A little more light

I got 3rd in the 90k 6 max tourney on Tilt for $10k.

wheeeeeee - back to positive for the month.

A little light at the end of the tunnel

I finally cashed more than one tourney tonight and I even got 3rd in the small sniper tourney on UB to actually have a positive day.

It was nothing huge, but feels good to stop the bleeding at least.

Barftastic night

After getting down to less than 1 BB I somehow managed to not only make the money but get a decent stack in the 65k guarantee on Tilt. And then my connection went out and players started stealing my blinds. By the time I made it back, I was down to less than 15 BBs and went out soon after in 19th when a good spot to reshove didn't get there.

I also bubbled the deepstack tourney on UB which is always tilting since it takes like 4 hours just to get to the bubble and then to not even make the money just blows.

Anyhoo - I'm still playing good. Just a matter of time before I break out.

Back to it.

So the downswing continues, but I am playing fine. It is this aspect of poker which is really hard for non-poker players to understand. Playing well and losing money plays a real havoc on your mind. Sometimes I start to press and force things other times I go into supernit mode because I don't want to spew. In the end it always comes down to playing well and then just letting things happen. But knowing this never ever makes it any easier for me when I am losing $1k/day.

Away from the tables, I went to S.F. to visit my family this last weekend and had a blast. It's nice to only have to drive 2 hours to S.F. rather than the 6+ to L.A. or Santa Barbara. My sister was in town for a conference so I got to see her as well. My next extended leave from the tables should be in a couple of weeks when my wife goes on vacation. Until then, I hope to actually get some decent volume in and hopefully pop out of this downswing.

Downswinging... Again

I've played close to 40 tourneys this week and have only cashed in one. I actually have made a couple of mistakes, but for the most part I am just running bad. I feel like this always seems to happen after I make a decent score. I'm not sure how much of it is a mental block and how much of it is just standard - you can't always run well.

I know that if I keep playing well it will turn around, but as always it is hard getting through the downswings.

Back at it.... again

So after a basic 2 week hiatus (I've played once since Sep. 20) I played again a bit. I have volleyball tonight so I actually only played 3 tourneys, but it's a start. I should be playing a full schedule during this week, but then I'm going up to S.F. to visit my family this weekend, so the volume is still not going to be huge this month.

We had a good time with my in-laws. The whole premise of the trip was actually a b-day gift to my sister-in-law who is a terrific dancer and really likes to watch the show "So You Think You Can Dance" on Fox. My wife and mother-in-law really like the show too, so we bought everyone tickets for a performance where they had their top ten dancers doing performances from last season. I was expecting it to be us and thousands of 12 yr old girls, but was surprised to see a wide spectrum of people. And the audience really gets into it, so it was more like a rock concert than a standard dance performance. We all had a blast.

Her family is also super active, so we went biking/rollerblading/running/hiking as well and had a nice steak dinner out one of the nights too.

Anyhoo, I should get back into playing/making some videos for pokerpwnage these next couple of weeks, and I feel excited to play again, so hopefully I can get another decent score.

September recap - who needs volume?

I put in basically no volume - just over 100 tourneys for the month. But the two final tables I got in those tourneys were a 1st and a 2nd so I didn't really need to play anymore.

I think I'm going to try and make some guaranteed money today and tomorrow by doing some videos. I also want to watch a lot of baseball this week (I get to root for both the cubs and brewers which should be fun although the cubs are the team I really care about) plus my inlaws are coming up for a long weekend starting Thursday, so I probably won't play at all this week.

I also finally got out and played some volleyball last night - I am sore today, but oit was fun and should be a weekly thing for me now.

Anyhoo - I made about 13k for the month, so all's good. I should get back to actually playing again next week.

Another daytrip another flat tire

Although walking on the bikepath along the American river here in Sacramento is beautiful and close we do like exploring other areas too, so this last weekend we drove about a half hour north (in a town called Weimar) and went on a hike that was supposed to end at a 50 ft waterfall. It was unseasonably hot (like 95 degrees), but I like the heat. My wife freaked out a bit because it was a steep, gravel road down to the start of the hike and we went in our old pickup which never feels too secure anyways. But we made it, and once we started hiking it was beautiful.

The hike goes along the northern portion of the American river, which is always beautiful.



For the last 1/4 mile or so it then veers off into the forest and you end at what is supposed to be a 50 ft waterfall. However, since it is the end of a hot summer, the "falls" had disappeared and we were left with this:



There was still a trickle of water though, which was enough for a memorable Chula vs. frog moment:




On the way back we made a little detour to the river and found a nice swimming spot for a refreshing dip.



Then on the drive home, the karmic gods decided that one blown tire in a week wasn't enough, so we shredded a tire on the pickup as well.



Luckily we were able to get off the freeway and onto a sidestreet safely and we paid $40 to have someone come and put the spare on and then we were back on our way safe and sound. Today I went and got 4 new tires since the ones on the pickup were pretty shot. All in all a fun weekend.

Slowly getting back into it

I played 4 afternoon tourneys today after a week break. Played fine, didn't luck out, that's poker.

The one thing I have realized this week, is that I need to get out of this fricking house more. I seriously know NO ONE in this city.

The after-win lull

I often take a break from playing after a big score. Usually it's because I'm amped from the win, don't sleep well that night and am just too tired to play well the next day. But lately it has also been because I am excited to increase my bankroll and don't want to lose any of it by playing and losing. I know that in order for me to win longterm I need to keep playing, but I also want to delay what I feel is an inevitable downswing from happening. I also realize that it's dumb/weird to think that way, but that's why I haven't played this week.

But after doing nothing the last two days, I am bored, so I'm getting back to it tonight. In the meantime, I fixed our stereo, got our flat tire taken care of, raked/mowed the yard, and made chicken chilequiles - so it's not all bad to take a break either.

Too quick of a visit

My family from L.A. came to visit for the weekend. I feel bad that they basically spent the whole weekend driving. They came up Friday night (about a 6 hr drive) and left this afternoon.

Yesterday we took them to the hike we really like where you end at a set of about 4 waterfalls which you can slide down. I was the only one with enough cojones to brave the cold, but it was still a nice hike and the dogs definitely enjoyed it.

The new car got its first flat yesterday as well so I'll take that in tomorrow to get fixed. My plan this week is to do some stuff around the house (big thing is I want to re-waterproof the patio), and finally go to the open gym and play volleyball.

Quick update part 2

I only played 3 tourneys today since my L.A. fam is coming and I wanted to clean the house. But I managed to luckbox my way to a 2nd place finish in the $40k on Tilt for just under $12k.

So wheeeeee. I'll be back at it on Monday.

Quick update

Poker has been bad results wise this week. I feel I am playing very well, so it's just a matter of time for another nice score. If/when I ever get on a hot streak I feel like my bankroll will finally take off to a point where I can finally feel comfortable that playing fulltime is going to work. My problem is I win and then lose it all back the next couple of weeks, win again, rinse, repeat. I know big picture I have actually increased my bankroll while making monthly withdrawals, but big pictures are hard to look at when you are grabbing your ankles.

Non-poker wise - my L.A. family is coming up for the weekend so I am excited about that. My wife has a "golden weekend" so it will be nice to just spend time away from the computer. I'll try and get a standard day in tomorrow and then take the weekend off.

Poker drama

Although I have no idea what the actual numbers are, it is pretty clear that the vast majority of online poker players are young, male, and computer savvy. The mixture of money to be made and the anonymity of making that money without anyone knowing your "true" identity sets up a situation which these young, money loving kids try to exploit anyway that they can.

In cash games, the easiest way to exploit the system is simply to get a group of players together and 'team up' against the unknowing opponents at the table. In tournaments this is more difficult to do since you are randomly put at tables. However, even in tourneys, players have tried and continue to try to exploit the system by playing for other players and by using multiple accounts so that they can enter the same tourney multiple times.

Recently, pokerstars, has banned the associates of one of the most famous of these young multiple-account players ("JJProdigy"). It is unclear whether they have been banned because JJ was funding them or simply because they were friends with him. What is clear is that the online community will have gossip material for quite some time.

Back at it

I won the $55 $15k guarantee on Tilt for a little over $5k today. Feels good to take one down again.

It looks like my in-laws are now coming up this weekend, so it will be another low volume week. But as long as I can continue to win like this, then I can really take as much time off as I want...

Close but no cigar

I took a shot at the $530 WCOOP event and got semi-deep. Finished 200 somethingth out of like over 7000 entries. The structure was fantanstic as the blinds increase every 1/2 hour rather than every 15 minutes. So you could just wait and let all the super aggressive players spew chips. I actually never really got anything going - I basically stayed at around a 20BB stack the entire tourney. Good to have a winning day again. I am playing so well, that I do feel a big score is right around the corner. Just need to keep getting it in well.

My folks are coming on Tuesday so I might not get in the volume I would like this week.

Birthdays and Anniversaries oh my!

We went out tonight to celebrate my wife's birthday (yesterday) and our 9th anniversary (today). It's hard to believe it's been 9 years. But when I think of everything we've done, it's also hard to believe it's only been 9 years: Peace Corps, law school, medical school, becoming a lawyer, becoming a doctor, becoming a poker player, moving to Guatemala, to Madison, WI, and to Sacramento, CA, buying our first house, first car... hopefully the next 9 will be as good as the last.

On the poker front, I am taking tomorrow off which is probably a good thing since I am getting increasingly frustrated at my latest downswing. I have been making a whole bunch of final 2 or 3 tables but haven't been able to finish anything off.

August in Review

After starting off with a bang I've hit a major wall these last two weeks. I still profited like $1k so although it's not what I'm expecting at least it's not losing.

But I feel good about my game so I feel a big score coming...

Downswinging

I am putting in lots of volume (at least for me) this week. I have probably played like 60 tourneys this week, and although I made one final table, I have only cashed 5 times and am down quite a bit. The frustrating part is that I feel I am playing really really well - I am just not getting rewarded. I know this is part of the game, but it still gets frustrating nonetheless.

Just grindin'

Not much going on here. I am just trying to get in some volume this week, so I've been playing over 10 tourneys a day. So far nothing huge this week, but I am playing well - I just need to run better.