all day, go play something else. I would recommend that cash games players bored with the game to turn to tournaments.

Other than that, I've been reading a lot and laying low enjoying the Cavs. What a start to this season so far. I hope we can keep it up.

A couple of shoutouts:

I got 2nd in the 55 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha event which I now title the Ben Smola Championship since he won this event a few weeks ago.

Congrats also to the Mossman on his upcoming retirement!

I'm surprised the computer survived this one......

2008-12-05T02:01:00.000-08:00

$75 Knockout on Full Tilt, 14 left. I'm in 1st place. Winner gets about $6,000.

I haven't played a single pot bigger than probably 8 big blinds. I'm picking up tons of chips all over the place.

Full Tilt Poker Game #9330847872: $23,000 KO Guarantee (70401032), Table 37 - 2500/5000 Ante 600 - No Limit Hold'em - 4:55:34 ET - 2008/12/05
Seat 1: becomelegendary (88,220)
Seat 3: flounderfish_jr (45,603)
Seat 4: serbie (49,788)
Seat 6: MUPokerPlayer (99,273)
Seat 7: ShunChef (53,992)
Seat 8: kice32 (185,971)
Seat 9: barni-hsv (97,632)
becomelegendary antes 600
flounderfish_jr antes 600
serbie antes 600
MUPokerPlayer antes 600
ShunChef antes 600
kice32 antes 600
barni-hsv antes 600
kice32 posts the small blind of 2,500
barni-hsv posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [Ts Tc]
becomelegendary folds
flounderfish_jr folds
serbie folds
MUPokerPlayer folds
ShunChef folds
kice32 raises to 14,000
barni-hsv has 15 seconds left to act
barni-hsv raises to 97,032, and is all in
kice32 calls 83,032
barni-hsv shows [Td As]
kice32 shows [Ts Tc]
*** FLOP *** [5c 5d Qs]
*** TURN *** [5c 5d Qs] [Ks]
*** RIVER *** [5c 5d Qs Ks] [Jh]
barni-hsv shows a straight, Ace high
kice32 shows two pair, Tens and Fives
barni-hsv wins the pot (198,264) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 198,264 | Rake 0
Board: [5c 5d Qs Ks Jh]
Seat 1: becomelegendary folded before the Flop
Seat 3: flounderfish_jr folded before the Flop
Seat 4: serbie folded before the Flop
Seat 6: MUPokerPlayer folded before the Flop
Seat 7: ShunChef (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 8: kice32 (small blind) showed [Ts Tc] and lost with two pair, Tens and Fives
Seat 9: barni-hsv (big blind) showed [Td As] and won (198,264) with a straight, Ace high

I would have put myself in first with 270k vs second place who had 150k with 13 to go. I'm a virtual lock to get top 3 money in most circumstances.

This has been poker for me the last two months. I can't count the number of situations where with 2-3 tables left this stuff has happened to me. I have consistently played huge pots way ahead 70/30 here and lost. When you don't win or finish in the top 3 at least 3-4 times a month, you won't be a winning player. When I consistently get deep in these tourneys and come out with meaningless cashes, I won't be a winning player. Then all I have is stories to tell and no money. The game is such a joke sometimes. It can just keep bashing your face in despite everything. I don't really fault the guy for the way he played the hand either. I probably do the same thing knowing how I was playing against him.

Two months of frustration is a lot in this game. It's really funny when people ask me how I'm doing in poker. After these two months, that last thing I would want to say is good, but quite frankly, I've probably played better in these past two months than I have in a while. When I was winning last January, I could probably say I was playing like garbage.

Cliff Notes: I run like Derek Anderson late in poker tournaments.

Validation

2008-12-02T02:09:00.001-08:00

I finished "The Fountainhead" and immediately tried to apply every aspect of the book to my own life like I always do. After reading through my comments though, I found that Jim is not quite the fan. In case you don't want to look, this is what Jim wrote:

According to Rand, the individual "must exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself. The pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of his own happiness is the highest moral purpose of his life." Hmmmm, sounds a lot like the fiscal conservatives of the Republican party. Rand didn't believe in religion so I guess the social conservatives would find her offensive. Rand gives greedy people a rational for their repugnant behavior. It is especially helpful to those who have huge advantages at birth such as white males with rich parents.

Rand does believe what Jim said, but I don't think her point should be easily misconstrued as allowing greed and the pursuit of money, fame and fortune control a person. In fact, she makes this quite clear as one of her characters does just that an ultimately is one of the most defeated characters. Rand definitely doesn't give greedy people a rational for any immoral behavior. In most cases, the greedy people in the world have sold out more than anything to that culture. I give this quote in response from a speech in the book by the main character.

“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received—hatred. The great creators—the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors—stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.
“No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers, for his brothers rejected the gift he offered and that gift destroyed the slothful routine of their lives. His truth was his only motive. His own truth, and his own work to achieve it in his own way. A symphony, a book, an engine, a philosophy, an airplane or a building—that was his goal and his life. Not those who heard, read, operated, believed, flew or inhabited the thing he had created. The creation, not its users. The creation, not the benefits others derived from it. The creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men.
“His vision, his strength, his courage came from his own spirit. A man's spirit, however, is his self. That entity which is his consciousness. To think, to feel, to judge, to act are functions of the ego"

Especially because I chose an unconventional path after college of focusing solely on poker and all the people that have said I couldn't do it, I like this part of the book. Even when reading and learning about real estate and seeking out opportunities, I've heard probably 50 doubters. I know that I seek validation with so many people for what I'm doing. When someone asks me what I do for a living, I usually cringe inside because I know the standard response. The collective mind of society has never progressed society. I probably won't either playing the game of poker or investing in real estate to rent to people; however, when the ideas that I am looking for to change the world come into my head, I hope I have enough courage to not listen to standard response of all the people I usually seek validation from.

I believe Lil Wayne interpreted Ayn Rand in a different manner.

"They say I couldn't play football I was too small, they say I couldn't play basketball I wasn't tall, they say I couldn't play baseball at all; now everyday of my life I ball!"

The whole speech I took that part from is at this link

On an end note, I don't know how many people watched the 60 minutes online poker special, but it certainly didn't help my attempts to validate myself to the people of the United States of America. While I'm sure I've been cheated in many different ways in online poker, it's part of the risk and until the US government stops treating online poker like alcohol in the 1930's, I'm sure more scandals like this will keep popping up.

You can watch the video here.

I blame the Cleveland Browns for Sunday

2008-11-24T00:24:00.000-08:00

I wish I could come up with something better to say for myself on Sunday, but congrats to my buddy Gary, who won the Sunday Mulligan on Full Tilt. He one-ups me in this tournament as my best finish was second, but we all know who won the MarioKart tournament at Memorial Junior High.

I went to watch the Browns utterly dismantle any hopes I had for our organization ever being good. After that, I probably shouldn't have touched a poker tournament, but despite a couple of mistakes, I generally didn't think I did too much wrong today. It was one of those Sundays where I went deep in a bunch of things, but seemed to finish just short of the money in every one. All told, I've had worse Sundays, but I probably did go about 0 for 12. If I had to be completely honest with myself, I really do think I need a break. I've played poker probably 97% of the days this year and after running through another Sunday of 9-10 hours of straight poker, I won't be prepared to play my A game in online tournaments unless I get a break of some sort. I'm looking forward to December when I head to Cleveland/Chicago and can actually have good reason to take days off, but until then, I will be either completely bored if I don't play or feel like I'm not doing my job. This is a weird feeling that I have recently felt for the first time. In college, poker was a secondary hobby/priority. I always put my studies, fraternity, friends, other clubs ahead of poker. Now, I feel like I need to always play. I totally don't think this ruins the excitement and competitiveness, but I would be selling my talents shorts if I didn't pay respect to what it can do to your mentality. I remember having this feeling at times near the end of a track season where after so many races and hundreds of miles of training, I just needed to take a few weeks and do absolutely nothing.

Hopefully, that something can come in my first book I'm attacking since going to the library. The book is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It's 700 pages of pure literary and intellectual muscle that I intend on defeating.

Random Blurb Blog

2008-11-19T00:11:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer--I will be writing about as many topics as I can think of without dedicating more than 2 minutes of my thoughts towards each individual topic. You are certainly allowed to skip topics that don't interest you.

My Poker Career Lately

It's been a lot of close but no cigars lately. I wish I had more exciting things to report about, but it's been a lot of the 7th-25th place column. On another fun note, I looked up my Online Player of the Year Ranking on Cardplayer yesterday and I was at 212th. I'm at kind of a disadvantage in this area because I don't play the 100 rebuy every day, which almost always qualifies for points. Maybe I can make a run and crack the top 100. It might take a big score. I'm basically winding down for the year as all the major online events are over until the Ultimate Bet events in January. I'll be pushing for a PCA seat so I can go to the Bahamas in January.

World Series of Poker Final Table

That was fun to watch, wasn't it? I much prefer as a spectator to watch it without knowing who wins. It's almost impossible to avoid spoilers as I received only one when I clicked through to PokerXFactor and saw who got 4th. I think when you put a final table into 2 hours, it's really tough to do the game any justice, but I understand that not every poker fan wants to watch 25 hours of boring poker footage. It is tough to examine hands though without knowing many of the variables leading up to the hands. That being said, I don't take much stock in some of the plays that we were shown. There were, however, some incredibly bad mistakes made throughout the 2 hour broadcast. It's probably nerves, and I won't bash anyone too much because I can't even begin to imagine what it's like.

Peter Eastgate

I survived an all in against the champ. Peter Eastgate raised on day 3 to about 2.7 big blinds, and I gave him my 19 bb pile with A10. He called and showed the same hand, and we split the pot. I was pulling for this kid the whole time because he impressed me tremendously in the 5 hours I played with him on day 3. He is absolutely fearless. Every player at the table probably was paying extra attention to this guy. That's the kind of player I want to be.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The best team in the NBA is led by King James. 8 games in a row and a team that Lebron calls his best squad since he's been there. Might this be the year that the King finally takes his throne? I think it will be. I've never felt confident in a Cleveland team since James has been here, but this team really has championship potential. We play great defense, have a lot of depth, and good coaching. Give Mike Brown credit for what he has done with this team early on in the year.

Cleveland Browns

In light of the current week, we need less players from Michigan. We need more players from Ohio State. Phil Dawson deserves that game on Monday Night Football. That guy has sure been through a lot in Cleveland and to punch a 56 yarder in for the lead must have felt great. Brady Quinn is hands down the better option for the Cleveland Browns at QB. He came up with the plays that we needed that Anderson has failed to bring all year. He did it last week, and he did it this week. Now if we only had more Buckeyes on defense, we might be something.

OSU vs. MeatChicken

Joke provided courtesy of Mike Z.

"Hey did you hear that Michigan canceled their travel plans to Ohio State this week?"

"No. Why?"

"Because they couldn't get past Toledo"

Zinggggggggggggggggg

Go Bucks! This one won't even be close. My prediction. Ohio State 72-Michigan 3

Books

I applied for a library card a couple of days ago, but haven't gone to the library. I'm finishing up the book Freakonomics. Reading is probably a hobby that I should pick up again. I've been reading real estate books and all, but I want to read some actual good novels. It's been awhile since I've read anything fiction. Leave good suggestions in the comments section please.

Shout out to my Dad

Every time my Dad tells me he has a feel, I seem to knock down a big tournament. Last time he told me and really meant it, I got 2nd in the 50 rebuy, 2nd in the 300 and 3rd in the 163 in a week. While it may be hard to fathom what this feel entails, I have learned to respect and use the momentum of the feel to my advantage. A little superstition never hurt anyone. The over/under for the shout out to my mom is 3.5 years.

Best Movies I've Seen Lately

In no particular order...

1. Michael Clayton
2. The Dark Knight
3. Capote
4. Saving Private Ryan

THE HOUR OF BAUER

Jack "God" Bauer returns to Fox on Sunday. Look out for several airplanes blowing up, people dying, and Jack Bauer generally saving the day. That is to assume he didn't jump off the cliff like a wuss at the end of last season.

That's all I got for now.

The Barack Obama is President-Elect Blog ......

2008-11-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

and of course what I liked about election night.

Like the majority of the USA, I'm excited about Barack Obama being elected President. It's obviously huge progress for America when a man that wouldn't have been allowed to vote fifty years ago. On top of that, the Republicans have finally been held accountable for their failures in the last 8 years. On a personal note, online poker regulation in the US will never go anywhere with a Republican as President, so I'm also happy about that.

I really enjoyed thinking about this election for many different reasons. I basically realized that I am not too strongly in support of either party. I'm probably more moderate than I even care to believe. Whenever I argued with people about issues, I was able to take a deeper look into things and really think about them. Above all, I think I've accepted that personal freedom in the United States is the most important individual quality that should apply to government. I also think that a large government is inherently inefficient and bad (neither party appealed on this issue). Of course, we need some things done by government (national defense, roads, schools, social services, etc.) I firmly believe that when the government infringes upon individual freedoms, democracy loses. The goals of this Obama administration should be to restore individual freedoms and be fiscally responsible. I believe that if the Democrats do these two things in every way they can, the Republican party won't win in the United States for a long time.

On a sad election day note, I am upset in seeing several measures pass putting a ban on gay marriage. I firmly believe that our government was set forth to allow personal freedoms and personal choices be just that, personal. If a personal choice is made that does not harm society as a whole, it should be allowed. In terms of gay marriage, those individuals are seeking their right to pursue happiness. It's a basic tenant on which our country was founded upon. It's the civil rights issue of the next fifty years. When we look back at that point, it will be clear that we all made a mistake. I'm not surprised that these bans passed. Most people fear what they don't know and what they aren't. Most people are heterosexual. Our country is always supposed to protect the minorities. In this case, I feel that we are failing as a country.

Republicans booing John McCain's comments at his concession speech was really the highlight of my night. It summed up this party over the last 8 years as a divisive, intolerant, selfish entity of American government. You didn't see people booing at Kerry's concession speech despite severe displeasure with the administration. Democrats have impressed me in being able to be tolerant of both viewpoints when it matters. I hope they do the same when they are in control because that is what the US needs.

Alaska. Seriously?!? Come on!!! You reelected a Senator that was just charged with corruption in the form of 7 counts related to lying about gifts received. This guy deceived America and used his office for personal gain. His actions have no place in American democracy, but somehow, Alaska puts him back in office. Way to go Alaska! You seriously fail as a state and are embarrassing to the this country.

John McCain

I thank this man for his service and graceful, humble concession. If we had more of this real McCain in the election, it might have been closer. Republicans have always made him the sacrificial lamb when it's convenient. I hope he gets back to work in the Senate the way he has before. He's completely wrong about the war in basically every regard, but bless his heart.

Barack's Speech

I was almost brought to tears listening to his acceptance speech last night. It was what America is all about. I take him at his word as well as he enters an extremely tough time in American history.

Anyone else notice how attractive the four women (Palin, Biden, McCain, Obama) are? So much for having an ugly wife and running for President.

Slumpbusters

2008-10-29T00:04:00.001-07:00

If you somehow clicked through a love or dating site after seeing this title, you should probably stop reading now because this is a poker blog.

To my loyal readers,

I can happily say that I have slammed through my recent downswing in the past week. To start, last Monday, I placed 2nd in the 55 rebuy tournament on Stars for something like 8k. Then on Wednesday, I placed 2nd in the Stars Quarter Million for around 33k. This is probably one of the biggest tournament on the entire internet that isn't on a Sunday. I would have loved a win, but I felt that I was up against a formidable opponent in shaundeeb with a 500k to 1.8 mill chip disadvantage heads up. I have some hands below that I need to discuss of course because they were tough decisions and left me thinking. Then to top it off, I got third in the Full Tilt nightly tournament for around 9k again. After struggling and complaining about how bad I've ran and everything that was against me, I finally stopped complaining and put together some nice results. I'm not exactly sure what to attribute my success to, but I have a few possible explanations.

In a lot of ways, I was able to let the game slow down for me. After playing the 1k at Caesar's Palace, I sat around for 12 hours watching situations and just really thinking about things. I'm a great rational thinker with great analytical skills. I always have been. When playing 8 tables online, the thinking can sometimes elude the massively robotic nature of online plays. I was able to seriously analyze my opponents and pay attention to the hands that were actually going on. Poker is a game about your opponents. It's about assigning the right ranges of hands to a player based on how tight or aggressive the player is playing. Then, it's about coming up with the best strategic response to that player to answer the math problem that is the hand. Some players are exceptionally good at confusing your assessment of them, so this is a skill that is developed over thousands and thousands of hands. The live tournament just gave me a chance to get back to my understanding. Being in a slump was shoving my negative emotions to the forefront of my mind, and not giving me a chance to think clearly and just enjoy what was going on.

I did play fewer tables and focused immensely on the final few tables of these three specific events. Pressing the registration button for every tournament possible is probably not profitable for me or any player.

Luck played the final factor in all of this. You can't do well in tournaments without luck and I think the absence of bad luck was a major factor in my success. There was a run in that last Full Tilt tournament where I went from being crippled after losing a K6 vs Q2 hand to winning with 55 vs an overpair. 9 4 off suit against KJ and QQ vs AA and 88.

I'm going to talk through one hand that occurred at the final table of the 300 because it really is complex and has been bothering me for a while.

PokerStars Game #21422845493: Tournament #113896173, $300+$20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/10/23 5:14:01 ET
Table '113896173 58' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: rivermanl (424219 in chips)
Seat 3: GotURead (305510 in chips)
Seat 8: shaundeeb (688335 in chips)
Seat 9: iacog4 (1002936 in chips)
rivermanl: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts the ante 1200
shaundeeb: posts the ante 1200
iacog4: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts small blind 6000
shaundeeb: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [Th Ad]
iacog4: raises 16550 to 28550
rivermanl: folds
GotURead: calls 22550
shaundeeb: calls 16550
*** FLOP *** [4c Ac 3h]
GotURead: checks
shaundeeb: checks

OK. So 3 way action in this hand. I get called by both players. Both players are not tight and I'm probably the second tightest at the table behind these two. I flop an ace with a ten. This is weak kicker, but there are both flush and straight draws on board here. I can easily check here for pot control, but I don't love doing this on draw heavy boards because then something falls on the turn and I have no clue where I'm at against either player, so I decided on betting.

iacog4: bets 48550
GotURead: folds
shaundeeb: calls 48550
*** TURN *** [4c Ac 3h] [Qh]
shaundeeb: bets 130000

I get called by shaundeeb. Then he fires out an extremely large bet in this situation. At this point, I'm not exactly sure what to do. I'm low on the time bank and trying to consider what hands he can do this with. I'm not afraid of AK or AQ because I would expect a raise preflop. I'm not afraid of A4 or A3 because I would expect a raise on the flop with that draw heavy board and him knowing the possibility of me having AK could get him all my chips. The combo draw hands (both straight and flush) like 56 67 57 clubs or hearts seem possible. There is also the possibility here of 33 or 44 that are now worried about giving a free card to two flush draws. I decided to call here because I considered the likelihood of a combo draw to be just as possible as a set.

iacog4: calls 130000
*** RIVER *** [4c Ac 3h Qh] [8s]
shaundeeb: bets 322500

He fires a huge bet here. So what do I read into this bet. It's either a huge value bet with a monster hand that now can't be slowed down by a flush draw or a missed combo draw bluff that believes my hand to be too weak to call the river bet. I decided to call.

iacog4: calls 322500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shaundeeb: shows [4h 4d] (three of a kind, Fours)
iacog4: mucks hand
shaundeeb collected 1092550 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1092550 | Rake 0
Board [4c Ac 3h Qh 8s]
Seat 2: rivermanl (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: GotURead (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: shaundeeb (big blind) showed [4h 4d] and won (1092550) with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 9: iacog4 mucked [Th Ad]

In retrospect, I've thought about this hand a lot. I still don't think I know the correct answer, but I'm not afraid to stick my neck out there and go with my gut. I thought he could easily be making this play with those missed draw hands and decided to go for it. It probably also ended up costing me because he had a huge chip lead going heads up. If I fold the river and make the correct decision, I probably have a more formidable stack to play against him with. You aren't always correct in poker. I wasn't here, but I would love to hear other opinions on the hand because it is pretty complex.

I know that I'm far from being the best hand reader in the game. As good as I can try to become at this skill, it sometimes doesn't matter. Some decisions are so tough that it really just comes down to your gut. This time, my gut was wrong.

I've broken the slump. The Cavs are 0-1, but I'm excited they are back. The Browns are 3-4 with a huge game Sunday against Baltimore, and I get to go to Chicago for Halloween Weekend.

For those people that are PocketFivers, I have this blog at http://kevinice.blogspot.com and I will continue posting on both sites. I think the PocketFives new blog feature will be a huge positive for the site in the future, and I'm excited to contribute.

Two 2nds

2008-10-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

In the last two days, I took a second place in the 50 rebuy on Stars and then last night for 33k, 2nd in the 300 on Stars. This really helps me come out of a rather painful downswing. Attitude is really everything in this game. Staying positive and trying to just keep improving through all of a downswing is really a tough thing to do, but it's all you really can do. I'm really happy right now and about to go play the HORSE tournament at Caesar's. Hopefully, I'll have good news when I update next.

Michael Phelps, Caesar's 1k, Props to PPA

2008-10-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

I must admit that I'm extremely excited to see someone as much of a public figure as Michael Phelps begin to enter poker tournaments as visible as the Caesar's tournament. Not only was there a buzz in lots of poker rooms in Las Vegas that may create short term interest in tournaments, but I think lots of long term effects can help poker. Poker has been shunned by legislatures and federal agencies all across America lately. We have done the standard American thing and pretended like it's simply not there. Millions of people don't play online every day and if you just put a .net at the end of your poker website, it removes all the legal problems your poker site can face. When someone as visible and loved as Michael Phelps takes up the game seriously, it can easily make more people understand that the game is more than just your standard gamble. Of course, there will always be people that don't understand poker is a long term skill game. I hope more people that are visible, intelligent, successful people replace the obnoxious people we have in our game today. I was pretty sad to see Phil Hellmuth parading around with Michael Phelps at the Bellagio. Talk about two completely different people for the game. While Hellmuth has progressively lost his mind with each tournament, blog post, commercial, whatever he's embarked in, Phelps maintained the standard swagger of a champ without being too cocky, but just backing up his swagger with golds. Of course, Hellmuth has many WSOP bracelets and those can't be taken away from him. I just find the contrasting demeanors funny. So anyway, good luck to Michael Phelps and other public US figures that can do positive things for our game.

I voted yesterday before heading to Caesars to finish 23rd in the 1k with 18 getting paid. I got knocked out at 12:15 over 12 hours after beginning to play with nothing to show for it. It was one of those tournaments where you are just put to the test so often. On the third hand of the tournament I had AQ and called from the SB the 150 raise in a 5 way pot. Flop came Q 4c 5c. It checked to the raiser who bet 250 into the 750 pot. I called out of position because I don't raise for information or play huge pots with top pair this early in the tournament. David Plastik called behind. The turn was an A of hearts. I checked to the raiser again and he bet 1500 this time. Now, I had the option to raise here, but really didn't see much value in doing that. My hand was disguised. I was a little intimidated by the size of the bet because it felt at worst he could have AK of clubs or AK. AA or QQ or 55 or 44 were the really concerning hands in his range here. The river was an 8 of spades. I checked to him again and he fired 4000. I hated my hand but called and he showed 55. I don't know if I can fold here. I call online all day and even get it in on the turn sometimes. I've actually struggled with this hand a lot because there really isn't much I'm beating here.

I folded with my 4k stack for about an hour and a half then raised to 600 UTG with AQ to get called by a tighter nice old man UTG+1. The flop came QJ5. I bet 800 and he moved in with AK. I held. I basically then didn't play any big pots. I played the ultimate small ball game and eventually built my way from that 4k stack to 20k after the 4th level. There really weren't that many notable hands, but I did make some lay downs where players would show and I was right 3 times. When I got moved to a new table, I played the short stack for about 3 hours. I probably put my stack in the middle 10 times without getting called in this period of time. There was one pot where a player raised to 2400 with probably 6500 total chips. I had about 10k in chips at 400/800 and looked at KK in the big blind. I just assumed that he couldn't fold, so I pushed in and he mucked. I mean I guess I can flat call here, but come on people. I eventually pushed with KJ off in the cutoff with 16k at 800/1600 with 200 ante. I got called by 88 and won the race. At this point, I felt I was picking up steam and started opening finally. I had a great image . Now for purposes of the fact that I haven't told anyone what I had on this hand. I opened for 4k under the gun with 800/1600 and I had around 40k. I was flat called on the button. The flop came K Q J. I bet 5500. I was soon raised 13000 more. So at this point, I had either AK AA AQ QJ. I was on the verge of pushing my chips in when the player said "I'll show." At that point, the alarms went off in my head. I just felt like I was actually being leveled into a call. Why would anyone ever say that to someone? One the first level, they want you to fold. On the second level, they want you to think they want you to fold to get action. On the third level, they know you think them saying that means you will think they think they want you to fold. So before I confuse myself anymore, I really felt like he was saying this to get me to put my chips in. I folded my hand and he showed KJ. After blinds go up, I'm again around 10bbs and we get to shoving time. I played the patient short stack again until I shoved A5 of hearts and was finally called after like shove 15 with 99. I lost that and still had 2 bb's when I no looked 6 9 of diamonds and was isolated by 66. I can't even be angry about anything. I really think I played well. Confidence in live tournaments can go a long way. After playing at the WSOP this year, I kept making consistent good decisions without many results to back it up. Then I would come home and play online and had my best month of the year in June with big wins. I'm hoping the same theme continues. I'm still deciding what to play next at Caesar's. They have a 2k on Wednesday, but I really want to play the 500 HORSE on Thursday even though they have another great 1k. The 2k on Wednesday has 20k in starting chips and hour levels which means we could play down to the time of 2am and still not be at the final table. By the same token, I'm really pissed about how HORSE worked out at the WSOP.

Props to the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) for putting out the Congressional scorecard. It literally changed my vote to support the Republican in my district. He's in a tight race and his A rating by PPA changed my mind. If more voters follow these things, I can see PPA making a big mark in many tight races that hopefully lead to the proper changes in poker legislation in America.

Has software ruined me?

2008-10-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a certain friend today. This certain friend has a grandmother with a certain vase I may have broke. He said that he believes my recent struggles in the online poker forum could be due to the use of software. Now, I use software to essentially tell me how other opponents play. It records the hands and gives me hundreds of statistics to sort through that could influence my decision one way or the other. The question that remains simple. Is poker really a game about software and definitive math?
Most online players have been able to sort out the variance, that is the fluctuations of random luck from expectation, by playing a high volume of tournaments. The idea would be that the larger the sample size of tournaments, the more likely the expectation would float towards the probable result. This software helps players keep track of their opponents. Undoubtedly, opponent's tendencies are certainly important. Is this software though really helping me out in the long term? I questioned my friend's idea, but began thinking about it more in depth. Is it possible that I'm giving away my edge by thinking the software will allow me to play more tournaments at once than I am truly capable of? Ultimately, I've essentially trained myself to make spot on decisions based on hundreds of variables over the past few years learning poker. I've removed the importance of a single decision and replaced it with the idea that the long term range of these decisions will ultimately prove profitable. At the same time, I've probably allowed myself to play so many tournaments at once that I truly lose the feel of how one particular set of opponents is playing.

This idea that the software is hurting might not be a bad once. While my friend suggested that the numbers the software was giving me was hurting my decision making ability, I think what is really hurting me is that the software is giving me definitive numbers, but removing the intangible variables. Do the best players in the world appear to be overtly mathematical and reliant on statistics only? Surely, they are nowhere near that description. I think my conclusion coming out of this thought process is that while the software may give me more statistical information, it's covering up the instinctual processes that are so important to learning and developing as a poker player.

The Cleveland Browns

2008-10-14T02:30:00.000-07:00

Too often on the shores of Lake Erie, we end up complaining. We end up disappointed and heartbroken at another blown season, another blown playoff game, another embarrassing performance in front of a national crowd. Finally, we have a moment that makes Cleveland proud. The Browns beat the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in front of a home crowd and a national television audience as a huge underdog going into the game. Not a single sane person would have picked this team to win after the tough start to the season and anemic offense led by Derek "just playing catch with DBs" Anderson. All those sane people, however, proved to be wrong. The Browns made a statement during this Monday night game. It was a statement that should ring loudly through Cleveland and the entire NFL. The Cleveland Browns can play some football. While everyone in the league was ready to cut the cord on Anderson and Crennel after the 1-3 start, the team didn't panic or give in to outsiders and came away with one of their best performances in 5 years. It was a moment where as an avid fan, I finally started to understand the genius behind the team. The offseason moves to bring in some lineman that can actually hold their own and cause trouble for defenses finally paid off. The Browns rarely got to Eli Manning, but their defense caused trouble enough to force Manning into looking like that good old fashioned Gomer Pyle rather than the Super Bowl MVP. The highly drafted secondary made big plays to inhibit any momentum from building against the team. The lineman protected Anderson brilliantly and gave him time to throw. The offensive plays showed creativity and even a rare simplicity that allowed Anderson to succeed. It proves that you don't necessarily need an all star behind center, but just someone who can manage the game and not make any mistakes. The lines on both side of the ball played tough and made a highly touted defense look like an average NFL defense. As far as the Browns go for now though, this is the team that the fans wanted. This is the team that we love. The underdogs, the doubted, the team that no one really cares about in the NFL is a team that is dangerous. Of course, any NFL coach with the talent that Crennel has behind his roster should be able to prepare and put up a good showing against anyone with two weeks between games. What really matters though is that from the opening kickoff to the last snap, the Browns played like a team that cared about each other and a team that wanted to win. Since they have had that attitude, they are 2-0.

When you can't dodge a brick, you can't dodge a ball......

2008-10-14T00:29:00.001-07:00

PokerStars Game #21181731065: Tournament #113517901, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level XV (1000/2000) - 2008/10/14 3:04:14 ET
Table '113517901 9' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: DonkCommited (41580 in chips)
Seat 3: STROMBONE1 (196819 in chips)
Seat 4: nightman1234 (25388 in chips)
Seat 5: LIDER1417 (96389 in chips)
Seat 6: wolfbluffer (42812 in chips)
Seat 7: Coach4U (83553 in chips)
Seat 8: iacog4 (182663 in chips)
Seat 9: flewPT (46974 in chips)
DonkCommited: posts the ante 200
STROMBONE1: posts the ante 200
nightman1234: posts the ante 200
LIDER1417: posts the ante 200
wolfbluffer: posts the ante 200
Coach4U: posts the ante 200
iacog4: posts the ante 200
flewPT: posts the ante 200
STROMBONE1: posts small blind 1000
nightman1234: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [6c 8s]
LIDER1417: folds
wolfbluffer: folds
Coach4U: folds
iacog4: raises 2799 to 4799
flewPT: folds
DonkCommited: folds
STROMBONE1: calls 3799
nightman1234: folds
*** FLOP *** [6h Qh 8c]
STROMBONE1: checks
iacog4: bets 9588
STROMBONE1: calls 9588
*** TURN *** [6h Qh 8c] [6s]
STROMBONE1: checks
iacog4: bets 21555
STROMBONE1: raises 21555 to 43110
iacog4: calls 21555
*** RIVER *** [6h Qh 8c 6s] [Kc]
STROMBONE1: bets 56000
iacog4: raises 68966 to 124966 and is all-in
STROMBONE1: calls 68966
*** SHOW DOWN ***
iacog4: shows [6c 8s] (a full house, Sixes full of Eights)
STROMBONE1: shows [Qd Qs] (a full house, Queens full of Sixes)
STROMBONE1 collected 368526 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 368526 | Rake 0
Board [6h Qh 8c 6s Kc]
Seat 2: DonkCommited (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: STROMBONE1 (small blind) showed [Qd Qs] and won (368526) with a full house, Queens full of Sixes
Seat 4: nightman1234 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: LIDER1417 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: wolfbluffer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Coach4U folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: iacog4 showed [6c 8s] and lost with a full house, Sixes full of Eights
Seat 9: flewPT folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Enjoy Buckeyes....

2008-10-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a Wikipedia entry from this past Saturday that has since been edited.

Go Buckeyes..

"Rich "Rod" Rodriguez (born May 24, 1963 in Grant Town, West Virginia) is the head football coach at the University of Michigan. Prior to moving to Michigan, he was the head coach at West Virginia University for seven seasons. He is the only Michigan coach to have lost to a MAC team, which is a sign of mental retardation.[1][2]"

Where did I go......??

2008-10-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone....(all 8 of you),

I'm back to talk for a little bit. I wish I could say poker is going well, but I haven't really had any good results lately. I had a period in there of about 2 weeks where I think I acted unprofessionally. I let things get out of hand emotionally when I never should do that. There are times in playing as a professional when things hit real hard. It always seems to come in the midst of a losing streak when I'm making deep finishes, but they aren't deep enough. When it comes to my emotions, I feel like I need to attain the level of a player like Chip Reese, RIP. Chip was known for being one of the classiest players in the history of the game. I remember reading one of Daniel Negreanu's blogs after Chip's death that said the toughest part about Chip's game was that his A game was his D game. In effect, he never strayed from his game no matter what happened at the table. He could control his emotions and be on the top of his game at all times. It's so tough to do in this game. The game breeds a culture of negativity because there is only one winner out of the hundreds or thousands of players. If you are competitive and driven, not winning hurts. I think I'll grow professionally when I can change my state of mind in these situations. I've been taught well in life by coaches and parents to name a few. My dad always taught me to keep my cool throughout sports. Coach Mackar, Simko, Green, Jeckel all had emphasis on staying focused and patient throughout adversity. I need to remember these lessons and bring them to the forefront of my mind. That will help me progress. I know I'm extremely talented at poker, but this comment is assuming my competitive emotions and focus are in check.

I have to subtly brag about my fantasy football team. After losing my first two weeks and starting QB Tom Brady, I've put together 3 straight winning weeks. Ronnie Brown, Michael Turner, and a late pickup Jason Campbell have allowed me to keep it close and win games. In my league, which is one of the best leagues in the history of fantasy sports (mostly my family and friends), I will never be the best player. My Aunt Tracey deserves all the props for being the best fantasy player I've ever seen. In fact, I would be afraid to invite her into any other leagues. I can't think of someone who consistently picks sleepers, puts together good teams, and always stays at the top year in and year out. She basically taught me all I know and I still remember getting those dollars from our first combined fantasy baseball team. That was a long while back when I knew every single player and team in and out. She also knew every single player in and out, so on draft day when we picked the best team and stayed with it, there was no doubt we were going to win it all. I hope I can stick around in this league and regain the title. I haven't had it for a while now. In fact, the year I won, my Uncle called me up at 8 in the morning on a Labor Day. On a scale of 1-10, I probably had football knowledge at a 4.

The Cleveland Browns have looked terrible this year. I don't expect anything to change on Monday night against the Giants, but I'm glad I don't have to drive to a sports bar to watch them. The funny part about Vegas is that I can never get lucky and get a Cleveland or Ohio State game on TV. I went to the casino the other day to watch the Buckeyes game in the sports book and it made me excited about the future of Buckeye's football.

I just watched the Presidential Debate. If you've read the blog, you know I like Barack Obama and why. I think it's a virtual lock that he wins the election. I'm looking forward to the next four years in office. I love this site that I follow all the time.

www.electoral-vote.com

This is a steam post.....

2008-09-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

Full Tilt Poker Game #8216924919: The Fifty-Fifty (61686870), Table 104 - 6000/12000 Ante 1500 - No Limit Hold'em - 3:29:43 ET - 2008/09/25
Seat 1: SHIP_it_toO_ME (146,390)
Seat 2: eb226 (218,027)
Seat 3: Stipe (137,290)
Seat 4: kice32 (148,735)
Seat 5: SAFETY SCHMEET (195,040)
Seat 6: theonewith24 (301,912)
Seat 7: MUMIN (138,022)
Seat 8: eLquA (623,608)
Seat 9: ranji (198,976)
SHIP_it_toO_ME antes 1,500
eb226 antes 1,500
Stipe antes 1,500
kice32 antes 1,500
SAFETY SCHMEET antes 1,500
theonewith24 antes 1,500
MUMIN antes 1,500
eLquA antes 1,500
ranji antes 1,500
Stipe posts the small blind of 6,000
kice32 posts the big blind of 12,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [Td Ac]

ACE 10 for those of you counting at home

SAFETY SCHMEET folds
theonewith24 folds
MUMIN folds
eLquA folds
ranji folds
SHIP_it_toO_ME folds
eb226 raises to 216,527, and is all in
Stipe folds
kice32 calls 135,235, and is all in
eb226 shows [9c 7c]

NINE SEVEN SUITED, IF YOU REVERSE IT 7 9 THAT'S MY BIRTHDAY, HOW CAN I LOSE TO MY OWN BIRTHDAY?

kice32 shows [Td Ac]
Uncalled bet of 69,292 returned to eb226
*** FLOP *** [5d 6s 4h]
*** TURN *** [5d 6s 4h] [3c]

And I was controlling my emotions so well on the night.
*** RIVER *** [5d 6s 4h 3c] [9d]
eb226 shows a straight, Seven high
kice32 shows Ace Ten high
eb226 wins the pot (313,970) with a straight, Seven high
kice32 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 313,970 | Rake 0
Board: [5d 6s 4h 3c 9d]
Seat 1: SHIP_it_toO_ME folded before the Flop
Seat 2: eb226 (button) showed [9c 7c] and won (313,970) with a straight, Seven high
Seat 3: Stipe (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: kice32 (big blind) showed [Td Ac] and lost with Ace Ten high
Seat 5: SAFETY SCHMEET folded before the Flop
Seat 6: theonewith24 folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MUMIN folded before the Flop
Seat 8: eLquA folded before the Flop
Seat 9: ranji folded before the Flop

This really sums up the last few months in a nutshell. I get deep in some tournaments where I have to be the favorite. I've played twice as many tournaments as any player. I have a higher ROI than any other player. I come in short fighting my way from some great plays. Granted I got lucky at times with KK vs AA, but seriously, I don't want $800. Knock me out 3 hours earlier so I don't have to deal with this garbage every tournament.

On a more serious note, the hardest part about playing poker as a professional and not one that has already achieved the status of the few out there is having to deal with these types of beats. With $10,000 to first place, I essentially salvage the last few months. With the chip stack I win in this 60/40, I can't ever see myself winning less than $4000 (3rd place). So in essence, I took a $3200 beat. Now I know I deal with these numbers all the time, but $3200 still means something to me. In the life of a player sustaining their bankroll on mostly tournaments, cashes like these build confidence. They also give me a chance to extend my bankroll a little more in tournaments coming up like the Bellagio and Caesar's where the six figure cashes are only 200-300 players away as opposed to 3,000-5,000 as online. Now, I know that I have run above expectation in big tournaments earlier in the year. I outright won a big Sunday tournament and a 100 rebuy and another big Saturday tournament. In fact, the amount of times I placed first was probably a little off. I think I should average around 3rd-4th in any given final table. So by the same token, these last place (9th) finishes in tournaments where I outlast over a thousand people suck.

On a good note, at least I'm not the Cleveland Browns.

Been busy

2008-09-17T00:48:00.000-07:00

I've been all over the USA it seems in the past few months with what I would like to call a mediocre focus on poker. I always remember staring at a sign in Mrs. Stuckey's 11th grade English class that had a quote about mediocrity. Whenever I think about doing something not full go, I get nightmares about that sign. It's time to step up again in poker. October is a month where I get to mix in the live play again here in Las Vegas. There are two big events. Caesar's and Bellagio both host a good variety of tournaments. I'll be playing more events at Caesar's because of the variety of games available that I want to play (HORSE, PLO), and the lower buy ins which generally have given a better value in the past in terms of structure. The Bellagio has done a lot of great things with the structure in the recent months.

I've been working on getting my computer updated again. I found myself deep in the World Championship of Online Poker Event #1 when my hard drive crashed. I missed a good 15 minutes while getting my other computer up and trying to figure out what was wrong. I ended up getting 39th out of 7200+ players which was devastating considering the 214,000 first place money. I haven't been this close to this kind of score online in a while. To have the outside factors get shoved in my face was a little unnerving. Since then, I've played a few other events with only one cash in Razz. I really haven't been able to maintain a bankroll on Pokerstars, so I've been limited in playing lots of events in this series. It's really frustrating being in the USA and having what I would like to call an annoyance of trouble in getting money online. It's not hard getting it on, but it's more of an annoyance to a serious player looking to play in the biggest series online in history. A player used to be able to transfer back and forth from sites with ease using Neteller or Firepay, but since some spotty legislation has been passed by 4 members of the government, we are all inconvenienced.

In an ounce of good news today, a bill introduced by Barney Frank was marked up and passed through committee which would limit enforcement of the UIGEA to those sites accepting sports bets. This would be a great compromise if all sites could start doing business with the USA again and free flow of capital from site to site would work again. I ultimately stand with the Poker Players Alliance in hoping for taxation and regulation of online poker because I believe it's best for the long term interest of the industry and for the United States to finally gain their hands into the revenues of these sites. With the impending collapse of our economy, I can only imagine another revenue source would be welcomed.

I want to start putting some more poker stuff here soon, so if I get into some sticky situations in tournaments, I might start posting on the blog more. I'll try to keep updating more often while I'm playing live. Sometimes though when playing multiple tournaments online, it's hard to track all the huge hands.

Seriously Media Stop

2008-09-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

I know we made a huge deal when Barack Obama said this because now that an inexperienced, sexy 42 year old woman is running and she tells jokes instead any talking about any real policy matters, it might offend people.

I will give this to Republicans. They are brilliant at running campaigns. They play perfectly to the fears of the ignorant base in the United States. This campaign should be a 70-30 lock by the Democrats after 8 years of failed governing that have led to a recession and economic crisis. They are almost up in some polls because they just flat out lie. How can you win a campaign based on pushing for the "Bridge to Nowhere" then in the next campaign claim you defeated it.

This campaign I'm extremely sick of it, and I wish the media would just report real news listed below.

1. Policy proposals
2. Polls once every month
3. Debate topics
4. Records of those running

Everything else is sludge that is usually just a giant lie. One side lies more than the other because they desperately have to in order to win.

Some Political Wisdom

2008-09-04T01:54:00.000-07:00

When I was 5 years old, I had a President book. I studied this book day in and day out. I was simply fascinated by all the white men over the years of history that represented this country in its most important office. I learned about their wives. I learned about their cats. I learned about their big accomplishments and the records they held. I even knew most of their middle names. George Herbert Walker Bush was President at the time although my book only took me to Reagan. I liked knowing their political parties, and when I asked my parents what political party they voted for, I would never get a straight answer. They voted for the candidate that they thought was best. While I'm sure they leaned certain ways on some issues, I thought that was a reasonable response. I remember holding a mock election in 2nd grade where we voted for Perot, Clinton or Bush in the 1992 election. Of course, my friend Mike Z. led one mob chanting "Ross is the Boss" leading Perot to victory in our class. We couldn't tell you the first thing about the issues or Perot's ideas. We just wanted to be a mob. As I watched tonight, I couldn't help but think the same thing about the Republican party. In a convention night that heard several "USA" chants along with "Drill baby drill!" chants, I couldn't help but be embarrassed by a party that understands itself about as much as a 12 year old girl first experiencing her period.
I'll tell you flat out that I'm not going to bash the Republican party in this post anymore than they deserve. In fact, on many issues, I flat out agree with the Republican party. Free trade, limited government, and a balanced budget are among the strong Republican ideals I support. Wait a minute. The Republican party has done nothing of the sort over the last 8-15 years. The idea of a balanced budget and limited government has fled the main party platform for newer and fresher birds. Believe it or not Republicans, the last true patriot of the balanced budget was Bill Clinton. Don't believe me? See what Alan Greenspan says in book "The Age of Turbulence." It doesn't bother me all that much anyway that Republicans use this tenant as part of their fundamental ideology. What bothers me is that the Republican mob doesn't quite realize it. What bothers me is that there is not a single ounce of accountability in the Republican party. When McCain's ads pop up on TV, I think they are Obama ads. They say things like Washington is broke. John McCain knows that. Well if he knows that, where the hell has he been for the last 20 years? I'm so confused by the political process. We can no longer get an honest response from a politician about anything. Anytime a politician tries to give an honest response, we write it off as insecurity. When Obama tries to answer complicated questions with thorough responses that aren't 4 word answers, he's written off as indecisive or inexperienced. The fact that maybe some of his ideas are worth considering is out of the question. How can this Republican party still try to get away with a complete lack of non-partisanship? My main truth here is that Republicans essentially bash Democrats for raising taxes and increasing spending, but they just lower taxes and increase spending. So what is better for the long term health of the economy? I'll take the latter. What needs to happen in Washington is both parties have to agree on balancing the budget (an idea proposed at the beginning of W's term, but flatly rejected for the broad range of tax cuts that spiraled our government from surplus to deficit).

Now, my next qualm relates to the experience issue. I basically laugh the idea of the experience issue off most of the time. If someone has the leadership ability and potential to win a main party Presidential primary, then he or she has the ability to lead the country. You can't win the primaries without thorough support from major players across your party. These major players, superdelegates or major endorsements, don't give you support if you can't come across to them as knowledgeable about an array of topics and as a leader. How can you really prepare someone to be President of the United States anyway? The only real way is to have someone super close to a previous effective President. So by that notion Al Gore should have been super experienced. Was he? Probably not. Experience is just a word thrown around in a slogan. Just because you are old doesn't mean you are experienced either. An effective Senator doesn't necessariliy make them ready to be President. This goes for both Obama and McCain.

Now on to Sarah Palin. Let me first say that I'm excited that both genders are or have been represented in the primaries and now the main ticket. I'm also proud that both parties decided to put someone up other than a white guy. It makes me think that actual progress is taking place in our society. I would also like to say that it's not by mere chance that women or non white males had a chance. It was by knowledge, vision and well-run campaigns that caused both Hillary and Obama to be in the hunt. So let me tell you why Sarah Palin is on the Vice Presidential ticket. She's likeable. She's likeable. She's likeable. Since the Republicans have brought forth nothing of real value or substance over the last 8 years, it only makes sense to win back the masses through likeability. McCain is likeable. I mean I have liked the guy since he ran against George W. Bush in the primaries. I've liked him even when he was a huge proponent of the Iraq War. Who doesn't like a POW war veteran? Palin proved it again tonight when she spoke. She's likeable. The speechwriter made sure of it through everything she said. The GOP knows they are in trouble. They are up against a candidate that people are finally passionate about, Obama. This isn't John Kerry and this isn't Al Gore. It's someone that inspires not only Democrats, but Americans. That's why the GOP needed to announce a shocker after Obama's stellar acceptance speech where he didn't just attack Republicans, he laid out a vision for a greater United States of America. The Republicans don't offer that to people. Instead, they speak to only the people that see the world as a big globe of good vs. evil. They speak to the mob of people that will believe anything they say despite what the last 8 years have truthfully brought forth. You won't balance the budget Republicans. You haven't done it in 8 years. You have dragged our country down by failed policies right after 9/11. You have made it only possible and feasible to lump together support of country, support of war, and support of troops.

I can't remember who said this tonight at the convention, but it stuck with me. He said that the American people know that the Republicans are correct and strong on social values, but they have lost it on economic policy. He was truly correct about his second statement. As for the first statement, I don't think you can argue that abstinence-only education is correct. I don't think a debate will ever be settled in America about a women's right to choose. Despite the continuous scientific findings regarding the fact that the Earth is well over 6000 years old, we may never all agree on that. We probably won't all agree on what should be taught in schools creationism or evolution even though we should teach actual science. We won't agree on the right or wrong of homosexuals (even though I'm certain in 100 years, it will be a far better picture as all civil rights battles need to be fought). I quite frankly don't think that the majority of these "social values" even matter in the long term of political progress. What does matter is that the Republican party wakes up to the reality of its principles. Limited governemt and conservative economic policies can pretty much define what this party means politically. As for the other stuff, it should probably be sorted out on Sunday, or in the privacy of a worship group and family or with one's own personal conversation with God before bed. If we voted simply on what candidate's message is being the most honest, a value that I think everyone admires in a person, this race wouldn't even be close.

Oh Obama

2008-08-29T01:33:00.000-07:00

I thought the Democratic National Convention was a big success for Democrats. I think we picked the right candidate and given the circumstances of the Republican's main attacking point (national security), I think we picked the right Vice-President in Biden. I don't really have that much to say on the convention other than the speeches were moving and watching this convention made me feel closer to the United States of America. We do all get bogged down in our daily lives to realize there is more out there than we are accustomed to in our everyday lives. Being a professional poker player probably distances me further from that reality in a lot of ways because working from home online limits contact with people other than friends or family. Going to tournaments and playing gives some contact to people, but not that often to people that struggle in the world. Not that often are there that many people that are even pleasant to be around. In fact, most of the people I enjoy being around in the poker world play online most of the time. Stories of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan serving the country and coming back to poor treatment is flat out wrong on so many moral and human levels its disturbing. I know that I am truly lucky after hearing a lot of this. I'm lucky enough to play a game and make good money doing it. Only professional athletes and people on stock exchanges can usually say the same thing. Either way, I'm looking forward to the election.

One more big mention is that if you care at all about online poker, the Democratic ticket is really the only way to go. McCain is a staunch opponent of online gambling most likely to please the conservative base. Several members of the PPA, democrats and republicans alike, demanded that the Republicans strike language from the RNC platform regarding the prohibition of online gambling. When the RNC agreed and removed it, it was put back up shortly after by the McCain train. The only sound argument that can be put forth by Republicans is that gambling is bad, immoral and ruins society. While we only hear about the extreme cases related to gambling, Republicans often forget that they support gambling on horse racing and state lotteries. You can't have it both ways. Please write your Senators and Congressmen. If you are too lazy, go to this website http://capwiz.com/pokerplayersalliance/home/. They have a letter all set for you and will even tell you all the representatives that matter. It takes two seconds, but politicians do eventually listen. The PPA has made good progress. They haven't made great progress until online poker is legalized and regulated.

As for me and poker, I came back to Vegas and have been pretty happy with how I'm doing so far. Since being back, I've had some good results including a $3000 win on Ultimate Bet in their 30 rebuy. I got 2nd in the Absolute Sunday tournament for $10k. I had another small second on Absolute. I also got ninth in the Pokerstars daily with a disappointing finish. To be honest, I've actually probably ran a little below average at these final tables as well. I've had consistent deep runs in tournaments, but I feel like my tournament game continues to improve. I know I have a long way to go until I become the best, but with hard work and more dedication, I believe I can get there. On a negative note, I had one poor high stakes cash session at $50/$100 HORSE. I played this game because of my success at lower limits in the past month. After playing for a while, I believed that I had a little edge over my opponents. Whether that was the case or not, the results didn't show for it. It will be a while before I try another experiment like that. Playing consistent multi-table tournament schedules with a lot of focus has been paying off this year, and I want to keep that going.

9. Win the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.

2008-08-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Goal number 9 for 2008 is complete. In a thrilling comeback victory, I won the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.

Here is the first hand heads up chip counts.

Seat 2: kice32 (106,800)
Seat 8: Diego Cordovez (469,200)
Diego Cordovez posts the small blind of 5,000
kice32 posts the big blind of 10,000

I have 10 BB's to his 46BB and end up coming back to win. I was thrilled. Not to mention I get the $200 pro bounty and t-shirt as Diego Cordovez is in red on Full tilt. It was a little over $10,000 for the victory giving me a decent Sunday as I played fewer tournaments. I had a great weekend with my girlfriend and family and this topped it all off.

I'm heading back to Las Vegas tomorrow to get back to business for a while. I'll hopefully have more good poker updates. The FTOPS is over and I don't think I cashed in a single event. Despite this victory, everything else over my break in Cleveland really didn't go that well. I plan to have a great WCOOP. I'm playing tons of games well and should be playing a good amount of events.

It's time for a sports blog

2008-08-13T22:54:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I talked about anything but poker, so it might be healthy to get some good thoughts out there about Cleveland sports and the Olympics. I've been playing poker at a minimum lately. I've basically been following the FTOPS main events around when I have time to and playing cash games when I'm bored here in Cleveland. This has giving me some good time to watch some Olympics and enjoy the games all day, while hardly ever exercising and typically eating too much.

Cleveland Cavaliers Trade

Cleveland hit the trade market hard again acquiring Mo Williams from the Bucks. We finally have our point guard. I can't say I know very much about Mo Williams because I really don't. If Mo Williams is even a slightly above average point guard who can play a lick of defense, it will make this team better. Damon Jones is only a loss if you enjoyed laughing at him over the past few years. I would like to thank him though for that shot in the Washington series three years ago. It was one of the most exciting moments in Cleveland and all Amon Ones ever did (NO D and No J) was want to be good. I hope that one play was enough. Joe Smith was the real loss. He provided solid depth at the big man position throughout the playoffs. He was a guy who did everything right. I think the best thing about losing him is it gives a chance for all the younger guys to develop into that role. It does leave a small hole in our front man rotation. If our old players (Z or Wallace) go down, we might be in trouble. My only other big concern about Mo Williams is that I've read a few places that he might be a selfish player. We don't need another Larry Hughes, so our coaching staff better be very direct with how they coach Mo Williams. He better be ready to work and win titles or you can kiss LBJ good bye in two years.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns are going to be good this year. How good? 10-6 again good. Our record range will be 8-8 to 10-6. I don't see this team going any different than that range of records. Our offense is probably in the top 4 in the NFL. I can think of NE, Indy, and maybe Dallas as those that our ahead of us. We just have weapons in every area. We have two all-pro receivers and Braylon Edwards is still underrated. We have one of the best receiving tight ends in the league in Winslow. Lewis looks pretty solid and behind the best offensive line in the AFC North, we'll win the division. Expect to be playing at home in round one of the playoffs against a team like Jacksonville or Denver. I expect a fall out in Pittsburgh this year. I think the team will hurt bad after losing Alan Faneca at guard.

Olympics

We need to check China!!!! China is really showing the dichotomy of its messed up nation. It puts on this unreal display at the opening ceremonies following a decade of unbelievable growth, yet it's partially fake. They leave out the fact that they put up a 7 year old girl prop in place of the real singer who was deemed to ugly for TV. How many 7 year olds are really ugly? Let's be honest. It's impossible to be ugly at 7 unless you are one of those 7 year old gymnasts on China's team. I really have a growing dislike for gymnastics because I think it's rigged and finally realize it is. China is not following the rules, and they would have never lost the gold at home. The USA would have never lost the gold at home in '96 either.

One thing I love about the summer Olympics are the great sports you never watch but are absolutely awesome come Olympics time.

1. Swimming--I would never watch this sport, but it's fun come Olympics time because medals are cool and the USA is usually dominant. Watching Michael Phelps has been real fun this Olympics, and I expect him to win all 8 golds. He will for sure win the two individual races barring lots of drugs injected into some crazy Chinese athlete. Can you even trust anything China does? They just went 1-2 in the 100M Butterfly. Is there any doubt they weren't drugged up like Marion Jones and Barry Bonds son?

2. Beach Volleyball--Fun to watch, but more fun to play. I love this sport and USA is sweet at it. Not to mention that I love the name Karch.

3. Track and Field--I watch this all the time when it's on, but your average American doesn't. This is going to be exciting this Olympics. You can't miss the 100M dash with Tyson Gay from the USA. He recently sprained his hamstring in the trials, so it will be interesting to see him compete against Jamaica's top dude. The 400M is going to be my favorite race with Leshawn Merrit and Jeremy Wariner. Here is there race from last Olympics, but since then Merritt has beat Wariner. This is the best race on the track hands down.

4. Table Tennis--Watch it live for NBCOlympics.com

5. Handball--See number 4

The worst sports at the olympics include women's sabre, anything involving rowing, trampoline and rhytmic gymnastics. Can't we seriously put golf in place of one of these? I have another idea. Let's make the PGA Championship travel to the Olympic city once every 4 years and play it there. It will be both the PGA Championship and the Olympic event. It will give the world a chance to see the biggest chokes out there including but not limited to Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.

That is all for now. I'll be back with more later.

Cleveland

2008-08-05T10:31:00.001-07:00

I've had a lot of fun so far in Cleveland with my family and friends. I've finally been able to golf since I haven't had a golf partner in Vegas. I've gone perch fishing on Lake Erie. We even made a trip downtown over the weekend that was a fun night overall. I'm heading to the Brown's preseason game on Thursday, so expect a pretty in depth Brown's blog coming up as I know we have some Cleveland fans reading out there.

On the poker front, I had my worst day of the entire year on Sunday financially, but I'm not all that upset about it. I had a pretty standard tournament buy in schedule and probably played too many tables. I think on Sundays, I'm going to limit the max tournaments I'm in to 6 at one time. I might even think about moving down to 4. The only problem with going to 4 is that I don't get a chance to play a lot of the lower buy ins that attract huge fields. These tournaments like the 11 rebuy I won can really help out a bankroll if you are consistently playing every big buy in on every site every Sunday. I have also had a mixed record in the cash games since being home. While I've beat the 2/4 pot limit omaha game, I dumped it all back in one horrendous session at pot limit omaha 3/6. Furthermore, I've had a couple of 25/50 PLO sessions where I went in short stacked with 1k and failed to do much. When this stuff happens all on Sunday, it compounds. Take away the Sunday and I'm actually up since I've been home playing a limited amount of tournaments and mostly different cash games.

The tentative future schedule of big things to come is

August 6-18. Full Tilt Online Poker Series. I'll probably be playing about 6-10 events depending on what is going on at home. When I'm at home with the family, it's often tough to make committments to play tournaments.

September. WCOOP. This is the Pokerstars big annual tournament series. I never have been able to commit to playing a lot of these events, but I'm planning on playing more this year. I know there will be a few Sundays though that I will miss in here for a wedding and of course Browns games. My Borgata plans for this year won't be coming to fruition. I love the tournaments there, but it will just have to wait for a different time.

October--Aruba??? We'll see if I can satellite into the tournament. WSOP Europe. We'll see if I can satellite into the tournament.

Other than that, I had a great comment about my personal poker leaks. Leaks are flaws in poker strategy that players should all strive to "plug up."

I decided I'll try to identify a leak in each blog and how I can fix it.

In my tournament game, I think that lately there have been times where I felt it was necessary to gamble when the optimal strategy at the time was to continue to play small ball poker. One example comes to mind when I was deepstacked with about 40,000 in the 100 rebuy on Full tilt. This is a shorthanded tournament where I was steadily picking up chips without winning too many big pots. Most of my confrontations were in pretty good shape preflop or small pots after the flop. I had KJ of hearts and called the under the gun raiser for 2100. He had 35,000 chips. When the flop came 8h 7h 7d. He bet out 4k. Now at this point, I just decided I was going to play for it all no matter what, so I put a good raise in, he reraised all in, I called and he showed QQ. I was then cripped and out shortly after. A similar hand came up in the 2k at the WSOP with KdQd on a two diamond board against a pretty large stack who had AA. Both times I missed and regretted my decision after. Let me first say that I think this play is sometimes optimal. Picking up a big draw has lots of value when you can get your opponents to fold their hands. Playing aggressively is almost always better than playing passively in poker. At times though, if I feel I'm in pretty good control of my table image and position at the table, I think it can be a big leak to just be ready to get in there and gamble. Poker is ultimately a strategy game. One component of strategy though is the propensity to gamble. Varying factors will contribute to how much a player should consider gambling in a tournament including stack sizes, relative skill levels, blind structure, payouts, etc. There are times though where I think it's a leak in my game when I take these situations where I'm in good control of lots of factors of play and waste them by gambling in possible 50/50 spots.

I hope that explanation is a good one and thanks for the questions/comments as always.

Some WSOP Thoughts

2008-07-24T00:36:00.000-07:00

After getting away from it for a week and from poker in general, I thought it might be a good idea to give some final World Series of Poker thoughts.

I came into the WSOP with a specific bankroll planned that was essentially out of my yearly winnings. It was a number that I basically decided was going to keep me comfortable at all times. I wanted to play around 8 events including the main event, but if I did well early and made a big score, go for player of the year. While I know I'm not deeply experienced in every single game, I don't think the average player is either. With my online experience in every game, I felt pretty confident with this plan.

What began was a 1500 PL Hold 'em event where I immediately realized our chip stacks aren't going to allow much play, and with a couple of set up hands I was out. This kind of left me flustered as I didn't really know what to do. Should I keep taking small shots at these or play the bigger buy ins/rebuys? I decided against rebuys because I don't feel comfortable without 8k in the 1k rebuy to go. I don't even feel comfortable in the 100 rebuy half the time because I'm not ready to go off for 800 on any night in one tournament against a field of tough players.

After that, I played the 2000 No Limit Hold 'em and played considerably well. An AA vs 99 vs 88 all in hand crippled me when an 8 appeared on the flop.

Still after two events, I felt I played considerably well and did my best.

Then came event 3. It was a shorthanded event, 1500. 3000 chips in a shorthanded event can go awfully quick especially when you don't have the correct mentality. In retrospect, this was my worst tournament by far. I made several untimely plays. I wasn't patient when short stacked, and I just kind of failed at concentrating.

I came back later that night to try my hand at the 2500 Omaha Hi/Lo /Stud Hi/Lo mixed event. I got off to a great start. I cracked 10k fairly early from the 5k starting chip stack. The deck ran so super cold after level 4 that I had to kind of think through my hands again to see if I played bad or not. I think I played fine, but really ran extremely unlucky in Omaha Hi/Lo. This is a game where when dealt certain starting hands and hitting certain flops, you just won't be able to fold until the river if at any time. I had similar situations here and am happy with how I played.

So a quick poor start had my spirits dampened. If not for a 21k score online followed by a second place in the heads up championship on Pokerstars, I would have been phased just a little.

Another 2k event where I again played great poker up until a critical mistake before dinner. I got moved to a new table. Getting moved is sometimes a curse and sometimes a blessing as any player knows. Moving from my previous tables were both curses. I had a good understanding of several online players from playing against them online. I don't think they knew who I was giving me a significant edge. The other players weren't all that tough. I had a good image and everything was fine. When I got moved, I immediately caught in a bluff for some chips killing my image. Then I made probably the biggest mistake of my entire WSOP. I raised it up with 8 9 suited and was called behind. The BB moved all in for what was 4600 total I think after I put in a 1600 raise. I just called where I should be pushing all in all day to isolate. If I'm going to call, I might as well just take a shot. I think this was the only point where I made a critical mistake. If I shove here, I win the pot outright with all the dead money increasing my stack to an above average pretty close to the money. This situation can give me some good bubble opportunities. Either way, aside from that big mistake, I played well. In the end, it came down to me not winning a race 66 vs AQ.

The biggest disappointment of the whole series was the 3000 HORSE for me. I played both the 1500 and 3000. In both tournaments, I ran so incredibly bad that I left demoralized and shaking my head. In the 1500 event, it's tough to recover from running bad. The 3k HORSE though is an event that I should be able to find good spots. It's just frustrating when nothing go rights in games that I typically do very well at online.

Two more 1500 tournaments and losing races along with losing the 5 6 vs QQ after the 6 5 2 flop with the Q hitting the turn card were both crushing.

Then came my first cash ever. 53rd in the 2k event following a crushing beat of A10 vs A8. This tournament was a lot of fun in retrospect. It was really what it was all about. I felt great throughout. I made a couple of aggressive plays and thinks just went my way. I hit a couple of big river flushes on big draws that propelled me. Other than that though, I tended to get my money in very well. What hurt me in the end was the KQdd vs AA after the two diamond flop and I missed. I couldn't have felt worse about winning 11k. While this would guarantee a main event seat within my bankroll, I really felt that if that A10 holds against A8, I'm a lot richer right now.

The Main Event is an unbelievable experience. This was my second main event. I was not half the player I was 2 years ago when I played. I'll probably think the same thing in 2 more years about how I played now, but the gap is just so much farther. My ability to control the situations at my table this year was what I was most proud of. Even after getting short stacked early, I fought back with a nice 44 vs AK after a 4 10 K flop. The end of Day 1 saw me make an outstanding fold. Go read about it if you haven't yet.

Day 2 was a great experience. I had two tough internet players, an absolutely wild table, and I fought hard all day. I was up and down and up and down. I really and truly grinded through this day. I went into Day 3 feeling strong. I also had the possibility of being on TV with a 2 hour featured table stint. That's still to be determined even though I hope I don't end up on the cutting room floor.

Day 3 couldn't have gone worse. I couldn't get any hands. I couldn't steal a single pot preflop. I patiently waited and waited and eventually made a move that I think was fine with A9 suited, but was overcalled by a player with little experience with AQ off (even though I saw he finished pretty deep). I was really devastated after losing. All my goals and dreams for the entire year were shattered. I felt that I lacked a sense of validation and still do today. After all, my live cashes have no been impressive. I've made far more money online than I have in live tournaments. To be completely honest with my live play, I think it's been just a matter of not catching the right breaks at the right times. Every deep appearance usually ends by something out of my control. What a lot of people don't understand about poker is that many of the people they see on TV as the big time money winners and big time players wouldn't last over thousands of tournaments. Several of them don't have a dollar to their name. Some of them have tons of talent, but no money. Some of them have very little talent and lots of money. There are tons of ranges of skill levels and success stories. Where a player falls along the spectrum relies on both talent and luck. If you have the best luck though in your 10 dollar online tournaments, you won't be on TV, you won't be made of millions. If you have your best luck in one 10k event, you win a million and are instantly respected. When going to play with players that are considered big time, you can't go in thinking they are fabolous players. I've made this mistake before. You need to go in and evaluate exactly how they are playing and make your decisions accordingly. Sometimes it's just easier playing against players you don't recognize because your blueprint of their play is drawn in from scratch.

One final thought. To win any poker tournament where several good players are entered in the field, you need a few things. You need to get free chips. Free chips occur when the deck sets you up with them. You need to have good table draws. You need to have a thorough understanding of every stage of the tournament. You can only control one of those things. There are expanses of concepts in the thing you can control and learning more and always striving to learn is the best way to succeed in this game. The luck will even out in the end and I have no doubt that with the proper amount of tournaments played at the World Series or in live play, I'll have my victories.

Again, thanks for the support from everyone throughout. The next few months are big online months. An FTOPS and WCOOP are in August and September. These are just like live events like the WSOP with various games and such, but usually a better structure. I'll be playing lots of events in both. I think I'm due for a big victory in one of these. Let's hope it's soon.

Chicago to Cleveland

2008-07-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been updating lately, I'll be heading to Chicago and then Cleveland for the next month. I just got back from San Diego with my family and will be leaving shortly. I had a nice finish in the Full Tilt Nightly before I left for a little over $13k. I lost an all in for the win with AJ vs A8 on the 8 9 9 xx board.

Other than that, Carson Palmer will eat his words.

Out of Main Event

2008-07-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

I was reraised non stop, card dead all day, and out of the main event around 950th place. Again, I'm about 300 short of the money and in some pain. I played as well as I can, but just wasn't allowed to win big pots or get chips easily. You have to get lucky to win this tournament. With the great structure, skill can only take you so far. If you miss every single flop, you can't win.

The bust out hand came when I was down to 30k with 15 big blinds. An aggressive player opened two from the button for 5200. I was on the button with A9 of hearts and reshoved. The big blind called 30k of his 70k stack with AQ off. The other guy folded. The board bricked out and I was eliminated. Would have been nice for a little bit of justice from the 2k event with a river 9 or something, but it wasn't meant to be. It is just one tournament and when you have to battle as the short stack for pretty much 18 out of 24 hours, the tourney can get boring. Today, I hung around and tried to find a good spot. I thought my play was completely standard and normal even though I was behind. The guy was opening plenty of pots and I wouldn't play it any other way. For AQ to overcall takes a real strong read. I wasn't given any respect from this player all day though and he will likely muppet off all his chips to the other good players at the table.

Thanks for all the support along the way. Who knows if I'll be back next year. No need to think about poker for a while. I'll probably be updating less in the next month or so as I'm going to be in San Diego, Chicago, Cleveland and playing very little poker. I might make a trip somewhere in there to another casino possibly Atlantic City or something.

Through Day 2

2008-07-09T03:08:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give a quick update for everyone interested. I ended the day with 61,600 after starting with 37,525. I was quickly down to 22k after losing blinds, antes, and one small pot against an all in player. Then I rallied back to 50k. Then I crumbled down to 16k at one point. There were tons of hands none of which I really want to detail right now. The day was long and I fought hard the whole way. Entering the 500/1000 level with 17000 chips and fighting to eventually win a big pot to double up felt great. The last two hours were also part of the ESPN feature table even though I spent most of the time folding. Maybe I'll get some TV time or something.

One hand before I go to bed. The biggest pot of the tournament for me.

Early position limps for 1000. I complete the bet from the small blind and the big blind checks. I have K9 of diamonds. Flop comes Qh 8d 3s. Everyone checks. The turn is a Jd giving me a flush and gut shot straight draw. I decide to take a stab at it and bet 2500. The BB folds and the original limper raises to 5500. This raise size felt real strong to me, so I called hoping to hit one of my outs and get paid off. The river was a beautiful 2d. At this point, I had 27k left and I had seen this guy make one big call earlier in the day, so I thought that if he really was strong like I suspected when he made the raise that he would pay me off. He did with 9 10 of spades for a turned straight. I was on the lucky draw for a big pot. Nothing exciting happened after that except for a nice round of shots at the ESPN featured table. I doubt there will be much brought in for TV from our 2 hour session there.

Nostradamus no more

2008-07-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't see that there was a dealer's tourney/media day today and every player gets the day off. Day 1A starts Tuesday. Updates will come after tomorrow.

I am Nostradamus, almost...

2008-07-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

From an earlier blog

"The WSOP is basically over. One more event remains. Of course, it's the main event, 10,000 buy in NL Texas Hold 'em. My guess for the number of players is 6865."

The total number of players this year is 6844. That's a pretty good guess. Let's hope my playing ability tomorrow is as good as my guessing ability. Day 2A tomorrow. I hope I'm updating the blog at around 2:30am.

My great Day 1 fold

2008-07-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to put probably the most crucial hand of the day into my summary.

At the 200/400 level with 50 ante, I had around 46k. I raised under the gun with AK off to 1100. I received 5 calls. With the pot now at around 5600, the flop was Ac 6c 2s. I led out with 3600. I received a call from the player behind me. The next player to act made to 10,500. The other two players folded. At this point, I had a decision. This player had around the same stack as me with about 40k. I figured in my head that the odds he raised with a flush draw here are between 5-1%. He seemed to be one of the more intelligent players at the table. I basically just had to put him on a hand and then make a big decision. Just calling here was not an option because any flush draw can't get a free card here, especially considering the guy behind me was the most likely guy on a flush draw. Furthermore, the guy behind could also be slowplaying a set even though I ruled this out after some thought. Not many players are willing to let 3 players behind them in the pot with a set when an obvious flush draw is on board. I relayed this logic right over to the player who I believed was a good player and thought about how I would play the hand. Would I be raising here with a worse ace? Pretty much never. Would I be raising here with AK, probably not often. Would AK be a possibility for this guy? Judging by the amount of 3 betting he had done, I don't see a flat call with AK as being a big possibility. He has to have a set. He knows I've played pretty good so far. He knows I raised under the gun meaning I have a strong hand. For him to make that raise in this situation, I just have to be beat. I folded my hand. The other player called. The turn was a K of spades. The first player checked, the on the flop raiser moved all in for like 30k. The other guy called. The raiser showed 66 for a set and the other player had K 10 of clubs for the nut flush draw. I got up from the table and pumped my fist as I know that this type of hand could have easily knocked me out of the tournament.

Day 1 Complete

2008-07-04T01:43:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Day 1 of the WSOP. I'm at 37,725 chips from the starting stack of 20,000. I was as low as 9,700 and as high as about 49,000. It was really a strange day as I felt aggression and pressure against me almost all day. I can't count on two hands even how many times I was three bet preflop. The caliber of play is different to say the least. While I sit with some players that are incredibly tough to play against at times, there are others that shouldn't be in a ten dollar rebuy tournament. All in all, I think I played pretty well today, and I had a strategy going in that I was going to play careful and solid. I doubled up when I was at 17,500 when I called a late position raiser from my UTG limp with 44. Flop came 4 10 K. I checked dark and he bet 2600. I just sensed a lot of strength so I went ahead and raised hoping to get it in. He put me in and showed AK and the turn card 3 sealed the deal. I was up to 35,000. Then, I just played a bunch of small pots until the last level. I raised to 1100 with 200/400 blinds 25 ante with AA in late position to be called by an old man out of the big blind. Flop was a scary Q 9s 10s. He checked and I checked behind. Turn was a 6. He bet 2,000 and I called. River was a 9. He bet 6,000 and I called. He showed A7 and I won. That was the only other real big pot I played in. I had a couple of smaller all ins when I had 20k. One I lost to AQ with 55 and the other I won with AK vs J7. I can't complain though as surviving day 1 is the first step towards winning the tournament. I'm happy with how I played and can't wait to start again on Monday Day 2A.

It's Main Event time baby

2008-06-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

The WSOP is basically over. One more event remains. Of course, it's the main event, 10,000 buy in NL Texas Hold 'em. My guess for the number of players is 6865. I've had millions of questions from people about whether I'm buying in or not. I've alloted a certain percentage of my bankroll for the WSOP and early on, it wasn't looking so good. After that 11k cash though, I'm basically parlaying that into the main event. Aside from that, I really believe that I can play with anyone in the field. I really believe that I am fully capable of winning the event should luck fall my way. I also believe that to be as talented as I am and not be in the biggest poker tournament in the entire world is just not acting as if. I've just closed out an online month that is probably my 2nd best month ever (my best month is of course when I won the 100k tournament on Full Tilt). I'm playing with tons of confidence. I've had big wins on every site, and it's only proper if I go play a deep stacked no limit tournament for all the marbles. I probably wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't play in this event. It would be a complete waste. While 10,000 for one tournament is absolutely a ton of money, I can just as easily say I won 22k on Full Tilt and a WSOP seat in that main event. I can say I won a main event seat and 1700 in the 2k. I can say I won a main event seat in the Stars tourney. The only thing I haven't done is been on a list that says I won a seat. I'm planning on playing the Day 1A because I want to just relax for 3 days if I am going on, and I want to get over it quickly if I'm not moving on. All in all, I tried to always keep telling myself that the WSOP this year would define my career. When it was going bad, I was basically considering myself a failure. At the same time though, I was just winning big tournaments online where I started as a poker player. I've basically just learned to define my success by what shows up on the spreadsheet at the end of the day/month/year. I expected to have good shot at a bracelet and maybe that will have to wait, or maybe it's just a couple weeks away.......

53rd

2008-06-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

I just finished 53rd in a firestorm. I can honestly say I've never visibly showed too much emotion in a live poker tournament.......until now. My hand is still hurting from the chair I hit. We'll get to that. I arrived today with 63,700. Early on I raised it to 4k from the button with 9 10 of spades. The big blind defended and the flop came K Qs 5. He bet 5500 into me. At this point, I was just not ready to give up a pot that easy, so I decided to call and see if I could float him off the hand on the turn. The turn was a nice 7 of spades giving me a flush draw in addition to my straight draw. After asking me to count my chips, the SB checked. I decided to take a stab at the pot because I felt like he might have a Q and I could take it down right there. I bet 11k and was called fairly quickly, now basically putting my opponent on a K and really nervous about what I was going to have to do on the river. The river as a wonderful 8 of spades. The player checked to me and I wanted it to look like I missed a flush draw or something so I shoved my chips in quickly. He called and I was quickly up to 130k after he mucked in disgust. Then, I got moved and called a 6k raise from early position out of the SB with 1k/2k blinds with KQdd. The flop came Jd 4d 2s. Oh boy. I check raised the guy basically all in and we got it in there against his AA no diamond. Brick, brick and I was back down to 50k. After finding some good spots and winning a small all in with AK vs A6, I was back up to 100k before moving to my next table. At this point, I noticed a different dynamic. The player to my left had a ton of chips and a ton of gamble, so I was going to have to be ready to play post-flop. I decided to essentially tighten up until I was deeper stacked because I had 100k with 3k/6k blinds and it would greatly limit my post-flop play with this guy calling so much. I won a nice pot against him with QcQs when I raised to 16k was called by him. The flop came 9c 3c 3. I bet 22k, he called. Turn was a 7c. I moved in and he folded. Then the hand of the tournament and possibly worst beat of my life came. I raised to 16k in late position. Erik Cajaleis called out of the SB and the big blind after asking if we just got to 54 squeezed his last 60k in the middle. I really thought it over and how he asked if we just made the money and I jammed my 120k over the top. He showed As8s to my A10. The board ran out 9 5 2 3 river 8!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I turned around hit a chair and probably swore. I'm usually extremely quiet, but for the amount of money in the pot along with the dead money. I would have been at a little over 200k. Instead, I was crippled to 60k. I then got moved to another table and found KQo in mid position which is certainly good enough when folded to me. I pushed all in and was called my AK and that's a wrap. It was around 11k for the win which is certainly good enough for a main event seat. It will also keep me below my around 20k WSOP bankroll that I planned out even if I play in the main event. The good news about the tournament is that I have no regrets. I decided to make moves when I was short that were aggressive and without fear. When playing for a lot of money, I always see players change their games, but I'm glad I didn't. Overall, I think I played about as good as I'm going to play in a tournament. If the luck was on my side, I'd still be playing. Thanks to everyone for your support and interest throughout this. It really means a lot getting messages, calls and everything especially with all the ups and downs.

First WSOP cash, First 100 Rebuy win

2008-06-28T02:29:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers,

I am running awfully good and extremely confident. I won the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt the other night. This is a 6 max (6 players maximum at a table) tournament that is one of the biggest tournaments on the net during the week. A little over 32k was rewarded for my efforts. I didn't report on this because I was still in shock.

I just finished up day 1 of the 2k No Limit event at the WSOP. We finished the day with 198 players meaning that I record my first WSOP cash ever. Tomorrow is day 2 beginning at 2PM Vegas time and I have 63700 chips with around 48k being the average. The winner gets a tiny 771,000. I get to play a game for 771,000 although it will take a full day of work to get to the final table which would be Sunday. I'm feeling good though and have tons of hands I could go into, but I'm going to bed.

9th in Bellagio tournament

2008-06-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

9/180 yesterday at the Bellagio. It was a disappointing ending as I ran incredibly cold at the final two tables and limped into the final table with a short stack. I had 170k with 18 left and came to the final table with barely 60k. I lost a 155k pot with AsJs vs AQ when I raised in mid position and got reshoved for 70k . At that point, giving a guy with an 11-12 big blind stack, I just don't see a way I'm going to fold this hand. Then, I lost another 90k pot with 66 vs AQ when I got to isolate a short stack and get some dead money in to the pot with to no avail. The funny part about this tournament is that I lost a 75k pot with AQ vs Q10 all in preflop to have to come back. I really felt comfortable though with this entire tournament. Aside from running kind of cold near the end, I really felt I played well.

Two key hands that boosted me up. I had 8 4 of hearts on the BB 200/400 blinds with 50 ante. Two limpers came in late position and I checked. AQQ flop, checks around, 8 on turn, I check one guy bets 1100, I call. River is K. He bet 2100 after I checked to him, and I really felt like I just had a great instinctual feeling on having him beat. I called and he mucked his hand.

The other huge hand was when I raised it up in early position with AQ off suit. I had one caller right behind me. With 11k in the pot, the flop came Q98. I bet 6500 and was quickly called. Turn was a J. I checked and he instantly shoved all in. I took no longer than 2.5 seconds to deduce that this was probably a bluff. I made the 25k chip call to see he was crushed with an A9. He had a Pittsburgh Steelers had on, so I'm glad to ship the good karma to the Cleveland Browns. Those were really the key pots. I just played aggressive bubble strategy and had a nice 99 vs QQ cooler suck out for a 55k pot with 21 players left.

No WSOP Success, Little Break

2008-06-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

I've continued to have no WSOP success, and it's becoming more frustrating by the hour. Every time I check an update on one of the WSOP reporting sites and don't see my name I'm angry. I've had a few poor days online to top that all off. I've had a lot of bubbles and have made some mistakes that may be telling me it's time to refocus and get back on track. The next few days are probably a good time to take a break, play less or maybe something other than tournaments. I have had problems controlling my emotions late in these tournaments online lately. This is really something that comes and goes for me in the game of poker. When you are playing online, there really isn't anyone to hold anyone accountable for their actions or emotions. When playing a live event, I easily keep to myself because I don't want to be perceived as a loose cannon asshole that is inconsiderate of everyone around him. At home, only the dog really can see how I act aside from my roommate. My emotions can get to me at times. Emotions cloud judgment and lead to poor decisions.

One thing I think happens to me is after being successful online for consistent periods of time, I begin to lose focus. I forget everything that went into my success in previous weeks and months. To be successful in this game, you have to be a hard worker. It' s just like any other job. You have to study the game, study the players, study your mistakes, study your successes, study your crucial hands, study, study, study, and learn. You can't just rest on your laurels at any point because the game is always changing. There is always a new strategy to learn. Because the game is based on other human counterparts, there are infinite different strategies that must be employed at different times. Those that adapt and succeed will win. Adaptation must come both before and after success.

R.I.P. Tim Russert

Let's Talk about Not Poker, US Open, My Envy/Hate of Boston, NBA Draft, and more

2008-06-18T22:49:00.000-07:00

Since all I've given this blog lately seems to be poker, I have to start contributing my thoughts on some of the great sports things happening lately. After that, maybe I'll even have some thoughts about other things going on in the world.

Since my blog readership is down to approximately 3 friends of mine, my dad who probably feels obligated to read the blog since he felt bad that I only had three readers, and Bubby, it's probably time to talk about sports or something that other people can relate to. It's not that people can't relate to poker that well, but when it's just bad news and not me slaying hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Rio, no one cares.

US OPEN

We all know we witnessed something special in sports this weekend. The best in the world on the world's biggest stage grinding out a 91 hole victory on the longest course in US Open history without an ACL. Now that Tiger is out for the rest of the season, golf becomes essentially meaningless ruining the two majors and Ryder Cup for most American fans. Since the USA hasn't won a Ryder Cup in it's last 3 tries with Tiger, it's probably not going to happen without him. What about the last two majors of the year? No, I will not cheer for Phil "Manboobs" Mickelson. No, Rocco Mediate will probably not accomplish what he did there, and we all can't chant Rocky, Rocky. Actually, I was really cheering for both of the guys as dumb as that sounds to any sports fan. I always cheer for Tiger because I just want him to win 50 majors and blow every record out of the water, so they will never be broken. This time, though, it was different. A 45 year old hardly ever competes at a high level in these majors. Everyone knows this. The window of success for most golfers closes quickly. That's why when Nicklaus won in '86 at the Masters, we still hear about it every single time. Someone that old winning shocks the world into remembering. The PGA Championship doesn't even matter without Tiger. I doubt I will even watch more than the final 9 holes.

Tiger's future, however, is good. From the sounds of it, his knee will come back repaired, his stress fractures will heal, and after rehabbing he'll be fine. Anyone doubting this return is foolish. This guy is the most clutch athlete in the history of sports. When he can't win with his distance, he'll get better and win somewhere else. That's why it's not unrealistic to think that Tiger will win another 10 majors. Athletes get old and age and body parts begin to break down. Last time I checked though, it doesn't put much on the knee to have a great short game and make great putts. I think we all look forward to a safe and healthy return.

I have a couple of predictions though.

Tiger Woods will come out of this surgery with another child. He can't be wound up that much and not intentionally or unintentionally knock up his wife. Unless they get in a fight, expect a boy no later than September 2009.

Tiger Woods wins two majors next year.

NBA Finals

I really didn't want either team to win and was thinking about likely scenarios that would let that happen. By likely, I mean scenarios that would likely cancel the finals for a while.

1. World War III
2. Redcoats invade Boston
3. Some sort of terrorist act.

Since I really don't want any of those 3 to happen besides maybe the redcoats invading Boston, I had to settle on watching a great team win the championship. I despise Boston because they complain about not having their 17th championship because of a 20 year drought. Can your whole city please shut up already? We are sick of hearing you cry and brag and cry and brag. I was thrilled to watch the Patriots lose so we didn't have to listen to you brag and then cry about your 3 championships in a row. Try being from Cleveland! May God have his wrath come down on Boston and curse them without a championship for 100 years! Maybe I'm going over the top a little bit, but I can't stand it. This city complains more than any city about sports. They are bombarded by great teams, fun athletes, and exciting playoffs year in and year out. I hope you are all appreciating it because it makes me want to puke.

That being said, I really like Garnett and have for a long time, so I am glad to see he won. I think it also shows that the Cavs aren't as far as we think. The Celtics had no shot to win in Cleveland the entire series. Cleveland had game 1 in their clutches and game 7 would have been won without the stellar team performance of Boston. The fact of the matter is that their team is full of smart players that know their roles. Cleveland doesn't have that yet. We have a disheveled bench with players like Sasha Pavlovic that probably can't spell Boston. We were struck for 3 years with the bad luck lightning of Larry Hughes that would never understand how to be part of a team like Boston. I have high hopes for the Cavs.

Cleveland Indians

I'm not going to say much, but it's not looking good. The injury bug has hit another Cleveland team, and all I can say is that I hope it takes away all the bad luck from the Brown's squad. Let's get rid of Sabathia for prospects and rebuild again. We aren't going to be able to sign this guy unless he takes below his market value. On top of that, I'm not super convinced about him being the guy in October. I still think there are lots of games to be played and sometimes a young player working to prove himself is stronger than a veteran with a 6 year $40 million contract.

Random Laughs of the Week

Yuri Zhirkov has some bad luck when he last name is announced in English. He's a Russian soccer player. Zhirkov scores!!! If you don't know how to pronounce it, see the pronunciation below.If you aren't a big soccer watcher, but are a sports fan, keep tuning in to the Euro 2008 on ESPN. It's the best soccer in the world aside from a few South American countries. They aren't snoozefests like most soccer matches in the USA.

"Jerrrrrr Koooofffff"

I can't help but drive through Chinatown here in Vegas and get in a car wreck every single time. Do you think if the car was invented in China, we'd be the horrendous drivers?

That is all for now. I'm looking forward to bringing some good news back from the Rio tomorrow when I go play my first 1500 NL full table event.

Back in Action

2008-06-17T00:29:00.000-07:00

Last week was another tough week at the WSOP, but I did get 2nd the Pokerstars Heads Up Matches Tournament. This tournament is one that I would have loved to win and I lost an AK vs K9 all in pre flop on the 3rd hand to cripple me after a J 10 x x 9 board. Yeah, it was an easy $11k river card to handle as that was the difference between first and second. Either way, I have just been crushing online and can keep playing some of these events at the WSOP. I think I'm playing the 1500 tomorrow or today, whenever you read this. I'll also be checking out the Venetian for the first time this week. Sorry I haven't been updating the blog, but I really want to report some good WSOP news rather than the WSOP blues.

WSOP hates me

2008-06-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

I should seriously not play any more events or satellites. I'm 0/5.

And my satellites today were great.

Here is Stars

PokerStars Game #18011068415: Tournament #90909090, $615+$35 Hold'em No Limit - Level IX (200/400) - 2008/06/08 - 21:10:04 (ET)
Table '90909090 16' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: RZombie (10150 in chips)
Seat 2: iacog4 (16505 in chips)
Seat 3: INDACO (20228 in chips)
Seat 4: jateekell (27402 in chips)
Seat 5: cosx*(ln5) (19985 in chips)
Seat 6: lotran (14695 in chips)
Seat 7: KBMoney (24372 in chips)
Seat 8: Javy28 (21710 in chips)
Seat 9: mrAndreeew (12482 in chips)
RZombie: posts the ante 50
iacog4: posts the ante 50
INDACO: posts the ante 50
jateekell: posts the ante 50
cosx*(ln5): posts the ante 50
lotran: posts the ante 50
KBMoney: posts the ante 50
Javy28: posts the ante 50
mrAndreeew: posts the ante 50
Javy28: posts small blind 200
mrAndreeew: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [4c 4s]
RZombie: folds
iacog4: raises 650 to 1050
INDACO: folds
jateekell: raises 1750 to 2800
cosx*(ln5): folds
lotran: folds
KBMoney: folds
Javy28: folds
mrAndreeew: folds
iacog4: calls 1750
*** FLOP *** [4d Kd Kc]
iacog4: checks
jateekell: bets 4800
iacog4: raises 8855 to 13655 and is all-in
jateekell: calls 8855
*** TURN *** [4d Kd Kc] [Ah]
*** RIVER *** [4d Kd Kc Ah] [Qh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
iacog4: shows [4c 4s] (a full house, Fours full of Kings)
jateekell: shows [Qd Qs] (a full house, Queens full of Kings)
jateekell collected 33960 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 33960 | Rake 0
Board [4d Kd Kc Ah Qh]
Seat 1: RZombie folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: iacog4 showed [4c 4s] and lost with a full house, Fours full of Kings
Seat 3: INDACO folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: jateekell showed [Qd Qs] and won (33960) with a full house, Queens full of Kings
Seat 5: cosx*(ln5) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: lotran folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: KBMoney (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Javy28 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: mrAndreeew (big blind) folded before Flop

Full Tilt:

Main Event Qualifier (49644708), Table 22 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:42:52 ET - 2008/06/08
Seat 1: CrazyZachary (13,926)
Seat 2: thugmoneymkr (54,980)
Seat 3: califorication- (7,485)
Seat 5: eisenhower1 (13,622)
Seat 6: jaywks (12,062)
Seat 7: kice32 (21,335)
Seat 8: ScoopAndStack (12,223)
Seat 9: Bonzo9876 (28,514)
CrazyZachary antes 75
thugmoneymkr antes 75
califorication- antes 75
eisenhower1 antes 75
jaywks antes 75
kice32 antes 75
ScoopAndStack antes 75
Bonzo9876 antes 75
kice32 posts the small blind of 300
ScoopAndStack posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [As Ks]
Bonzo9876 folds
CrazyZachary folds
thugmoneymkr folds
califorication- folds
eisenhower1 folds
jaywks folds
kice32 raises to 1,800
ScoopAndStack has 15 seconds left to act
ScoopAndStack raises to 12,148, and is all in
kice32 calls 10,348
ScoopAndStack shows [Qc Ad]
kice32 shows [As Ks]
*** FLOP *** [3d Ts Jd]
*** TURN *** [3d Ts Jd] [7c]
*** RIVER *** [3d Ts Jd 7c] [Kc]
ScoopAndStack shows a straight, Ace high
kice32 shows a pair of Kings
ScoopAndStack wins the pot (24,896) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 24,896 | Rake 0
Board: [3d Ts Jd 7c Kc]
Seat 1: CrazyZachary folded before the Flop
Seat 2: thugmoneymkr folded before the Flop
Seat 3: califorication- folded before the Flop
Seat 5: eisenhower1 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: jaywks (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 7: kice32 (small blind) showed [As Ks] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 8: ScoopAndStack (big blind) showed [Qc Ad] and won (24,896) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 9: Bonzo9876 folded before the Flop

Full Tilt Poker Game #6748882185: Sunday Main Event Qualifier (49644708), Table 6 - 500/1000 Ante 125 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:10:26 ET - 2008/06/08
Seat 1: silverstarcap (69,990)
Seat 2: kice32 (12,062)
Seat 3: Kid31 (13,078)
Seat 4: MISSKATIE (31,142)
Seat 5: acewipe3 (29,104)
Seat 6: CrazyZachary (18,663)
Seat 7: Davidsky (12,195)
Seat 9: ElsjeM (14,260)
silverstarcap antes 125
kice32 antes 125
Kid31 antes 125
MISSKATIE antes 125
acewipe3 antes 125
CrazyZachary antes 125
Davidsky antes 125
ElsjeM antes 125
kice32 posts the small blind of 500
Kid31 posts the big blind of 1,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kice32 [Qh Qc]
MISSKATIE folds
acewipe3 folds
CrazyZachary folds
acewipe3: nh
Davidsky raises to 12,070, and is all in
ElsjeM has 15 seconds left to act
ElsjeM folds
silverstarcap folds
kice32 calls 11,437, and is all in
Kid31 folds
Davidsky shows [Kd 8d]
kice32 shows [Qh Qc]
Uncalled bet of 133 returned to Davidsky
*** FLOP *** [8c 7c Jh]
*** TURN *** [8c 7c Jh] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [8c 7c Jh Td] [Kh]
Davidsky shows two pair, Kings and Eights
kice32 shows a pair of Queens
Davidsky wins the pot (25,874) with two pair, Kings and Eights
kice32 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 25,874 | Rake 0
Board: [8c 7c Jh Td Kh]
Seat 1: silverstarcap (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 2: kice32 (small blind) showed [Qh Qc] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 3: Kid31 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: MISSKATIE folded before the Flop
Seat 5: acewipe3 folded before the Flop
Seat 6: CrazyZachary folded before the Flop
Seat 7: Davidsky showed [Kd 8d] and won (25,874) with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 9: ElsjeM folded before the Flop

0/4

2008-06-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

1500 shorthanded no limit went terrible. I went in with the mentality that I needed to win every pot and that was a bad idea.

I played the 2500 Stud Hi/Lo/Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better mixed event and busted in the middle of level 6. I took a 10500 chip stack from the starting chip stack of 5000 into Level 5. My talbe draw kept getting worse all day long. Early on, I didn't recognize anyone but Bryan Devonshire and Shannon Elizabeth. By the time I left, seat 1 was an aggressive player, seat 2 Hoyt Corkins, seat 3 another pretty good player, seat 4 Bryan Devonshire, seat 5 David Sklansky, seat 6 tighter can't take a chip away from him guy seat 8 Nick Schulman. Easy to say that there aren't many slouches in our group. Then I have never been so cold in my entire life. It was scary. I don't think I played a hand of Stud Hi/Lo past 4th street and rarely up to that point. I had three low cards A63 together one time over the course of an hour and 40 minutes. In Omaha, I had AAK3 with spades against Hoyt Corkins AAQ3 after the 4 5 10s Qs and missed my big freeroll of the day. I really think I made one 800 mistake the whole tournament. Other than that, seeing flops for 800 with AAQ2 double suited and having the flop come 5 8 9 all spades (not my suit) 5 8 gets expensive. The WSOP has just gone terribly so far. The structures are all pretty much a joke for the buy in because so many people are playing events. I'm in a disappointed mood right now because nothing has gone right in 4 events. I don't know my next event. It might be No Limit 2500 on Saturday. If not, I probably won't be playing until Tuesday or Wednesday because there are no events I want to play Sunday or Monday.

Win and 0/2

2008-06-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

I won the Pokerstars Nightly 162 last night for a neat 21k. I'm on fire online.

Today in the 2000 NL event at the Rio, I slept through the first 3 levels (not literally). I just didn't really play a single pot and when I did I was in the big blind with 5 10 after the 554 flop where the SB had 54. I only gave away about 1100 chips out of my 4k though. I doubled through after sucking out with A2 against 45 after a 9 4 2 flop with backdoor hearts. The guy really could have had so many hands though when the hand played out of the AK AQ AJ A10 nature that I don't think my call was terrible.

I ended up getting it in for my last 3600 I think with AA vs 99 vs 88 in a crazy hand where there was (450 in antes 100/200 blinds in 600, 600, 600, 3600, 3600) a little over 13k in the pot. I would have been in great shape, but the dealer put an 8 on the flop, and I was history. That's 2 incredibly bad runs at WSOP events. I'm going to play the 1500 shorthanded no limit tomorrow and if I bust, I might just play the 2500 Omaha Hi/Lo/Stud Hi/Lo mix tournament. Hopefully, I just get deep in the 1500 and don't have to make a decision. The WSOP is really exciting right now.

0/1

2008-06-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

I played my first event PL Hold em and was out fairly early.

The first one was tough. I felt pretty comfortable at 3400 chips and was at a very rock tight table with Scott Clements to my left and David Sklansky (author of the first poker book I ever read and the first reason I'm where I am at today). We didn't lose at player at my table until level 3.

The first big hand happened when I had KJ diamonds on the button. An older gentlemen raised to 300 with 50/100 blinds. I called from the button and SB calls. 1000 in the pot and the flop comes K 2 4 one diamond. He bets 800 and I'm thinking wow that's a pretty large portion of my stack. At this point, I'm going to just flat call no matter what and reevaluate on the turn (probably a mistake in retrospect). It just seems like such a big bet and while this guy was probably not in the top 6 players at the table, I doubt he is pulling some funny business. Turn is a 3 of diamonds. Now when he bets his remaining 1000, I have to call. He shows AK and I miss my 12 outs.

I doubled up shortly after with AQ of spades after raising pot 350, getting flat called by Scott Clements and another player out of BB. Flop came all spades. I actually decided to check unless the flop was kind of favorable because I didn't think a good player like Scott would flat call a short stack without a monster. Turns out he bets pot with AA and I double up with the nuts.

I was back up to about 3300 when another key hand came up. UTG limps for 100. I raise to 400 with JJ when another player goes pot behind me. From previous hands, I didn't think this guy as a great player, but still didn't figure his range to be huge here. Maybe 99+ AK AQ. I ended up making to decision to go with it for 1925 and he showed QQ. Then next orbit, I'm on the button with AQ and go pot, same players goes pot behind me with AK. GG me. I ran some big hands in situations that were tough into bigger hands. I left in good spirits though and cashed in 3/5 online tournaments with a 7th place in the stars 22 rebuy where I ran incredibly poorly at the final table.

Moral of the story: Win tomorrow's 2k NL Hold 'em event.

Some thoughts on what's ahead

2008-06-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

I’m on a plane back from Chicago to Las Vegas as I write this, and I can’t help but feel a whirlwind of emotions. While my sad emotions of leaving my girlfriend for another period of time are swarming in my heart, the excitement of the biggest stage for poker and the biggest events of the year for every poker player await me in Las Vegas. I remember blogging a few months back about how it truly was crunch time for me in my poker career. After a truly disheartening, stressful, frustrating start to my professional poker experiment, I made a declaration that I had to start getting it done. Since then I’ve won two major weekend online tournaments for my 2^nd and 3^rd largest wins along with beating out a field of 2800+ players on a Sunday and making my second WPT final table at the biggest buy in final table of my career. While a 6^th place finish was disappointing, it made me hungry. It made me see that I can play with anyone, adapt my strategy as such and that my mental prowess applied just like it has my entire life. Now I’m on the brink of a two month period with a comfortable bankroll that I can play a schedule of events giving me plenty of opportunities to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, the most prestigious prize of all in poker. It’s really a difficult feeling to explain to anyone family or friends unless you are in the same situation. I took a huge risk very early after college that most people in this world would never take. I believed in myself and despite challenges along the way, I have succeeded thus far.

One of the hardest parts about being in my situation is wondering what I’m going to do next, something that is both destructive to my morale and drive to succeed. Instead of thinking how I will succeed, I’ve felt I’ve almost put a burden on loved ones, family and friends for my unconventional path to wealth. I’ve almost always thought about what I do next. Do I go back to school? Won’t it be hard to get a job? What will potential employers think about poker? Who would hire me? How can I prove that I’ve always had what it takes, the work ethic, brain power, and drive to become the cream of the crop? Should I just go teach, so I can play poker at the WSOP in the summer? When am I going to start my business? I’ve had countless unsettling dreams about what my future will hold, and this uncertainty is both exciting and tough to deal with. I remember telling some of my friends that the worst part about making the decision to play poker professionally was having to spend probably 14 days a year of my life explaining to friends, family and people I meet how I am successful, how what I do is legitimate, and how I am still deep in my heart of all hearts trying to be a great person along the way. Living in Las Vegas has been interesting and it’s probably apparent to me by now that it won’t be my lifelong residence, but I do love the idea of being out here for all the big tournaments for those months of the year.

I really feel in a lot of ways like a professional athlete competing every day and trying to always improve and get better. Maybe that is why poker is a spectacle on ESPN because people learn personalities and players develop fans, there is trash talk and excitement around big final tables. You obviously can’t be 400 pounds and grossly unhealthy and succeed in sports like you can in poker, but competition is fierce and the stakes are high.

It’s been a random tangent of emotions, but something that is really honest and from the heart. As far as my schedule for the WSOP, I’ll be sticking to the smaller buy in events early on and expect to play the 1500 and 2000 NL Hold em events. I’m thinking about the PL Hold em 1500 event tomorrow as my first event because I’m just that excited to play some live poker and be at the Rio around all the excitement. I want to play 1 or 2 HORSE events and probably 1 Pot Limit Omaha event. I won’t be playing any Omaha Hi/Lo events because I don’t like playing that game that much or Limit Hold ‘em as I’d rather watch the grass I don’t have grow than play those games. I may play 1 Stud Hi event and 1 Stud Hi/Lo event, but a lot of my schedule will depend on the bankroll I am planning to allot to the Series. On top of that, I know there are some great structured events at Bellagio, Caesar’s and Venetian and getting away from the Rio might be a good idea. I’ll keep the blog updated as I go through here and hope to have exciting news along the way. Wish me luck!

Winning

2008-05-26T00:32:00.000-07:00

I pulled off a Sunday tournament win today and no it wasn't for hundreds of thousands of dollars but for a little over 15k, so I have to be happy with that. I have really stepped up and with some good fortune, concentration, understanding of the game, and skill have put together 3 good months in a row with a seemingly good win in each month. I actually managed a 4 way deal in this one where I ended up getting more money than 1st place after it was all said and done (ok $5 more, but still that's impressive).

Other than that, I had a new article out on Pocket Fives about satellite tournament strategy. Quite frankly, I know it wasn't my best work as it was not my idea to write it. I was requested by one of the staff to write it and obliged. Frankly, they wanted something basic about satellite tournament strategy, so that's what I gave them. I got a lot of negative feedback though probably because it was so basic. It's tough to keep coming up with solid articles every month, but some articles are better for certain people than others.

Thanks to all our veterans and military serving our country. Despite disagreeing with the war on several reasons and frankly being 100% right about it, I'm humbled by people that serve our country and risk their lives day in and day out. Now, my next goal is to get a President that uses you all correctly.

A poker article worth a read

2008-05-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.reason.com/news/show/126022.html

I just read this entire article about the status of "online gambling" in the U.S. The article is fairly academic and a great summary of what has happened in the U.S. It's tough to see how trivial our rights really are when a few members of Congress promoting a Bible Christian Conservative agenda can be. I can't stand seeing how people sit back and let this happen without even a letter to Congress. I've been a member of the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) for a while now and see how hard they have been fighting to get online poker the respect it deserves. Furthermore, there are so many Ohioans that love playing poker, but have to go to Canada or New York or West Virginia to do it legally.

I can't vote for a single Republican until this issue is resolved, but at the same time, few Democrats have done much for the cause.

HORSE, Back in Vegas, PLO

2008-05-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

I've been playing a lot more PLO since I've been in Ohio (Pot Limit Omaha) for those of you that don't know. I've actually noticed a huge disparity as well between my success at 3/6 PLO vs 2/4 PLO. I think this is simply a game of knowing when to put all your money in the middle and knowing when to shut it down. On top of that very simple statement, there are much more complicated bluffing scenarios because for the most part at these limits the play is straightforward. I've had some success and plan on playing a lot more in the cash games. If I do well over the next few weeks, I'm planning on playing at least one PLO event at the WSOP. I said I would never play an event like this again because the game is just too crazy and wild, but after considering my record in PLO events which includes a deep finish despite a nasty 5 outer in the WCOOP on Stars and a deep finish in the FTOPS shorthanded despite a nasty 2 outer, I can't imagine I'm that far behind the average player. On top of that, if you watch WSOP episodes of PLO, you see some outrageously bad plays that I know I would never ever make in a million years.

One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to win the HORSE tournament on Full Tilt. I ended up 5th last night, my second best finish of the year behind a 3rd place finish. I played as a short stack from 30 players to the final table and am quite proud I hung in there as long as I did. I always seem to lose in Hold Em. I need to rethink my strategy in this game because I think my experience playing in 6 max limit hold em ring games is ruining my tournament strategy. Also, I know I don't have a big edge in limit hold em, but still want to battle it out. Furthermore, sometimes it's better to be crazier in the split pot games because there is no definite one winner huge pot that will always happen like in Stud Hi and Hold em. Blind stealing is much less defended in other games. Hold 'em is almost always like that. Last night, I reraised with A5 off against the button raiser. Flop comes Kc3c3 and with my chip stack, it's 4 small bets and some change and we are in. So I have no way to get a lot of information about my opponent's hand. I think he's raising the button with the top 80% of hands from my previous encounters with him and I'm going to bet 100% of the time here. If he raises, he either has a K or club draw or maybe even a pocket pair, but I highly doubt that as I think 4 bets are in order for everything besides maybe 66 and down. He has K 7 off and I fail to improve. Do I bet and fold to a raise? I don't know maybe.

I'm back in Vegas for the next two months for sure aside from a Chicago trip right at the beginning of the WSOP because my girlfriend is more important than any tournament crapshoot. My first event will be the 2,000 event on the Thursday or Friday maybe June 4 or 5th. After that, I'm just going to base my play on how I feel and my overall success. I'll be trying hard to win a main event seat online and plan on doing that for sure.

CNN isn't fair to Hillary

2008-05-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

Every time you see a picture of this lady, she looks crazy and in the weirdest positions. CNN wants Obama to win. I never believed in a media bias until I've seen this campaign and how she is portrayed. I am rooting for Obama obviously and just sent a message to his campaign before I donated money to see what his stance is on the UIGEA and the future of online poker. If I get an affirmative response, I might donate money.

Congratulations CBS

2008-05-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

Dear CBS,

Thanks for producing the best Survivor series I've ever seen. I have been a fan for a long time and have recently gone on straight up Survivor binges where I watch every episode in a day or 2. Never have I seen a season quite like this one. It was always exciting and based on a great concept that fans of the show loved. It's great to watch people that we already know in the game of Survivor compete again. I hope to see some more of these novel concepts in the future. Take for example some of my favorite concepts.

1. A runner's up show. This is self-explanatory and also difficult since some runner's up have been given shots at the game again.

2. A first person voted off show where we take all the people voted off first. Obviously this is a group that is super diverse and would love to completely clash. On top of that, none of them were even remotely below average in their game playing ability to simply avoid being the first person off.

3. I know it's a similar deal to what just occurred, but do a fan vote for the show. Select your contestants much like this season and then give us a shot to vote for people to come back on to the show.

On a side note, stop giving so many rewards. Let's see some people starve.

Surprise Visit to Mentor

2008-05-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in Mentor for everyone who lives here, so let's hang out or something. I'll be here for the 18th and plan on playing a very minimal amount of poker aside from fun cash games at Keith's and hopefully some sort of friend poker club. I also have a seat into the 530 HORSE tournament as part of the FTOPS sometime next week that I'm going to need to play.

So I have to comment on two of the shows I watch.

First off, Survivor is almost unbelievable as my favorite, Erik, just decided to quit and give up immunity. This is something I have never seen done since watching the show. Immunity is not to be given up. If you are this dumb, you don't deserve to win.

Now, LOST is seemingly out of control. Here is the problem with LOST. Because of the writer's strike so much is happening at once now that I think people are getting a little overwhelmed.

Locke's flashback was simply genius and finally gave us some insight into his childhood and interactions with individuals related to the island. It all seems very planned and conspiracy related now. With both Richard and Abbadon meeting Locke at different stages of his life (childhood and in wheelchair), it really opens up the question if somehow this plane crash was planned. Seeing Christian Shepherd and Claire in cahoots in the cabin also supports this claim. Although to me, Claire in the cabin is probably way more than it seems because none of her past would make sense. She was always just afraid and being taken away rather than being some sort of actress in a conspiracy of some sort. Also, the timeshift/moving island/wormhole whatever is starting to become a little too much. That being said, this show is still the best in television, but I don't even know how to explain it in a blog.

Cleveland Cavaliers are now done 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Boston. Tonight's game is a must win. If we lose tonight at home, we are done. I think there is a 2% chance we lose the game tonight. Good teams win game 3 at home and I think we are still a good team. It's tough to get this far in the NBA without being some shade of a good team. I fully expect us to win the next two games at home and bring this thing back to Boston tied 2-2. If we don't, start watching baseball.

Goal Update

2008-05-04T17:33:00.001-07:00

Accountability 101

1. Win 15 multi table tournaments online.

Update, I'm at 4 with two of them being big. I do have 5 wins if I count a 100 HORSE tourney on Absolute with 40 people.
2. Win a 100 Rebuy on Pokerstars.
I've maybe cashed once and have almost quit playing this tournament.

3. 100 Final tables in multi table tournaments.

I'm at 18 which is very disappointing to me. This is not counting about 6 final tables in 100 person or less tourneys in games like HORSE, Stud Hi/Lo, PLO Hi/Lo.

4. Live tournament win.

6th place in the WPT 2500 is my best attempt so far. So close, yet so far.

5. WPT prelim event win

Same as number 4.

6. WSOP event final table

We haven't been there yet, so I can't complete this goal.

7. 10 Live final tables.

I'm at 1.

8. Final table Sunday Million on Pokerstars.

I haven't even come close. I don't think I've even cashed in it this year.

9. Win the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.

3rd place in this, so pretty close.

Overall, I'm not all that happy with my goal progress so far. Some of them are lofty after being at this for a while now.

I JUST HAVE A ROYAL STRAIGHT FLUSH!!!

2008-04-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

I played the main event at Caesar's today and busted in level 6 300/600 75 ante. I ran incredibly hot early with AA getting paid off twice and was up to 27k before I could blink from the 10k starting stack. I then lost a JJ vs AQ for a 12k pot against a good online player I know when someone said AQ and AK were dead 5 4 2 3 J flop. Then I lost a 10 10 vs AA against Phil Gordon in a very tough hand that I may consider writing a blog about just on this hand, but I want to talk to some people first about it. We got it all in after the flop of J 9 3, but it's an interesting situation and one that is about as difficult as it gets in tournament poker.

I was down to 7k but fought my way back up to 15k when thsi hand came up. I had a tight image and raised utg with 8 9 of diamonds to 1700. I get 6 callers. That is not a mistake. I have 6 callers. Flop comes Ad Qd Jd. I bet 4900 of my 13k remaining hoping that someone thinks they have fold equity or something. I probably should have just shoved. Guy behind flat calls, another short stack goes all in for 10k. I go all in for 13k and the flat caller says. I CALL I JUST HAVE A ROYAL STRAIGHT FLUSH!!! He shows Kd10d. The other guy shows 5d4d and I'm out of the tournament around 115th of the 334 players. I can't believe this hand and I'm still in shock.

Main Event at Caesar's tomorrow

2008-04-29T00:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to play a $340 satellite to the main event of the World Series Circuit at Caesar's. To make a long story short, I ended up winning a seat when the top 6 chip stacks gave the 7th place stack $300 each. I brought up the idea of a deal and it worked, so I'm in for $640 + $340 in another satellite. Great value for a tournament of this caliber. The structure is deep and great, so I hope to draw a weaker table and do what I do. If I don't draw a weaker table, it doesn't matter because I'm going to just act as if. (see previous blog if you don't know what this means)

I actually ran awesome in the satellite, but also played great and took advantage of some bubble situations with aggression. I was quickly down to 1300 by the 4th level and shoved with 5 9 of hearts against the BB who called with A10. 5A5 flop 10 on the turn, 8 on river and I doubled up. After that I rushed up to about 10,000 and back down to 4,000 and back up and back down. Finally with 3 tables of 8 left, I pushed for 5200 UTG with 300/600 blinds 75 ante. The button made a tough satellite call with AJ for 60-70% of his stack. I had A10 and spiked a 10 on the turn. After that, it was really no turning back. I made one bad play that I can think of and it was at the final table. With 9 players left, a guy limped for 3000. Now he had limped probably 5 times before this and just folded to any raise. The next guy goes all in for about 21k. I have around 46k and look at 10 10 in the hijack. I think I should have folded, but I decided to call. The other guy who limped now calls. Flop comes J 7 7. Limp caller pushes the rest of his 12-14k in the middle and I call as he shows AK. The other guy shows KK. I win the side pot and a few chips on the hand, but it could have been a disaster. Either way, it probably should have never happened if AK would just raise and KK would reraise. Then it would be an easy fold, but I felt like the guy to my right was starting to pick up on this guy's limp/folds and thus the second shortest guy at the table, he knew he could pick up some chips here. In reality he had KK and I was crushed. It all worked out though and I'll be playing tomorrow.

ACT AS IF

2008-04-28T02:07:00.001-07:00

That motto is a tribute to the mentality I had to have on Sunday and that I need to carry into the rest of the poker. It's from Boiler Room and was given to me as motivation from my friend who thinks my career is his puppet. That's actually a joke.....kind of.

I'm the winner of the Ultimate Bet $200K guaranteed Sunday tournament. A little under 1,000 players played today and I came out on top for my 2nd largest cash ever of $45,000. I think I'm just so tired right now that it hasn't really set in, but I'm thrilled. Sundays are the most frustrating days at times, but playing all the tournaments gives you a shot at some great money. There were so many interesting dynamics at this final table. GBecks, a great online player, got second place and we battled hard heads up for a long time. He just really refused to make a mistake and played so patient. I started with a pretty good size chip lead on him, not sure of the exact numbers. He doubled up when he called with AQ against my K2 and it held. We eventually raced for it all when I had 88 and he shoved over the top of my raise with AK. I won some key races and of course ran well to win a tournament, but I think I made the most of my opportunities at times especially with like 5-3 players left. This blog has to be loopy at this point as that's how I feel after playing from 9:45 today to almost 10pm without a break in there at all. There was always a tournament going of some sort.

I came out in this blog a few weeks ago and said that these next 3 months are going to be absolutely crucial. So far, I've followed that up with an Absolute Poker major tournament win, WPT 2500 final table for 6th and UB Sunday major win.

WSOP Circuit events

2008-04-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Played 550 Omaha Hi/Lo event and busted around 50th of 155. I also played the 1k yesterday and busted fairly early. Nothing has gone right in these events yet for me, but I'm going to still try to satellite into the main event, a 5k buy in. I haven't been writing much on the blog lately partly because there have been a lot of live tournaments going on and partially because there hasn't been anything exciting to write about. I'm going to be taking a poker break at some point in May where i come back to Mentor/Chicago. Let me know if you are around and want to hang out. Go Cavs!

1K at Caesars WSOPC and Cleveland (or is it Zevelanddddd)

2008-04-22T11:57:00.001-07:00

Your Cleveland.....Cavaliers!!!!! Is everyone as excited as I am for the playoffs in Cleveland? Cleveland has risen from the late season dead to show that they are still a team to beat in the East. I guarantee you ladies and gentlemen that Boston does not want to face us in the second round. In fact, they are probably legitimately scared. Why? The Cavaliers are running on all cylinders. They are in the playoff intensity mode and they have the best player in the league playing for them. The chemistry problems that we keep worrying about came together last night in game 2 when the Cavs made a statement game by mauling the Wizards at home. For those of you that have ratted on Mike Brown, you have to give him credit for making moves to put this team in position to win. Finally, we saw why Ben Wallace and Wally were brought into the mix. Ben Wallace fought right back with huge defensive plays early in game 2 to set the tone. When the Wizards started fouling hard, Ben was right there to lay someone out in his paint. Wally finally started nailing shots. When we have shooters out there, Gibson, Wally, and strong inside defense of Wallace and Varajao, we are very tough to beat. We are simply deeper than the Wizards and should beat this team in a max of 5 games.

For the Lebron fans out there, I read a great article about him yesterday that you should all check out. Lebron is hands down my favorite athlete in any sport, so my opinion might be biased.

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ussports/story/0,,2275032,00.html

Poker

Played the 1K WSOP circuit event at Caesar's yesterday. It had an excellent structure with 4k in starting chips, 25/25 starting blinds and hour levels. I was quickly up to 11k after the first two levels giving myself an excellent position early on. I won a big pot with JJ early and made a couple of moves to get my stack. The JJ hand was interesting. An UTG raiser to 150, another loose caller, another caller and I have the button with JJ. I could raise here, but I was convinced I could find a great spot by staying patient and keeping pots small preflop. I flat called. The flop came 10 9 6 two diamonds. All 4 players checked to me and I bet about 600 into the 750 pot. I received two callers. Turn was 3 of clubs. It checked to me again and I fired 1500 into the pot. The other loose caller who I just saw blow up with Q9 off suit preflop calls. River is 3 of spades. He quickly checks and I really thought I could get it all about 2500 of it. So I put it in and he quickly called and tapped the table. That was the extent of the big hands that occurred for the next 2-3 levels. I basically tried to stay active, but was never dealt a big pair or anything. I eventually called a shortstack's 2k all in when I had about 9500 in chips 200/400 blinds with 50 ante. It was an easy call even though I had the blinds, button and cutoff to get through. I won the 88 vs AJ with a flopped set. After that, there weren't many big confrontations, but with blinds rising quickly right before the 300/600 level change with about 10 minutes to go in the level I picked up 88 again UTG and raised to 1200. It folds to the BB who goes all in. At this point, there is 500 (antes)+200(bb)+1200(my raise)+ 5500 of his total. I have to call 4300 more into this 7400 pot. Another tough situation here even though I know lots of people at my table would quickly call here. I have about 11000 before the hand, so this represents about half my stack. I decided to call and looking at pokerstove giving him a range of 66+, AJ+ KQ, I have 45% equity, so having roughly 1.75 to 1 in pot odds, I don't think it's a bad call. What factors in here though is do I lose fold equity in the later rounds. Online you probably do, but in live tournaments fold equity is actually achieved with a lower M or BB count. I ended up losing the race when he showed AK KK7 flop 6 9.

I was kind of crushed because being so patient for so long you just have to hope to win the big race. I was down to a shoving stack and eventually settled on J8 off suit when it folded to me in the cutoff at 300/600 blinds and I had 4500 chips. I pushed was called by 10 10 Bink Jack and I'm still alive. Then I raised with 9 10 of clubs and was called by a looser older guy. Flop came Ac 8c 3h. In playing against this guy, he floated with hands and wasn't afraid to put people to the test. So I just decided to take the play away from him and pushed about 7500 into a 4800 ish pot. He folded and I was healthy again. Same guy called again when I raised in the cutoff with A5 off. Flop came AQ10 rainbow. I fired 3k into the pot and he shoved 13k in the middle. I had about 7k left and was put to the test here. If I have a dominated ace, I'm crushed and out. I still have 7k if I fold which is a little over 10 BB's. I decided to call after really thinking for about 3 minutes. My reasoning here was that QJ, 10J, KQ, Ax are in his range enough here. I know this guy would raise with AK or AQ b/c I saw it several times and any of those pairs over 10's. When really breaking this down, I looked at A10 being the killer hand and only one he had. AJ also and KJ was weird because I would have expected him to slowplay. I called and he showed A6, so we were basically even to chop. I protected some chips here, but made a decent call in my opinion. Then I was moved to another table shortly after losing a small pot to a shortstack with KJ of spades vs 77. At the new table UTG raises to 1800, the button reraises to 7k. I pinch an A, and I pinch another A. AA!!!! FINALLY THEY HAD ARRIVED!!! I'm all in for about 8500 I think. Other guy folds and the other guy has KK. SUPERCOOLER!!!! K54 flop. Good game Kevin. Out in about 46th of 237 players with 27 getting paid in a terrible way to go out. I played well today, but I need a little break to get refocused for the next round. I'm on a bad downswing online since my big tournament win and think I'm just not focused enough. In live tournaments though, I feel like I've been playing very well. Playing well doesn't always mean winning though in this game.