Refused

How great were these guys?

Melon Update

According to researchers, the bitter melon is said to help treat HIV infection, prevent and treat malaria, and stimulate digestion. Well, a few hours have passed since my meal, and I've come to realize that "stimulate digestion" is just a delicate way of saying "nuclear diarrhea". I'm considering taking a fire extinguisher in with me on my next trip to the bathroom.

Bitter Melon

So, I was flipping around the TV the other day, and caught one of my favorite shows, Andrew Zimmern's Bizarre Foods. To my delight, he was featuring Japan in this episode, and was traveling all around the country, sampling all sorts of exotic edibles. He eventually ended up in the southernmost Japanese island of Okinawa, whose inhabitants are known for their healthy lifestyles and long lifespans. In fact, Okinawa has twice as many centenarians per capita as the United States, and many of the people attribute their good health to the "bitter melon" or goya chanpuru. I was really eager to try it, and immediately searched on youtube to find a decent recipe. Anyway, this is what I came up with. Hysterical.



Well, the talking dog really moved me, and even though it was raining torrentially outside, I rushed to the local Asian market and picked up all of the ingredients - bonito flakes, miso, the melon, tofu, etc. I also had an awkward exchange with the butcher while trying to buy some pork shoulder. The recipe calls for 3.5 ounces of pork, but for whatever reason, I was only able to buy the whole shoulder - the butcher wouldn't cut it up for me. He actually laid a few of the shoulders on the counter and let me pick one. I felt like a dick telling him to fuck off and put them back in the display, so I reluctantly picked out what appeared to be the least massive of the lot. It weighed in at just under 6 pounds. Great. Who cares, though - I was just minutes away from everlasting life! I lugged all my crap back to my car in the rain and trucked home, eager to try out my new exotic dish.

When I got home, I lined up all of the ingredients:

Miso? Check.

Bonito Flakes? Check.

Soy Sauce? Check.

Bitter Melon? Check.

Enough pork to feed a fucking village? Check.

Eggs? .........

EGGS????

For whatever reason, I assumed I lived in an average American household that considered eggs to be a staple and had some around at all times. I was wrong. Sigh. I thought about going back out, but the End of Days weather and my grumbling stomach dissuaded me, and I looked up another recipe. I ended up settling on a stir fry consisting of the melon, dried anchovies, and minced garlic. Although my house now smells like a garlic fried fishfuck nightmare, my hunger was satiated, and I added years to my life. Of course, I now have a mountain of pork in my fridge that I have to find some use for.

One Douchebag? Check.

More Grinding

Not a whole lot of news - basically just been grinding sng's as much as possible, and doing pretty well. Im up to being able to comfortably play 9 games at a time, which has really helped me put in some substantial volume. In fact, 9-tabling helped me reach a little goal I set for myself for November.

Pokerstars has a VIP program where players are given certain perks depending on the amount of play they put in every month. I generally don't put in a ton of volume online, and when I do, it's usually to play tournaments, which really don't help out your VIP status much. Anyway, in November I decided I was going to try to make the Gold VIP level on Pokerstars, which I had only made previously once before (like 2 years ago when I was playing a lot of Omaha H/L). Normally, this wouldn't be that tough for me, but because I had waited until the middle of the month to start shooting for this, I had to put in a pretty sick amount of hours. Also, with Thanksgiving getting in the way, I'd lose a couple of days' playing time that would be spent with friends and family.

Anyway, as the end of the month approached, things were looking pretty bleak. In order to meet my goal, I'd have to play about 240 sng's in the last 3 days of the month. That's 80 a day. Each set of 9 takes about an hour, so, 9 hours of 9 tables for 3 days straight. Although it may not sound that tough (hell, I've put in 26 hour live sessions before), let me assure you 9 hours straight of 9 games at a time can make you want to rip your eyes out. Either way, I figured I had to at least try.

That Friday I woke up early , had some breakfast and tea, and began at noon. At 9:20 pm I was done, having played 85 $16 sng's. I ran pretty well, and ended up clearing about $250 for the day, which is probably what kept me motivated to play the following two days. Although I ran like dogshit on Saturday and Sunday, I was able to finish up at 11:30 pm on Sunday, with about a half an hour left in November. Even though it was just a dorky little personal goal, I was really proud that I buckled down and made it happen. It also occurred to me what a great way this is to force yourself to put in long hours. It's pretty unrealistic to set any monetary goals in poker, but this VIP program really motivated me to play a high volume of sng's. And, if you're a winning player, you just have to force yourself to put the time in and make correct decisions, and the money will come.

Long May You Run

Well, I put it off as long as I could, but I finally had to go ahead and buy a new cell phone. My old one lasted almost 6 years, and although it was kind of an eyesore, it was there for me through good times and bad . Sure, it wasn't as sleek as say an Iphone, and didn't have a lot of cool features like a lot of other modern gadgets, but it had character. Anyway, I thought I'd post a picture of us together to remember her by.

Back in the Saddle

I'm back in New Jersey. My stint in Nantucket ended up dragging out a bit longer than I had originally planned, which was frustrating, but overall it was a good trip. I ended up unexpectedly working full time, and wasn't really able to play any poker, but was able to spend some time with my family, meet some solid new friends, and make a few bucks, so it was all good.



Being back home is sorta strange. Granted, it's pretty sweet being able to basically do whatever and not have to pay any rent, but it has a special set of annoyances that come from being a twenty something douche living with his mom. Overall it's cool, though. I've been keeping a pretty set schedule, which is boring, but effective. I usually wake up around 10 or 11, eat, shower, eat some more, do my pathetic little workout routine (more on that later), and start playing Sit N Go's on PokerStars. I've been 6 tabling the $16 turbo's and so far doing well at them. I think I went into a deeper description of SNG's in a previous post, so I won't go into too lengthy a description, but they are widely considered to be a "solved" game, and if a player is disciplined enough, can grind out a steady profit without too much risk.


I've been playing about 30 sng's a day (which is nothing), and managed to play 159 last week for a profit of about $600. I actually ran ultra hot the first few days, and had the $600 by Wednesday, but then variance caught up with me, and a set of testicle-frying bad beats made me essentially break even for the second half of the week. Although I'm pleased with the financial results, I really have to make an effort to up my volume. The best way to do that is to play more tables at a time, which should be coming soon. I'm very comfortable doing 6 at a time, and will probably up it to 8 or 9 in the coming weeks. Some of the hardcore grinders play 16-20, which is just sick, but I'm sure I'll get there eventually.


After playing, I'll usually watch CNBC for a while. While in Nantucket, I became fascinated with finance and economics, and addicted to Jim Cramer's Mad Money. I realize what a controversial figure he is, but love him or hate him, he's helped thousands of average Joe's like me learn about the stock market. I was totally clueless a few months ago, but due to all the free (or cheap) resources out there, I'm now only mostly clueless. I've been toying with the idea of starting an online equities account, but the market is so insanely volatile right now that Im probably gonna hold off for a bit (Although I feel there are some unbelievable long term buys out there). I still have a ton of learning to do, but I definitely feel that investing in stocks are one of the key steps towards building long term wealth. I'm also eager to see what happens in the global economy in the coming months.


That's about it - my nights are usually spent reading or checking out some of the poker forums, and I try to get to sleep by around 2am. It's a pretty boring schedule, but hopefully I can maintain it without losing my mind. I'm supposed to be back in Vegas in early December, so for now, this will do.

Long time, no post

I realize it's been a while since I've posted, but there really hasn't been all that much to talk about. I've been on Nantucket for about a month now, and really haven't played any poker at all. All of my time on island has been spent bartending at Water Street, which has been a lot of fun, but definitely wearing me out a bit. Nothing is really set in stone right now, but I should be on island for another couple of weeks, and will then be heading back to NJ to see some friends and family. I'm thinking that I should be back in Vegas sometime in early October, which I'm really looking forward too, since I've played almost zero poker in the past month or so. Anyway, just wanted to drop in a quick update, and if I'm up to it later, I'll go into more detail about life on the Rock.

Peace

PS - one of these days I'll finish the story of how my WSOP went

Things to do in Denver When You're Horrendous

So I just got settled in at my quaint little room at a Days Inn just outside of Denver, CO. I don't remember if I even mentioned it in previous posts, but I'm going to Nantucket for a month or so to chill with family, but will be back in Vegas sometime in the Fall. I'm driving out (unfortunately alone this time), and just arrived in Denver after a pretty grueling 11 hour caffeine and beef jerky fueled session. Although some of the scenery was incredible, the day was painfully boring overall.
The only moment of any interest happened at an Arby's somewhere in Utah, where I was picking up the first of what would be a long line of lifespan-shortening meals for the day. Let me preface this by saying I've seen my fair share of pathetic people in my day. I've been to West Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas...hell, I grew up in fucking New Jersey, so let's just say I'm no stranger to lower life forms. However, the scene I walked into far surpassed anything I could have imagined in terms of sheer atrociousness. Picture the Cantina scene in the first Star Wars, only the characters involved have half as many teeth. Anyway, as soon as I walk in, I recognize what a crucial lack of judgment I've shown by entering the state of Utah, and realize how slim my chances are of leaving the scene alive or without being violated in some way. However, my desire for something fried and/or covered in a horseradish cream sauce overpowered my fears, and I treaded further into the abyss, keeping my head down to avoid direct eye contact with the undead.
I quietly found a spot in line behind a surprisingly normal looking older fellow, and he gave me a cordial nod. I quickly determined that he would be my most likely ally if the cretins decided to band together and attack, and if all else failed, he would serve as an adequate human shield. I quickly scanned the menu, settled on a delicious looking chicken dish, and patiently awaited my turn to order.
While in line, I took note of some of the more interesting characters in the establishment. The first to catch my eye was a tall, burly specimen who was browsing through the various offerings in the beef jerky aisle - a quick aside - I failed to mention that this Arby's was part of a rest stop fully equipped with snacks, NASCAR paraphenalia, bizarre videos (I hadn't realized just how many films Steven Segal had released), and tobacco products of all kinds. Needless to say, the jerky aisle was massive (I was admiring it myself), so it was understandable that a discerning customer would need a fair amount of time to make the proper selection. What was not understandable, was this particular customer's attire. He was dressed in what I imagine is standard Utah garb - flannel shirt, blue sweat pants, trucker hat, and...socks. No shoes, just socks. I tried to work backwards from this moment and piece together what daily events would lead him to be browsing jerky in his socks in a rest stop on the side of a major highway, but I was interrupted by a quick yelp from the hot dog area...
I'm sure you're all familiar with those little glassed-in contraptions that display hot dogs in convenience stores. The dogs sit on heated metal cylinders and just slowly spin there until their temperature approaches that of the surface of the sun. In front of this particular machine was a customer shaking his hand in pain with a lowly hot dog rolling around at his feet. Evidently, he decided to just reach into the machine and grab his meaty treat...with his bare hand. Most wouldn't consider handling a rest stop hot dog without a radiation suit, but to just go for the gold with your bare hand??? I tip my hat to you, sir. Anyway, as he nudged the sorry little dog toward the trash can with his foot (a fully shoed foot, might i add), my turn to order came up.
I weaved my way through a floor full of discarded Arby's food and unsupervised children, and approached the counter, which was being manned by a cashier who appeared to be disappointingly normal. Well, as normal as any teenage Arby's cashier can possibly look. We had an uneventful exchange and I collected my meal, but just as I was turning to leave, I could see fear in his eyes and he silently mouthed the words "Please...take me with you" Although I had to leave him to fend for himself amongst the savages, I've made a vow to one day go back to Utah and save that poor motherfucker from his atrocious fate...
Oh, but yea the chicken was delicious.

House of Cards

Malaise

Eventually I will update this thing, but I've been hard at work sitting in my house playing guitar hero and eating pop tarts. In the meantime, here's a picture of Yoda:

$1500 H.O.R.S.E. Part One

Event 51 was hands down the one I was looking to most this WSOP. There were 3 H.O.R.S.E. events this year, but this was the only one that I could reasonably afford to play, as the other two had buy ins of $3k and $50K respectively. For all you non-poker nerds, H.O.R.S.E. is an acronym for Hold Em, Omaha eight or better, Razz, Seven card stud, and Stud Eight or better. In this particular tournament, you play eight hands of each game, and then switch to the next, and so on. What is great about these games is that you have to proficient in many different forms of poker, and they tend to be a better gauge of true poker skill, as opposed to NL Hold Em tourneys where you can basically run well for a while and take one down. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, I used to play a ton of mixed games, and really felt like I would have an edge against the field in this tournament.

The night before the event, I decided to play in some single table satellites that the RIO runs throughout the WSOP. Basically, the way they work is that as soon as a table fills up (in the case of HORSE 8 players) a tourney starts, and you play down until there is one player remaining, who wins a seat into the next day's event. In this case, each player bought in for $215, and the winner gets a $1500 seat and $90 cash (the remaining cash is the casino's take). Although these are supposed to be winner-take-all, it is extremely common for players to make a deal, and split up the prize pool when it is down to 2 or 3 players. Anyway, out of the 3 that I played, I chopped one heads up, chopped one 3 ways, and took 4th in the final one, only after a pretty ridiculous Razz hand (although some may contend that all Razz hands are ridiculous). Although I whiffed on the final one, it was probably the most enjoyable poker I've played all series, as Steve Dannenmann and some other characters were at my table, so we had a blast.

Anyway, after playing so well and having made most of my buy in for the event, I was extremely confident. In fact, I really felt that there was no reason to not final table this event - I was just playing that well. When we started playing at about 5pm the next day, my confidence was bolstered even more, as most of the players at my table were pretty clueless. There were a few that were competent at some games at awful at others, a few that were awful at all of the games, and maybe one or two who seemed proficient in all of the games. The first few levels went pretty smoothly, and it wasn't until the Stud round in level 3 or 4 that I ran into trouble...

Close

Went pretty deep in yesterday's event, $1500 H.O.R.S.E. Ended up finishing 34th, and will come back later to post some hands and discuss.

Daylight is Nice

Yesterday was pretty fucking frustrating. I set my alarm and woke up early so I could play in a WSOP Main Event qualifier on Poker Stars. The buy in was $370 and they were guaranteeing 200 $12,500 packages, so I figured it would be a great shot to get into the Main Event cheaply. For whatever reason, I estimated that there would be roughly 3000 players in the field, many of whom were atrocious, and I could pretty easily navigate my way to the top 200 and be merrily on my way to the Big Dance. I'm not sure what retarded logic gave me the number 3000, buy usually if a site guarantees $2.5 Million dollars worth of seats, you can expect players to come out in droves, and come out they did - over 8000 of them. This was kind of a drag, but I still was psyched to play in it, since the structure was great, and they field was gonna be soft.
As I had expected, things went smoothly throughout the tournament - I picked my spots well, and didn't gamble too much or take any unnecessary risks, and was cruising right along until there were about 1000 players left. I was getting pretty short, but still felt I had reraise fold equity, and was just looking for a decent enough hand to repop someone with and chip up. Well, lo and behold, I get dealt two lovely Kings, and a player in early position opens for a standard 3x raise. I am salivating when the action comes to me, and of course ship my stack, praying he has enough of a hand to call. Indeed, he did have enough of a hand - He snap called and showed two big fat Aces, which he then proceeded to shove directly into the crack of my ass. I was totally dumbfounded, and didn't even get a little sweat, as he flopped another ace and sent me to the virtual rail with my tail between my legs.
Now, I generally take beats and coolers better than the average jerkoff. I play a much higher volume than most people, and after getting kicked in the nuts a few times a day, you tend to get numb to it. However, I guess given the context of the situation, and the fact that it hit me totally out of the blue, I was pretty pissed. This was the second time in my last 3 or 4 tourneys that I ran KK into AA in an absolutely crucial spot, and it was getting old. I then proceeded to get near the money in the $20 rebuy just to lose a race and bust. Bubbling two tourneys in a day is so super standard that I really have no reason to be a bitch about it, but for whatever reason, I let it ruin my day. Whatever, that's all for now - Should be playin in a couple of WSOP events this week, so hopefully I run a little bit better and take one of these fuckers down.

Anything Can Be Great

Is it possible that Paul Newman is the coolest man to ever live? I'm watching The Hustler now, after a pretty long session of grinding SNG's. It's an awesome film, and the perfect way to end a pretty chill day. Today was the first that I've taken off from live poker in about 2 weeks - Ive been playing live tourneys every day, and just needed a little breather. Results wise, nothing spectacular has happened - had a few shitty cashes, but nothing great. Played in the $1500 WSOP O8 event, and really didn't get much going and ended up busting with like half of the field left. Overall, I feel like I'm playing really well, and am expecting big things from this month. I pretty much have a set schedule now, where I wake up, head over to the Rio or Binions to play in an event, bust out, drive home muttering and cursing to myself, then come home and grind SNG's til the wee hours. It's certainly not glamorous, but I'm enjoying it.

I've really been focusing on my SNG game, and have finally started putting up pretty consistent results. Lately I've been 6 tabling the $16 turbos on starts, and so far have been running at %17 ROI, which is pretty sick (and in fact too high to expect to maintain). The fields are super soft, and I think this is about as risk free and consistent money as I've made so far in poker. It's pretty formulaic and can be a bit boring at times, but as long as I set little goals for myself, I stay motivated and interested. At some point I'll elaborate on my goals and results, but right now I'm beat. Later.

Let it Begin

It's that time of year again. The World Series of Poker has begun at the Rio. For any serious poker player, your life revolves around the few weeks every summer where you can go nose to nose with the greats and take a shot at poker immortality. Just thinking about it gives me a rush. I don't know of any other pastime where amateurs can step up to the plate against legends so easily, which is part of what makes the experience so amazing - any schmuck can pony up some cash and get a chance to test their skills against a poker great...oh, and win retarded amounts of money of course.

This is my third WSOP, and the first time I'll be able to play in more than one event, which is pretty awesome, but somewhat tricky because I have to set a schedule for myself ahead of time (which I suck at). There happen to be great deep-stacked tourneys at the Venetian, Ceasars, and Binions running concurrently, so I really have to pick and choose my battles. The first event that I'm pretty sure I'll be playing in is the $1500 Omaha Hi/Lo event this coming tuesday, and fortunately, Binions is having a $200 Omaha event tomorrow that I'll be playin in, that should serve as a nice little warm up. I played in the first two NL events at Binions, and enjoyed them a lot - They start you off with a bunch of chips, and play for 30 minute blind levels, which is great considering the buy-ins are so cheap - Anyway I whiffed on the first one, and took 27th (of like 260) in the 2nd one for like $250. Meh. Regardless, the fields in these are super soft, and with the structures being so great, I intend to play as many of them as possible. Its just incredible that there are so many events and games going in Vegas right now - I could seriously play 24 hours a day for the next 6 weeks. OK, I have to try and get to sleep - Sadly, I'm not used to going to bed before 5am, so I have to start training myself to act like a normal human if I'm to function well during the day.

Luckbox

I'm back in Las Vegas, having spent about a week back in NJ for a wedding. The traveling was dogshit, and cost me an arm and a leg, but it was well worth it. It's hard to describe the relationship I have with my best friends (how can any 20 year relationship be summed up in a few lines), but let's just say that they are family to me, and seeing as this was the first of us to be walking down the aisle, it was a huge deal. When Mike first got engaged about 2 years ago, it was a big moment, but the full weight of it didn't really hit me until I saw him in his tux the morning of the wedding. The sight gave me goosebumps. Here was my boy, who I've shared 20 years worth of laughing, crying, fucking up, and more laughing with - about to have one of the biggest days of his life. It was pretty awesome, and I felt honored to be a part of it. The ceremony was beautiful, his bride looked gorgeous, and afterwards we went to some sick country club to drink, dance, and dine on some amazing food - I started my consumption off with a nice foundation of Red Bull (like 5 or 6), and eventually switched to Hennessey and Red Bull right after the cocktail hour. It all gets kinda hazy from there. I was bombed and giggling like a school girl the whole night, and at one point it occurred to me how fucking lucky I am. I seriously have the best friends in the world, and no matter how long I go without seeing them, or what little nuances of our lives change, be it girlfriends, occupations, or residences, it's still always the same with us. It makes any shit you have to go through in life a whole lot easier when you know you have your friends and family behind you.

In poker news, I've just been grinding online since I've been back, and its going well. More importantly, the WSOP starts in a little over a week, which I'm totally pumped for. I've been playing some great tournament poker, and I really feel like I'm on the verge of a big score - if I run half as well in poker as I do in life, then my bracelet is basically all but locked up :o)

Contentment

Had a pretty incredible last few days, and its looking like I'll actually be spending the next few months in Vegas, as opposed to going back east. Im in a position where I should be able to play in a bunch of the WSOP events, and for me to just pass up this kind of opportunity would be pretty silly, so home is here for now. It saddens me a bit that I won't be with all of the amazing people that I spent time with last year, but when I look at the bigger picture and my long term goals, I think its pretty clear that I have to be in Vegas right now. Don't get me wrong, though, I really do love my life here, but it's always hard to think about a long stretch of time away from my family and friends.

As for playing, the last few days have been great, having had winning sessions on 4 out of 5 days. After hearing about how great the game is for months, I finally went down to the Bellagio to sit in the 30/60 Omaha Hi/Lo game. It's supposedly the best O8 game in town, with a ton of loose players and sick action. Also, there is an interesting "kill" in effect that brings the game up to 40/80. Basically, any time a hand gets to the flop, and one player scoops the pot, the following hand goes up to 40/80. So for example, if I raise from the button, the BB calls, and just check/folds to my bet on the flop, the following hand is 40/80. So I'd say at least 70 percent of the time, we were playing 40/80. Pretty sick. As for the game itself, it definitely wasn't the loose shootout that I had heard about, but there were definitely some bad players, many of whom seem to be regulars. Also, WPT champ Paul Darden, and Jean Robert-Bellande (of WSOP and Survivor fame) were in the game, which was kinda fun. Darden played really well, made some pretty sick reads and just didn't make any mistakes. Bellande, on the other hand, played way too many hands, and actually ended up pumping like 800 into the game in like an hour or two. Fortunately, I was the recipient of a few hundo of his :o) Between his donations and the weak play of some of the regulars, I quickly realized that sitting in the game was most certainly +EV, and the jitters I had from playing higher than Im used to, and with famous people, quickly subsided. Once the game got short handed, I decided to call it a night, and ended up a little over $700 winner. Played the following day as well, and made another $200 or so grinding it out against the same regulars. Evidently, I had arrived after the game had settled down a bit - apparently that morning the game was nuts, with betting being capped on every street and multiple $4000 and $5000 pots. Sick.

A friend from Nantucket was in town this weekend, and on Monday I was able to go look at some real estate with him. He's considering buying a place out here, and it was a blast getting a chance to look at some amazing houses that I otherwise would have never seen. Honestly, I've never been really interested in accumulating wealth or materialistic interests. Hell, I went to school for music, and never had any real concern with being "wealthy". Even with poker, I obviously talk quite a bit about money on here, but it is honestly just a way of keeping score - you need x amount of money to pad your bankroll in order to move up to bigger games and play in more tournaments. For me, all I want is to be in a financial position someday where I can travel and play on the pro tour. Although that takes a substantial amount of money, it's really the freedom that I am after, as I am really not that concerned with material things. All that aside, when I laid my eyes on some of these houses, the first thing that crossed my mind was "I want this - make money." I felt a slight pang of guilt over my reaction, and mulled things over afterwards, about wealth and happiness and if it is only natural to want the finer things in life. In all honesty, I don't think there is anything wrong with it, and as long as everything is kept in perspective, you're on the right track. I certainly realize how insanely lucky I am to be able to live the life I live, and I'm usually pretty good about not worrying about the things I don't have, but damn, if you saw that infinity pool, you can bet your ass you'd want one too!

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” - Epicurus

April

This has been a pretty turbulent month for me on many levels - Poker wise, I'm not running well, which has led to some really inconsistent cash game results. I have played in a few more tournaments than usual, and bubbled the final table of one of the Venetian Deep Stack events for like $700. Ended up losing a race in a button vs. blind situation, and had the coin flip gone my way, I would have been in great shape to make the top 3 and some real money (1st paid $16k). Oh well. Also had a few final tables in some small online tourneys last week for like $400 each, which helped ease the pain of cash game torture.

As for real life, Im trying to figure out what I'm doing this summer, and I have to do it fast. I'm really tempted to go back to Nantucket for a few months, since last year was amazing, but I REALLY want to be out here for the WSOP. I'd like to try some of the non-hold 'em events this year, and from what I hear, there are people just setting money on fire in the cash games. A guy I know out here said his buddy was basically living in the 2/5 NL game at the Venetian and averaging 12k a week during the Series. Pretty mind-boggling. Whatever I decide, I have to do it fast in order to give my roommates ample time to find a replacement. Also, I have to be back in NJ in like 2 weeks for a wedding, so if I bail, I'd probably just do so then and drive east instead of flying to NJ, flying back, and then driving out a few weeks later anyway. Ugh.

Thats all for now - The next couple of days will determine what I'll be doing for the next few months, so hopefully a solution will present itself.

Peace

It never ends.

OK, just a quick update - Just played in the Sunday Million for the first time in a few weeks, and felt like I played well, but lost a key race late and that was that. After that, decided to play in the big weekly Omaha Hi Lo tourney on Stars and took 33rd of 170 when 18 got paid, which sucked. I felt like I played great, and was really psyched to be able to play in an O8 tourney with a decent structure, since it will be good practice for the WSOP events this year. Regardless, I bubbled, and am out a quick $450 on tourney buy ins today. So it goes.

As for live poker, the week was pretty much up and down, and ended on a pretty atrocious note on friday when I got murdered in what could possibly have been the best game in the history of poker. My buddy was over at O'Sheas, which is an Irish bar on the strip that also has table games and a few poker tables. He was watching a 1/2 NL game, and although he's a poker novice, he's great at recognizing retardation, and saw that what was taking place was probably a a profitable situation and gave me a call. It was 5am, and had just finished an enjoyable night of drinking, but decided it would be worth checking out. Well my boy was right, as the players were ass wasted and pissing money away. I won't go into details, but after the dust settled, it was 11am and I was down $400. Not exactly what I had in mind.

I try and take something away from every session, and although it was tough making sense of the poker abortion that had just taken place, one thought did bring me some peace of mind on my miserable ride home - Finally someone close to me was able to get a little taste of what my life is like. Many of my friends and family have seen poker on television, and have some sort of grasp of the game, but have little understanding of variance, and don't really understand just what an actual session can be like. This was an opportunity for my best friend to see what a day at "work" can be like, and I'm glad he was able to experience a session. I think. I'll probably get back to playing more live ring games tomorrow, and will hopefully be able to put in some solid hours. That's all for now.

Update

It's been a while since I've updated this, mostly due to complications with my internet connection, but hopefully now I'll be able to update more regularly, and will try and post more hands and poker content. The past few weeks have been super stressful, and the session I mentioned in my last entry was the beginning of what ended up being the worst week I've ever had. Regardless of what game or stakes I played, I ran horribly and got killed all week. I ended up taking a day off just to get my shit together, and after some words of encouragement from my Mom and Dad, was able to put together a nice string of 5 consecutive winning sessions at 1/2 NL to recover. However, the week ended up on a pretty sour note, as the following two hands took place on Sunday night at the Mirage:

I have $340 and am dealt AA in the small blind. UTG +1, who is total dogshit, opens for $7. Just a quick note, on the hand immediately before this, this player got his entire stack in preflop with a hand that couldn't beat AQ high on a K33xx board. Needless to say, he is dogshit and tilting a bit.

Anyway, Dogshit opens for $7, two players call and it comes to me in the SB and I repop to $32. He slams his chips into the pot, giving off that "You can't push me around" air, that a lot of awful players occasionally give off when they tilt. The other two players fold, and I have my aces heads up against a terrible player who's tilting. Perfect.

Flop comes 2 3 5 with two clubs, and I lead out for $60. Dogshit beats me into the pot, and the quick call reeked of a draw, so I had already decided to slam the turn if a non club/non straight card fell. The turn wast the 8 of diamonds, I shove for a little over $200 (there was about that much in the pot as well), and he snap calls. This kind of shocked me, and I now figured he must have had QQ or KK, but after the river blanked off, he showed his lovely 88 for a turned set of eights, and I got stacked. $60 for a two outer? Nice hand, sir.

I immediately reloaded, and the next poker abortion took place on the very next hand. Dogshit, who is now under the gun, opens for $10, and gets 5 callers (yes, this was a very very good game). I'm on the button, look down at K9 of clubs, and decide to take a flop bc I have position, a playable hand, and am getting basically infinite implied odds from the lowlifes at this table if I hit a big hand. BOTH the small blind and big blind call (yes, thats 8 players seeing the flop in a raised pot), and we see a flop with $80 in the pot. The flop comes 7 8 10, with two spades and one club, so I flop and open ended straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. This is a great flop for my hand, but definitely an action flop, so I want to play it somewhat cautiously so I don't get blown off my draw. For whatever reason (did I mention these players were garbage?) the action CHECKS around to me on the button. In many cases, I would fire out here, but I found it hard to believe that no one got a piece of this, so I decided to check behind and take a free shot at my straight. Also, semi-bluffing into 8 assholes just doesn't seem like a very +EV play. So I check, and the lovely 6 of diamonds peels off to make my straight. Gin. NOW, the small blind (a retired gentleman who is a regular at the Mirage and terrible) leads out for $30. This is a pretty odd bet, considering its the most draw heavy board of all time, the straight just got there, there's $80 in the pot, and there are SEVEN PEOPLE left to act after you. Well, our good friend Dogshit calls for some reason, and it gets folded to me. At this point, I had no problem taking down the $140 pot right there, so I raise it $150 to $180, which is pretty much announcing what my hand is, and I'm ok with that. Well, after a second or two of thought, the small blind calls, Dogshit folds, and I figure that the small blind and I are going to chop the pot, since we must both have nines, right? Right??? Well, the river is the lovely 6 of hearts, which pairs the board and the small blind pushes all in. Vomit. Of course, there is no way I'm folding my last $60 into a $450 dollar pot, so I stack off, and he shows his 77, which makes his rivered full house. Now usually, I'm pretty reserved and respectful at the table, but this set me off, and I had a little explosion of sorts. When I eventually asked him what the fuck he thought I had, he answered "Well of course you had the nine!" So he basically called off another $150 knowing he was crushed and hoping to catch a miracle. Well played.

I've never been stacked on two consecutive hands before, and to have it happen on two bad beats was a little much to handle, so I had to take the next day off to cool off. It took some time, but I eventually reminded myself that ridiculous hands like this are why you play, because more often than not these terrible players will succeed in giving there money away.

Anyway, I had a great session at the Venetian last night, and will probably play there again tonight, so I'll be back soon with more updates.

gross.

Had a pretty atrocious session last night. To be fair, I was severely cold decked, but as a result, I began forcing things a bit, and made some pretty terrible decisions. All in all, the session set me back two buy ins at 1/2 NL ($600), and was an expensive little reminder that I have to keep my shit together. It also reinforced the fact that table selection is of paramount importance - I found myself at an all-around solid table last night, with the most aggressive player to my immediate left, and instead of maybe looking for a more profitable situation, I stayed and beat my head against a wall for 11 hours. This is inexcusable. In fact, I think this is much worse than any technical error I may have made throughout the session. There are people literally giving money away at the 1/2 NL tables in Vegas, and for me to not recognize my situation and find a better game is just asinine. Playing poker professionally is all about exploiting small edges for a profit, and it is essential that you assess your edge (or lack thereof) objectively, without letting ego or past results cloud your judgement. It's a mistake that is uncharacteristic for me, and I have to be sure to avoid it in the future.

Aside from last night, things have been going really well. Had solid results last week, which started with a $700 win on monday, and basically continued throughout the week. I was also able to play in a 5/10 HORSE game at Harrahs on monday, which was great. For you non-poker nerds, HORSE is an acronym for Hold 'em, Omaha 8 or better, Razz, Stud, and stud Eight or better. In this particular game, we play 8 hands of each form of poker and rotate throughout the night. I absolutely love rotation games for a few reasons. For starters, switching games every 8 hands keeps things fresh and fun, which is always good when you're putting in long sessions. More importantly, because there are so many games involved, some of which are relatively unpopular, many of the players are not proficient at all of them, so the money can fly around freely. This particular game didn't have any real donkeys in it, but it was still great, and I'll be sure to make it a regular part of my playing schedule. OK, its getting late already, I have to go take back my money.

Peace.

Life is Good.

I've been in Vegas for almost a week, and so far, things have been great. My roommate and I get along really well, the house is gorgeous, and the dog is cool as hell. The area I live in is really nice, with everything I need within a few minutes drive, and the Strip being only about 15 minutes away. As far as playing, I'm still feeling out what games are good, but honestly, from what I've seen, all of the lower limit games have been incredible. I played the 10/20 O8 at the Wynn, and although I ended up stuck about 400, I was fine with it, because the game was amazing, and I know that I'll beat it badly in the long run. Yesterday, I played in the 5/10 O8 at the Mirage and crushed it. The players were all loose/passive, and by playing a solid TAG game and running well, I beat the game for about 500 in like 7 hours. Also, everyone on the Mirage staff was extremely nice, the dealers were good, and the room was comfortable - I definitely think I'll be spending a lot of time there.

As far as the cross country drive, I'll have to tackle that in a later entry to do it justice, but basically, it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. We saw so much in just 7 days, that I feel like I'm still processing it all. The journey, and my experience with Mike had a profound effect on me, and I'm now committed to seeing as much of the world as possible. I honestly feel like I'm one of the luckiest people on earth, and to not make the most of my situation and see the world while I can would be pretty shameful. OK, I'm off to play some cards - I'll report back soon with details from the trip.

Battles

Could they be any sicker?

My life is lame.

Not a whole lot going on lately - Been basically just grinding 50nl and still doing pretty well, although today I played like dogshit and got roughed up for 3 buy ins in about 1k hands. I actually wanted to play a lot more tonight, but since I could feel myself starting to tilt, I figured I'd just call it a day before things got out of hand. Anyway, not much else going on really, basically just counting off the days til I leave, as I'm pretty sick of bein back in NJ - Oh, pretty sure I've found a place to stay, which Im fucking psyched for...got in touch with a girl from craigslist, and her place sounds perfect. Its in a great area, close to the Strip, and definitely within my price range. Also, the girl seems cool as shit, so all in all I think I've made the right choice - hopefully things work out. Aside from that, not much goin on - might go to AC tomorrow if the weather is ok, and then have a full weekend of drunken nonsense planned with my friends. Hopefully something ridiculous happens to make up for the rest of my lame stint in NJ.


zzzzz

Mike's Work

Here are a few samples of my friend Mike's work - Check out his website to see more, or contact him:


www.lastchanceillustration.com






Note the corporate logos on the deformed babies' chests. Amazing.

Visual Aid

I feel the above image accurately captures the results of my foray into Sit N Goes.

Enough!

Fuck SNG's. I played them pretty solidly for about 3 days, and made like 14 bucks. Obviously, there is a learning curve that I must overcome, as there is definitely a specific correct way to play them, but frankly it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to try and do it right now. I'm moving across the continent in 3 weeks, and to dick around and try to experiment with something new is asinine. I should just grind away at the ring games and mtts, where I know I'm profitable. Yesterday, I decided to go back to boring old $50 nl, played for like 3 hours and made about 2 buy ins pretty easily, so that's probably where I'll be devoting most of my time for the next month or so - gotta just grind away and save some cash.

As far as the journey west, I'm pretty sure I have an apartment lined up, but more importantly, I have a travel partner! I sent out a bulletin on MySpace looking for someone to make the drive with me, and the one serious response I got was from one of my best friends from high school, Mike. He and I hadn't really kept in touch that well, and I was a bit nervous at the thought of spending a week on the road with someone I hadn't spoken to in years, but once we spoke on the phone, it was just like old times. In fact, I'm actually even more excited to go now than before, since he has made the trip before, and knows of some great sights to see along the way. Also, Mike is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting people I've ever met. Foremost, he's an artist, and a phenomenal one at that. I'm not sure as I'd be able to describe his work properly, but let's just say it's H.P. Lovecraft meets Clive Barker meets George Romero. Try to imagine that sort of imagery seasoned with anti-establishment politics and smart social commentary. Fucking amazing. He does a ton of artwork for punk and metal bands, and has actually made quite a name for himself internationally, and makes a living off of his work - I'll try to post an example or two in my next entry. He is also one of the most experienced travelers I know, and at just 28 years old has spent a ton of time in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa and has already amassed a lifetimes worth or stories and experience. Oh, and did I mention he is Vegan and Straight-Edge? This means he does not ingest meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs of any kind. All things that I've consumed while writing this entry. I jest, of course, but his principled lifestyle, coupled with my laid back lunacy should prove to be quite the combination, and I predict world domination by Day 3.

Monday

No real news, aside from the fact that I'm running like absolute garbage. I've decided to try grinding Sit N Goes, and haven't seen this many horrendous beats in such a short period of time ever. I suppose it should be expected, though, as I'm playing the micro limits ($6 turbos), and the players are just so horrendous that they are totally incapable of laying down a hand. I can't even count how many times I've gotten a mid-strong pair all in vs one over and lost. QQ vs A6 all-in preflop? I'm drawing dead. Its pretty sick. Nevertheless, its this kind of dogshit play that makes these such easy money, so I just have to suck it up. The great thing about these is how formulaic they are - I've been going over Sheets' vids on PXF, and it's interesting to learn that there is basically a clear cut correct play in most of the situations you encounter, which is odd for NLHE - In ring games, for example, there may a few choices you can make, with varying degrees of profitability, and the one optimal play. Although the optimal play is obviously best, many of the other choices are not necessarily incorrect, thy just happen to be sub-optimal and less profitable in the long run. In SNG's however, you get so short so fast, that there is essentially one correct play for most of the situations you encounter. The real trick is learning perfect Push-Fold strategy so that you are making these decisions easily and are able to grind out a steady profit. Needless to say, I'm not there yet, but with the amount of learning material there is out there (the PXF videos are amazing) I feel it's just a matter of time.

On an unrelated note, I made an awesome quinoa salad today with cilantro and jalapenos. Its pretty awesome, and I'll post the recipe once I've perfected it.

No Country for Young Jerkoffs

Finally back in NJ - It's pretty bizarre how different my life is here than back in Nantucket. I actually have some semblance of a social life here, and although it's been great seeing all of my friends and all, I feel that for these next few weeks, it's essential that I really buckle down and grind. I'm moving out to Vegas in late Feb, and I really have to save as much cash as possible before I go. It's pretty sick to think that in a few weeks I'll be living in such an insane city, knowing practically no one. Fuck it, you only live once, right?

As for poker, I finally got to play a bit yesterday for the first time in 4 days or so, and it went pretty well. Played in like 5 mtts and final tabled another PLO $10r. Took 4th for like $530, which pretty much made me sick, as I really felt like I had a strong chance at taking it down (for 2k). On my bustout hand, I got it in as a 3-1 favorite against some donk who went on to totally piss away his chips heads up. So it goes.

Also, if anyone is looking for a good read, I just finished No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, and recommend it highly. Its essentially a crime novel, but delves into some pretty deep themes, and is really well done. Not exactly uplifting, but pretty engrossing and definitely enjoyable. Check it out.

Time to play.

"Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light"

OK, I guess the title is a bit melodramatic, considering my day wasn't really that hellish, but it happened to come to mind, so there you have it. Played tourneys all day, and was really pleased with the was I was playing, but lost some key pots and didn't get deep in anything. It seemed as if the day would be fruitless, until, low and behold, my old standby the 11:15 $10 PLO mtt came along. I ended up taking 2nd for $700 and felt better about my day. The low limit PLO mtts are so soft its amazing - I really should be playing them as often as possible.

Million Bust

^^This is how I went out of the one Sunday Million satellite I played - it paid out 8 seats and ended up taking 17th (with plenty of chips) to this horseshit. Pretty terrible.

25K Bust

^^Here's how I busted in the 25K guaranteed. I'd say this falls in the "cooler" category :)

OK, enough tough beats - this is something that I really felt the need to post. I'm in an poker tourney discussion group with about 40 other players worldwide, and we're always giving each other advice and railing each other and whatnot. Well today, one of the members sent us the details of a 3-way chop he made - here's the email he received from Stars:

Hello Devil42,

Congratulations on your finish in tournament #72644211!
You agreed to a deal at the final table to adjust the payouts as
follows:

Official New
Player Payout Payout
========= ======== ======
Devil42 #1 $ 3432.51 $ 3467.84
Holdem_Turk #2 $ 1963.40 $ 1619.23
GUARDANG #3 $ 1263.17 $ 1572.01

When the tournament ended, you were automatically credited with
the official 1st place payout of $3432.51.

The difference between this amount and the amount to which you agreed
in the deal is $35.33, and this amount has been credited to your
account.
You will find this transaction in the cashier history at this time.

Good luck in your next event, and thank you for your participation.

Best Regards,

PokerStars Support Team

The two players he dealt with were so eager to make a deal that they actually gave him MORE THAN FIRST PLACE MONEY to chop right there!!! Do you realize how insane that is? Chops are usually not a great idea for the short stacks involved, but to sacrifice even more equity and give the chip leader MORE THAN THE TOP PRIZE is out of fucking control! So look at the guy who took 3rd, he basically gave up any chance he had (however remote it may be) at even 2nd place money for a mere $300 more than he is guaranteed anyway - He just decides to take the $1572 (when he has $1263 locked up anyway) and throw in the towel. Possibly the greatest thing I've ever heard. Devil42 owns. Goodnight.

Stagnation

Not a whole lot of news - played like 1200 hands today and made like 20 bucks. I got pretty unlucky in some crucial spots, and frankly could have played better. A few sets were flopped against me, but I feel that I'm capable of making decent laydowns, and really haven't been doing so in my cash sessions. I guess its just that the players are so weak, that its hard for me to give them credit for big hands. I've made a few hero calls that were pretty sick, but a few of them backfired into just insanely ridiculous spews. One in particular that stands out was my fucking atrocious call with 22 on like a A 10 7 5 3 board (Id post the link, but would definitely vomit if I had to look at the details again) - I really felt like he had a missed draw, and called pretty quickly with my fucking underpair. Missed draw? Nah, more like top set - ship the pot to that guy over there, please. Pointless. I feel like I do that shit much more often than I should - "well, he knows that I know that he thinks..." and I make a move that is just totally unnecessary (and costly). I just gotta get my shit together and keep things as straightforward as possible. The players at this level are weak enough where I should be beating the game pretty easily with ABC poker.

Yesterday, I played tourneys instead of cash games, and it was just a totally brutal day. I played ok, but lost some huge races, took some brutal beats (monster two outer on the bubble in the 50k), and was left with nothing but hatred for my fellow man. Its funny, I actually didn't drop that much in buyins (less that $200) but it was just such a long and disappointing day, that it felt like it took way more of a toll on me than some of my rough cash sessions. Whatever, life rules :o)

Nantucket, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

The title says it all - we've had a good run, but I gotta get the fuck off this rock.  I've had an unnecessarily dramatic last couple of days, and I've only left my house two times, one of which was to pick up burritos.  I decided to go out for drinks last night, which was a total drag - ended up putting up with useless bullshit, dealing with local drama, and spending money that I could be using much more productively.  I go to these bars and I see the apathy in these people and it makes me sick.  Maybe not sick as much as sad.  To me, it's sad that these people have never cared enough about anything to pursue it with their entire being and try and do something great.  Or if they do recognize their passion, they are too afraid to put their ass on the line and just go for it, and settle for living within these imaginary boundaries that society has established.  Its total dogshit.  People are capable of so much, yet so many settle for such an average, unsatisfying lifestyle, and it really blows my mind.  Paint a portrait, write a novel, run a marathon, take up scuba diving...find whatever it is that makes you happy and fucking do it!  Christ, life is so short - do what you love.  Ok, enough preaching - here endeth the sermon.

So yea, as far as poker goes, things are going well.  I've been trying to put in as much time as possible in the cash games, while still trying to play a few mtts when possible.  I won a seat to the Sunday Million today, so I'll definitely be playing in that tomorrow, along with a few other assorted mtts.  As far as the cash games go, here are my results for the past couple weeks or so:


Nothing crazy - I'm actually not thrilled with the results. 8bb/100 hands is beating the game pretty badly, but there were one or two sessions thrown in there where I really feel I didn't play my best.  I'm  sure if I keep my shit together, I can get my winrate up a bit.  Honestly, I feel the most interesting stat on there is the rake.  In just under 15k hands, I paid $825 in rake!  Thats pretty incredible, and makes me think that its probably time to start playing on a smaller site where I can get a good rakeback deal.  Overall, though, I'm finding the cash games to be incredibly boring, and really hope that I'll eventually be in a position to play mtts full time. Hopefully I'll take down the Sunday Million tomorrow and I'll be all set.  Ok, I have to get some sleep - Stephanie (my Dad's girlfriends' granddaughter - totally rad 7 year old) has her first swim meet tomorrow, and I have to be there to threaten the parents of the other kids.  Goodnight.

2008

Well, another year is in the books, and I must say I'm thrilled about it.  2007 was amazing for me on many levels, and I'm really looking forward to what lies ahead.  I've learned so much about myself, my game, family, friends, and life in general, that I feel the past year has easily been one of the most exciting and important of my life.  However, as important as the past 365 days have been, I feel the ones that lie in store for me are going to be incredible.

In all honesty, I don't really have a clear cut plan as to what I'll be doing or where I'll be in the coming months, but I'm kinda ok with that.  I have a few opportunities to weigh, one of which is moving to Las Vegas for a few months.  I've been toying with the idea for a long time, and this winter seems like the perfect chance to go for it, although when it comes down to it, I'm not sure if moving out there is the best idea right now.  As much as I know I would love it out there, I have to do what is best for my career, and right now that could very well be staying on the east coast and playing mostly online.  I've done really well online the past few months, and the flexibility and volume of playing online just can't be beat.  The thought of moving across the country in order to play in ring games (one table at a time) that I could play in AC just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.  I'll have to ponder a bit more and talk things over with the fam again before any decisions are made.

As for the immediate future, my next (and last) day at work is this thursday, and I couldn't be happier about it.  I'll probably be on the island for another 2 weeks or so, and intend to spend as much of the time grinding as possible.  Its fucking 7.30 am, I gotta go to sleep.

Peace