Italian Vegas

WSOPE was a wipeout… in the HA i lost two flips, in the Omaha i lost a chunk to Dave Shallow in a pretty standard hand, and tilted off the rest. In the main event, i thought i played pretty good, my biggest pot i won was calling a 9k river bet with Ac6c on a 9cKc2s4dKd board, and it was good. I lost with KK three times, and then flipped for a decent stack against Jason Mercier with JJ v AK and busted. I ran good in % swaps and buys so recouped my £17500 outlay.

I’m playing EPT London on Saturday and may play some live cash. I haven’t played so much online because i’ve been tilting like a monkey when i’ve played, so its best to have a bit of time off. I normally have two bad months a year so hopefuly January and September are the lot for the year

Poker is a piece of shit
I just don’t feel like I can get my month going which is frustrating me greatly. Since the last post where I dropped a ton of money it’s been: grind out $2-3k day, bust $3k the next day and quit, go for drinks, repeat step one.

I feel like I’m for the most part playing well and my results are good at 5/10 and below this month, but as you can see 10/20 has been killing me. I accept that my $$$ variance is obviously going to be way higher in higher limit fre online games, but it’s still not fun to take repeatedly.

Pokernews Cup
We headed over to the Crown last night and checked out the Pokernews cup action. Lot of higher cash free online games running, some 5/10/20 and even a 10/20/40 free online game about to kick off. Thinking about playing a couple of the events. There’s a 6-max $550 tourney in a couple of days I think we’re all gonna play in, and tempted to try to get partially staked to play the $2,200 main event as I reckon it’ll be real soft.

APPT Auckland
Booked up for New Zealand yesterday, flying over in 2 weeks time for the APPT. Don’t know a whole lot about the rest of NZ… any stuff to do recommendations around Auckland?

Pretty depressed in general at how badly poker is going for me here so far, I’m down $14k since arriving in Aus 2 weeks ago. Guess I’ve just gotta keep telling myself that it’s just down to variance at 10/20 but I’m unhappy at the prospect of having another losing month. Tough to get out of that mindset.

Poker is a pretty big part of day to day life here at the moment. Most of our chat is poker related, trying to spend a lot of time playing and working on our virtual games. So to be running bad is really frustrating. Should probably insert something about positivity, mindset, learning, etc here… ahh well.

Quit frustrated then decided to attempt unlocking my iphone so I can use it over here. Failed at that, leaving it in the unusable recovery mode and the internet here is too shit to download the 3.1 update to restore it. SIGH! Went into town for a bit to chill out, now back and not too much going down. Don’t feel like doing much poker related at the moment so I’m here writing this whiney blog.

Emo day
This has been a pretty shitty day so far. We woke up a little hungover to find that the internet wasn’t working so slept in a bit, got food then came back to the hostel for like midday. Still no internet and the soft Sunday fre online games slipping away by the minute, went to the gym then grabbed a shower and the internet was back up by like 2pm, so around 1-2 hours of good free online games left. Lost $2k in 200 hands then the net died again. Sigh, super fucking frustrating.

There are 2 times I’m generally motivated to blog, when things are going real well and when things are going badly.

Meeting people
I was hoping that staying around here we’d be meeting and socialising with people a lot more but it hasn’t really worked out so far. It was kind of similar with Thailand, when your with a group of people you’ve got less of a need to socialise with other folk. Might give some online dating a shot over here, hit some clubs, etc. It’d be cool to meet new people and have some non-poker friends to hang out with.

In other news I’ve lost the last 4 CCRs for dinner in a row, that’s a 1.2% chance, fml! Was 0 for 6 before that in fairness.

Just realised that I’ve not yet watched the last 4 episodes of Entourage… win.

Hello everyone.. Blog has gone a bit quiet recently, so thought I would chuck in a little post.

Online Poker: haven’t played much recently as had been working long hours but just started up again, hopefully will post some interesting hands soon..

Live Poker: played a couple of times at the new poker club in my home town, really nice setup they have. low point: donked off £25 on a hopeless bluff, high point: read my way to a £50 win on pair of 10s on a board with A and K..

Have a nice little chip set all ready for a Premier league style tournament, which will hopefully happen soon..

Home virtual games have not really happened for a while for similar reasons to why I haven’t been playing online……

Poker Soc: Completed the new website ( www.ueapoker.co.uk ) and set up the new facebook page ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=74766802002 ). Have set up affiliate schemes with Best Poker ( https://www.bestpoker.com/signup?bonuscode=ueapoker100 ) which will be the home of the Poker Soc’s online tourneys for the year; and also with Poker Office ( http://www.pokeroffice.com/?AffID=11673 ) which will earn the soc. some munns to go towards some great prizes etc….

Soc mart was a huge sucess with approx 190 sign-ups and more are expected.

Non Poker: Spent the first part of the summer working, and in the past few weeks have been volunteering with Norfolk Music Works in their summer projects.. Met some awesome musicians, and it has reignited my interest in music feels great to go and make some music Have sorted out my home studio completely so have real nice recording set-up…

Now going into final year of Law degree, have chosen: employment law, company law, medical law and Human Rights in the UK as my four subjects, so looking forward to that.. Not sure what the plan is for this time next year yet though would like to take some time to travel a bit, but who knows, Vegas is definately on the cards for next year though!

Thats me done, not to much poker stuff, but will be soon, check out website for more info on the poker soc!

House-hunting was just getting so god damn depressing and this place gives us a bunch more freedom, lets us move around move and also socialise with a bunch of new people. So planning on heading to NZ for a week or 2 for APPT, and to Sydney for a week for APPT and a week for beaches before USA. May also hit up somewhere on the north/east coast will see what happens.

Gigabet – Almost there with success and failure
Phil Galfond – You are BAD at poker
Internet Pokers – Poker is a whore
Wonderboy – 100k hands without a hud
Tommy Angelo – DC Series Ep 8, bankroll bits

Aus stuff…

On a positive note we got accepted for a sweet house that we applied for in a great area… then turned it down! The agents took a few days to get back to us about it, by which time we’d checked out a few hostels and found probably the most ballin’ hostel ever. Place has a huge rooftop area for getting social, drinking, anti-tilting, it has a gym, virtual games room and even a freaking cinema in it. It’s in a perfect location just at the edge of the CBD too, 15min walk to the Crown. Check it out… www.vichall.com.au

The last few days have been pretty gay, lost a bunch of moneys and feel like is started affected my decision making yesterday so taking today off to chill out and study. September graph of moan for y’all…

Here’s my list of awesome things to read when you’re on a downswing or have lost a bunch of money and need to sort your head out.

Lots of cool stuff going on over the next few weeks though so we’re pretty excited about it. The Melbourne Cup horse races are next weekend, Melbourne festival starts in a couple of weeks, Pokernews up is running at the Crown in a week, and we gots tickets for NOFX/Bad Religion tomorrow night. Just need it to get warmer here, it’s not actually that hot!

“If only we could just live our bankroll, every single second, no matter what it was, the amount of agony we would let go of is HUGE.” ~ Tommy Angelo

That was a few hours ago, went out for food and checked out the Crown Free Online Casin and I don’t feel too bad now. I’m trying to keep the mindset I chatted about a bit in the last post that the ups and downs just don’t matter and you just need to focus on the fre online games you’re in, the bankroll you have and studying your play.

Naturally after creating said target we’re all running like death. I had a really rough morning today losing over $8k in an hour, mostly at 10/20. Went 4k down through pretty standard cooler/flip situations then had a 8k hand where I flopped trips/topkicker vs a complete maniac’s trips and he hit his kicker. Went over the hand with Chris/Martin and the river was probably a tight fold, but I reckon it was close to neutral seeing as the villain was so insanely aggro. The converting fucked up somewhere, but this is the hand.

It doesn’t matter that I was up $X for the month then lost a large chunk of it. It just matters that I played in virtual online gamess that I was +EV in, was happy with my play (and analysed anything that I misplayed) and am comfortable playing the limits I’m playing with my current bankroll. It helps that I’m still up for the month. Will hopefully get back to the tables tonight to play some live at the Crown.

Japan was awesome. Maybe I’ll do some sort of trip report, but I really don’t have any motivation to write about it. Cliffnotes: Sumo wrestling is the best live sport ever, Japanese girls are v pretty, sushi is good! There were some pretty funny stories and stuff, was a lot of fun, maybe I’ll be more motivated to write about it later.

Still no house in Aus yet, we’ve been crashing at a hotel for the past 4 days and viewing and putting in applications for places.

Anyways, for those of you who aren’t interested in my poker mindset ramblings… some trip updatery…

In the style of 2M2MM we have decided to set ourselves the lofty target of making $300,000 between the 3 of us us in the 3 months we’re in Aus.

– EDIT: Some good action, played another session, -$11k day… siiigh. New worst day ever.

Some pics from the Japan trip. Or you can check them all out here.

Ringside sumo action, 1st day of a big tourney in Tokyo
Maid cafe, where loads of cute Japanese girls get paid to dress up and serve dudes, mostly full of Japanese teenagers reading comics!
It’s expensive to keep a pet in Tokyo, you can pay a visit to the Cat Cafe instead and pet a bunch of kittahs!
Workers slicing up a huge fresh fish for wholesale at Tsukiji market at 6am.

Cool its almost time for some decent tourneys in London… i’m playing the £2.5k HA, £5k PLO and the £10k NL main event. I haven’t played a tourney since Vegas so looking forward to it. I was going to play some of the WCOOP’s but the structure is too slow and boring. The $2k Omaha you start with 10k chips and blind 10/20 and a 30 minute clock… complete snooze fest. 500bb deep in Omaha, there is no need…. plus the timing means it all nighters in the UK.

Online has just been like usual. Daily $50k swings… hopefully the action will pick up in the next few months. I’m going to have a couple of weeks off to chill while the WSOPE and EPTs are on. No point in playing a £2500 event after i’ve been up all night and lost £50k.

Right then People this is my first poker blog, Hopefully your enjoy it but it wont be as good a Amatay’s but i’ll give it a whirl, Starting off ive been playing poker alot online and a handfull of live game onlines for around a year….. I would love to make a living out of but its hard at atm mo because im trying to build a nice bankroll to kick it off “$96 at the mo” with no deposit from my card but things are changing, ive think found my way to make cash but will keep the blog updated. Mean while Amatay if you read this im a mate of Dave Lee thats how i found your great blog and tips (Porn site too)

I am opening this blog with a joke. “What is the difference between a large cheese pizza and a professional poker player?” If you don’t already know the answer, I’ll give you the punch line at the end.

Rounders is a film about the underground world of high-stakes poker. Starring Matt Damon, the movie follows a promising law school student who, after the movie’s twists and turns, elects to become a professional poker player rather than an attorney. In poker, there are several poker terms that refer to a person based on their style of play. While all professional poker players make their living solely on the profit they earn at the poker tables, a “Rounder” (synonymous with a “Grinder”) is usually a player who tends to play mid or low stakes fre online games and win money bit by bit. There are no commercial sponsors, there is no fame, and there certainly is no glamour. You may have seen me refer to “the grind” or “grinding” in previous entries.

Although poker is not my primary source of income, the winnings I’ve earned from grinding are a necessary supplement to my family’s household budget. I was considered to be, more or less, a Rounder. I say was because, I although profitable as a Rounder, after placing high in my first two tourneys I decided to try the tournament circuit. Although I cash often enough, tournament poker does not provide the steady income that grinding does. In addition, since time is something I do not have an abundance of, my grinding hours have had to give way to playing satellites for tournament entries.

For those of you who may not know, the style of play in a cash virtual game is usually different than the necessary style of play in a tournament. Of course, at its core, poker is played based on a number of factors: (a) the cards dealt; (b) the amount of chips in play; and (c) the style and personality of each opponent. However, beyond the A-B-C’s of poker, the best-of-the-best have dimensions to their fre online game. As with all professions, out of the millions of poker players out there, only the select few have become prominent professionals that play a variety of online games and balance their careers between high stakes cash game onlines and high-priced notable tournaments. The majority of poker players are specialists. Most non-recreational poker players make their living playing hold’em poker and can be categorized as either a cash player or a tournament player.

In cash play, like most poker players, I decide on a maximum investment for each session of play and set goals for profit and limits for loss. When I hit my mark (good or bad), I get up and I walk away. I try to remember that it is a job and I am at the felt to make a profit to support my family. If I don’t have a profitable session, I have to protect my bankroll and resist the temptation to play that “one more hand.” (A bankroll is the same as an operating account to a traditional business, and as with any business, committing too much money towards bad investments will eventually lead to bankruptcy). I believe a good poker player can recognize what could be a good session or a bad session within the first hour sitting at the table, and decide to either adjust her style of play and or simply get up and leave to grind another day. No matter what, in a cash virtual game, I can sit at the table so long I have money and am willing to put that money on the table. I know that with each session if I play, there is no limit to how much I can win and how much I can loose.

In tournament play, a poker player is in for the long haul. While bankroll management is still a huge factor in tournament play, the binary profit/loss concept is all but non-existent. Tournament play is governed by the rules of return on investment. Whether I am having a good day or bad day, I play a tournament based on a series of contingent goals: (1) chip-up to secure a position in the top 10% to earn a share in the purse [minimal return on investment]; (2) chip-up to secure a seat at the final table [moderate return on investment]; and (3) chip-up to achieve first place [maximum return on investment]. Although some tournaments allow players to re-buy up to a certain level, a player must sit at the table and continue to play so long as the player has chips. I know I have had a bad day when I loose all of my chips and must leave the tournament with nothing to show for it. I know I have had a fairly good day when I have made made my money back plus profited enough to justify the hours spent playing the event. Of course, my goal is always to win first place so, when involved in a hand, in addition to all of the other questions that run through my head, there is one additional question I ask myself, “am I willing to risk the rest of my tournament life on this play.” In a tournament, I know I can only loose the amount of money I paid for the entry fee and I can only win the share of the total entry fees collected that have been apportioned to the position I place in the tournament.

I have been focused on tournaments for a year now, and I feel like I miss the security I found in the grind. After going out on the bubble during a second chance tournament during the Bike’s Legend of Poker series, I did what many poker players do when they hit a slump, I vowed to never play again. I spent my bankroll and crawled into a virtual hole. The words of Joey Kinsh repeated over and over in my head, “[y]ou ignorant punk. I play for money. I owe rent. Child support. I play for money, not the f^ckin’ world series on ESPN.”

I am a driven person and am often criticized by my friends and family for being a perfectionist. I play poker with that same zeal. I want to be the best and I strive to make no mistakes. In the words of Mike McDermott, “[i]f you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. ” Falling short of perfection often shakes up my world and requires me to step back and take a second look at my goals before effort turns into obsession. I tried to keep my spirits up my convincing myself that I was taking much needed time off. But, in reflection I was just hold up on my house wallowing in denial. Now I am writing this blog entry to see if I can find the motivation to get back out there and do what I love to do. Play poker.

I am at a crossroad. If I want to continue to play poker, I need to choose. Do I want to be a “Knish” or a “McDermott.” As I sit here rubbing my forehead, I still don’t know. All I know is the punch line to my opening joke. The difference between a professional poker player and a large cheese pizza is: a large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.

Twitter
Added this on the left bar you’ll have noticed! I think it’ll come in handy for posting tilted ASDKJASLDKJSALKDJSD updates, random travelling pics, recommendations on videos to watch, etc. So i’ll be using it for poker related stuff… which might be weird for the people who already have me added for non-poker reasons, but whatever.

To quote Tommy, “If we could just live our bankroll, every single second, no matter what it was, the amount of agony we’d let go of is huge”.

Tommy Angelo’s 8th DC vid
Fantastic penultimate video to the series. One point really hit home hard with me, I’ll try to describe it without completely ripping off his content…

Planning Tokyo, booking hotels, etc tonight and tomorrow. Should be hooking up Sumo tickets too, sweeeeeet! If anyone has bar/restaurant/club/etc suggestions please shoot them in comments.

It made me think for a few minutes about how graphs really don’t matter. All that matters is your current focus/concentration (mental state), being able to beat the game onlines you’re sat in (free online game selection) and having enough money to not feel anxious about losing what you have on the table (bankroll management). If you can focus yourself on those things rather than how you’re running (the past) or winning your money back (the future) then you’ll play as optimally as possible.

August
Was my worst results month ever, finishing -$5k. The usual running badly, with some playing badly mixed in. I feel like I did a good job of not letting it bother me too much which is really important. Off to a good start so far on September already, which is nice.

I have sessions where I win 5bi early then end up dropping 5bi just before the end of the session, they make me feel VERY angry. Why? Because according to Tommy the pain comes from the attachment to the money won. If there was no attachment to the money then there would be no anger/frustration.

If so, can we come gatecrash your house? We’re having a nightmare at the moment trying to find a place to rent for 3 months. Everywhere seems to want 6-month minimum contracts, and the shorter contract places are RIDIC expensive. Oh yea and we’re leaving here in like 4 days.

Anyways I rambled on a bit there, but it’s something that really clicks with me. Watch the video, the ‘grand delusion’ non-attachment related part is fantastic too.

So far we’ve come up with… living in Aus for 6 months instead, hiring a motorhome(the GrindBus) to travel around Aus in, or I guess we could be high-stakes pokertramps living on McDonalds’s wifi. Solution pleeeeeease?

I always find that when I have a bad run one of the things I do to de-stress and make myself comfortable is to review my bankroll and long-term results. They always make me feel happier and more confident. I realise I have the skill required, the bankroll required and I just focus on my current mental state.