Ruh Roh

I made a bad bluff today in the $2k and I went out with a decent stack right before the dinner break.

I feel like I made mistakes throughout the whole hand - I should have raised pre instead of flatted; I should have given up when he called my raise on the flop; I never should have tried to take the pot down on the turn; I acted way too fast. A lot of it comes from the fact that I don't mind losing as much anymore as long as I lose well and I felt like I lost poorly today, which I don't like. In the end, I am probably being a little hard on myself - I was correct that my opp was weak pre; my play would have worked against any other hand, etc. But in the end, I should have played my hand better, conserved chips, and at least given myself a better shot at getting deeper.

Tomorrow I am playing the $1500 event, and vow to take my time with every decision so that I will not make a mistake.

Back in Vegas

I had a really nice relaxing weekend in Santa Barbara. My wife's family always treat us like royalty when we go down there - meals made for us, dishes done for us, etc. We did some urban hiking to see the fire damage, I played some tennis while Charmian did some shopping, saw The Hangover, and even got to have a nice lunch with my sister and her family and my L.A. family who were on the way up to drop off my niece for soccer camp.

I am playing the $2k event today and plan on just plugging away this week.

Fun Night

So the radmins from FTR, which is the forum where I first started really learning about poker more in depth, arrived yesterday for their yearly weekend of debauchery. Even though I have been on the site for over 4 years now, I had yet to meet them, so it was cool to finally hang out with them.

We basically just chilled out, drank a little but in their suite with a group of ftr guys, went and had some dinner and then played some drunken 1/3 NL cash. I am not a cash game player at all, so all I really wanted to do was not lose everything. I ended up making my cabfare home which just made the night that much better. I also hit the perfect level of buzzedness where I had no problems falling asleep last night but also feel perfectly fine today.

Today I am planning on just hanging out again, hopefully having some dinner with the ftr guys again and then coming back here and go to bed since I leave super early for Santa Barbara tomorrow morning.

Quickest finish

Out very early in the Venetian. AK
I am hoping to hang out with the FTR guys tonight and then just bum around tomorrow, maybe play some online and then just relax this weekend with my wife and her fam in Santa Barbara.

Back to it.

I came in like 190th out of 600ish today. Picked up a nice stack early and then my AA were cracked by JJ to bring me down to like a 12k stack. Blinds at 200/400 I raised to 1100 from the HJ w/TQo and both blinds called. Flop comes Th7h2x and it checks to me. I bet out 2300 and get c/raised all-in by the SB. He had been playing pretty ABC poker, but the way stacks were I felt he was easily making a move with a draw or a mid pair, so the only hands I was really worried about were a set, JJ, or TK/AT. I felt he would have re-raised pre w/QQ+. So we got it all-in and he had JJ and even though the turn gave me 8 more outs with another heart giving me the Q hi flush draw, I bricked the river and that was that.

Tomorrow I play the Venetian and then I'm off until next Monday where I will be playing the next WSOP event.

I is famous!

So the rumors of being able to watch me play at a final table are true. If you have access to ESPN360.com, you can watch me play. Click on Schedule/Replay/and it's the Saturday June 6, 3 pm EST WSOP $2000 nlhe event. You need to forward to about the 1 hr 56 minute mark to watch the coverage of my final table. I am the guy in the Fat Albert t-shirt and the brown UCSB hat.

Day Off

I had a really good day today. Two of my bentrilo buddies picked me up this morning and we volunteered at a homeless shelter in the Vegas ghetto where we helped serve lunch. It just took an hour but it felt good to get out and actually help out a bit. We then headed back to golfer's house, played some RockBand and then headed off to play some golf. Golfer was a onetime golf pro and I have not played golf since highschool, so we were obviously a good match. It was fun just to get out and whack the ball though. Tonight, I went to Target and bought an alarm clock which I think will make it easier for me to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow I am going to go deposit my check, and then head off to the RIO to play the $1500 PL Holdem event.

I am surprising my wife by flying to Santa Barbara and meeting her there this weekend. I told her I wouldn't be able to come because there are too many good events this weekend, so it should be a nice surprise. I think it will give me a nice break from Vegas as well and will let me recharge the batteries and end the month raring to go.

WSOP Event #11 Recap

** Warning ** This post is going to be long and have a lot of poker hands in it. **Warning**

I will try and recap as best as I can, but to be honest after three days of play and little sleep in between a lot of the hands that I played have been merged/forgotten. All of the WSOP this year start with 3x your buy-in in chips. So I started day 1 with 6k in chips and very early on chipped up. I was paid off w/AA, flopped a set of 88 against AK on a K8x flop, and picked up a flush on the river against what I am imagining was either a set or two pair against Court Harrington within the first two hours. So I was quickly up to somewhere around 20k in chips when I had my first table move.

My next table had Michael Craig, a FullTilt pro, seated two to my right. I know his game pretty well since I have played with him quite a bit online. I quickly bled chips away at this table due to bad beats and lost races - my 55 lost to 44 and TT lost to TKs all-in pre against short stacks, so I was pretty quickly down to like 10k in chips with blinds at 200/400 when I finally won a flip against Michael Craig when my JJ held against his AK all-in pre. Bill Gazes, another well known FullTilt pro, was then moved to our table and after basically just maintaining my stack I was able to almost double through him when my 88 won a race against his TJ all-in pre.

My last table move of the day placed me directly to the right of Tom McEvoy who won the Main Event 20ish years ago and is a pro for PokerStars - he also recently won the Tournament of Champions. We never really got involved in many hands. I must say that all of these pros/higher profile players were all extremely approachable and seemed like decent guys - guys who almost anyone would enjoy having a drink with and just shooting the shit. My big hand at the new table was fairly soon after I had been moved to the table when the button who had about an even stack with me raised and I was dealt TJs in the BB. I am guessing blinds were at 400/800 and both of us were probably right around 25k in chips. He raised to like 2500 and I reraised to somewhere around 8k with the thought that I would often take the pot down right there, or I could shove almost any flop if he called as a bluff. Instead, he put me all-in but I was getting right around 2:1 on my money (probably a little better) and since he had me covered he could easily be using his stack to try and bully me so I really thought that my hand had over the 33% equity it needed to justify a call. I called, he had 66, and I won that race which propelled me to my ending stack that night of somewhere around 65k.

Day 2 began with just over 200 players and 171 got paid. I got a very fortunate table draw because I was the chip leader so I was able to bully the table quite a bit, especially as we got nearer and nearer to the money bubble. When there were only 177 players left I was able to force a guy with about 25k in chips to fold QQ preflop when I had AJ just by using my stack as a weapon. After he reraised me, I put him all-in and he wasn't willing to take the risk of busting out with only 6 players. So by the time we hit the money and our table got broken up I was probably up to about 100k in chips.

My next table was very very chip rich, the player immediately to my left is an internet wonderkid named benba who had me outchipped and he used his stack very very aggressively - which meant if I wasn't willing to play a marginal hand against him, it was better just to open-fold. I chipped up a bit against him when he 3 bet me and I 4-bet jammed him with AQ. He then got involved with another very aggressive German guy named Olav directly to my right in a huge pot where Olav got sick of benba's 3 betting and just jammed with QKs only to have benba turn over AA. Unfortunately for benba (and fortunately for me) the flop came 3 diamonds and Olav flopped his flush. Soon thereafter I won a big pot when I hit a set of 9s against another good internet kid who either had a big pair or trip Qs on a 9QxxQ board. I then won a couple of nice medium sized pots and just maintained a decent stack for the next couple of hours. By the time we were playing the last couple of levels we were down to like 36 players and had been playing for over 10 hours. I had made two marginal calls against shorter stacks and run into better hands so my stack was down to about 200k when another good young internet player who had been playing very tight openshoved for 15 BBs. There was quite a bit of drama in the hand because Olav did not hear the all-in declared and no chips were pushed forward so when it folded to him he raised a small amount and was forced to keep those chips in the pot even though he did not know that there was an all-in player in front of him. He folded but was pissed and began arguing vociferously with the floor and basically telling the dealer she was a stupid old cow. Meanwhile, I wake up with AJs and had a really really tough decision. I know that if I can put the all-in on a range of hands like A8s+/any pair/QK/some suited broadways that my AJ is ahead and should call. However, he had been tight, so if his range was more like AT+/88+ then I should fold. I took quite a while and ended up calling. Hand wise it ended up being a bad call as he flipped over AQ but I think I ranged him well. Results wise it was a great call when I binked a J on the turn. That was basically it for that night and we played down to 25 players. At 3 am we bagged our chips and were told to come back the next day at noon. I ended the night with just over 400k with blinds starting the next day at 8k/16k.

We only had about 7 hours to sleep that night (since it took another two hours to drive there and back, shower, and eat) but I was pretty amped up and nervous so I only slept like 4 hours. I finally realized that I would not be able to get back to sleep so I just woke up, and continued what had been my daily routine the past two days - I went for a 20 minute jog, ate a bagel and some fruit, took my shower, and headed off for the final day. I was tired, but I knew that the adrenaline would pull me through, and it did.

There were enough short stacks to start day 3 that players dropped pretty fast. And pretty easly on I should have been one of them. The button opened raised and I woke up with 99 in the BB. I reraised which was about 1/3 of my stack so when he 4 bet me I couldn't fold and was not a happy camper when he turned over QQ. The late suckout karma came through for me though as a 9 was the first wheel card on the flop. That hand propelled me to 800k and gave me enough chips to lose a bad beat against a shortstacks 79 when I had AK and then win a race with AQ versus another short stacks 88. Before we knew it, we were down to 10 players and off to the big lights of a tv final table.

I guess the final table was televised on ESPN360.com and from what some people have told me, I had quite a few people railing me and cheering me on. I have been asked if I was nervous but I really wasn't. The whole thing was sort of surreal. I knew that it was a big deal, but for whatever reason it didn't stress me out at all. I was really focused on just playing good poker and letting the results happen. Somewhat early on at the final table I picked up 88 in the cutoff and the very aggressive kid who had come into the table as the chip leader raised from early position. Blinds were 15/30k and he raised to 80k. I had just under a million chips and decided to take a flop with him in position as I felt I could outplay him postflop. The flop was 2x8cTc and he checked to me. He had bled quite a few chips and I knew he was waiting for a good spot to get some back, so I decided to bet small because I felt it was likely that he would check/raise me. He complied and reraised my 100k ish bet to 275k. I was then left with the decision of whether just to call or shove all-in. A call had the advantage of allowing him to keep spewing if he was bluffing, but if he wasn't bluffing and had the T or an overpair or a flush draw, then I could very well lose value by calling because he would call a shove on the flop with those hands but might fold them if a club, a non-club or overcard came on the turn depending on what he had. Anyhoo, I decided to shove and he folded so I think it is pretty clear he was bluffing and the better result would hav been to call, but that doesn't mean my decision at the time was wrong. I maintained that stack for a while but then was coolered when a short stack woke up with KK when I had TT and that took me down to a stack where really all I could do was wait to reshove on what I thought were light raises or fold. I never got that opportunity and the blinds increased so I was then forced into a push/fold stack with 20 BBs because 4 of the 5 other players at the table had about the same stack as I did and I was not willing to raise/fold at that point. On my 3rd openshove I was finally called with TT when I had QK and I wasn't able to win that last race and out I went in 6th place.

Other than 2 marginal calls (which really weren't that bad) I think I played the tourney pretty mistake free so I am very happy with my result and my play. I had to get very lucky to make the final table (two suckouts late in the tourney) but I also had to withstand quite a few bad beats (AK lost to 79, 55 lost to 44, TT lost to TK) and lost races along the way as well. So I feel the luck factor evened itself out (although I did get lucky when I needed it most), but I also made some really good plays.

The aftermath is just a really nice boost to my bankroll and confidence. It is also a nice boost to my reputation on parttimepoker which is the site I used to get my financial staking. I know from my previous big score that it takes me a couple of days to settle back down, so even though I was exhausted last night I still only got about 6 hours of sleep. So I just was super lazy today and surfed the web, I am watching the Lakers game now, and will get a better night's sleep tonight. Tomorrow I am planning on playing an event at the Venetian because I just don't have it in me to grind 3 more days in the $2500 WSOP event which starts tomorrow.

I would like to give a big thanks to Adil, christaborg, and scgolfer for railing me the whole way yesterday. And although Adil might have enjoyed himself a little too much on Friday night he gets an even bigger shout out for railing me from Friday night all the way to the end. Quite a few of the posters from flopturnriver and parttimepoker also came by to rail me at the final table and I really do appreciate that as well. Lastly I heard I had quite a contingency following my progress online - the reason I even bother with this blog is for you guys so I hope I put on a good showing.

WSOP Final Table!!

Wheeeeeeeeeee!!

I made my first WSOP final table today and ended up in 6th place for just over $92k. I am being staked for this series so I don't get to keep all the $$, but I get a nice chunk of it and am very happy.

Supposedly I made it on internet tv as well. I am just relaxing with some of my poker buddies from ventrilo who railed me at the final table today and being a karaoke master playing rock band.

I will try and do a big update tomorrow detailing the whole experience.

$2k event update

I have made it to day 3 of the $2k event with a little over an average stack. I have 411k with blinds starting at 8/16k tomorrow. It starts at noon tomorrow and it is 3:30 now, so I am going to try and get some zzzs.

Made it to day 2 of the $2k event

I made it to day 2 of the $2k event.

I have just over 65k and the average stack is just over 40k. Blinds are 600/1200 to start tomorrow so I have some wiggle room. I think we are somewhere around 70 from the money - there's like 240 left and 170 get paid.

I played with Court Harrington, Bill Gazes, Michael Craig, and Tom McEvoy today.

I am tired and want to get a good night's sleep for tomorrow so I'll try to recap today when I wake up tomorrow.

A little longer but still no dice

I made it to level 5 yesterday. I made one bad/marginal call w/TKs but played fine other than that and lost a race when I was down to 20 BBs w/AJ < TT.

I am in the 2k event today which means we start with 6k in chips so it should give me some opportunity to play some hands. Hopefully I can keep getting a little deeper in each tourney I play until I finally take one down.

My friend from ventrilo, Adil, has made the money in the 6 max tourney which started yesterday and he has a decent stack heading into today so hopefully he can get through one more day and get a nice Final Table.

Quick first day

I met up with a whole bunch of PTPers this morning before he fun began which is always nice. When I actually got seated I had a sort of a fun table to start off. Doug Lee and Humberto Brenes were both at my table but we really didn't mix it up much (Humberto squeezed me at one point early and I mucked 88).

I got dealt AA very early on and it was my only raise pre that actually took down the blinds. I actually chipped up to a little over 6k at one point just by outplaying (and flopping) my opps postflop.

My bustout hand was AdTd during level 3 which I raised from the HJ and got called by the HJ who was a bigstack and tried to outplay me everyhand postflop and by the button who really didn't mix it up much.

Blinds were 75/150 and my stack was the smallest of the 3 with about 5k. I raised to 450 so the pot was like 1500. Flop came 4d5s8d and I checked, the CO also checked and the tightish button bet 400. The play is so bad in these things that I really didn't know if he had a monster or nothing and it didn't really matter with my hand either so I raised to 1800 which left me with maybe 2500 behind and he pretty instantly put me all-in with a set of 5s and I didn't hit my diamond.

Tomorrow is a 6 max $1500 tourney.

Busting sucks, but it does feel good to be back and see how bad the play is. I got most of my chips from the old guy to my right who was a classic limp/caller. And there was another guy who made a "world series" fold when he minraised me pre when I had raised from the CO w/A6s and the guy who could never fold on my left came along as well. I actually folded the A6s to the minraise because he had so few chips left but the guy to my left didn't. Flop came 9TQ and the minraiser put in over 1/2 his chips and then folded to a shove w/JJ and I just sat there smiling.

I will probably play online tonight and then back at it tomorrow.

Let the run good begin!!

Since my younger brother woke me up everyday when I was in L.A. around 7 a.m. I am back on a getting up early schedule so I got up around 8 today (I normally wake up around 10) and have already got a run in and plan to take a little swim before I head off to play.

I don't feel nervous like I did last year, but I will admit that I am amped to play - I have been having dreams of making a final table. Hopefully I am not getting my hopes up too high.

Since I am an unknown it is very unlikely that any of my hands will be mentioned unless I am up against a well-known pro, but you can try checking at pokernews.com. Otherwise I will try and update here daily.

You can also click on the WSOP RAIL in the upper right hand corner of the blog to check on how I am doing overall.

In Vegas

I made it to Vegas with no real problems. My rental for the month looks nice and is just a 5-10 minute drive from the Rio where the WSOP is held. I have already registered for tomorrow's event and am getting excited to play now. I will be at Table 112 in the Amazon Room tomorrow to start if anyone is looking to do some live railing.

Tonight I am just planning on getting some groceries and hopefully a good night's sleep.

Vegas Time

Well I am off today to L.A. to spend a couple of days with my fam before heading off to Vegas on Monday. Last year, I was raring to go as it was my first WSOP experience. This year I am a mixed bag of emotions. I am definitely excited that I have the opportunity to play over 10 events for the whole month of June and I feel that I am playing very well and am due for a big score, so hopefully I can come home with the bankroll a little fatter.

I am also a little hesitant because being away for a whole month will be emotionally draining and I am starting to stress a little but about my dwindling bankroll especially as unexpected life expenses (Chula's surgery, air conditioner being fixed, etc.) keep popping up. One big score and all that stress is relieved though. So here's hoping for a good WSOP.

I am bringing my wife's laptop and the place I rented has WiFi so I hope to be updating this pretty regularly. Wish me luck.

Almost perfect poker

I got 4th in the $30 rebuy and FT bubbled the Sniper when I lost a race and then took a bad beat with QQ < AQ to go out in 10th. I made one semi-spewy bluff at the Final Table of the rebuy, but if it worked it would have been stellar. I really am playing good - thought I might get rewarded tonight and although a positive night is nothing to gripe about, I still had thoughts of winning both tourneys outright and digging myself out of my monthly hole. Oh well.

Tomorrow I take Chula to get her stitches out, and then I need to finish cleaning up the house. I will probably play one last time on Wednesday before I head out to L.A. on my way to Vegas.

Still shaking my head

Wow the downswing continues. My yearly ROI has plummetted from 86% on April 13th to 24% now over around 300 tourneys. Meh - so much for volume being the answer. The crazy thing is I feel so good about my game but am starting to doubt myself even though I really can't find many mistakes when I review my HHs. I feel like I am starting to press when I get a stack - but then when I back off and tell myself to be patient I never win the races I need. I am going to put a full session in tomorrow and then I might play on like Wednesday next week, but other than that I will not be playing again until Vegas just to take a mental break from the game and to get the house in order before I leave.

I need to race better

Sigh. I got deepish in the quarter million when AK lost to 88 on a K8xA board. I just can't win the big races when I need them. After getting a decent stack after I finally sucked out on someone, my KK ran into AA, my nut flush + A over draw bricked against top pair, and then my AK hand knocked me out. It's got to turn at some point. The agonizing thing is that as I get deep in these mofos I start to think that tonight is the night it will turn around - and I just keep getting my hopes repeatedly dashed. Tonights final table would have gotten me out of the hole for the month and winning would have basically set me up for my goals for the year - when it's snatched away with a hand that you think is likely ahead it just hurts. I'm taking tomorrow off and then I'll be back at it this weekend.

Maybe I talk too much about anklegrabbing

So I decided to allow ads onto this blog because I figured if it works, free money is never a bad thing and if it doesn't work, then who cares.

Supposedly the ads are chosen through some sort of program that "reads" your blog. So the fact that the first ad is now about anal fissure treatment just made me laugh because that's what I feel I need after getting reamed every session.

A sliver of hope

I actually final tabled the Sniper tourney last night and got 4th for a positive day. I know I should be happy with that result, but I am not. I was actaully pretty frustrated. I had a ginormous stack and got involved with the table luckbox/idiot who had the second biggest stack when we were down to 4 players and just could not win a race late. I had Ah7h and my retard opp had 8sTs on a Th9h2x flop and he couldn't fold to my all-in raise with top pair 8 kicker and the board bricked out for me. So that hand decimated me and then I couldn't win a last race to try and get back in it and out I was in 4th. I am fine with how I played, since winning that hand locks up the tourney for me. But 4th doesn't get me out of the hole for this month, and 1st would have, so that of course was what I was thinking of as I went to sleep last night.

More Multiaccounting Drama

One of the top MTTers, Dan "Wretchy" Martin, has been outed for mutliaccounting and banned for a couple of months on both PokerStars and FullTilt. I have to admit that the more these types of stories come out, I don't really feel angry or outraged - I just feel old. I mean, let's face it, the vast majority of online players are young males, and that has always been a pretty prolific target group of weasels. Does it surprise me that young guys, who are playing a largely anonymous game will try and cheat if they can? No. Does it remind me once again that I am an old fart in a young man's game? Yes. I am playing this game for a living because I like making my own hours and I actually enjoy the game when it is not crapping down my throat. But most of these kids who are playing are doing it because it is an easy way to make decent money and with little expenses they can live a "balla" lifestyle. So does it surprise me that these kids will try and take every advantage they can? Absolutely not.

What does surprise me is that once they are caught, the most common reaction is for the cheater to come out and make a post excusing his behavior on some well-known poker forum. The excuses have been "it was my grandma's account," "it was my girlfriend's account," etc. but the one common theme is that the cheater's rarely apologize. Instead they try to excuse their behavior by saying "everyone does it." Again, given that the ones who are doing this are young, immature kids, it shouldn't surprise me that this is their response, but it does. I've done plenty of stupid crap, even cheated a couple of times on tests at school - but if I was ever caught, my reaction to lie or excuse my behavior ended when I was in middle school. By the time I was in college I was man enough to say - oops, I fucked up - give me your punishment.

Anyhoo, poker is still going poorly. Tonight was particularly bad. I was going to give it a break - but I want to get my 200 tourneys in for the month. So I keep grinding, and keep suffering.

Chula's home

She actually seems to be in less pain this time than last time. She is keeping her conehead on so I am just not going to bother taking it off for now.

Poker is continuing to go poorly although I feel I am playing mistake free.

Chula update

She had her re-surgery yesterday and I get to pick her up this afternoon. I just feel so bad for her. If this time is like last time, she is in lots of pain these next few days and she looks pathetic with her shaved ass for a good 6 weeks. They put in a heavier gage suture this time, so hopefully it holds. If it doesn't she is just going to be 3-legged.

Pokerwise I made yet another final two tables yesterday only to get knocked out by a guy who made a retardo bad call of my 20 BB reshove w/9To and got there against my AQ. Obviously I want him to make that call there, but it woulda been nicer if I had actually held.

Starting to pull my hair out

I am playing really really good poker and just can't get the run good going in any way whatsoever. I got deepish in the 75k tonight on Tilt after clawing my way back from ruin early when my 2 pair got counterfeited without ever getting AK, KK, or QQ, the entire tourney and the only time I got AA was early on. So I got deep even without cards, but at some point you need to win a flip or you need a hand to hold up to get a stack. And I just can't do that lately.... ever. And it's eating away at me.

I start to look at the other tables when there are 5 table or less and I can't help but think, well if I can FINALLY get another top 3 score here I will actually be back in the black for the month. If I can FINALLY win one of these nightly big tourneys I will actually be way up. And then it just doesn't happen.

Imagine if you did your job perfectly and as a result your boss took money from you - well that's what is happening to me day after day lately.

The added stress of chula getting resurgerized tomorrow and I am leaving for Vegas now in just a couple of weeks isn't helping either. I am just so strung out right now but there really isn't anything to do except keep playing and hope for the best.

I think reading this thing must be as fun as going to the dentist, so I am not going to post about poker again until I finally break through and take something down. So if the posts on here are few and far between that simply means I am continuing to grab my ankles but don't think you want to keep hearing about it.

pobre chula take 2

chula has been sing all four legs when she walks slowly but not when she goes at any pace. It turns out the suture they put in her knee is either broken or stretched out so they want to do the surgery over again. None of us are really looking forward to that. Not only the cost - another $2k, but just how pathetic she is recovering. The whole vet saying she should be back running and jumping when she recovers is also not that reassuring this time around since it didn't happen the first time.

We have scheduled her surgery for Thursday and we'll just see how we feel on Wednesday I guess.

So close yet so siggggghhhhhhh

Super dejected. I couldn't help but think I might actually get a top 3 score in a Sunday Major. But the run good just couldn't get me there and out in 12th in the Mulligan on FullTilt. I am concentrating on just playing mistake free poker and I think I played that tourney as well as I possibly could. Siiiiggggghhhhh.

You can't help but go through some what if scenario when you get that deep and just miss. But I'll honestly go berserk if I focus on that.

Tomorrow I take Chula to the vet for a progress check on her leg. So if I play it will only be a night session.

Warning - bitch post ahead

I am just so frustrated with poker right now it's hard to describe. I just can't seem to catch a break. Feels like every single time I lose it is because of a bad beat or a cooler. Feels like every single time I make a move versus an aggressive opp he actually wakes up with a hand. Feels like every single time I get AA everyone either folds or I get cracked. Quite simply, it feels like poo.

So I take a deep breath. I check my records and I still have the same bankroll that I did in January. I have made enough that I have made my monthly withdrawals and set aside enough so that I can go to Vegas for the WSOP next month. My ROI although drastically lowered is still ok at just under 40% and just needs one decent score to get back above 50%. Breeeeeaaaaaatttttthhhhhheeeeeee.

Tomorrow is another day. Rinse, cycle, repeat.

Day off

Since yesterday was an off day I decided to make today my day off. Mowed the lawn, gonna clean the house a bit, take a bike ride, grill some burgers, watch Survivor.

I'll be back at it tomorrow.

off day

I actually made quite a few mistakes today. There was definitely quite a bit of anklegrabbing going on again but I also spewed in spots where I just didn't need to spew or called in spots where I felt I was beat but just couldn't fold an overpair.

I am going to go for a bikeride tomorrow and if I get back in time I'll play my aft session if not, I won't.

some light

I got 3rd in the $55 20k on Tilt today. Even it was a little disappointing though since I took a very bad beat 3 handed which cost me at least $1k. It was nice to get another final table though and hopefully this is just the start of a nice little heater.

tough stretch

I am in the midst of a 3 week downswing. And my mind is starting to play tricks on me. I start questioning whether it is bad luck, variance, or whether I am playing poorly. So then I start concentrating on just playing mistake free poker. But then of course, whenever I lose it is due to a bad beat and I start bemoaning my luck. So then I start getting away from the mindset I want to be in and I begin questioning whether it is my play or my luck that is hindering me and the cycle continues.

But when I look at my HHs, I see no glaring holes. I am playing good, solid poker, and just not getting my big hands to hold. And each day that I don't win, it eats at me a little more. I need my run good back. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top. One time! Hold!

I am getting tired of sighing.

Sigh

I took 3 days off and just hung out with my wife on Friday and Saturday. We went and saw the new movie with Russel Crowe where he plays a newspaper guy and rented 7 pounds. Unfortunately it has been rainy here so we didn't do too much active stuff. But it was still nice to just chill out.

So when I started playing today my mind was in a real good spot and I played really really well. But I didn't cash any of the 14 tourneys I entered today. And that's just draining. My last tourney of the day was me bubbling in 47th when 45 got paid. But of the 14 tourneys that I busted I really only made 2 mistakes and both of them were minor. Everything else was just coolers or bad beats.

I'll be back at it tomorrow. And I am due...

No mas

Pretty spectacularly anklegrabbing night. I lost a FT stack in the 75k w/AQ vs JK all-in pre and then got daggered on an AxJx....K board. Lost KK to AA in the QuarterMillion and then lost another FT stack with JJ versus AK vs AT in the $30 rebuy. Definitely frustrating getting so close to big money and then have it snatched from my grasp. I have had more 10th-20th place finishes these last two weeks than I have ever had. So yeah, boo hoo.

I'm taking tomorrow through Sat off. Hopefully the run good will hit me square in the face on Sunday.

200 tourneys

Well for the first time this year I got my 200 tourneys in for a month. But I also am getting drained - especially since I just can't make it to a final table. Every player who has put any time into this game goes through the same thing - those times when you can't win any races, go card dead at the times when you can't do anything except play your cards, get bad beats, and then when you finally do wake up with a decent hand like JJ/QQ you run into KK. And I am going through that right now.

Big picture I am still up for this month and for the year. But big pictures are often different than expectations. I was hoping to make 20k this month and next and just feel little pressure for the World Series. Instead it looks like I will have to grind it out and just hope for the best. My attitude definitely sucks right now so I am going to take tomorrow day off as well as Thurs night through Sat. The one bright light is that I am continuing to play very very well. So it's just a matter of time...

no relief

I played flawlessly today. But sometimes you need some love and I didn't get any. I ft bubbled the $26 KO and that was pretty much it for the day. Every other tourney was simply getting bad beat or losing a race - I didn't even get coolered today. I am 12 tourneys away from hitting my 200 for the month but I am also getting sick of losing. So tomorrow I will probably take off or maybe I'll just play 1 session a day for the next couple of days.

Downswing continues

I got 14th in the $50k yesterday but have not cashed anything else. I did review some HHs and didn't see anything bad so I'll just continue to ride this wave out.

Tomorrow is a big poker day so hopefully things will turn around.

A Disclaimer I Should Have Posted Long Ago

I got a friendly e-mail reminder from a reader of this blog that a common theme of this blog is how poorly I take beats and downswings and how much I let variance affect me.

I could try and defend my many postings regarding my anklegrabbings and my frustrations. But I won't. Because it is true - I am often a whiny little biyatch.

So here's the disclaimer - this blog has had and will continue to have quite a few posts regarding my frustrations with poker. I understand, as a poker player, that all poker players experience variance and that many players (who are the bulk of the readers of this blog) enjoy reading about being frustrated with poker as much as they enjoy hearing about bad beats. So if that's not your cup of tea - this is not the blog for you.

I have tried to make this blog as honest as possible. And the truth of the matter, as an MTT player, is that I will have losing days much more often than I will winning ones. And losing frustrates me. And my frustrations will find their way onto this blog.

Ok with that disclaimer aside I also always have to explain that although I hate the variance and the downswings, I still love what I am doing. If I can continue to keep paying our bills and maintaining our lifestyle by playing poker I will continue to be a very happy guy. I realize how fortunate I am to work when I want to work. I realize that if I had a "real job" I would not be able to simply take today off so that I can relax, cook a nice meal, and watch Survivor with my wife. I realize that I am living out what was just a dream of mine 2-3 years ago by going to the World Series this year and playing almost an entire series (next year I hope to add the main event as well.) But I can realize all of this and still turn into the monopoly throwing kid that unfortunately is still a big part of me when I lose.

FML

I don't like writing bitchy/whinky posts but often that is how I feel at the end of a bad day at the tables. I made a few small mistakes today but mostly just ran like ass. I didn't cash in any of the 13 tourneys I played today. I dropped over $500 in the 50 rebuy losing 4 straight races during the rebuy hour, money bubbled the $75k, quarter million, $55 FO, and $33 rebuy. I feel like any time I have any sort of decent run I am doomed to grab my ankles and I hate it. I hate losing. I hate it.

I know taking a step back I am having and can still have a very profitable month and year. But with the money I have taken out for vegas, plus the monthly withdrawal I will soon have to make, plus this week's downswing and it just adds pressure. Anyhoo - I'll be back at it tomorrow.

Weekend Off

It was really nice here this weekend and Charmian was actually off so we went biking/rollerblading and did a bit of a spring cleanup.

I am back at it today and back to anklegrabbing but I am playing well.

I also have had a couple of investors back out or reduce their shares for the WSOP so I am back to trying to sell it out. I am confident I will, but it is a bit frustrating. At this point I just want to get all the money taken care of and set aside in my savings account so I can just be squared away and ready to leave at the end of next month, stress and hassle free.

WSOP Update

I reduced the bankroll goal to $30k and it just sold out today. So I am starting to get pumped. I feel that my game is at a really good place right now. If this next month a half go decently at all online I will have a healthy bankroll to come home to no matter what which will also take a lot of pressure off.

On the pokerfront I am back to grabbing my ankles, but it is much easier to grab them after the little heater I've been on.

On the hacker update - the guy who tried to hack me continues to visit this blog, but hasn't made any more attempts to get into my online accounts - so whatever.

Nice little heater

I got 4th in a $26 tourney on Tilt last night and I won the $130 Sniper on UB tonight.

It is at these points that I often go into stop playing mode cuz I just want to sit on my new found largess but I need to keep hammering away and let variance do what variance is going to do.

I do feel really good about my game in general tho.

Some Aussie tried to hack me

So after my session ended last night, I checked my e-mail and saw that I got some automated message from FullTilt which was sending me a temporary password.

I of course thought "wtf I didn't request a new or temporary password - what is going on here?" So I sent security a message asking wtf is going on.

Anyhoo, I have changed my passwords and am now using a new secret e-mail and my funds are still intact so I feel better. But when I was checking up on it, I looked at my log-in history on Tilt and found that the following IP address from Australia attempted and failed to login to my account early this morning.

121.209.209.239

So if any of you computer wizards can do something with this and/or have any further advice for me, I'd appreciate it.

**Update**

The same person from Sydney who tried to hack me has also visited this blog today. So obviously he knows that I am on to him. I will let him know that even though FullTilt has supposedly "taken appropriate action" against him, I have taken the extra measures of changing my passwords and my e-mail accounts as well.

Got to release the ankles

I thought it was going to be another anklegrabbing night but I played really well and finally the run good hit for me in the 75k on Fulltilt where I got 2nd place.

I am taking tomorrow and Saturday off and will be back at it on Sunday.

Evening ankle grabbing

I kept getting bad beat/coolered in most of my tourneys but I did get deep in the quarter million on Stars only to get in a big pot against an active player with a stack close to the bubble.

He had been raising close to 20% of hands and raised again from late position when I picked up pocket tens. We both had over 50 BBs. So I 3 bet instead of smooth call and he 4 bet somewhat small. So it finally came down to whether or not I thought I was ahead of his range and I thought he was using his bigger stack enough of the time and might be 4 betting light there since I had already 3-bet him twice previously that I shoved.

He had JJ and called and the board came out a beautiful J44Tx. So I bubbled and felt like crap.

I definitely would have made the money if I had folded there but I don't know how bad my play was. It is really hard to define someone's range until you have played lots and lots of hands against him/her. So often we will run into the high end of that person's range and think we made a mistake when actually we made the correct play and just got unlucky.

Afternoon off

Our shower has been a major pain in the ass - the little screws that attach to the knob to the cold water and to the diverter (to switch it from bath to shower) both stripped so for awhile we were using pliers to turn the cold on and off. Today I finally bit the bullet and went and figured out how to take the knobs off and then went and bought new valves for the cold water and the diverter.

I am like the worst fixer upper person ever. My dad is a major tinkerer and he used to always get me to join him when I was growing up, but that kind of stuff never interested me. I always was more interested in sports and games - anything competitive - and just never really cared about how things worked.

So of course I always end up taking hours where it would take other people minutes. But it is does feel good to fix these things myself rather than pay a plumber to come do it.

Anyhoo, the new knobs are on and I figured out where our water main is which is a good thing as well. The only thing left is to put some silicone on to make sure the faucets actually stick to the tile - but that can be left for later.

On the poker front - I have been playing well and getting reamed. I do tend to feel that the pokergods make you suffer for a decent stretch before they finally say ok enough is enough now lets let chardrian win every flip and suck out a couple times in a tourney to even things out. So I'm just waiting for that to happen again. Tonight is probably the biggest weekday night for me because both stars and UB have tourneys with biger buyins. So I wouldn't mind it if the run good happened in either of those tourneys.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

I played mistake free but ran like ass.

The only tourney I made the money in was the 2nd Chance on Stars where I took two bad beats. In both of these hands I was over a 60% favorite and in both cases I lost. I win both those hands and I have an easy top ten stack and like my chances to at least make the final 2 tables.

I know that my run good will finally come again, but I still expect it to come everytime I play and get frustrated when it doesn't.

One of my buds did get 2nd in the $50k on Tilt for a very nice score so that was nice to watch.

Tomorrow is another day...

WSOP Update

I just booked my lodging for the WSOP for the month of June, so I am definitely going. The bankroll is not totally defined yet but I will have enough to play in pretty much every event leading up to the Main Event that I want to.

So I am getting excited. But I also realize that one week in, it will definitely be a grind and being away from home will start getting old. At least I have a place with a kitchen this time so I will be able to eat my own food and not be forced into eating out for every meal.

On the coaching front, both of my students are doing well but one of them is just on a total heater - he was won 2 tourneys on Stars in the last two days. I am playing a full schedule today so hopefully some of his run good can rub off on me.

FT Time

I got 3rd in the Sniper on UB for a decent little cash and it's always nice to make a final table.

For the second night in a row my "protege" also got to the final two tables of a big entry tourney on stars. The first night he had two horrible beats, and tonight he ran into the top range of easily the most agg player at the table in the 70k. I so wanted a big score for him that it hurt to come up short.

frustrated

I got 12th in the 50k on Tilt when my AA was cracked by 99. I also got semideep in both the quartermillion on stars and the sniper on UB when my AA was cracked again. I think I let the bad beats get to me because I ended up calling off my stack with JKo in the Quartermillion when I was over 20 BBs deep in a situation where I needed 44% equity and probably didnt have it.

It's that last hand that will bother me the most - I don't like getting bad beats, but at least I know I played well; but when I lose in a situation where I didn't need to put my chips at risk and I do anyways - that's when I really get frustrated. I may not have won the tourney if I had played that hand better, but at least I would have given myself a shot.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Back to Work

I got a full session in today after taking yesterday off. I played fine, but no big scores. I also started coaching which I think is going well.

On the chula front - she is fine, the stitches are out and we can gradually start taking her on longer walks.

Bubbleboy

We got back home late last night and Charmian had to work today so I worked as well. I was the final table bubble boy in the 200k on UB. It's always disappointing to get that deep only to come up just a few spots short of a huge score, but I also know that there isn't anything else I can do except just keep playing and waiting for that score to come.

Tomorrow I take Chula to the vet to get her stitches out. She managed to jump up on the bed today without us, but she then tried to jump down and let out a little yelp so hopefully she didn't screw anything up.

I also should start my coaching this week, so it should be a busy week.

Protege update

I went through all of the applications today and couldn't winnow it down to just one, so I actually ended up choosing two students. I am hoping to start working with them next week.

If this goes well I will probably continue to take on more students in the future so we'll just see how it goes.

Thank you to everyone who did apply - I truly was not expecting the decision to be as hard as it was.

Vacation

We are off tomorrow to Santa Barbara for a week and we both are looking forward to it.

I did everything I could to try and get my 200 tourneys in this month but I am not usre it will pan out. I have played 144 tourneys so far, which means it would only take me about 4 more days to get 200 tourneys in but since I won't be playing at all next week I doubt I'll have enough time when we get back to get there.

April and May look promising though so hopefully April will be my first 200 tourney month of the year.

I didn't play today as I finished doing our taxes and cleaned up the house a bit... and watched a lot of NCAA basketball Chula is still 3-legged but she seems to be improving everyday - she no longer seems to be in pain at all.

pretty decent score

I got 3rd I the nightly 100k on Stars for a little over 14k. Which brings me back to positive for the month and boosts my ROI back over 70% for the year. Always a little disappointing not to win, but I really feel like I played about as perfect as you can. That's my second 3rd place in that tourney... one of these days I'll actually take it down.

Chula update

Our dog Chula tore her cranial cruciate ligament and her meniscus and had surgery on Friday. She is still very sore, but seems to be doing better today.

She looks pathetic were her shaved leg/hindquarters and she is still 3 legged, but hopefully she'll be back to normal in a couple of months.

On the poker front. I put in a half session today but am beat so will hang it up for the night. I got like 200th in the warmup and played great and although my downswing continues I am really happy with my play and feel like I am due for a heater. I am hoping to get in 4 real good days of volume this week (M-Thurs) and then we're off to Santa Barbara for a week of vacation and I'm ready to just not think of poker for a week.

I was surprsed at how many applications I have received so far (well over 20) so I will spend some of my vacation picking my protege as well.

Going to enter the coaching pool

So I have decided to finally do it. I am going to take applications from players who are interested in receiving my coaching.

WHO AM I?/WHY WOULD I WANT YOU AS A COACH?

My name is Adrian Dresel-Velasquez and online I go by the name chardrian. I play primarily on FullTilt and PokerStars but also play a bit on UB. I am 33 years old, married, and I am currently a full-time poker pro and I am also a coach/pro at PokerPwnage. Prior to playing poker full-time I was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin.

I started playing professionally in 2007 and I am a proven winner since then. I am a very low volume player but my stats are as follows:
2007 - 703 tourneys/ 425% ROI
2008 - 1167 tourneys/ 80% ROI
combined - 1870 tourneys/ 183% ROI

My biggest cash to date has been in the summer 2007 FTOPs Main Event where I got 3rd for just over $150,000. Even if you take that score out, I still have an 80% ROI over the last two years.

WHAT AM I OFFERING?

I will take on a student for two months starting in April through the end of May. I will start by reviewing some hand histories just to get a feel for your style of play. The bulk of the coaching will be through ventrilo (similar to skype) so you will need a working mic - this will allow me to watch you play and the student will watch me play as well.

WHAT AM I EXPECTING?

Really all I want is a dedicated student who is looking to improve his/her game. Obviously I am going to prefer someone who plays frequently so that we can get as many sessions in as possible over the two months.

WHAT'S My CUT?

Instead of charging an hourly rate, I am going to take a flat 10% of your MTT profits for April and May. If you don't end up profiting - I don't get paid.

HOW TO APPLY?

If you are interested, send me an e-mail at chardrian@hotmail.com and let me know why I should choose you. Your current bankroll, the games you are currently playing, and your online screen names are a good start. I will make my decision by the end of March.

standardments

I got semi-deep in the 1/4 million on Stars and then misplayed AJs 20 BB deep. I could have folded to the cash which wsa worth it and just went nutso without taking my time - impulsive plays are still probably my biggest leak.

Chula's surgery was moved back a day, so I take her back in tomorrow and then she has surgery on Friday and we pick her back up on Sat. So that means I am just playing another 1/2 day tomorrow and on Friday and will take Sat off. I'll get a full day in on Sunday and the rest of next week and then we are off to Santa Barbara next Friday.

baby steps continue

I got 4th in the UB deepstack tourney. Another FT is nice, but I feel like I truly muffed it at the final table going overagg retardo bernardo for no real reason. Frustrating, but nothing to do about it now. Tomorrow I take Chula to the vet for her surgery, so it will be a light playing day.

Baby Steps

I won the $109 PL Omaha/8 tourney that I've been playing (and never cashing in) the last two weeks. It wasn't a huge score - in fact it had an overlay today (only 54 entrants) but it was a win. And for now, that's a nice ego boost. Hopefully I can get a big score at some point these next two weeks...

Just grindin'

Nothing exciting to note. The downswing continues, but I am feeling good about my game. The one good thing is that I am getting my volume in finally. I took yesterday off, but I got in 60 tourneys last week, which is all I really am trying to do. We go on vacation next Friday so I am going to try and get in my 200 tourneys for the month before then. I am not sure it will happen because Chula has her surgery this week so I'll have to take some time off to take her in and pick her up, but I'll give it the old college try.

I haven't had a losing spell over 200 tourneys for the last 2 years, so I am hoping that that streak continues, but it is definitely in jeopardy right now as I am way down over my last 120 tourneys. If I can get a solid top three finish this next week I'll be back in the black. I am definitely due.

asdffdhgfjh!

wow. just wow. the sickness continues. From my last 3 sessions I have had a 15th, 2 19ths, and a 12th. I am just continuously left shaking my head. I am playing pretty incredibly. And although finishing 12th out of close to 2000 entrants is an accomplishment... I don't want to achieve that. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
If this is variance finally kicking me in the balls, I give. I surrender. I wave the fucking white flag. Read my ftr's avatar's eyebrows. Ok vent over, we now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Wanted to give a good update....

but the ankle grabbing continues.

Today was the second time this week that I've had a final table chip stack with like 16 players left and end up not even making the final table. Monday's was questionable since I didn't have to get involved in the hand. But today's was just ugly.


Second nuts to decimate me:

Full Tilt Poker Game #10985144625: $20,000 Guarantee (81665626), Table 17 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:17:06 ET - 2009/03/05
Seat 1: cautat (85,721)
Seat 2: bsilva21 (31,640)
Seat 3: cheats99 (68,256)
Seat 4: Mr Bombaloo (105,316)
Seat 5: PDCKID (61,876)
Seat 7: MrMudd76 (74,259)
Seat 8: chardrian (113,370)
Seat 9: dollarbaby3 (103,763)
cautat antes 400
bsilva21 antes 400
cheats99 antes 400
Mr Bombaloo antes 400
PDCKID antes 400
MrMudd76 antes 400
chardrian antes 400
dollarbaby3 antes 400
chardrian posts the small blind of 1,500
dollarbaby3 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to chardrian [Kd 9s]
cautat calls 3,000
bsilva21 folds
cheats99 folds
Mr Bombaloo folds
PDCKID folds
MrMudd76 has 15 seconds left to act
MrMudd76 calls 3,000
chardrian calls 1,500
dollarbaby3 checks
*** FLOP *** [Qc 7c Ts]
chardrian checks
dollarbaby3 checks
cautat checks
MrMudd76 checks
*** TURN *** [Qc 7c Ts] [Js]
chardrian has 15 seconds left to act
chardrian bets 9,000
dollarbaby3 folds
cautat raises to 21,000
MrMudd76 folds
chardrian has 15 seconds left to act
chardrian raises to 109,970, and is all in
cautat calls 61,321, and is all in
chardrian shows [Kd 9s]
cautat shows [Ks Ac]
Uncalled bet of 27,649 returned to chardrian
*** RIVER *** [Qc 7c Ts Js] [3s]
chardrian shows a straight, King high
cautat shows a straight, Ace high
cautat wins the pot (179,842) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 179,842 | Rake 0
Board: [Qc 7c Ts Js 3s]
Seat 1: cautat showed [Ks Ac] and won (179,842) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 2: bsilva21 folded before the Flop
Seat 3: cheats99 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Mr Bombaloo folded before the Flop
Seat 5: PDCKID folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MrMudd76 (button) folded on the Turn
Seat 8: chardrian (small blind) showed [Kd 9s] and lost with a straight, King high
Seat 9: dollarbaby3 (big blind) folded on the Turn

Followed by an ugly way to lose a race:

Full Tilt Poker Game #10985176822: $20,000 Guarantee (81665626), Table 17 - 1500/3000 Ante 400 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:19:05 ET - 2009/03/05
Seat 1: cautat (176,442)
Seat 2: bsilva21 (30,840)
Seat 3: cheats99 (67,456)
Seat 4: Mr Bombaloo (104,516)
Seat 5: PDCKID (68,776)
Seat 7: MrMudd76 (70,459)
Seat 8: chardrian (27,249)
Seat 9: dollarbaby3 (98,463)
cautat antes 400
bsilva21 antes 400
cheats99 antes 400
Mr Bombaloo antes 400
PDCKID antes 400
MrMudd76 antes 400
chardrian antes 400
dollarbaby3 antes 400
cautat posts the small blind of 1,500
bsilva21 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to chardrian [As Jc]
cheats99 folds
Mr Bombaloo folds
PDCKID folds
MrMudd76 folds
chardrian raises to 26,849, and is all in
dollarbaby3 folds
cautat calls 25,349
bsilva21 folds
chardrian shows [As Jc]
cautat shows [9c 9h]
*** FLOP *** [Jd 3c 7c]
*** TURN *** [Jd 3c 7c] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 3c 7c 9d] [Ad]
chardrian shows two pair, Aces and Jacks
cautat shows three of a kind, Nines
cautat wins the pot (59,898) with three of a kind, Nines
chardrian stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 59,898 | Rake 0
Board: [Jd 3c 7c 9d Ad]
Seat 1: cautat (small blind) showed [9c 9h] and won (59,898) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 2: bsilva21 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: cheats99 folded before the Flop
Seat 4: Mr Bombaloo folded before the Flop
Seat 5: PDCKID folded before the Flop
Seat 7: MrMudd76 folded before the Flop
Seat 8: chardrian showed [As Jc] and lost with two pair, Aces and Jacks
Seat 9: dollarbaby3 (button) folded before the Flop

I keep going into the days very positive. I keep leaving very negative.

Losing is not fun

This blog must be getting pretty boring to read since all I ever do is post about how hard it is to maintain my mental focus when I lose. But there isn't anything else really going on. I need to win more flips - that is all. The omaha tourney continues to frustrate the bejesus out of me. I have played it like 12 times now and I haven't cashed yet. I keep getting deep (like last 2 or 3 tables every time) but I can't for the life of me win the crucial hand deep.

Hopefully tonight is better...

another close but no cigar day

I got 12th out of 2000 in the $55 80k on Stars. I had a commanding chip stack with 2 tables left and got in a big confrontation in a hand where I turned trip Js and my opp happened to have the other J and a better kicker. Soon after that I lost a race and was out. I feel good about how I played but again am just frustrated with the finish. I didn't need to get involved in the hand that decimated me, but I also couldn't fold trips once I did so it just leaves me shaking my head.

Anyoo - tomorrow is another day I guess.

Still downswinging

I got to play a full Sunday and I didn't cash any of the 11 tourneys I played. I tend to press when I am on a downswing and start making overaggressive moves when I need to just relax and let things happen and start making the money. I should have done that in the $163 50k guarantee on Tilt today but other than that I played fine and just lost races/got bad beats/or had coolers.

I am finding myself get into the "I just can't win" mentality while I am playing so I need to get through that. I still haven't even played 200 tourneys this year yet, so this downswing is just a blip on the radar screen.

Charmian works a lot this week, so I'll just continue to get my volume in and things should turn around.

Time for some time off

I am starting to wallow in self-pity which is never a good thing for me or the people around me. When things go well in MTTs you get people to fold better hands than you have, you win races, you get people pushing on you preflop when you have AA. When things go poorly in MTTs, you never win races, you get bad beat over and over, and you get people making hero calls in situations where they really should be folding but it just so happens that this one time their hand actually beats the one hand in your range that you'd make a move with.

Things are going poorly for me.

I played very well again other than one mistake where I should have led a flop when I had like 80% equity in an omaha hi/lo tourney and checked and then let my opp get there. I am still learning that game, so I'll chalk it up as a learning mistake but it still sucked to happen with 14 left when 9 got paid.

So anyhoo I am taking tonight (we're going out for steaks nananana) and tomorrow off. Will try to focus on the big picture rather than dwell on the recent downswing and come back swinging on Sunday.

Ok ok I snapped

I played a nightly session tonight and after a minor bump early, I played extremely good poker. The first beat I took, I laughed off, I mean we all have gotten JJ in pre and lost to 66 and yeah it was the nightly 100k which always sucks, but brush it off, move on.

The second one I took was so bad that I really ended up laughing pretty hysterically. Get it all in on the turn with TT on an ATxx board and lose to AT when an A rivers is pretty funny. And yeah, I already had a fold to cash stack in that tourney and winning that hand would have locked up a pretty deep finish, but come on, it's funny. I mean there aren't that many times when you are a 95% favorite in poker so when you are and actually lose, what else can you do but laugh right?

Third one was at the final table (yeah I even made a final table tonight and still lost money for the session) of the $55 6 max tourney on stars and I get it all-in with AQ versus AT pre flop and even flop a Q on a QKx flop for good measure but still manage to lose when a J turns giving him the straight. Believe it or not, I was still laughing at that point.

But when my JJ got cracked by 2 fricking 8 when I was deepstacked in the sniper tourney on UB with 29 players left and 27 get paid, I lost it. Last straw, couldn't take anymore, flipped, went berserk, and my buddies on vent heard it. Boy did they hear it. The f-bombs were flying, the pity me was at an all-time high, the anger just could no longer be contained. And did it help? Did they care? Did they want to hear that? No, no, and no.

So yeah, I'm getting better about dealing with beats, but I'm still not immune.

Charmian's home today

So I don't know what my poker schedule will be. She has work to do from home, so I might put in a half-day. Good tv night tonight (I'm a big Survivor fan) so I'm thinking I'll take the tonight off.

Poker is continuing to go poorly, but I reviewed my hand histories from yesterday and I feel I played mistake free so as long as I don't let the variance play with my head I should get out of it.

The funny thing with getting better and getting a little (and it really is little) notoriety is that people start really dissecting your play. Someone called me out on 2+2 last week for a spewy play I made in the $50k when my wife got off of work early. I just thought it was sort of funny. Here's the thread.

Blech

The ankle grabbing continues. Nothing else to say.

Back to the grind

Well I am playing a normal schedule again finally. Unfortunately it isn't going that well, but I always get frustrated when I don't win.

I played mistakefree which is really all I can ask for - the cards will come however they end up getting spit out.

Chula's surgery is scheduled but I was surprised it takes so long to get her operated on. Her surgery isn't for another 2 weeks still, so she will be 3 legged for a while yet.

Hopefully tonight will go better than this aft did.

Chula - our 3 legged wonderdog

So I took our dog to the vet today because she has been 3 legged for the last week after doing something when she was sprinting off of her leash. Turns out she has ruptured one of her knee ligaments so it looks like she will be getting surgery sometime this week. We really do treat her as our baby so we both just hope that the surgery is uneventful and successful because although she does pretty well for just using 3 legs she really does look pretty pathetic right now.

Blech

I got deep in the Second chance tourney on Stars, which has a first place prize of 50k, only to have my AA cracked when we were down to the final 4 tables.

I know it's a part of the game, but when I get that close to such a big score it still stings quite a bit.

I think I played basically flawlessly today tho, so hopefully it should be just a matter of time.

On a non-poker related note, our dog injured herself last week so I am taking her to the vet tomorrow. We're thinking she's probably going to need surgery since she isn't putting any weight on her hind leg so hopefully it won't be too traumatic or expensive of an ordeal.

Close...

but no cigar.

I got 7th in the $50 rebuy on stars for a little under $2k. I took a horrendous beat against the chip leader when we got all the money in on the turn, but I can't win em all. Still doesn't mean I don't get frustrated though.

Ok back to playing for reals

I am at the Audi place getting our car its 5,000 mile service so I figured I might as well update since I have the time.

I finally got a full session in yesterday and felt I played well so I feel it's just a matter of getting my hours in and results should follow.

Playing with two monitors on a computer that doesn't crash felt really nice.

It looks like I might catch up with a couple of highschool friends this weekend so I am looking forward to that.

My WSOP plans are also progressing. I have sold out (or reserved) about half of the shares I have put out. So hopefully I can get the other half sold out in the next couple of months and then I will actually be able to play the entire series this year. We'll see...

Other than that, it's just the same old, same old.

Finally feeling truly professional

So the new computer is now set up and today I got the cable for the second monitor and somehow figured out how to set that up as well, so I now truly feel professional. I have two monitors (can fit up to 6 tables without overlap on each), my new tracking software is set-up (I got Hold'em Manager), I managed to get my new printer to work even though it is set-up for windows xp and my new computer came with Vista, and my computer is running fast and isn't crashing on me whenever I play on Fulltilt.

Now all I need to do is get back to playing. This week should finally be back to basically normal so I should get some volume in again.

Back Home

I am home and getting resettled. I went and picked up my new computer from FedEx yesterday (my wife wasn't around the three times they tried to deliver it since she works 100 hours a week) and got it set up so I am ready to play today. Unfortunately the monitor did not come with one of the cables I need, so I will be playing with just one monitor still, but it will come. I still haven't kicked this cold and the cough is just bugging me more than anything at this point.

Anyhoo, I'm back, I should be playing again starting today.

Reuniting and it feels it so good...

So last night I met up with one of my old Peace Corps friends who is living in D.C. and we had a joint poker game with some of her and her boyfriend's friends as well as some of my poker buddies. One of the few downfalls of my profession is the social isolation - I just don't get in contact with that many people on a day to day basis since all I do is play poker from my garage. So it was nice to actually talk with people face to face.

Today we went to the Maryland/Pennsylvania border and joined up with another of my old Peace Corps friends and her boyfriend at a ski resort. I just chilled in the nice 60 degree weather enjoying the sun and reading the paper as they frolicked on the slopes. We then had a nice dinner and good stiff drinks and just enjoyed shooting the shit and reminiscing. The one thing that is always good to remember is that even if you don't keep in super good contact with good people everything still basically falls into place when you meet up again because good people are just good people.

Anyhoo, I had a great time, I wish Charmian could have been with me because I know she would have enjoyed it too, and I hope that people will come by and visit us whenever they are in the in Northern Cal. area.

Some culture

My mom wanted to go see a dance performance at the Kennedy Center and didn't want to go alone so used me as an escort. It was an Alvin Ailey dance performance which I guess is supposed to mean something to anyone who knows anything about dance, which I do not. But we got the added benefit that the Obama's decided to come watch as well and the crowd went into a tizzy when it realized they would be watching with the president. Our seats were basically directly below his - the presidential seats are the front center seats of the balcony - so we didn't get to see his face but we saw his hand whenever he stood up to wave. To be honest I had more fun watching the crowd ogle at him and take pictures with their cellphones than I would have in joining them. Anyhoo, I am not a big dance guy but these dancers were so powerful and the music so good that I would have enjoyed even without the added Obama show.

Tomorrow I am meeting up with peace corps and poker friends and playing a home game which should be fun.

Off to D.C.

I'm just going for like 5 days to visit my mom but it should be fun. It looks like I have some hockey, poker, reuniting, and eating good food on the agenda.

Jonesing to Play

My new computer has not arrived yet and I gave my old one to my younger brother so I am sitting and waiting and continuing not to play. I leave for D.C. on Wednesday to visit my mom and hopefully catch up with some Peace Corps/poker/old Madison friends and will then be back the following Tuesday. So it looks like the lack of volume will continue.

I also added the number of shares I am selling for my WSOP action to 1000 (for $50 each) so that each share is .1% of my action instead of the original 100 shares I had planned on) as it looked like there were some smaller bankrolled players who wanted to invest in me but couldn't. So if $50 is more to your liking then feel free to invest.

WSOP Ad

Ok the ad is up. Hopefully it takes off - it not, I have time to tweak it.

http://forum.parttimepoker.com/showthread.php?t=481205

S.B.

Turns out we can steal internet access if I am out on the porch of my mother-in-law's so I have time for a quick post. I absolutely love this town, the weather is great, I am always welcomed back to this noon basketball game which I started playing in back when I was in college like 15 years ago, and it's just a beautiful environment. We are hoping to move back here at some point in the future, hopefully not more than 5 years from now.

Anyhoo, vacation continues to go well, I am enjoying eating well but also getting out and excercising and I am finally feeling better too.

We should be heading back up to Sac-town on Saturday and I am hoping to get a full day in on Sunday.

Preliminary WSOP Plans

So after thinking about it a bit today, I have preliminarily decided that I am going to try and get $50k worth of backing. This should be more than enough to cover every WSOP that I would want to play. I am going to be selling them as $500 shares so each share will be 1% of my WSOP action. Any money left over will be distributed back to my stakers in the percentage they bought in me (e.g. if someone buys 10 shares or 10% of me and I only spend 30k then that person would receive $2k back which is 10% of the 20k that would be left over).

I don't want to get bogged down with makeup so I am going to be offering a straight up 66.67%/33.33% deal where my backers get 2/3 of any profit I make and I get the other 1/3.

I will be paying for all incidentals (transport/housing/food/etc.) on my own dime.

I am not sure how the RIO does taxes - if they take a percentage out beforehand then any distributions will be made after taxes. If they don't then each staker will get there full share and will be responsible for paying their own taxes.

I will be making an ad on parttimepoker next week with all of my stats and info, so if you're interested keep checking back here and I'll have the link up.

Hopefully I can sell this out.

WSOP Schedule released

So we're back from Colorado, and I feel like I'm back in the Peace Corps because I caught some GI bug that is keeping me attached to the pot at least 3 times an hour. The aromatic sulphur burps are also a plus. I am actually feeling a bit better this afternoon, but if it continues I will probably need to actually go see an M.D.

The weekend in CO was too fast but it was fun. It is always nice to see family who you haven't seen for a while.

In poker news the WSOP schedule was finally released today and I am in the process of figuring out how I am going to (try) and get staked. I am still unsure whether I am going to try and make a real run this year and play the whole series or whether I will go for like a 2 week chunk.

If it's for the whole series I will probably need somewhere between 40-50k, and I'm not sure whether I would get that much or not. I will probably put an ad up on parttimepoker and see how much interest is out there and then go from there.

Tomorrow we head up to Santa Barbara where internet access is not always available (depending on who we are staying with), so I will probably not be updating much this week.

Pobresita

My wife came home last night complaining that she didn't feel well. I couldn't tell if she was just rundown from work (who wouldn't be in her position?) or if she was coming down with something.

When she got up at midnight to pray to the porcelain gods it was obvious it was more than just being rundown. The crazy thing with her work is that she still almost dragged herself in even after getting up at 5:00 a.m. and puking again. I was amazed she actually did call in sick, but I'm glad she did.

Hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug because she has a test to take tomorrow and then we have a long drive to L.A. followed by a flight to Denver and then another drive to Fort Collins. And having to do all of that while you're sick would suck.

Good Inauguration Day

I got 3rd in the nightly 65k on Tilt for a little over $11k. I am a little disappointed by how I played short-handed, so I feel like I left another 4-14k on the table, but obviously I can't be too upset with a 5 figure score.

SF Weekend

My fam from L.A. and my sister and the younger part of her contingency from Dallas plus me and Charmian bombarded our cousin's house in S.F. for a little family reunion over the long weekend. It's always nice to see everyone and just relax. We also met up with some of our college friends who after some wordly voyages have ended back up in S.F. So it was nice to see everyone.

I will try and put in some tourneys this week, but it's always hard for me to play when I know that I am going to be taking an extended break soon. On Friday Charmian starts her vacation and we take off for a weeklong trek which will include stops in L.A., Fort Collins, Colorado, and Santa Barbara.

Good Friday

With that title I'll probably get a lot of people coming to this post around Easter.

Anyhoo, I got 2nd in the $163 50k on Tilt today so I am back in the black for the year.

It also looks like my wife got some co-workers to cover her on Sunday and Monday so we will be off to S.F. tomorrow.

I am clearly not going to get my volume in for this month, since we go on vacation next week, but I should be refreshed and raring to go in Feb.

Hopefully can get back to playing

So my desktop crashed again this afternoon so I was forced to play a small session on my laptop. I then got help from my computer savvy poker friends and figured out how to wipe out my computer and just start over. So hopefully this will hold me until my new computer comes in a couple of weeks.

Blechier Tuesday

I made one mistake today but other than that I just got reamed. I also got disconnected twice when I was playing on my desktop on Fulltilt and both times I had the nuts postflop with an opponent betting into me. Add to it that my wife is getting hosed at work - they are making her work this weekend when she had been scheduled to have the 3 day weekend off - and I went on a little life tilt.

I finally broke down and just bought another computer so hopefully this retarded disconnecting won't happen anymore.

Blech Monday

Another 0 fer day. Played well, ran bad. Nuttin' new.

Sunday Sunday Sunday

Went average. I moneyed 2 of the Sunday majors (the brawl on FullTilt and the Million on Stars) but never got anywhere in either so I lost a little for the day. I am playing well so I'll just keep grinding away.

We are having a little family reunion in San Fran next weekend and then my wife (which means me too) is on vacation for a week the following week so I am planning on playing full days this M-F as well as the following M-F so that I can get my 200 tourneys in for the month.

Day Off

I took today off to watch some football. My wife was actually off this evening so I made us some burgers and we went to go see Milk, which was basically just a biography of Harvey Milk but was a story I really knew very little about so it was good to see. When we came back, Chula (our dog) seemed a little too happy to see us until we saw the empty Cheetos bag on the living room floor. Should be a fun pooper scooper pick up tomorrow.

I will be back at it playing again tomorrow.

Meh

2nd night in a row my AA got cracked by a smaller pair all-in late in a tourney. I continue to play well, so once those big hands start holding up I should start seeing some nice results again. Waiting for the results to happen is always a challenge though.

First positive day of the new year

So yesterday I ended the cashless streak, today I ended the losing money streak. I got 9th in the $50 rebuy on Stars. I played about as perfect as I could and just got extremely unlucky late where I took 2 bad beats and lost 2 races. I am definitely frustrated since 9th was like $1k and 1st was over $11k but at least I made a final table, and at least I am playing well. I am taking the rest of the night off since I am a little tilted (stupid bad beats) and will watch the football game and then I'm at it again tomorrow.

At least I finally got a cash

I ended the cashless streak, but had another losing day. I made maybe one or two overaggressive moves, but feel like my game is coming back into form. One good cash, and I am back in black.

0 for 2009

well I had another 0fer day. So far I have played 27 tourneys this year and haven't cashed yet. Today was more of just running bad than playing bad - I don't think I got it in bad in any spot today so at least I am cutting down on the mistakes. Tomorrow I will hopefully break out and at least cash in something.

Not playing my best

I got my first full day back in today and it went poorly. I didn't play horribly but I did make some mistakes and to keep my ROI at what I need it to be, I just can't make silly mistakes. I am always surprised at how hard it is to stay focused and patient especially after a long stretch of not playing. I find myself getting upset and taking it personally when players raise me. When I am playing well, I am playing just as if I am giving advice on a poker forum. I analyze the best play to make based on my cards, position, and opponent and just focus on making the best plays and letting everything else take care of itself. But no matter how many hands I play and how ingrained it is in my head, I still expect to win every hand that I play, and I still get upset when I don't win. So the plan for tomorrow, is simply to keep taking care of my life first and then getting my poker in with a good mindframe. Once I get back into playing consistent mistake free poker the results should start flowing again.

Back to Playing (Finally)

So it's been like a month since I played last. I dropped the S.B. clan off at the airport this morning, my wife is on call today, so I am back at it. I played well today in my morning/aft session but got no love. I will put in a night session as well, so we'll see. But I should be back to putting in at least some volume this week.