Passing the CA Bar Exam

I have been reading blogs of some of the other people who took the bar exam with me this February. Some passed, some failed. For those who failed, I understand the ego crush since I failed my first time as well. I received a 1369 my first time (you need a 1440 to pass), which from what I have gathered is a pretty bad score. Basically I got 55s on all my essays. So for those that failed - if I can pass it, so can you.

Double wheeeeeeee!!

I passed the CA bar exam!!

I am not sure how long this poker thing will work out, so having the ability to practice law and become relatively quickly employed is a huge relief.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!

wheeeeee

Finally won a tourney again today.

Nothing huge, but it just feels good to win again.

Trying very hard to keep focus

I just have not had any good results for the last month. I have been playing well, reviewing hand histories, and generally not tilting (although I do whine a bit occassionally). But the cards are just not falling my way. Poker people call this variance. I call it insanity provoking.

Tomorrow is another day...

Still waiting for that big score

2 final tables the last two days, but nothing big. Then I ran horribly playing just for like 15 minutes of cash, lost my daily risk of $600 and am now sitting here shaking my head.

The good thing is, last year I would be chasing my losses and losing multiple buyins. So this bankroll management thing has finally sunk in. Now I'm just waiting to be rewarded.

My world of backing is getting bigger

So I just found out that someone else wants to back me for a longterm deal. This will allow me to play the majority of the FTOPS events which I will be looking forward to in May.

April didn't turn out for me as I had hoped results wise, but I am confident May will be better.

I hate losing

So I put in another pretty full week of close to 50 tourneys and although I won one small one, I ended up losing money for the week. No matter how much I realize and understand that losing streaks like this will happen, I still hate to lose and it frustrates me. That's probably the worst part of being a poker player for me.

On other fronts, I am getting back in shape and it feels good. It is hard for me to believe that I am so out of shape when I feel like it was just yesterday that I biked 120 miles from Santa Barbara to L.A. on the spur of the moment; or that I climbed a 13,000 foot volcano. Now, I am still dying after running just 20 minutes - but it is also starting to feel good too. So I'll keep at it.

The weather here is supposed to get super nice this weekend - too bad my wife is on call tomorrow to miss it. I absolutely, positively could not work her hours. Since she is on call tomorrow, this week will be close to 100 hours for her. Which basically means that her day off, Sunday, will just be spent sleeping. It's a stupid system which needs major retinkering for the good of the mental, physical, and spiritual health of all new doctors and their families.

Aciphex

Tonight my tv was bombarded with these Aciphex commercials.

Maybe it's just me, but I would think the makers of this drug would have rethought the name considering it is pronounced "ass effects."

WSOP Dreaming

I started playing poker back in law school about 5 years ago when Chris Moneymaker won the World Series Main Event and poker was becoming huge on T.V. At that point I had no real concept of bankroll management, pot odds, or any of the other intricacies of the game. But I saw some regular guy winning lots of money and I thought in the back of my head "wouldn't it be great if I could do that?"

Because playing in the Series this year just seemed to fall into place, I somewhat forgot about how much of a dream this really was just a few years ago and how crazy it really it is that I am able to play poker as a profession. Here's to hoping even more dreams come true.

Why Being a Poker Player Rocks

My internet was acting funky last night and today + people are coming over tonight but I don't really know when or what I am supposed to do + it is really nice outside today = I just won't play today and can't get in trouble.

wheeeeeeeeeee

Going to the WSOP

wheeeeee

I got staked my full amount, so now I just need to buy a ticket and find a place to stay.

I'm excited to get some bigger buyin events under my belt.

Looking for Backing for the WSOP

Ok so here's my pitch:

I am looking to get staked $11 k in order to play 4 events in this year's WSOP. All of the tournies I am looking at are NL Holdem events.

1) The $5k on June 11th
2) The $3k on June 15th
3 and 4) 2 out of the 3 $1.5k events running on the 17th, 19th, and 21st. I will register for these events depending on how well I do in the $3k event (i.e. if I make the final table of the $3k 3 day event, then I clearly won't register for the one on the 17th).

A schedule for all of these events can be found here.

In 2007, I basically just played on FullTilt and PokerStars. I trust that you can look my stats up yourself at OPR. Combined I played just over 700 tournies and has an ROI of 425%. If you take my 6 figure score out of the equation then I had a combined ROI of 81%.

In 2008, I had to study for the bar exam so I haven't been putting in any volume until recently. I have added UB into the mix this year as well. So far, I have played just over 150 tournies and have a combined ROI of 142%.

If you are interested in a longterm deal covering more than just this series I would be willing to talk about that and would be looking for a 50/50 deal with makeup.

If you are interested in just staking me for this series, I am looking for a 75% staker/25% me deal.

(For those of you who are reading my blog and have no idea what that means, it means that any money I profit will be divvied up by giving 75% to my backer and 25% goes to me).

If interested, the best way to contact me is through e-mail at chardrian@hotmail.com

EDIT - I Will be keeping an update of how much is available here as well.

As of 4/16 I have been staked $4k; $7k to go.

REEDIT - I am now fully backed for the WSOP.

Poker Happenings

So I put in my most volume last week, playing 50 tourneys from M-F. That should be a standard schedule for me, but it was my first time doing it. The results were not great, but I didn't lose a ton either.

Last night, I finally made some $$ by getting 2nd in a $35k guarantee on FullTilt for over $5k.

It's nice to be making money again but I also realized that I will not make enough these next two months to be able to play in the WSOP (World Series of Poker) off of my own bankroll, so I am going to try and get backed. I know there are a lot of players out there who are backed, but I've always thought that I'd rather make 100% of my own winnings and not have to feel bad or pressured if I lose because it is on someone else's dime. But I also feel like this year's WSOP is a great opportunity for me to play some live events, and maybe get a little more exposure. So I am going to put my name out there and see if I get any bites.

We'll see...

Finally into a Routine??

So I finished our fed taxes (yikes!!), there are no trips or vacations or family visits on the horizon, and I think I finally will get to start playing lots of poker.

It always takes me a bit to get back in the swing of things after a long layoff, so yesterday I only played like 5 tourneys and then watched the basketball game.

Today I've already played 5 and plan on playing again tonight, so hopefully things will start heating up at the table for me.

I'm back

Vacation was great. Getting back home is always a double edged sword. It's nice to be back in my own bed, in my own house. It stinks getting everything back in order.

I did manage to get a weird case of vertigo right when I got back from Belize, but I googled it, and have self-diagnosed myself with BPPV - you can read about it here. I've also started home treatment so hopefully I won't be spinning when I don't want to anymore. (Of course my doctor wife loved hearing about my self-help rather than making an appointment with a doctor).

The rest of this week should be spent doing taxes, cleaning the house, and playing poker. On Thursday my sister, 3 of her kids, my dad, stepmom and their two kids all come to stay for the weekend at our lovely 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house. Should be fun.

Oh - I also got a brand new tv today. 37 inches. I even managed to set it up and program one remote to control everything. Fairly successful for my first day back home.

Vacation

My wife started her vacation tonight, which means I start mine tonight as well.

We're going to Belize for 10 days and then to Santa Barbara for a couple of days.

Maybe I'll even post pictures when I get back.

Adventures in the Snow

My wife and I went for a hike yesterday about an hour drive away from our house and were unpreparedly surprised to find out that half of it was through snow. Wet feet and pants legs were worth it. Photos were taken on the wife's camera, but hopefully I'll figure out how to post them.

EDIT - I figured out how to post them, but whenever I post pictures they go to the top instead of the bottom. I'll figure that out later - this is good enough for now.

A Taste of Spring

Although I love Wisconsin, by the time February came around, I was ready to migrate. And when March came, spring fever was in full force. So for that, I am happy to be in Sacramento, where spring has already begun. For my badger friends, who are still head high in snow, here are some photos of things to come...


Trees will bud, and dogs will lounge outdoors in the sun.

Flowers will bloom, maybe strawberries will come?

Playing Poker Again and Still Ruminating over the Damn Bar

Well I started playing again last night. I put in a solid 7-8 hours and felt like I played fine. Hopefully I can get some decent results these next two weeks.

The night before last was the first good night of sleep I had gotten in a week. Prior to the bar I was stressing, while taking the bar I was stressing, and then even the 3 days following the bar I was still stressing because I would realize issues that I missed - and all of that led to bad sleep. The good thing about realizing I missed issues is that it demonstrates how much more I actually knew this time around because I didn't even know enough law last time to realize what issues I had missed. The bad thing is I know I missed issues. My pat answer to everyone who has asked "how did it go" is that I will be very disappointed if I failed, but I won't be surprised if that's the case.

I really don't want to study again for this stupid exam (especially since motivating myself to study is so hard when I know that I would rather play poker than practice law), but I also really want the security of having the privilege to practice law in my back pocket in case this poker thing doesn't work out. I also realize that there isn't anything I can do at this point but sit and wait for the results. But that doesn't stop me from ruminating.

Studying for the Bar made me fat

I think it was all the soda I was drinking. But I am the portliest I have ever been.

I went for a run today and started my stomach crunches. My goal is to lose 10-15 lbs in two weeks for our vacation to Belize. Winning a couple grand in that timeframe would be nice too.