krmont22

Argentines are Rude Animals

2011-09-09T15:56:00.000-07:00

My roommate backs up from the squat rack with two plates and as he sucks in to go down for rep 1, some dirty filthy argentine gym rat has the grand plan to walk in between my roommate and the rack completely ruining the entire set. Afterwards, we tell him how rude he was, and he denies that it was wrong, says we shouldn't need the mirror as if that was relevant, and eventually gave an insincere sorry. This would never happen in the United States. God Damn I miss that country!

USA!

Bill Withers

2011-09-08T18:30:00.001-07:00

So I've been listening to Bill Wither's Greatest Hits basically every day while grinding, and I have to say the man is a fucking BOSS. He's obviously a huge womanizer and player, but he's simultaneously writing some of the best love songs ever. I wish to smell as much cunt in my life as he has.

Dimes galore and nobody's fuckin

2011-08-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm currently living in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the nicest part of the city and the average girl here is a 7/10, but none of them are sexually active. Not a single person in this city is fucking, and it's the only reason this place sucks. Everyone is smug and unhappy. Poker is still the worst job on earth.

hmph

2010-11-13T22:39:00.001-08:00

5500 hands today. Ran 2k below at 1/2 and 2k over at 2/4. I definitely feel like I am getting back into the groove of playing, and it's not looking as intimidating. My roommates just got back from a Magic tourney where one of them won like a thousand bucks, so I am gonna go out to the bar to celebrate.

superstition

2010-11-10T02:34:00.000-08:00

I finally got a real session in today. 5500 hands. Poker superstition can get to even the best of us, and I am no different. I honestly somewhat believe that I played longer than usual and won money because my friend Gerry arrived today to stay with us for a while. Whenever he is here, I tend to win my 60/40's and bink a couple turns etc. I know it's complete hogwash, but maybe it's exactly the right type of motivation I need. Hopefully, I can repeat tomorrow and get in a good groove.

road ahead

2010-11-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have done all the math accounting for all the other things I want to be able to do over the remainder of the year, and I believe I will not make it just playing PLO. I think I will have to move back into SNGs like I did a couple years ago to get there. I am brushing up on my sng game with some friends and will be diving head first in a few days. 350k vpps to go!

halloween

2010-11-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

Halloween weekend has been too busy to update/play poker. I got 3rd in a local magic ptq which my roommate won in addition to drinking, eating, etc....will get back for a long poker day tomorrow with updates.

right direction

2010-10-27T10:57:00.001-07:00

In the grand scheme of things, I certainly didn't actually accomplish much yesterday. However, when things are bad, even the smallest hurdles leaped deserve a pat on the back. Not only did I shave, go to the gym, and play poker, I won money doing it.

Having a constructive day like yesterday has definitely improved my overall attitude. Life hasn't treated me very fairly over the past six months or so, and poker took every opportunity to one up life. I don't want this to turn into a belated bitching post, so I will just leave it at that. I feel good today and about tomorrow, and that's what is important.

train

2010-10-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

I am starting to reach the point where I won't be able to make SNE this year unless I start working five hours a day from here on out. I think making myself make a blog entry every single day will help hold myself responsible. Poker has been very hard on me since March; my lack of blog entries being a direct result. I'm going to try to get back into my blogging with this last week of October and hopefully the rest of the year. I plan to cover my quest to get ~400k vpps in ~70 days.

few things

2010-05-31T15:06:00.001-07:00

I went to going away party for a good friend of mine who is going to Afghanistan last night. You don't really appreciate the sacrifice these people make until it affects you. Whatever opinions I may have about war, the government, etc, I know doubt have a lot of respect for anyone in the military.

On another spectrum, at the party some of my friends were talking mad shit to each other about some 1 on 1 basketball, so they start bringing up betting. I just sat back and watched and some huge amounts were being thrown around. Now obviously to me and in the context of my blog, their 200 dollar threats aren't huge, but to them its like their net worth. Obviously no one shakes on that, but they agree to bet 20 bucks. The guy I want to bet against says he wants more action, and I bet 20 dollars with him too for kicks.

They call me the next day, and apparently the game is actually going to happen ( I would have bet against that). So my horse wins a close game, and I ask the guy for my money, and he's just like I dont have it. Long story trying to be a little shorter: neither players had a dime on them. I absolutely hate this in people. I just wish people would leave gambling alone if they don't mean it. To me, its a sacred ground. They think its okay to welsh on bets for whatever reason. Everyone I know seems to do this if they aren't from the gambling community. I really lose respect for people immediately when they do this. They are actually just lying. Their word loses all credibility.

The other extremely weird thing I have noticed lately is I'll bet a drink or something at a bar with someone I don't know that well, and if I lose, they try to stop me from actually paying the bet, but I obviously insist to pay. It makes me wonder if they just think bets are imaginary or what.

As far as poker goes, I might as well just not play it seems. No matter what I do, I lose. I started the year off on a hot streak, but I've lost all of that back and more at this point. I am still up a lot on the year, but I'd just like to run over EV one year in my career, and I thought this year it would happen. I just lack any motivation to play when every session is me losing 5k+ and my "supposed to be" winning at +5K. Here's to June and a possible winning month!

so...

2010-05-19T00:08:00.001-07:00

So I obviously suck at blogging, but none the less I'll post a short update to anyone who cares. My parents are permanently in Florida now along with all their stuff. The house is barren. One thing you never think about until you are alone in a big empty house is the echoes, making small creaks a lot more freaky. My next mission is to either decide to live here and go out and buy stuff to fill this thing up or find a new place to live.

Unfortunately, I have a lot of other stuff that I like to do/have to do like playing magic, seeing friends, traveling, and playing poker (which hasn't been going well either for the last couple months to be honest), so I feel like I'll probably take the easy way out and stay in the big empty house and procrastinate about filling it up with stuff.

This weekend I'm flying to D.C. for a Magic tournament, which should be a blast. I really like the atmosphere and the people, plus I have never been to Washington and look forward to some sightseeing. If I get really motivated for whatever reason, maybe I'll take some pictures and make an actual blog post!

omg

2010-05-07T15:42:00.001-07:00

I know I need to do a real update, but I literally just found 40k dollars that I had forgotten about and had to tell someone (I pretend that people read this thing)....awkward and awesome at the same time.

Moving

2010-04-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

My parents officially closed on their house in Florida, which means they are selling the house in which I currently live. This means I am now hunting for a new place to live for myself, as well as I have to help my parents move out/move in and find appliances/furniture/etc for both of us. Basically, I am just super busy right now and overwhelmed.

Some quick thoughts: Poker sucks rights now, golf is getting fun as I get better, Macallan whiskey is amazing, Kick Ass the movie is phenomenal, and people in the customer service industry suck.

ps3 is gonna ruin my life

2010-04-22T22:53:00.000-07:00

I have been terribly busy. My parents flew in last week. They are in the process of moving to Florida, so I hadn't seem them in months. It was good to be with my family, but it was exhausting. Between their new house in florida, figuring out what to do with our house in indiana, and me trying to figure out where I want to live, poker/golf/working out has definitely fallen off.

This month has been very frustrating poker wise, but I really shouldn't complain. Between rakeback and my small win, I'm still looking at a five figure month, but I would have enjoyed a huge month after shipping all my money to the government for taxes.

My parents leave this Saturday, so hopefully I can get back to the flow of poker/working out. As a side note, I bought a ps3 and final fantasy 13, which very well make it so poker is like a 5th priority until I save the world.

Golfing

2010-04-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

I went for my first golf "lesson" today, and I feel it went fairly well. It was super hot outdoors, and golf is a lot more of a workout than I would have predicted. I think this should help me get in better shape and get some color in my skin. Golf is very frustrating, but I think it will give me a good outlet for my poker stress and my boredom away from the tables. Having two different things to concentrate on should be good for my psyche. Once, I am good enough to actually play 18, I'll put up some of my scores. Last night, I didn't play any poker, but the night before I won like 10k, so I'm feeling a lot better about my game. However, I think pokerstars might have ruined PLO for me, and I may have to find a new job. Only time will tell. I'm sure if I'm out of work, I'll have a nice big long ranty blog post in a week or two.

My Train Derailed

2010-04-13T01:08:00.000-07:00

This month has been pretty awful so far. Despite having lots of fun in Vegas and Houston, the consequences have been heavy. I've been to the gym maybe five times in April. I haven't gained any significant weight yet, but I don't feel nor look as good as I did. The hectic schedule of my travels also through a wrench in my poker gears (either that or I'm just experiencing normal variance and looking for excuses). I had a pretty big downswing as soon as I got back and just now have recovered for a breakeven month so far (well got dem FPPs). I am very confident in my game though. Everyday you see random fish and even regulars just do the most anti-logic things over and over again, and I can do nothing but lean back and smile.

I did finally do my taxes, though. I went with 2p2's recommendation of Russ Fox for a gambling taxes specialist, and he was extremely helpful and understanding.

On top of getting back into the gym on the regular, my new goal is to start golfing a lot. I have quite a few friends who love to golf, and I am just too bad to thoroughly enjoy going with them. I am looking forward to getting some golf coaching from my friend Mike (name drop) in exchange for some poker lessons. Hopefully, things will go well for both of us.

In the grand scheme of poker news, Pokerstars released today that they will be "solving" (extra emphasis on the quotations) the shortstacking problem. They are going to change the buyin levels from 20-100 big blinds to 20-50 or 40-100. I am not sure how this will affect me. I hope it doesn't hurt. I definitely don't have as much confidence in my 20-50 big blind play as my 100+ play, so hopefully those games don't become popular in PLO, although I think its a very likely scenario. Fingers crossed.

Back to Work

2010-04-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Once again, a week later, sitting in an airport waiting to depart for home. I don't know how the circuit travelers do this week in and week out. Nothing drains your soul more than airports/airplanes. Last week, I got absolutely nothing accomplished, because I was too busy recovering from Vegas.

Vegas was normal. I lost money at craps, betting the basically zero house edge, while all the idiots were crushing betting the inside where they lose like 10-15 cents of every dollar they put on the table. I hung out with one good friend from high school and eleven strangers from California that he had befriended at Berkeley. We went to two different clubs, XS and LAX. XS was amazing; believe all the hype. LAX was definitely above average I guess, but pales in comparison to XS.

I really shouldn't complain, because I suppose I should expect it, but I put the tab for one club on my card and obviously only got paid for like 20pct of what was owed to me. Everyone always says they have no problem paying until you actually ask them for it. The worst part about debt is that I feel guilty asking them for money, which is just so backwards. They should feel guilty for not paying me and just screwing me over, but I guess they just get away with it all their lives and keep following the pattern. I hope Karma kicks their ass.

All I did last week was build my "Cube" which is a collection of 360 different MTG cards. You use it to play this really fun version of the game. I flew to Houston Friday and played in a tournament there. After I busted out (lasted a lot longer than I do at poker, lol), I drafted the cube with people from all over the world. It's very amazing how the game can break language/culture barriers. I'm very happy that I'm getting back into the game and can actually afford to play it when and wherever I want.

Battery is dying...back to work all of April.

Vegas

2010-03-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Sitting at the airport waiting to depart. Been in town for roughly 72 hours, about 12 of those were sleep. I have lots to talk about, but I won't spoil all the good stories in my delusional state. Some previews: Carrot Top is like 70 years old and on crack, XS is the best club on earth, craps is rigged, people are scumbags when it comes to debt, and checking out at 11am in Vegas is beyond retarded (especially when you don't make it back to your room by then).

TV

2010-03-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

Played a little bit last night while coaching one of my best friends at 6-max PLO, which went pretty well. I played an absolutely amazing hand against a fish. I can't find the HH, but basically he limp/calls and I flop a straight flush on 468sss. He check minraises me, I 3bet very small. He calls this and donks an offsuit 9 for the minimum (10), I make it like 350, he instantly shoves over for another 1000, I call expecting to see the Ace high flush that I coolered, and instead I see 5578 rainbow for the bare straight. I have no idea what he was thinking. He had played somewhat normal (although badly) up to this point.

I watched the new Lost last night, and I think I had been expecting too much, because I was disappointed with the pretty good episode. I think it just kinda confirmed everything the dedicated Lost fans already "knew." I do think the guy who plays Richard is a much better actor than you would have guessed from his performances as the monotone mystery man. Also, we watched American Idol, and my friend had never seen this before. Highlights were him mistaking Garcia for Kim Jong-il, the dictator of North Korea (apparently his auto-biography, which is required reading in the schools, says he both created the world and shot 67 under par the first time he golfed, unsure which one is more absurd), and Michael for "Mike Tyson after a year of KFC." Simon also absolutely ripped into everyone, and that is always amazing. He is the only one worth listening to by a mile, both for comedic reasons and his opinion is actually worthwhile; I fast-forward through the other three commentators.

I bought tickets to Vegas for this weekend. I am meeting up with some college grad student friends, which should be a different view on the Vegas experience, but hopefully still fun. With spring break, a huge Jay Z concert, and March Madness, I can't imagine we don't have a blast. It will also be a nice change of pace to not drop a ton of money there (well theoretically won't drop a lot of money, that is).

Stox

2010-03-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

I've spent more of my free time reading every post about the Stoxpoker scandal than I'd like to admit. As a professional poker player, I hold other professionals, especially very well known ones, with a lot of respect. I hate to see the people that I have looked up to throughout my career show up as cheaters or liars. I can only now really understand how some young kids who idolize sports athletes feel after hearing about crimes, drugs, steroids, etc.

For those that do not know anything about poker or have not heard, the basics of the current scandal are as follows: On each individual poker website, each person has an individual screen name which identifies them. You are only allowed one screen name and are not allowed to play on any other account. When someone sees xyz123, they are supposed to know that its the same xyz123 they played two days ago. Nick something or other, known as Stoxtrader, owner of one of the premiere poker coaching websites, has been caught having more than one account at both Pokerstars and Fulltilt poker. He's used these accounts to his advantage knowingly breaking the rules. There are other accusations(and of course that it was revealed that he was a shortstacker, which is not unethical, but people hate them), but that is the only one proven at this point. Stox has resigned from his position and claims to have quit poker entirely.

I absolutely hate to see this happening. These are the types of people who ruin the image of the game. These are the people who are supposed to represent me to the public. Fifty years ago, if you told someone you were a professional card player, they would assume you were a cheat, scam artist, con man, thief, and all around scumbag. Over the years, and especially with the coverage on ESPN and other TV programs, along with the growth in popularity of Las Vegas, it has become a more "reasonable" occupation. If more of these scandals come out, it will only draw more negative attention to the poker community. If the biggest names playing for the biggest money are willing to cheat and get away with it for the most part, then there is no reason for anyone to believe that most people are not cheating.

Of course, there is almost no way to really regulate the issues at hand, and these are the primary issues that people will tell you online poker is "rigged." You can never really know who is behind a screen name. You don't know if that person is talking to another person at your table. You have no real idea; you just have to trust that it's legit. That is very hard for most people, especially pre-internet era adults, to do. Having these scandals about sites cheating people out of money, famous pros breaking the rules with no penalty, or whatever hits the fan next not only hurts our reputation it also hurts our pockets. There are so many people out there who would play online poker if they did not hear these scandals which only confirms their suspicions.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post. I'm just watching some March Madness, and I keep getting drawn back to the Stox thread. I just hope people can learn from Ultimate Bet, Brian Townsend, Stox et al. If we want our business to stick around, we have to do a better job of making it accepted and not affirming our enemy's allegations.

Solid Turnaround

2010-03-17T06:04:00.001-07:00

I ended up taking most of Monday night and Tuesday off playing some games with friends. I slept longer than usual and woke up to watch the new Lost and American Idol. Lost has been super disappointing for me so far, but it said next weeks episode explains Richard's life, and I can't possibly see how that episode can't be awesome. American Idol this year is really, really good. Ellen DeGeneres isn't a mumbling retard like Paula Abdul, and says one or two funny AND concise things a show. Also, the contestants are all out of this world in comparison to other seasons. I have no idea who will win, but I definitely have a soft spot for Bowersox and Siobhan(sp?).

I played poker from Midnight until about an hour ago, and it was certainly one of the best sessions of my life. I somehow played like 7500 hands, broke even in my redline, and won like 50 buyins for roughly 32k in profits. I plan to take a nap and wake up and get absolutely smashed all night for St. Patrick's day to celebrate my Irish heritage and my huge win.

What goes up, must come down...

2010-03-12T05:01:00.000-08:00

Hard.

I posted a couple brags on twoplustwo.com (which is basically the place where anyone who takes online poker seriously goes to talk with each other), and I have been rewarded with some pretty depressing stats so far in March.
The HU play obviously looks pretty terrible, but it's all vs one regular who was already pretty bad, but it seems like hes been tilting lately on top of that. He however can't lose to me, though. Hes won like 17k from me at 5/10 and is still down in my database from his 6max play. There isn't much to say about it other than I hope he can stay afloat long enough to keep playing me.

On top of losing money, the last couple days have been pretty tough with keeping up with life as well. I didn't make it into the gym, and I still need to run some errands that I had planned on doing Tuesday.

Someone asked if I could do a more traditional introduction for the blog with like my life story and why/when/how I transitioned into PLO. I'll try to get to that this week.

Alinea

2010-03-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty drunk from the thirteen wine pairings, but I have slightly sobered up while watching "mean girls" which I must add is absolutely amazing. Alinea with the premium wines was 600 dollars after tax and tip, and I honestly feel like it was a steal. It was 28 courses and absolutely blew everyone's minds. I don't even know how to describe the experience. The only way to do it would be to detail each and every course, and that would only ruin it for anyone who wished to go in the future, so basically just trust every review you read about Alinea and make it a priority to go. I'll try to get some of the pictures chisness took and get them up, and I'll also try to chronicle the hilarious events of my Chicago trip in a future post.

March

2010-03-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

So......I haven't really done anything in March yet. I played one session of 5/10 where I ran really hot, but I made two really really terrible calls, which made me not want to play anymore.

I spent the entire day yesterday driving really far to the jurisdiction of a river boat. I got put into jail, so I could be taken out, so then they could tell me to drive really far out of my way again four months from now. One funny thing did happen, though. They ask you literally like 200 questions when they are signing you into jail. I am trying to take them seriously, but then she asks me "What kind of inmates do you not enjoy?" and I kinda just laugh out loud. I think for a while and say, "I suppose the majority of them." She and her partner got a pretty good laugh at that one. It seemed to break the ice, and they just zoomed me through a lot of the nonsense without actually doing it, which I appreciated.

I have done a couple magic drafts at a local store and defeated all the idiots. It's a pretty bad hourly rate of about negative 2 dollars/hour if I win every time, but it's fun.

Planning on leaving for a small vacation to Chicago either tonight or tomorrow. I am going to visit a much despised young man named chisness.

Im Bad At Blogging

2010-02-27T00:43:00.000-08:00

I guess I am really terrible at blogging, which doesn't really surprise me. I have always been a procrastinator, so I always put off an entry to the next day. I really want to have more consistency in my life, so I made this blog to help with that. I do think it is helping to some extent, but I am having a very hard time balancing all the new disciplines.

Between trying to play everyday, eat healthy, get to the gym, write blog entries, random life errands (maybe I need a PA?), and hanging out with friends, it's very easy to let some things fall by the way side. Fortunately, for me, the only thing I have neglected is this blog. I am still losing weight and working out 4-5 days a week. I am getting out of the house more and putting in hours ahead of pace for Supernova Elite. Most notably, I am winning at a ridiculous rate and running very hot. This is definitely one of my biggest months of all time.

I have been treating myself to some pretty indulgent purchases to celebrate. Bought another Isaia suit, some Borelli shirts, two Gimos coats, a ton of Cuccinelli cashmere, and a Seraphin jacket. All of that is a bunch of nonsense to 99pct of the world, but ya'll will just have to trust me that everything I bought is awesome. I'll try to post some pics/write ups about a couple pieces if I find the time.

I am also looking forward to a small semi-vacation to Chicago in the first week of March. I plan on playing in a small live tournament, visiting some poker friends, do some very unnecessary shopping on Michigan Ave, and I get to go to Alinea, which is supposedly a top 10 restaurant in the world. I'll make my best effort to take some pictures and trip report that for sure.

The SS

2010-02-18T13:26:00.000-08:00

People seem to be all up in arms lately in regards to "shortstackers." For those not in the know, a SS is a poker player who buys in for the smallest amount possible and then leaves the table as soon as he doubles it. It is highly frowned upon by a large percentage of the poker community. I don't really see what the big deal is. They aren't breaking any rules, and the ones who do win, don't win at a high winrate, and most of them lose. I think mostly people A. love to bitch B. hate to work on their game and C. love to have a reason why they don't win anymore. Nothing makes a person happier than having a "logical reason" that prevents them from accomplishing their goal that is "out of their control." Currently it seems people are blaming all their problems on SSers, and its downright annoying. Grow up and do some math (oh no, actual work)!

On a happier note, I'm under 170 pounds and beginning to look somewhat reasonable. I had a pretty bad day the other day, but I got a haircut (superstition at its best) to change things up, and it obviously worked. I crushed today.

I haven't decided on my desk chair yet, but I am leaning towards a Herman Miller product. The local store is going to let me "test drive" an aeron and an embody for a week, so I can figure out which one I want. I'll try to take some pictures and do a small review on each one for those unfamiliar.

In regards to Supernova Elite, I don't think I will be able to get to 2 million vpps this year. I just don't have it in me. I'm well ahead of pace for 1 million, and I could make a late push for 1.5 million. I think I'll be much happier spending that extra time each day working out and finding more ways to improve myself/my life.

News, Views, and Gossip

2010-02-15T10:32:00.000-08:00

As far as news goes, I keep winning. I think the running hot as lead to me playing better and it has also struck fear into other regulars to some extent. They are a little less likely to mess around with me if they believe I can't lose an all-in.

I've decided I need to get a good ergonomic chair. I've always had lower back pain from poker, so I did some research and there are like three stores that cover all the major brands in Indianapolis. I planned on doing a sitting test today, but it started snowing at 7am and still hasn't stopped, so that's postponed until further notice.

After reading some other blog and forum posts and talking to fellow poker players, I feel the need to share my view on the current state of poker coaching. I don't want to knock any particular player, because unfortunately for many, it's their only source of income, but I will talk about it generally.

It might be Emerson, but it doesn't really matter; "Those who can, do. Those who can not, teach." This is not exclusively true in poker coaching, but for the most part, it is. If someone is crushing poker, they are rarely going to want to coach people that could be potential competition, and they also won't be making as high of an hourly rate. It seems to me that people go on heaters, become famous, variance resolves itself, and then they realize they aren't making money in poker anymore, but they ride the coat tails of their fame, and coach as much as they can.

Now economically speaking, this is fine. If their is demand, they have every right to supply. Fundamentally and to some extent morally, I must object. You should not hire an architect who has messed up his last three projects to teach/overview your new ones (although in America, this is precisely how it works). If you check the majority of the coaches available in the poker market these days, more than half of them are losing players over the last year. A handful of them are big money winners due to variance at nosebleeds and losing BBs across the board over large samples. I don't know how they live with themselves; it must be delusional ego.

Basically my opinion doesn't matter as I am a small fish in the sea, and really it isn't even "bad" to be doing since people have the desire to buy it, but I think there is definitely some shady stuff going down. As far as gossip goes, I hear there have been some serious scams by "certified coaches" falsifying graphs and stealing from students. Obviously, that is a serious issue that is cut and dry not okay, but how "okay" is coaching people at a game you don't even beat?

It Was A Good Day

2010-02-10T21:17:00.001-08:00

To quote my boy Ice Cube, "I got to say it was a good day."

New Car

2010-02-10T14:12:00.001-08:00

I ended up going with Black as you can see. Its 2010 Malibu LTZ, with most of the options, black on black interior. It's been snowing nonstop here, so I haven't gotten to drive much, but the couple times I have, the 200 yards away remote start which heats the car up without going outside has been the best feature.

Not too much else to report other than my heater has not ended.

Ups and Downs

2010-02-07T23:05:00.001-08:00

Since my last post where I bitched about being frustrated with poker, I was blessed with a small heater. Between starting to workout every day and beginning a new drug regimen that has some positive side effects of increased concentration and focus, I was definitely able to take advantage of my good luck. It was very well timed, as I finally purchased a Black 2010 Malibu LTZ, which I get to pick up tomorrow.

On a side note, after looking at like ten different auto insurance options. Esurance.com was far and away the best, and it's not even close. The absolute worst was All-State at around $1800 every six months; Esurance was $640. As a note, I got very good coverage, have a perfect driving record, it's a new 4-cylinder, and am a 23 year old male (a mix of great things and terrible things as far as premium calculations go).

Unfortunately, my heater coincided with the Colts downswing. Honestly, I feel like the Saints deserved to win that game. Our defense couldn't stop them, but it was still very close. If Garcon catches that ball or we recover the onside kick, we may have been able to win. I thought it was pretty hilarious when Peyton threw the pick six, and his entire head/neck area was bright red. Also, Carrie Underwood is hot as hell and a damn good singer, but her final note on "brave" was the absolute nut low and embarassing.

Getting it Together

2010-02-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

My lack of blogging is due to being so exceptionally busy. I am really not accustomed to being busy at all. Most of my life post High School has been characterized by poker and boredom. I don't get out of the house enough. Thankfully, that has changed this year and is improving as time passes.

I have begun working out with my friend, Iriette, at LA Fitness. He has done personal training in the past and has always been in the best of shape. Having someone to go the gym with me alone makes it easier, but he also knows everything about getting in shape and loves to motivate me. He is also super outgoing and seems to know everyone at the gym. He introduces me to most people, and if he doesn't know someone he goes up and talks to them. It's about as opposite as it could get from me. I certainly don't plan to become like him, but if I could meet somewhere in the middle, I'd be really happy.

I had my court date on Monday, and it went fairly well. Despite some scary threats from the judge, he let me off with solely 32 hours of community service. I haven't started doing it yet, but I have until May. I just want to find something I will enjoy doing, and I can meet some new people.

I've pretty much decided on getting a 2010 Chevy Malibu LTZ, which has been rated very highly the last three years. It isn't super exciting or anything, but I am not really a car person at all. I am getting a fairly good deal since I know the manager at the car dealership, and Stars will let me pay for it with my FPPs.

A new Magic: The Gathering set came out this past weekend, and I attended the prerelease with some friends in Muncie. It was a small turnout, but we had fun nonetheless. The local store can start selling the product tonight at midnight, so I'll end up drafting from midnight until who knows when.

Poker has been extremely frustrating, so I'm slightly behind pace for the month and breaking even. I am confident I am playing well after going through my database I'm not seeing any major errors. It'll turn around I'm sure.

Wolf Attack

2010-02-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

I know I am going to sound crazy, but I just ran over a huge wolf/coyote/ferocious looking dog on the highway going like 65. The front of my car is totally smashed. Atleast I didn't swerve and hit another car and die.

Computer Problems

2010-01-31T23:57:00.001-08:00

My computer seems to be giving out on me. I don't really treat it very well, and it has been two full years of hardcore grinding on it. I need to build a new desktop badly. If anyone who reads this is a computer geek and can give some advice/build it for me, I would definitely be interested in paying for some help.

On a side note, I didn't play any poker and fell short of my goals this month. I am about to start grinding now though, and I promise myself I will hit minimum 180k VPPs in February. On a happier note, I am down to 172 pounds.

tobacco is gross

2010-01-30T08:36:00.000-08:00

I just woke up, and I'm not really sure how I got home. I think my friends drove me back in my car. If you have never done the tobacco under your lip situation, don't dare attempt it for the first time when you are already drunk. I do remember feeling really awesome for like 20 minutes, then it's blackout. That is all.

ugh

2010-01-29T17:06:00.000-08:00

I can't really win a pot at all right now, so I don't feel like posting. Every time I get it allin with the nut straight or topset they have a drawing hand that is beating me or they freeroll me.

Summary of my past few days...

That Just Happened

2010-01-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

My friend Robert, whom I call "boy" (its an affectionate nickname, not as demeaning as it may appear), flew into Indianapolis to stay with me for about a week and to see the Colts game. I picked him up at four p.m. Saturday, and I gave him the obligatory just got off a plane welcome which is known as Dancers Showclub. The day shift was lacking talent, and it seemed like a lot of Jets fans had flown in as well, so after he pounded like ten crowns, we got out of there after about an hour.

On a side note, I just want to say that I will admit that stripping is not an easy job at all, but once you have the balls to sign up and do it, how hard is it to just ask people if they want dances? There are definitely two sides to this debate. The guys should just ask them for dances if they want them some could say, but people go there under the premise that someone will pretend to have interest in them for money. I don't want to believe the girl hates what she is doing. I want to think she saw me from across the room, thinks I'm attractive, and wants to talk to me, which leads to me paying for her to dance on me. It takes like five seconds to asks someone if they would like a private dance after you give them a "dollar dance." The opportunity cost is very low and the payout is extremely high. End rant.

Roger, my guy at my favorite clothing store, had called me earlier in the day and told me my suit was ready, so I decide to bring Boy with me to pick it up on the way back from the airport. Now he is about ten Crowns deep, so he makes an ass out of himself in the store picking up random items and yelling across the store such gems like "Who the FUCK would pay 500 dollars for this?!?" and laughing hysterically. Luckily, no one else was really there, and I'm in there enough that I hope they understood and found it funny. The suit looks absolutely sick, so I just wear it out despite that I'll be overdressed no matter where I go.

An old Magic: the Gathering, friend of Boy and I's calls us up and says all his friends are over at his house for some beer pong and poker, so we head on over there. I meet all the guys, and they obviously make fun of me for wearing a suit all night (presumable because they were threatened) calling me "Suits McGee" or just "Suit." We play some poker with them (.25/50 NLH with 50 dollar max buy, so basically the ideal game for me to not take seriously, but still kinda matter). I think I made like 55 dollars, but I paid Boy 20 bucks one hand for him to show me one card at random (ofc this let me call him for like a 200 pot that I won) for a 35 dollar profit.

Everyone at this point is trashed but me and another guy. We drive everyone to a bar down the street called the Fox and the Hound. I actually run into an old girl from high school, whom I gave my number. I saw a bunch of other people that I recognized, but I didn't talk to any of them. I watched the guys play this shuffleboard game which was like Curling, but on a wooden board and sand. We pound some shots, Robert eats some food, and burns his hand. We have a leftover beer bucket with ice in it, and he is cooling his hand in the ice. The waitress comes by and basically steals the bucket from him despite us telling her the situation. I got pretty belligerent about it all, and we leave.

I end up taking Boy and the two drunkest guys out to the party spot in Indianapolis called Broadripple village. We go to this dance club that is so packed you can't breathe or move. One of the guys named Lee seems to know everyone there and is making out with random girl like every five minutes, but after taking shots of Vodka, Boy throws up obviously and we book it out of dodge. I head over to a much chiller bar where I know all the bartenders and it happens to be on of my guy's birthdays. I buy him some shots and run into more people from my high school. I don't know what it was, because I go to Broadripple all the time and never see anyone.

We head back over the the dance club when everything is closing down and pick up the two guys and a drunk girl, and I drive them home. I saw one of the roommates of Lee the next day, mentioning the girl, and he made one of the funniest jokes. "We had been talking about a Fantasy Sex Draft, Lee would be the LaDainian Tomlinson, always projected super high, and never actually scores."

Now it's Sunday morning and only one of the two guys who were supposed to meet us for the game shows up. We have an extra ticket for which I paid, and no one to go. We call everyone, and they are either going or are broke. We try scalping it, but that goes pretty poorly. The guys want to sell us a single ticket that is two rows above ours for 300, but they won't pay 200 for ours. We end up selling it for 170 to some guy, whose main selling point was unzipping his jacket and flashing me some sort of gang symbol. I must have had done something on accident, because he originally didn't want the ticket.

As we had been haggling with random dealers, we had been going into random bars, ordering six Vegas bombs for the three of us. We get into the stadium pretty drunk, and we were never without beers. Our seats were amazing for the price, and the game was obviously the best time possible. Being on the second row of the second level was pretty dangerous for us. I almost fell off doing a jumping high five twice, but my friends were able to catch me by my shirt like in the movies.

We left the game, and we quickly realize that getting out of the parking garage will be impossible, so we take a cab to the Brass Flamingo. We have a great time there, and we grab a cab back to the parking garage around midnight. Now things began to get interesting. Two of us were fairly drunk and Boy was super sober, and the parking garage is empty except a few sparse cars, lacking much lighting. We kinda joke about this being like a horror movie, and we actually run to the car in a pretending type fear.

As we go around the loop, following the exit signs, we finally see the exit up ahead, and as we approach it a car races out of nowhere alongside us and makes a sharp turn skidding in front of us blocking us from leaving. It's some woman with really long hair in a beat-up old sedan. She's obviously yelling inside her car, and we kinda just sit there looking at her. She doesn't get out of her car, and as we sit there another car tries to leave. She zooms away and chases them. We have no idea what's going to happen, so we just sit still and watch the show. She traps the other car, so we try to find another way out. She ends up finding us and is weaving in and out of the pylons and almost hits us twice. This woman was absolutely insane. We are totally freaked out but also having the most fun, hilarious experience at the same time. After about ten minutes, we finally find a secondary exit and leave, but all we could talk about on the way home was the parking garage lady.

insanity

2010-01-24T22:34:00.000-08:00

I'm just totally gone, but I want to make sure I write down the gist of it, so I dont think it's a dream. We got dropped off by a cab at a parking garage and like a 1990 camry chased us around inside it and tried to ram us for like 10 mins as we were freaking out and couldnt find the exit.

Party Weekend

2010-01-23T11:34:00.001-08:00

I took yesterday off after like 4000 hands of poker. Things were going pretty well despite not winning my all-ins. I was playing really well, but I guess I got a little tilted and gave some fishy regulars some credit for using basic logic, which resulted in me spewing. I won both pots making me even on expected value on the day, but I went from supposed to win like 2500 to 1500 (of course having the real 1500 instead of a goose egg is not so bad, either).

I spent the night playing Settlers of Catan, which is a really fun, math oriented board game with some friends. I won't be playing poker this weekend, because my I am picking up my friend at the airport in two hours. I plan on hanging out with him all day. Then we will tailgate all day tomorrow, go to the Colts game where Peyton will absolutely embarrass the Jets franchise, and celebrate. I'll get back on the horse Monday morning and try to really work hard next week to get close to 100k vpps for the month, falling short of my goal, but I am not too worried; I'll have no distractions in February.

Great Success?

2010-01-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

Posted a winning day!

Tough Couple Days

2010-01-21T03:39:00.000-08:00

I've come to the quite obvious, in hindsight, conclusion that updating your blog when doing well is very easy, but after long frustrating losing sessions, the last thing on your mind is the blog. All I want to do is get away from my computer as fast as possible. I'm sure any reader can assume by now if the title and introduction didn't tip you off that I have been struggling with poker lately.

I've been doing this long enough to know that poker is always a roller-coaster ride. Especially in my game of choice, pot-limit omaha, it can be downright insane. The standard deviations are more than double of Texas Hold-em. I have had days where I have won or lost forty buy-ins in one day, which obviously destroys you emotionally. The biggest issue with those kinds of swings, which I think isn't that easy to relate to most people unless they work in finance, is that losing hurts way more than winning feels good. You expect yourself to win, so when you do, its only a confirmation. When you lose, its a failure to meet expectations. If only I could force myself to not look at daily results, which I have heard many people do and read about in "Fooled by Randomness" in regards to the stock market (great read btw), maybe I would be more happy. Sadly, I just do not have that kind of self control yet.

As far as the rest of my "real" life goes, I am pretty content. I am still eating very well and have worked out every single day. Although I did return more than half of the clothes I purchased, I did walk out with two suits. I ended up having to give them more money, but in the big picture, I am not too concerned. The sales that are going on right now are just too good to miss; I'd only end up spending way more than I am now if I waited until the end of the month. A friend suggested I apply my clothes to next month's budget, which I definitely will do.

For those who may care, I bought a camel-colored corduroy jacket by Etro, one of the funkier Italian companies, a brown-based wool and suede overcoat by Luciano Barbera, which is kind of the exact opposite of Etro in that its super classic and straight-forward, and a dark brown and suede lined Corneliani ID jacket, which is the coolest piece of the three, because it function as a jacket with a zip-in/zip-out inner vest and a sport coat.

I also got tailoring done on a gray with brown pinstripes suit by Zegna called a Traveller Micronsphere, which is pretty sick. It is impossible to wrinkle or get wet. My guy at the store had me roll it up in a ball and dump a cup of water on it and it just unrolls completely dry and perfect. It's got some sort of plant extract in it plus its fibers are super super super tiny, some measurement in Microns. It will be ideal for me since I do travel a lot and am a messy twenty-something man.

I'd like to do some pictures, but as I am home alone at the moment, it's pretty much impossible to model clothing and take the pictures yourself, but my friend is flying in this weekend to stay with me and go to the Colts AFC championship game, so he can help out there.

As I finish this entry, I am smashing a giant plate of food, five egg whites, english muffin, and chicken with peppers (left over fajitas). Today is my first day of heavy weight squats, so I am going to need the energy. I have a very hard time deciding how to conclude my blog entries, so I will just end it with this stupid comment about endings.

Lawyers

2010-01-18T20:21:00.000-08:00

As part of my mission to clean up my life and improve myself, I decided to get a lawyer today. I had quite a few problems before I got into online poker that will probably make an interesting story at a later date. These issues have been lingering for years now, and I always get a tingle in my stomach when I go through customs or something, worried they may extradite me. I'm not going to go into specifics about my offenses, but let's just say I won't be serving any jail time.

As with basically any potential purchase, the first the place I looked was Google. I searched for something along the lines of "best lawyers Indianapolis," which returned a few lists, but they were very long with little to no detail. I kept searching around for something like Consumer Reports for lawyers, but it apparently does not exist. Since getting a lawyer is a fairly common experience that costs a lot of money, I would assume this website would do very well for itself. My only conclusion is that all the lawyers don't want comments, ratings, info on their rates, etc out in the open and threaten to sue anyone who provides that information publicly.

Since my offenses are spread out in different jurisdictions, I had to hire different lawyers or pay for them to drive. I'm trying not to life spew, so I went the practical route. Without too much detail, I am very satisfied with the one that operates in the nicest part of Indiana, but the one I had to hire in a more "isolated" part of the world is a complete joke. His office is still "working," if you can call it that, on getting a credit card machine; news flash, its 2010. Despite my eerie feeling of incompetency my choices were few, unless I wanted to pay someone 175/hour to drive multiple hours each way maybe multiple times.

On a side note, I have a few quick comments.

I have never been a fan of reality television (except for American Idol, but I like it for the singing, fast-forwarding through all the chit-chat), but while in the Bahamas we watched an episode or two of Jersey Shore, and it is amaaaaazzzing. I know everyone has heard this many times, but I just wanted to give a shout out, because it is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.

Secondly, I am still winning at poker, and I finally put in my first full on pace volume play. I just woke up about an hour ago, so hopefully, I put in enough today as well. I'll just have to have a huge December most likely.

Other than that, my diet is going well, and I haven't missed a workout. I did an introduction to yoga class on youtube that was pretty cool. I'm considering joining a yoga joing; we'll see. I am feeling pretty good about myself all across the board and am definitely approaching where I would like to be to crush 2010.

I Suck

2010-01-17T06:54:00.000-08:00

So today was an absolute train wreck, but I did have a good time. I bought this TUMI carry-on bag and decided to return it to help my spending clause. I get to the store and find out that since it was 25% off when I bought it that I am not allowed to return it, so I'm instantly tilted. That store happens to be very close to a very nice men's clothing store, and I accidentally walked out with two Luciano Barbera coats, an Etro Jacket, and like three shirts for a bargain (no sarcasm 50% off) of $2500. After that I went and test drove a fully loaded Nissan Maxima. I have absolutely zero self-control and need help.

Then my best friend Peyton Manning stomped all over the Ravens which resulted in me going to a celebration party and eating chips and dip and like six shots of crown and maybe two cokes. Basically, I absolutely love to self sabotage myself.

At least I was smart enough to not try to peel a fast turn in front of someone on the way back at like 4am that happened to be a state trooper, then won at poker today, did workout and probably only like 2500 calories total, so not absolute disaster but bad.

I really think I should return some of the clothes just to prove to myself I can do it. Maybe I'll compromise with myself and return the shirts (which are absolutely not needed) and one coat. I think that is something that might actually happen.

Also, I need to not buy a new car. I've been researching the car market, and it seems that all the bailouts and car industry sucking balls has lead to lots of super cheap leases being handed out over the past two years. Now all those people who took a discount to get a really nice car have lost their jobs or whatever and want to get out of their leases. Apparently you can take over people's leases for a small fee, and sometimes they even pay the fees for you and pay you cash. If anyone out there knows anything about his let me know; it sounds very cool.

Budget

2010-01-16T01:32:00.000-08:00

That's a graph of my 2010 so far. I am obviously very pleased with the results since its only 1/2. I think I will try to win 20k at 1/2 then I'll move up to 2/4 and win 100 buyins there and so on and so forth. I am already drastically behind my VPP goal, but I have been addressing more important things in the bigger picture of my life.

I took my body measurements, and I am a fairly disgusting 180 pound 5' 11" professional poker player. I took potential "before" pictures, but I definitely am too embarassed to post those until I successfully have an "after" allowing me to brag. I've started a food/exercize journal at www.fitday.com, and I plan on updating it to keep myself in check. Today I ate about 2000 calories and did HIIT calistenics. My goal is to get down to 170 pounds by March 15th and be "ripped" by September 15th.

I used to be in really good shape in High School, so I think my goals are very doable as long as I can stay disciplined. My hopes are that if I can stay on course with my eating and exercize, not only will the routine of playing so many hands a day seem easier, I will actually be able to play better and longer from being in better physical and mental shape.

Ironically, I had planned on doing a post about a potential budget for my life. As I hope to learn to budget my calorie intake, I definitely need to budget my expenses. Of course, this is especially hard to do when I can't seem to lose at poker, but I know the downswing is just around the corner. I keep terrible track of my finances, so I can't even begin to figure out how much money I spent on nonsensical things. All I do know, is its off the charts for the majority of the world.

Since I have no idea where to begin, I think I am going to pay my bills each month. Then, I will be allowed to spend 20% of any remaining profit from poker for the previous month. If I have a losing month (dear god I hope not), I will limit myself to bills plus 1000 dollars spending. This will probably sound ludicrous to my friends and family, but it is a HUGE lifestyle change. Hopefully I have a great month, so I can go on a shopping spree February 1st, allowing me to do an awesome blog post about clothes. If anyone has any suggestions on how to be a life nit and all-around cheap skate, leave a comment or get in contact with me.

Structure

2010-01-14T23:14:00.001-08:00

I have been thinking extensively about how to achieve my goals for this year, and I think the answer is structure. Almost everything in my life for the last five years could be defined as haphazard at best. I go through stints of different diets, exercise, sleep schedules, work schedules at pretty much random, and it's almost certainly limiting my success. Because I'd hate to have a ceiling on my success, I vow to add more structure to all things in my life; I will use this blog to try to keep myself honest.

If I had to rank the difficulties of each different category from hardest to easiest, I would have to go with diet, spending, exercise, and then sleep/work schedules. I intend to put the most work towards the hardest ones, because I think the other ones will fall in line.

Diet is going to be an absolute nightmare. My Midwest Irish upbringing means I eat a ton of red meat, pork, potatoes, and bread for pretty much every meal unless, of course, I am eating fast food. Since I was away for the PCA, I came home to basically an empty kitchen and pantry, allowing me a fresh start. I went to the grocery and spent like two-hundred on a ton of healthy foods lacking bread and non-sweet potatoes entirely.

My food intake thus far:

1 Tablespoon of natural peanut butter and whey protein shake (half water/half skim milk)
1 Pan-seared chicken breast in olive oil with salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, thyme plus onions, mushrooms, green beans, and a slice of tomato.

It was really, really good. It also gives me a nice time-killing hobby to do in between sessions. Only time will tell how long this lasts, but I hope I can keep it up and make it routine. I just played a session (2800 Hands/+3350/+2575ev), and as soon as I finish this blog post I think I am going to sear some more chicken for a spinach salad with parmesan, shaved almonds, and strawberries and half of a baked sweet potato for some complex carbs. I'll definitely try to address my other issues in future posts.

Birthday

2010-01-14T15:17:00.001-08:00

Turned twenty-three yesterday and have realized I am getting terribly old. All my friends are in graduate school or have real jobs and could not even go out with me. I actually have to plan an event on the weekend which is pretty lame. I got drunk with two old roommates who work at a local bar and came home and played a session (2500 hands/-2500$/+150ev).

Pretty awesome day.

Home

2010-01-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

Thoughts? Not a problem. Despite The Cove at Atlantis having awesome rooms, food, and lazy river, their internet was pathetic, so I couldn't update until now. I'll try to go over day two and later pretty briefly with highlights.

Day two of the MTT I had some euro on my left who immediately started battling with me. He sucked out a few times then three-bet me with ATo from the SB; I flatted KJss on the button. Flop QT2ss and we end up with a lot of chips in the middle. I brick and grind a small stack for the next 6 hours and bust in level thirteen for no money.

That night I ate the best meal of the trip at Mesa Grill. It's very difficult to describe how delicious things are, but just trust me; don't miss out on Mesa Grill. Had an amazing duck pancake for appetizer and a pork tenderloin with sweet potato tamale covered in pecan butter.

The weather in the Bahamas was supposedly the coldest it's been in a very long time, so the remainder of my trip involved drinking and eating every day. I didn't play a single table game all trip which is an amazing feat for a degenerate such as myself. The main non-food highlights involve me going down the rapids of the lazy river, which means it gets like two feet deep all of a sudden with fake rocks. They highly advice you to stay on your tube during this process. I was too drunk to get on my tube. Suffice it to say the rapids pulled me through, and I thought I was going to drown. I made it through alive, but I have many cuts and some bruises.

Secondly, I remember coming home from Senor Frogs absolutely smashed with Chiss in some shady escalade and puking all over the side of his door through the window. He got out and kept demanding I pay him a hundred dollars. I only remember laughing at him outloud, throwing him two twenties, and saying something about amnesty.

I forget the other ninety percent of the trip, but I know it was a blast. I spent a lot of time with friends old and new and somehow managed to forget about poker for almost a week. Having said that....after like nine hours of travel, I am now home and put in a session (4200 hands/+1600$/+520 ev) on my birthday. I'll try to post about how old I feel after I finally get some sleep.

PokerStars Pot-Limit Omaha, $2.00 BB (6 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop | saw showdown

CO ($332.75)
Button ($96.40)
SB ($125.05)
Hero (BB) ($748.45)
UTG ($200)
MP ($360.50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 6, 6, 5
1 fold, MP bets $7, CO raises to $24, Button calls $24, 1 fold, Hero calls $22, MP raises to $121, CO raises to $332.75 (All-In), Button calls $72.40 (All-In), Hero raises to $544.50, MP calls $239.50 (All-In)

Flop: ($1151.15) 6, 9, 2 (4 players, 3 all-in)

Turn: ($1151.15) 2 (4 players, 3 all-in)

River: ($1151.15) J (4 players, 3 all-in)

Total pot: $1151.15 | Rake: $3
Main pot: $386.60 between CO, Button, Hero and MP, won by Hero
Side pot 1: $709.05 between CO, Hero and MP, won by Hero
Side pot 2: $55.50 between Hero and MP, won by Hero

Results:
Button had K, 10, Q, J (two pair, Jacks and twos).
Hero had 5, 6, 6, 5 (full house, sixes over twos).
MP had A, 8, A, 7 (two pair, Aces and twos).
CO had A, 10, 7, A (two pair, Aces and twos).
Outcome: Hero won $1148.15

Pretty sick hand from today where I get allin preflop with 42% equity four ways.

Day 1

2010-01-06T22:20:00.000-08:00

Table was really tough at the beginning with actually competent live pros and all internet kids, but I was lucky enough to win a flip in like hour 5 and chipped up a lot without showdown to about 116k to end the day with average around 50k. Exhausted atm, but I'll try to do a trip report at some point.

PCA!

2010-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00

Got into the Bahamas last night after about 7 hours of travel and being up 28 hours. Went to the welcome party and had way too many free drinks and met up with some great guys that I only get to see at these types of events. I play day two, so today I just went into town and bought a box of nice cigars and a ton of alcohol. My next item on my schedule is a two-hour ride on the lazy river with a flask of rum. My goals for the trip are to not play a single table game and find the one single girl on this island. I'll update tomorrow with how day one went.

PCA Bound

2010-01-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

I didn't really get to play much poker today (~3500 hands and +500ev/+150) because I had to do lots of chores, errands, and pack for my trip to the PCA. My family also took me out to lunch for my birthday because they would not be in town when I returned on the 12th; my birthday is the 13th. I am turning twenty-three and feel terribly old. The average age of my competitors these days is probably right around twenty-one, making me a "dinosaur" in my industry.

I had the following conversation with someone at the table today about a possible prop bet:

(I changed the topics to make it easier to follow)

Him: You are so stupid. An orange is a vegetable. I'll bet you 10k than an orange is definitely a vegetable, and I'll have a famous farmer be the judge.

Me: Ok you got it.

Him: Ok you so accept the terms that we are betting 10k that a potatoe is a vegetable right?

Me: No.

Him: Ah! So you admit I was right!

Then I just ignored him as he kept trying to agitate me. I don't know if people really get off on trying to get a rise out of people, or if he was just that stupid. I'm leaning towards the latter. Kids these days...

Long Frustrating Day

2010-01-03T00:21:00.000-08:00

So right off the bat my day got sidelined as I took my clothes to the local "7 days/week" dry cleaner so that I would have clean clothes to take to the Bahamas Monday 4am, but they don't clean clothes Sundays. They open their doors from 9-5 on Sundays, but they don't actually do any work on Sundays, so go them for being half-ass practicers of the Sabbath.

I decided my best course of action was of course to go shopping for new clothes because I am actually addicted to shopping for clothes, which I'm sure I'll blog about in more detail when I'm in the mood. I get home after having dinner and load up tables to battle, forcing myself to play instead of going out to the bars to watch the UFC fights, and can't win a single hand to save my life of course. This leads to slight tilt and not playing my A-game but it was too late to go the bars, and I really didn't want to fall behind pace on day two.

Thankfully I was saved by two fish who thought playing every hand and raising it at every opportunity was the best course of action (I won't lie; they did in fact get dealt FOUR cards EVERY hand) and they dropped about 3000 between them at 1/2. One of them was actually genuinely confused about the rules of PLO and made some bad calldowns thinking he could play three cards out of his hand. I felt bad for him and told him the rules in chat; unsure how other regulars feel about that. I got a pretty good piece of them anyway, so I just called it quits with ~4000 VPPs and a positive day. I hope to grind all day Sunday and have around 18k VPPs going into the trip.

First Step

2010-01-02T00:10:00.000-08:00

Finished my first day of 2010 on pace for my VPP goal getting 6050 vpps over 6400 hands and seven hours, so pretty much like a real work day. I always liked poker because it gave me the freedom to not have a real job, but I have come to realize that poker won't necessarily be here forever, so I'd really be letting my future self down if I didn't make as much as I can now.

It's not like seven hours per day is really that much anyway. I can still do pretty much anything I want to anytime I want to do it. Mostly I need to stop browsing 2p2 so religiously, but it's going to be hard. Finished the TV series "Sports Night" today (another activity I need to quit, but should be easy as I am currently running out of TV shows I have not seen) and I must say Sports Night was very good, smart and funny, while still hitting aspects of the human experience.

Talking with a friend of a friend today, who just graduated from college but wants to play poker, made me realize how degenerate and gluttonous poker has made me. I really need to stop spending money like I have the past two years. I'd be embarassed to show my bank statements to pretty much anyone but a fellow poker player, and my friends constantly make fun of me for it. I vow to budgetize my monthly spending as soon as I get back from the Bahamas; I won't dare approach that topic right before leaving on the vacation. Also to note my mother seems to honestly believe that if she doesn't remind me to pack daily, that I will in fact not bring a single item with me to the airport; i'll start the night before like any other sane person.

2010 Goals

2010-01-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

Just got home from a very fun new year's eve with some of my best friends. 2009 was pretty awesome until december came and wrecked me, but I have a lot of confidence that 2010 will be my best year ever.

I plan on getting supernova elite on pokerstars for my third time, and I have intentions of getting 2 million VPPs (player points) on the way. To get there I hope to play 2 million hands of Pot Limit Omaha and hopefully win at 3 big bets/100 hands with an average big bet of 10 dollars, so 600k profits and whatever rakeback I get from SNE. It will be a long and stressful journey, but I really think I have the ability to do it.

Secondary goals include trying to eat better and work out more. I'd like to get down to a leaner 170 from my currently flabby 175 and increase all my lifts 25%. I strongly believe these goals correlate with my ability to hit my career related goals; i play my A-game so much more often when I workout everyday and feel healthy.

I'm going to the bahamas for PCA on the 4th-12th, so I probably will fall behind pace in January, especially since I'll have to mostly play 1/2 to rebuild my bankroll from December, but I'll aim for 120k vpps in January and go from there.

I'm going to try to keep updates and some editorials in this blog (something I have never done before) to help my own sanity and also give outsiders or dreamers a good look into the life of a professional grinder.