50nl FR past few days

This is the past few days of 50nl FR. I'm finally feeling more comfortable playing FR again after a few weeks of 6 max. I've had to always keep in mind how much narrower peoples ranges are even in steal spots, people still just always have the nuts somehow, its ridiculous.

Anyways, 50 has gone fairly well so far. My coach wants me to only play 10 tables for the time being which is hard at times, especially when games are ridiculously good. Hopefully after another 10k hands or so he will allow me to add a few more tables to maybe 14-16 table 50. I think I could still play that many tables and do as well as 10 tabling fwiw. I'm so used to 24 tabling that my reflexes are much faster and I'm used to many more things. However all that 24 tabling did develop some bad habits which I have started to fix and or correct.

With the end of the year approaching I have added things up and I'm below what I would have liked to have made but for my first year playing for a living I'm pretty happy considering I just took a leap at the beginning of the year. I also fell short of my 300k vpps goal but had so much shit going on the last 5-6 months of the year. That's not a great excuse but I went through some really weird emotional times my last few months in Indianapolis and then moving across the country. My mind has started to settle down a little bit and get focused back on poker and shutting a lot of the other stuff out with the new year approaching.

I need to get in a lot of hands/hours the last week of the year and am very optimistic looking forward to 2010!

Switched back to Full Ring

After much debate and discussion with numerous people, I swallowed my pride and went back to Full Ring. I think my play style is much more suited for Full Ring at the moment for one as well as being much more comfortable at Full Ring in general. I actually don't despise FR as much as I thought I would and find myself better, given the past ~50k+ hands at 6 max the past few weeks.

My staker has asked that I play no more than 10 tables for the time being at 50nl to learn things. This has helped out tremendously. I've noticed numerous leaks and misapplications of theories I was doing wrong, mostly due to not having the time to think out hands from playing so many tables. I know given some more hands I could play 14-16 just as effectively as 10 but for the time being I'm going to continue to learn and fix leaks.

The past ~7k hands have me up well over $400 between 50 and 25nl. I am running well for one thing but have also started to notice glaring leaks by many regs/fish and starting to exploit those. Hopefully I can crank out 20-30k hands before the end of the month and maybe be able to add some tables while at 50.

I found this site explaining the top 10 hidden images in cartoons and it's very interesting. I recommend taking a look at them. http://bezbrige.com/index.php/WoW/top-10-hidden-images-found-in-cartoons.html

Christmas is a couple days away and it feels so weird not seeing snow or being around family. I kind of had to sacrifice being around family for the holidays upon moving out here and given the past few weeks since I've lost a good amount of money playing poker. Overall though I am getting my confidence back and on an upswing for sure!!

Poker is so F#cking dumb...

It's getting really hard to sit and play sessions anymore. Its like no matter what I do I just get fucked anyways. I've gotten some coaching/advice and been abiding by it and it is making great sense as it's helping me understand the game a little better. I feel like my hand reading has gotten better as well. All the effort I've put in seems to be for naught at this point. I mean fucking hell, seriously.

I'm not even gonna bitch about running below ev because I always do. I've tilted off maybe ~$100 of what I'm down the past few days after the incessant fucking beats that keep happening. And when I say tilted off, I mean calling it off. Flopping a set, getting 2 streets of value and we both have $8-$10 left on river and get shipped into or raised when I'm betting for value and going "Fucking seriously....you can't keep getting there".....but they keep fucking getting there. Flop a set, lose to a runner runner flush/straight. Flop a set get over set (6 times past 8k hands but who's counting). Flop two pair get counterfeited or lose to some ridiculous gutshot that gets there on the river. Aasdlnfaslgn;lahgfjkhafg!!!!

I want nothing more in this world than to succeed at poker so greatly at this point in my life and it's like the poker gods just can't/won't let it fucking happen. This hand opitamizes exactly how I've fucking ran and continue to run.

PokerStars Game #36804774756: Hold'em No Limit ($0.10/$0.25 USD) - 2009/12/16 23:50:33 PT [2009/12/17 2:50:33 ET]
Table 'Amanda VI' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: DragonzPlay ($10.65 in chips)
Seat 2: Dashornman ($36.30 in chips)
Seat 4: Whataboutj ($26.55 in chips)
Seat 5: AAA_369 ($19.25 in chips)
Seat 6: Me zorba ($13.40 in chips)
Dashornman: posts small blind $0.10
Whataboutj: posts big blind $0.25
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Dashornman [As 4d]
AAA_369: folds
Me zorba: folds
DragonzPlay: folds
Dashornman: raises $0.75 to $1
Whataboutj: calls $0.75
*** FLOP *** [4h 3c Ah]
Dashornman: bets $1.25
Whataboutj: raises $1.75 to $3
Dashornman: calls $1.75
*** TURN *** [4h 3c Ah] [9s]
Dashornman: checks
Whataboutj: bets $5
Dashornman: raises $7 to $12
Whataboutj: calls $7
*** RIVER *** [4h 3c Ah 9s] [Tc]
Dashornman: bets $20.30 and is all-in
Whataboutj: calls $10.55 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($9.75) returned to Dashornman
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dashornman: shows [As 4d] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
Whataboutj: shows [Ad Ts] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
Whataboutj collected $51.10 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $53.10 | Rake $2
Board [4h 3c Ah 9s Tc]
Seat 1: DragonzPlay (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Dashornman (small blind) showed [As 4d] and lost with two pair, Aces and Fours
Seat 4: Whataboutj (big blind) showed [Ad Ts] and won ($51.10) with two pair, Aces and Tens
Seat 5: AAA_369 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Me zorba folded before Flop (didn't bet)




Villain obviously types "ty" in chat after wards and starts to spout off how I was lucky to flop 2 pair on him on the flop blah blah.......the chat doesn't tilt me, its the never ending retarded shit that keeps happening and losing me fucking money. I could care less what some fucking 43 year old basement dweller thinks or says in regards to how I play a hand, just ship me the fucking money.....seriously!!

I go to bed each night thinking about poker and hoping that when I wake up the next day I will play better and run better/normal............apparently I haven't awoken from that dream state yet.

Poker, drinking till sunrise and strip clubs

Here are some pics of my new set up since moving and this is definitely the best computer/poker set up I've ever had.

This is 6 max so far since I first started talking with my coach/staker. I'm running ~8 bis below ev @ 25 over the sample but feeling better and better every session. The more 6 max I play the more I love it and look forward to continuing to get better and put in volume. I'm still playing some 25 eventhough I'm on the stake but I still dislike playing in a higher game if I'm not really comfortable with some certain things. I've been working on a couple hand reading issues that I've been having at 25 as well as working on spots to value bet thinner. I continue to be amazed how terrible the players are at 6 max (yes its only 25 & 50 nl) but 6 max just exploits so many more leaks that many regs have.

My friends Fantasticcow, BW07507, abstracktpb and zachvac are only here for one more week so I've been trying to hangout with them as much as possible before they leave. That being said we have had some pretty fun past couple days.

During the middle of the week we all (- Cow) went to K1 speed to do some go kart racing. I proceed to do a semi-sick hustle. While at dinner abstracktpb gave out his predictions for what position people would finish while go karting. I somehow got picked to finish last and he picked himself to finish first as he has driven go karts before. Well I remained quiet as I was picked to finish last and before the race we all agreed to $10/person for fastest lap time. I was happy with this and obviously run the fastest lap and afterwards inform them that I had a membership while I lived in Indy at a go kart place for a year in which we would race on a regular basis......ship ship the 10 spots lol.

Thursday night Cow, BW and I went out in PB for some drinking. This resulted in us getting fairly drunk. Also, seriously wtf is the deal with the bars shutting down at 1:30 and kicking everyone out then eventhough they dont "close" until 2 am.....seriously wtf. This has happened numerous nights now and leaves me pretty perplexed....but whatever.

We head to Dennys to get our standard after drinking meal. I somehow run good and don't lose CCR (credit card roulette). Abbstrackt and Zach come pick us up since they arent 21 and we being our strip club endeavor for the evening. It's ~2:30 am at this point and we head to the first club. We arrive and much to our dismay they are closed! We then ask a cabbie if there are any open in San Diego and head off to the next goal. Now part of the big urge to go this particular evening was that one of the guys had never been to a club therefore we just had to make it happen. After a ~10-15 minute drive to the other club, we arrive to stand in line for minutes while the staff didn't attend to us and we also heard the cover was $30.....ok gg strip clubs for the night.

So Friday night Cow, BW and I head out again. After closing down the bars we passed up our usual post drinking Denny's meal and wondered over to Pita Pitt. While I'm ordering Cow slaps BW out of nowhere and I'm like wtf. They are both laughing so everything is cool but im confused. I ask why Cow did it and he said just for the hell of it. I'm pretty drunk and I say "ok you can slap me if you pay for my dance at the club tonight.......AND my cover" to which Cow snap takes. While I'm waiting for the most delicious Pita of my life to finish being cooked Cow slaps me and I earn my club experience for the night. Afterwards Cow said he held up a little on the slap, which I was obviously happy with.

Zach and Abstacktpb come get us again and tonight we are determined to get these boys to the club. We have great success!! this time and manage to have a pretty good time in the process. Eventhough I had only been to a strip club 1 time ever, while living in Indiana my entire life I've managed to multiply that number numerous times since living here in San Diego. It's a fun experience and a perfect after bar experience if you aren't going home with some girl or something. The bad thing about the clubs in SD though are that they do not take clothes off during a private dance......seriously wtf?!?! Oh well its still naked girls on stage and a fun time with a group of guys at 3 or 4 am after a night of drinking.

After we get back from the club I proceed to play Cow heads up at beer pong for $10 a cup. We are both equally drunk at this point and come up with the idea to drink until the sunrise. Let the games begin. I'm pretty sure I won the first two games and lost the last two. The details are foggy at this point but I somehow only finish up 2 cups after four games vs Cow. We stay up and talk about all kinds of things such as going back to college at some point and how sick of a life we live and how fortunate we are. It was a really great night and I haven't had a night that included all types of fun with friends in a long time.

All in all the past weekend was my best weekend since arriving in SD. I've only lived here for ~5 weeks fwiw lol. It's 4 am and after sleeping all day to recoup from the past 3 nights of drinking until at least 4 am I might be recovered.

World records, girls and poker sucks atm

First off, congrats to my boy ChicagoJoey for breaking the world record for playing the most hands in 1 day as well as MAKING A PROFIT!!! He made ~30k ish on the side from the prop bet as well. I was fortunate enough to make a little money off the bet as well and I also helped him out the entire day playing mod in the chat/cam room, handling questions from bettors and helping with basic things such as food and fluids, lol. The record Joey set was broke a couple days later by Chiren but Chiren barely made any money and has since lost a ton of money attempting to play 1 million hands in one month.

Which brings me to this whole Pokerstars Pro fiasco that Chiren has created. For those who don't know Chiren80/Athene (World of Warcraft) screen name created his own PR campaign to achieve supernova elite on Pokerstars, which is worth ~$110k for the first year, as well as play 1 million hands to get attention and bring new poker players to Pokerstars. Long story short, we found out that Pokerstars said they never received his application to which he responded that he will be going to the Isle of Mann (HQ for Stars) to personally hand in his application. Now many people, not I, think this is some massive level and PR stunt by Pokerstars to promote the site and that Chiren has already been confirmed as an online pro for pokerstars, which is supposed to equal ~40k a year in incentives.

Whether you are a nut hugging WoW tard or a poker player that has basically no poker respect for Chiren, what he is/has done the past few months as far as bringing new players into the game can only be a positive. I personally do not think he deserves to be a online pro as he is not good at poker at all and is nothing above the true definition of a rakeback pro. However poker playing aside I definitely think that some site, maybe not Stars, should hire him to do PR campaigns/stunts as he has a huge following (I've heard ~1 million youtube subscribers alone) from the online gaming community. With that being said, I have mad respect for his grinding ability has he's played over twice the amount of hands I have this year and his overall goal of bringing new people into poker, whether its for selfish reasons or not, is a good one for the game of poker.

And for the record I do not think it is some massive level from Chiren and Stars. I think Stars does not want someone like Chiren, who could possibly be a loose cannon representing them on the business side of things. It's sort of a catch 22 because if Stars makes a breakeven grinder such as Chiren a pro I think it sends a bad message to the poker community but Chirens gamer followers believe this guy is the second coming. Therefore whatever site would sign some sort of promotional contract with him will definetly benefit from countless amounts of new deposits/players and influx of new fairly new poker players that will most likely be mindless grinders such as Chiren, that will in turn generate a ton of money in rake for some site.

Also, if Chiren continues to go for the 1 million hands, which I no longer think he will since the 1 million hands things was a promotion to get online pro in the first place. Joey has assured me that he will be breaking Chiren's daily record as well as playing more hands in 1 month than him as well. This I am 100% certain of and am very confident that Joey could/will set a record that may never be broken.

Girls.....fml am I right?!?!

As I am slowly getting adjusted to living where it never snows or enters the 40 degree climate. I am finding a sort of new unsuspecting problem in the form of spending the night with girls and having nothing happening. I've now spent the night with 2 different girls since moving out here in which NOTHING happened, I mean seriously wtf.......I didn't make a move and either did the girl and I'm just completely dumbfounded. And no these girls were not hideous, filthy etc.....It just didn't really cross my mind to fool around with them. I mean in the past I would have snap fooled around with them and not thought twice about it but I just don't even think about it while its happening.

I mean everyone knows when a girl comes over to watch a movie AT NIGHT or you go out with a girl and get drunk as well as all her roommates being gone its a lock right??? Especially when you are invited into bed at the end of the night. I mean wtf....all I can do is wonder wtf after the fact. Is something wrong with me, is it mental, an attraction thing or should I just donate my penis to someone who could use it?!?! Either way I'm determined to not let this happen again as maybe its just some mental block due to past girls or whatever. I'm not about to become a monk and give up using my penis so why not have fun. I mean that is part of why I moved out here in the first place, yet I'm not capitalizing on the situations that get handed to me.......sigh

Poker can pretty much blow me. I have basically switched over to 6 max for good and am loving it. However it obviously brings a little more variance and for someone who runs worse than most people imagine to, has not been fun. The past 3-4 months I've ran a steady 15-30 buyins below ev and its getting fucking old. Plain and simple. It cracks me up to read posts about guys losing 3 hands in a session with a set, an overpair and some guy sucking out to hit a gutshot straight....LOL welcome to every single fucking session of the past few months for me. I am not being bitter and just saying I run bad blah blah either. I know I haven't been playing well either but this running awful shit is really getting old. Anyone and everyone who sweats me happens to point out every time, "Man you run fucking terrible!" I just want to sit down and start booking wins and banging out hands but its tough to do so when I sit down and am snap down 2-3 buyins in ev every other sesh or so. It has really beaten me down and my tolerance for variance is basically non existant at this point.

With that being said however I haven't lessened my aggression or anything and have been playing more optimal since switching over to 6 max accompanied by only playing 10-12 tables anymore. I have officially become burntout on full ring and have always liked 6 max much better anyways. 6 max also allows for a higher win rate, an equal amount of hands per hour, with less tables, so more concentration and helps your poker game overall much more than full ring does. I am going to stick with 6 max for a long time I believe and also have some staking deals that I have to decide on. The staking offers are for starting at 50nl and then moving to 100 asap as long as my play dictates.

Also my first year playing poker for a living is approaching and I have nothing but happiness looking back. Although, I will say I am disappointed with myself as I did not push myself the past 3-4 months like I wanted to but many life changes took place and that effected me moreso than I originally imagined.

Over the next few weeks I will think a little more about the first year and maybe put together some sort of poo-bah post in regards to my first year playing for a living. Not something that is like "hey im such a baller blah blah" but some things on bankroll management, money management outside of poker as well various other important concepts that I seem to be asked frequently about when it comes to playing poker for a living.