Finally Moved to San Diego and getting adjusted!!!

We left last Saturday morning in 40 degree raining weather and arrived Monday morning to 90 and sunny weather. It took us around 30+ hours to drive from northern Indiana to Southern California but it was a boring and very amazing drive as well.

The first part of our journey down through Illinois and through Missouri were nothing really special. It is all pretty flat and you couldn't pick the side of the road from one state or another. We were able to cruise pretty fast through Missouri though, so at least that was fun. We stopped in Joplin MO and wow was that a hillbilly town. We stopped for the night somewhere in Texas. The drive through New Mexico and Arizona was pretty amazing. Specifically the drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix as it was mostly downhill and involved somewhat high speeds for the majority of it. We spent our final night on the road in Yuma, New Mexico. Woke up with a nice 2ish hour drive to San Diego that involved an hour or so through the mountains again that involved some not so slow speeds again.

Its been around 5 days since we have moved in and it is just ridiculous how close we are to everything. Ikea, 5 minutes. 2 story Target, 5 minutes. Any high-end store you could ever think of is 5 minutes down the road in the Fashion Valley Mall, which is supposed to be the nicest mall in SoCal or something.

CJ and I went on a double date last night to start the night out. The girls are in the Navy and we went to some hybachi steak house and had a decent time. We came back and the girls decided to dip out sooo we were like woteva and hit up BW and Cow to see if they wanted to go out.

There is another house of poker guys in the area as well and we have hung out with them a few times. They are all pretty good guys and it's always cool to meet guys who play for a living and there backgrounds and where they come from and what not. The guys are Fantasticow, BW07507, Zachvac, AbstractPB (pretty sure I messed that up). They have a ridiculous house overlooking the ocean but are all pretty awesome guys.

CJ and I went out with Cow and BW last night to PB and wow. The girls out here are already ridiculously hot but it's Halloween and bars by the beach....you do the math ;). We wondered around for a little bit and eventually settled on a bar that we got free cover passes for. The first girl CJ starts talking to looks like a busto Brooke Hogan. We go through the normal "Yeah we all play poker for a living" she says "no way my friends do too" to which we are all like ooooh here we go sure you know someone that plays. Well she introduced us to 3 mid/high stakes regs and it was just so random and awesome. DerekJ (crushes 5/10 sh), Craigthedeac(Lego Poker Coach, FTops winner and mid steaks reg) and Gordo 16 who crushes 25/50 plo. It was just so random but we talked with Derek for a few and Craig for a little bit and the guys were really cool and chill. I'm sure I came off like a little fan boy but it was just so random and cool so whatever.

CJ did his thing and ran game on numerous girls collecting numbers like he was on the button and 8/6 nits were in the blinds. I dropped the ball a bit and am pretty m ad at myself for not getting at least 3-4 numbers from the girls I talked with. I don't really get why I'm just such a passive bitch sometimes but it's a mental thing. I'm still a little messed up from my last ex but what can you do. No more!!!! BW and Cow were awesome guys and we had a really good time talking with randoms as well as watching CJ work his girl magic. BW and I got our game on with this ridiculously hot stewardess for awhile and Cow was just his mysterious self. I'm still waiting for Cow to just care and start to crush girls as much as he crushes 5/10.

Overall our first night out was awesome in so many ways. I even won credit card roullete somehow and didn't have to pay for our meal at Denny's afterwards. I really can't put into words how amazing and overall +ev this move has been and is going to be for me. We keep meeting really nice people and ridiculously hot girls everywhere we go and the weather is just always perfect. I can't picture myself ever moving back to Indiana or the midwest any time soon or any time later on for that matter.

This blog is a big mash up and not too detailed as an attempt to try and catch up on the past week of festivities. Hopefully I can stay up to date with it and include more details from now on.

+~5k day yesterday

Yesterday was the normal Saturday afternoon Supernova vip freerolls at stars. I have played in these for probably 8 months or so and almost every week since I became supernova. I normally end up losing a flip or 70/30 and getting busted around 800-1100th place every week, until yesterday. I ran good in one tournament finally!!!! Well thats not totally true, I final tabled another freeroll in March and got 6th for like $600 something.

I ran normal all the way up to inside 35 people. I won all the flips I needed to up to this point and was the short stack until I was dealt J2s under the gun. I open shoved and Lilholdem (MTT pro) called me with K9 or K7 and I somehow flopped two pair and double up. One hand passed and then I'm in the SB and Lilholdem is on the button and shoves when it folds around to him, I call with K9 and he has K7 and I hold....weee more chips. Then when I'm on the button it folds around to Chad (Lilholdem) and he ships in his whole stack and I call with Kx and hold again and quadruple through him and knock him out. This left me with around ~100k chips and in ~16th place with 31 people left.

I had already made the decision once I got within 100 people I was playing for the final table or busting just because the pay increase was not that drastic and the difference between 117th and 27th was ~$50, which means very little for me, especially given my current situation with wanting to move. Hence, me shoving J2s and calling Lilholdems all ins because I needed to gather chips plus his range of hands in all these situations was SUPER wide. I won another huge hand with about ~18 people left to put me 3rd in chips. I got my QQ in against AQ for a little over a 300k pot and it held. At this point I made the decision to coast into the final table.

1st paid 12.1k and 9th paid 817.50. I came in around 4th or 5th in chips and made the decision to just hold out while others got knocked out. 3 people got knocked out and I was 4th in chips out of 6 people. We started discussing a chop of the prize pool per chip counts. I was all for this because if I got knocked out 6th I would get $2700 but if I took a chop I would get a couple k more due to my chip count. After much discussion I ended up getting ~$4850 in the deal which I was pretty happy with. I would have liked to get a couple hundred more but I was definitely happy with the deal.

This was a huge boost not only financially but mentally as well as I have been struggling for some reason the past month and a half. This also could not have come at a better time with my plans to move to San Diego which will now come to fruition within ~2 weeks most likely. It's amazing to think that ~5k is a life changing amount of money but it is.

As far as poker goes, I will probably make 50nl my game for awhile and try and make a few k there over the next month or so and then hopefully start taking 100nl shots within a couple months when my bankroll can handle it. I will get the 2k milestone bonus this month as well as at least the $650 bonus and maybe the $1500 bonus instead which will put me around a +$10k month. Again, this tourney score could not have come at a better time and I am really excited about moving,playing and moving up in the limits.

Poker is such a sick game sometimes, I love it!

10k/vpps and +$400/day

^^ Month so far......meh

I am feeling very distraction free the past few days after getting a little more comfortable at Joeys for the time being. I've been working out 5 days a week and running at least 2 miles a day the past few days as well (trying to shed my fat kid weight and get into presentable shape as well as help make myself mentally/physically stronger, which helps alot with playing long sessions).

Yesterday at the gym Joey brought up my lack of motivation which I totally agree with the past couple of months. I have had some real life stuff happen, with a relationship go bad and a really close friend basically say wtf ever to our friendship which really effected me a little more than I guess I realized. That is still no excuse for my lack of production over the past couple of months, especially since I knew I wanted to move during that time. It's tough to look at yourself sometimes and realize that you have failed or are just going through the motions but Joey helped me confront the issue and its back on like donkey kong.

My new goals before and after the move are:

10k hands/day
1200 vpps/day
$400/day

I have to hit at least 2 of the above to quit for the day. These are not just minimums either. To be good/great at something you have to push yourself and I am looking forward to the challenge as I have let myself down the past couple of months. Time for the lazy, going through the motions bullshit is over.

Cheers bitches......couple weeks of hard grinding will be rewarded with a new life in San Diego!!!

Shot taking ftw!!!

Had a nice shot taking session early today with Joey sweating/coaching and it went very well. I played about 2k hands of 100nl and another 2k hands of 50nl overall today. It's amazing and demoralizing at the same time to find out how many leaks I had and how truly terrible of a poker player I am. It is hard to hear how awful you are at something but if you want to get better you have to be honest with yourself and be able to take constructive criticism.

Having lived here for a few days now I have started to get into a routine. I got a gym membership, since Joey was already working out 5 times a week and that has been great mentally and physically. I missed working out and it's nice to have someone else to go with and it's also a great break from poker as well. After 3 hard days of lifting my body isn't as sore as I thought it would be. I have also been closing out my workout with at least a 1 mile run each night.

It's a surreal feeling to sit here and think that I'm not going back to Indy in a few days. I will miss my great friends but I am also very happy and optimistic to continue getting better at poker and moving to San Diego. A little over a year ago I was at a low point in my life and I never would have guessed that I would be playing poker successfully for ~9 months now and in a position to move to San Diego, just because I can and want to. I can only imagine where I will be 1 year from now looking back at the great accomplishments I have achieved as well as my life progression.

Overall this month was a failure yet victory at the same time. I did not achieve 300k hands or get the 2k milestone bonus but I did move (temporarily) and get one step closer to San Diego and have started aggressively shot taking with Joey being a big help. I failed a couple prop bets but rocket/goosefrabba was really cool and let me buy out for a little cheaper, shouts out to goose!

October is going to be a busy and awesome month. I'm gonna finish saving up for the move, move and actually be seeing sandy beaches and palm trees within a few weeks........sick life!!

@ Joeys for a couple weeks

I "moved" up to Joey's for a couple weeks on Friday. I came up here to stay and continue to build my roll and bank account before we move to San Diego.

Obviously living with Joey has certain benefits, such as the above graph. See if you can spot where Joey was sweating and coaching me, lol. I'm really looking forward to learning alot and talking poker on a higher level. I think it will be highly beneficial to the both of us, living together. Yes, I think Joey will benefit as well because I actually do help him with things as well but he will obviously help my growth and poker development much more than I would him.

It hit me yesterday that I won't be going back to Indianapolis. It's a weird feeling since I have came up here a few times before always knowing I would go back "home" and now my home is here and then San Diego. I'm very optimistic about my future and even immediate future till the end of this year. I am really going to work as much as possible and devote basically 100% of my efforts into my poker game and getting better to move up. I wan't to really focus until Christmas time and hopefully the work will pay off. I have put myself into a situation to capitalize on the tools and opportunity I have to really get better at poker and just have to make the most of it.

Football is on today and I think Joey and I are going up to Chicago to hangout with a couple 2+2 guys who play higher stakes for the Bears game which should be alot of fun. Will be kinda funny since I play for a living at micro/low stakes and all the other guys are at least mid stakes pros but I'm sure it will be fun.

Go Bears!!!

5 Days till I leave Indy

After a great weekend and going away get together Saturday night I am closing in on my final 5 days here in Indy. I had a great time with everyone who came out and I couldn't have asked for a more fun/chill night with friends. I will definitely miss some people once I leave but that's what things like facebook and cell phones are for, plus I will be moving to a great vacation spot so I'm sure I will see some people in the future.

Our lease is not up until the 30th but I have decided it is probably best to go ahead and move Saturday for numerous reasons. By moving Saturday it will allow me to spend more time with my family, as opposed to leaving Tuesday and seeing them for an hour that night. I am going to be staying at Joeys for a week or two before we move, therefore stopping by and seeing my family before I go to his place is along the way. It will also give me an extra couple of days of solid grinding as well to continue to pad my bankroll and bank account before moving.

We have settled on an apartment and location but unfortunately the earliest we could move in would be October 6th. No big deal as I could use the extra time get my bank account to a more comfortable level to move across the country.

I am really excited about the move and am basically over Indianapolis and am looking forward to the next part of my life. I'm really looking forward to taking my poker game/career to the next level and living with Joey will definitely help me tremendously. Also, just the idea of living in San Diego where it never snows and is basically climatically perfect is a pretty awesome thought as well. My focus for the next few months once we are moved will be moving up and getting my poker career to a place where I will feel comfortable financially, start to plan for my future and have time for a girlfriend and dating again. Not that I am opposed to hanging out with girls or whatever but having a girl in my life is -EV because they take alot of time and are somewhat distracting. I don't mean to sound callous towards having a girlfriend but I tend to devote alot of time towards a girl and a relationship when I find a girl I'm really into and it cuts into poker, which I am not ready to let happen at this point.

I have also never been west of the Mississippi either so the move really presents many new experiences for me and my life. I am very optimistic and am curious to see where I will be in 3 to 6 months.

Poker is going alright......I'm 14k fpps away fromt he 1k cash bonus and about 38kvpps away from the 2k milestone bonus. I would like to reach both before moving but I'm not sure if I will hit the 2k milestone or not, which If I don't I will hit very soon once I have moved.

I'm up a few hundred at 50 since I've started playing in ~20k hands. I feel as though I am playing well, making good reads and making great lay downs. I have def spewed 2-400 which sucks but is all part of the learning process. I've also managed to run KK into AA a gross amount of times, I think 13 or 14 through this stretch as well as some other sick things but that's poker. I am feeling very comfortable and confident I will be able to continue to beat 50 and get better and better.

50 nl for good????

So obviously this afternoons sesh at 50 went really well. I played for ~4 hours and shipped $3hundo and ran kinda bad but felt like I played some of the best poker I've ever played. My reads are on, my lines for hands are improving and I definitely owned and got owned a few times but it's all part of the process.

Well I have started trying to solely play 50 for good. Joey and I worked out a good staking deal and he is helping me a ton with things. It's amazing how far he has come in 1 year and I have nothing but respect for his work ethic and game and am very fortunate to have him in my corner and willing and wanting to help me as much as he has and will along the way.

It's amazing what moving up and playing higher will do for your psyche when things go well. I felt as though I have been at 25 way too long and fortunately, Joey believes in me and is willing to help me out tremendously. I am just going to continue to play alot and focus on improving and hopefully things will start to pay off, which I believe they will.

I can't say my life has been totally distraction free lately as I met a great girl on her birthday night Saturday night and have been talking with her the past few days. She has a great fun loving and outgoing personality and am looking forward to hanging out with her. It's kind of nice to move past some toxic people in my past and meet someone who is pretty fun.

Gonna go out to amateur comedy night again to support a friend and hang out with some friends. Should be alot of fun like last time and I'm looking forward to it and shipping 3 hundo this afternoon definitely puts me in the mood to go out............eventhough I wanna stay and just crush.