2009/January Goals/etc

Hope everyone had a good Christmas, mine was pretty standard. Presents were not bad, I got some climbing shoes, some hand strengtheners and some clothes. I enjoy break alot and have just taken this time to reflect on both my poker game and this past year.

This year wasn't fantastic for me. I didn't get in any volume in terms of actually playing. I highly HIGHLY doubt that I broke 200k hands. I think 150k is more in the neighborhood, if even that. It's extremely pathetic and I think I'm going to be taking steps to increase my volume (prop bets/etc). As I posted in the 2+2 thread-

my graphs are spread across three computers, and my PT broke on my desktop a while back.

this year didn't go that well. i had a pretty decent start and was up maybe 45k during midyear. thank god for those soft AP games. i didn't play for a while due to trips in Europe and finals.

i went through the worst downer of my life for $15k (thankfully buffered by a WSOP 12k tourney win). i sortve floated along the last few months and probably will finish the year at around 65-75k depending on rakeback/bonuses/coaching/etc. PLO i've been fairly breakeven in the last month or two and sadly i've only netted about 12k from it lifetime. pathetic. (though i guess the hand totals are not bad, probably $12k in about 40-50k hands so meh).

i dont know...i truly respect grinders like shpanko, who can put in a ton of hands. i'm not sure if i hit 200k hands total to be honest.

here is the one ss i have on my laptop i have:

(I know it doesn't even really matter), but it's all I really have. As I said, I'm extremely disappointed with how few hands I put in. Poker isn't nearly as interesting to me as it once was. I'm far from a great player, its just that the passion is not as high as it was when I first started (when I could play for hours on end/etc). I truly respect some of my friends who can put in 100k hands+ a month.

I've taken a few weeks off from poker during my break, clearing my head (lost 17 BIs in less than 4k hands). I felt that keeping a stress free holiday would be best, even though I may be costing myself money (or saving myself some money, the way I've been playing :().

For January, I want to get in 25k hands. I know it isn't a ton, but I think it'd be more than any of my previous 4 months. In hopes to build my confidence, I think I'll play 1/2NL and 1/2PLO and go back to 2/4 when I feel comfortable.

I feel I have a decent grasp of alot of PLO fundamentals (though again I could be wrong here). 25k hands with some PLO might be a bit more (mainly because PLO hands run much slower than NLHE) but whatever.

While I know that 65k-75k or whatever I won this year is good, I'm still disappointed. I wanted to win more, I wanted to play more. I'm fortunate to have won this money and be in the position I'm in (to pay for school, expenses, etc). And I know I might sound like a bitch but it just doesn't seem like a ton to me. I remember people were hating on David Benefield (raptor) for him being unhappy despite winning close to 7 figures in a month. There are definitely other factors in regards to happiness, not pure money aside. People who don't play poker or have such mentalities can't begin to understand. I'm hoping that 2009 I'm able to play more and win more. And we'll see where the UIGEA takes me in the end of 2009...Not really sure where I'll be.

So hopefully I can start putting in some volume and playing well. I'm going to try and control my tilt problem, something that has recently resurfaced after laying dormant for a while. Back in the day I used to tilt like mad and shoved 76s pre and such in super unnecessary spots.

I've been debating learning HU. My HU game is pretty poor. I succeed in some of the games due to just being fundamentally better than my opponents (re- hand reading, making slight adjustments, etc). But I deal with some things very poorly (re- RR-ed pots, SUPER light call downs, etc). HU NLHE is fairly boring (imo) and I think I'd rather learn HU PLO.

I got a 3.4GPA this last semester. Fairly pleased overall, though I did slack in a few of my classes pretty badly. Next semester hopefully I'll do okay...I have a few semi-interesting classes that should bode well. I'm also 3rd in the SSNL bowl pickem group, moving on up. I'm extremely excited for the BCS NC game on January 8th and can't wait.

Hope everyone has a great new years and 2008.

happy holidays

not really doing a great job on my goals, haven't been to the gym once, haven't really lifted. haven't cleared any books and have been eating a tremendous amount lately. bring on the weight gain i suppose.

still haven't played poker. it's been nice and stress free. should hold true on my NYE start but meh.

grades should be decent this semester. thus far i've locked in an A, A-, B+, C+ and probably have one last A for the last grade. This will be my best sem in a long while and I'm happy.

my sleep schedule blows ass. waking up at 2:30 routinely, need to stop it.

hope everyone has a good holiday. i'm getting really pumped for the OU game, leaving on january 6th. probably won't go anywhere until that time. hope everyone has a safe and merry christmas!

live poker

Decided to go to the Horseshoe late last night after recording the last of my DC video (yay). My friend had a super urge so I decided to accompany him and see if I could unwind a bit. We got there around 11:30 and there was one 2/5 game open. After the first orbit or so, I could see there were plenty of soft spots. (People agonizing over calling a shove with AA on Txx boards getting ridiculous odds)...I brought $1500 and sat.

I observed some funny hands. One regular (I talked with him on previous sessions, he was an ex-blackjack dealer) limp reraises from UTG after an aggro button opens. BTN calls. ($500 eff).

($140)Flop: Qs 8h 4d
UTG bets $100, BTN jams, UTG mulls forever asking "QQ or AA? Really?" then folds. (He obviously had KK). BTN flips over the 2s and mucks the other card. I laugh hysterically.

BTN was a nice guy but had the makings of a wigger. (I sat next to him fwiw).

I lose a few medium pots and continue to reload. Mainly just small ones where I open/c-bet (and am checkraised or called and forced to fold).

I lost one pot where I call a LP PFR otb w/ KQo. The PFR was pretty laggy, he played a ton of pots. I saw him make a 3-street bluff when he bet $50 every time on a T9733 board with K6dd. He also doubled up early on I saw with a half stack with QTo after calling a PFR and shoving on Txx (and the other guy really wanting to fold AA there but eventually calling, and losing with the Aces). He also seemed to be wiggerish as well, having a straight billed hat and super baggy clothes.

Another old ape called behind me. This guy was like 7 fee tall and probably 60 years old. Super insane deep voice, reminded me of an older paul bunyan or something.

($100)Flop: 556r
BB (old retard) checks, PFR checks, I decide to stab and bet $55. I probably could have gone lower in retrospect. BB folds, PFR calls.

($210)Turn: Ax
At this point I thought he had some strange 77/6x type hand, sometimes stuff like QJ/QT/etc. I think he could have had Ax type hands as well. regardless, he checked to me again, I decided to take another shot (though balance wise, I'd probably check this turn a decent amount against this opponent with many value hands but my opponent is not thinking on this level). I bet $120 and he c/r-ed all in. I folded, he showed AQ and I nodded, claiming "88!"

I build up slightly. I opened TT after a retard limped. This guy would limp any Axo hand pf and then make idiotic blockers if he hit an Ace. He'd also limp/call stuff like K3s and such. BTN called my PFR (slightly decent player, lacked fundamentals, etc, but 'good' by live standards), UTG called (the retard limper).

($80)Flop: Qc 6c 3d
UTG checks, I bet $50, BTN calls, UTG folds.

($180)Turn: 3h
I check/call $75

($330)River: 2d
I check, he checks. I show and mhig.

I won a few other medium ones where I double barreled xx (I can't remember what I had) on a 962Kr board and the guy was very clearly in anguish after calling the flop (he was the biggest nit at the table, so damn obvious when he had a hand).

I built my stack up to like $800. I was in for probably $900 at this point, just off losing small idiotic pots. BTN opens (the decent regular who I won w/ in TT hand), SB calls, I called in BB with 33.

Flop 985r, SB checks, I check, BTN bets $30 into $100, SB calls $30. At this point, I was thinking how nasty it'd be to c/r since neither can really call except a very small proportion of their range. I decided to check/raise to $150 (in retrospect I should have made it a bit smaller, though I think that $120 is fine as well). I probably would have made the same play (and sizing) if I did have a set/straight.

BTN calls. I thought he had something like JT/TT+/sometimes some strange 97 type hand. SB (nit) folds. I thought alot of times he'd call one street and give up. Many live players HATE committing a ton of chips with one pair.

Turn came, which was 4x. I bet $250 into a large pot, leaving like $400 back. He ships it after thought and I folded like a bitch. He claimed JT and later said he truly did have that. Nice play I guess. He claimed I'd never make such a large bet on the flop with a set and that $150 made it seem like it was a bluff. I guess people frequently bluff him when someone faces a bet/call (from a nit and decent player) by check raising when 150bbs deep, i don't know.

Anyways, a few hands later, I double up with A8ss on a 547sss board in a limped pot against 86o (lol). Guy had me covered. I probably should have played it slower but I c/r-ed ai on the turn, maybe should have just c/c-ed turn and c/r-ed ai on the river. Meh. I built my stack up to $750 or so at this point.

There was some madness soon after. MP (laggy cocky kid who thinks he's good but not) opens PF. Laggy wigger calls behind him, all else fold.

($50) Flop: Qs 8d 8h
MP bets $25. LP (wigger) makes it $60. MP makes it $120. LP makes it $220. MP mulls and mulls and starts staring into his soul (I HATE when people stare each other down, so dumb). He says "God I hope you don't have KQ...will you show me if I fold?".

"Yes I will"

"....Fine, I fold." LP flips over J9o and I laugh hysterically.

I witnessed one other idiotic hand later that night. MP (quiet donk) opens, LP calls. Flop 557r check/check. Turn Qx, MP bets $60, LP makes it $200, MP jams $800 on top, LP calls with 77 and beats KK. Hmm...

I lost a few more pots bluffing. We got down short handed since it was late into the night. I lost some more money flipping when we were doing $25-$40 a hand, I didn't win one. Gay. Overall lost $300 and my friend $120. I ate my sorrows away with country fried steak and eggs.

done

School is over with for the semester, we have about 3.5 weeks off. I'm pretty excited, very relieved to finally be done for a while. I don't have many fantastic plans over break (other than the UF game) and am excited to just sit at home. This past semester went fine...other than social psychology (a discussion based class in which I did not open my mouth once), I think I did pretty well. Should be looking at an improvement on my meager 2.90 GPA. Next semester should be pretty meh overall, not terribly difficult but just annoying. Spanish over the next 3 quarters is going to suck even bigger dick, God I hate Spanish.

I don't have a ton of plans this break. Just want to sit back and relax, hope to enjoy lots of college football. I have a few goals for this break as well (and this was one of the main reasons why I created this blog is to hold myself accountable for such goals). Sadly I have not been able to update it as much as I'd like due to school.

-Read two books. I have alot of different books that I bought recently (I'm backed up) and I'm excited to get into some of those. I'm currently reading 'How to Be Idle' by Tom Hodgkinson. I probably don't need this book, but it's fairly interesting. The author presents an outlook on life that is very rare, especially for citizens of places such as the U.S. and W. Europe. Instead of work work work all the time, the author enjoys lounging around, and doing other such acts. It's a bit hard to describe and sounds goofy, but I'm enjoying the book. Though it probably isn't going to have the best influence on me since I really don't work hard these days anyways. I pretty much already have the mentality of the author, that is, to enjoy life and not get caught up with too much of the technical stuff (working, school, etc). This could be due to poker but I'm not really sure.

I know I'm not going to be a rich person. Or fairly sure. I'm probably going to graduate with a history degree and there aren't a ton of jobs in that field (ha). One day I plan on doing teaching, we'll see. I don't really know where my life is going to take me in the next few years. I have a decent amount of options with poker (for however long it lasts). My degree sortve leaves me in a weird spot but meh, I guess I'll just deal with it as it comes along. While I am typically the type of person to think things out (in most cases, other cases such as jumping fences, not so much...), I honestly have no idea where I'll be in the next five years. This post HERE is an interesting one. (A good read as well)- the author picked up everything and left, went on his own adventure around the world and it sounds like quite an experience. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but meh...who cares?

Ok so I got a bit side tracked. I'd like to read two books, maybe more.

I want to keep in shape over break. I plan on going to the YMCA or other local gyms if possible. Also in line with that is to keep my eating in check- my diet has been a trainwreck these days due to not having any food at the house. I think that going home should be a nice break with real food for once (instead of Jimmy Johns).

I'll set my poker goals at the end of the month. I still haven't decided whether or not I'm going to play. I probably should just sack up and play regardless but meh. I'd like to keep a relatively stress free holiday (or as much as I can). I also will need some money in the future as well though, so we'll see how much I do want to play. The most important thing is that I'm in the right state of mind in doing so, and that I'm in line, conscious, etc. of my decisions.

We're wrapping up our DC series (terp and I) and it's been fun. Glad it's over though. Probably won't do many videos anymore in the future, too much work. Should be finishing it up on Sunday though so that should be swell.

be well

:(

I've decided that I'm going to take the rest of the year off playing wise. I'm clearly not playing well and losing thousands of dollars. I have a myriad of issues while playing, mainly tilt, that I need to concentrate on before taking the next step in my poker career. Thankfully I'm overrolled but still, the quality of my play has been disgusting the last few days.

We'll see how long this lasts. If I feel I'm in the right state of mind I still might yet play, we'll see.

I haven't been running well, that's for sure. But even more importantly, I haven't been playing well. I'll be the last person to pin point the blame to something other than myself. To be honest, I've been very lazy in my poker learning these days, rarely looking or discussing hands, not watching videos, not analyzing HEM, etc. (Which I recently bought, haven't touched it much). I feel like I need a rejuvenation in my game, not sure how I can attain it. I'm not nearly as dedicated to this game as I once was (and that's not to say I think I'm awesome or anything, far far far from that).

I think self-analysis is the best tool when facing a downswing. I have had worse downswings in my life (namely the -7k night in April which resulted into a $15k downer). Regardless, I'm currently at about -20 buyins at 2/4 (most of it being from PLO). The game is obviously very high variance and I lost most of my buyins in less than 4k hands. Pretty crazy. Most of it was losing the 60/40 flips that are so vital for success or failure in this game. (And obviously the 55/45s/etc).

Some things I need to focus on-

-Tilt control. This is especially vital in a game such as PLO, where it is so easy to convince yourself that you can 'gambol' it up when in reality you are really getting it in as an equity dog every time. While I might suck out sometimes, I'm not doing myself any favors in the long run. I need to realize that many of the short term results don't matter and just focus on the long run. I wish I could just shrug but ughhhh...

-Rekindling my poker learning. I recently did a session with my old coach (and plan on doing more in the future for sure). I need to start looking through HEM and PLOtracker and figure out what I'm doing wrong and how to correct it. I've been lazy far too long, both in hand amounts and hand analysis. I also plan on watching videos like I used to.

-Humbling myself. Telling myself that 1/2 isn't a big deal and there is no shame in playing it. I plan on playing 1/2 PLO/1/2 NLHE until I make the 8k back again. While this may take a month or two, I think it'll be good for my overall poker life.

Anyways, yeah. I suck at poker. I still plan on coaching through this struggle, as well as finishing out my series with DC. We filmed video 7 of our series and 8 should be done by Sunday. Wrapping this series up should be good, I'm proud of the content we put out. Meh.

In other news, I took up rock climbing. Should be a cool new hobby that is beneficial in more ways than one. I've only gone a few times but it's a ton of fun and super brutal exercise wise. I took a class and now know how to belay/tie knots (sorta)/etc. I plan on buying some climbing shoes this winter and coming back hard after break. Rock climbing involves a ton of muscles you don't typically use, mainly fingers, forearms, and back (and legs of course).

Finals are also coming and going, I have two. I can't wait to get out of here and go back home. I still haven't decided what I'm really doing for christmas break, other than the Miami game. I'd like to go skiing maybe or perhaps somewhere else (warm). I'm not doing the PCA this year because the OU game is right during it. My sleep and eating schedules are also fucked as well, I haven't gone to the store in a month. Pretty much just eating out and eating minimally. I also woke up at 3p.m. yesterday after going to bed at 6, which disgusts me. I partially fixed it today though and woke up at only 1:30 so meh.

Anyways, meh, poker sucks. I suck at life.

poker

sucks my fucking nuts.

also do not see the day the earth stood still, what a shitty ass movie. i fucking hated the little kid. christ.

fuck my life.

meh

pretty much finished with most of my finals/final papers. I have a long paper I have to finish up before monday but I only have two finals. I'm fairly done in that regard and it's been a busy last two weeks. I've only played poker twice this month and probably not up anything. I've started back coaching with my old coach Parlay Slow, probably going to do PLO. PLO is much more fun and interesting imo and I haven't played NLHE in quite some time. I also just finished my 6th video with terp and am glad to be wrapping that up soon. Video series are long and meh overall. I am proud of the content we put out but am not really happy with the strict schedule we're on to do so (and having a person as lazy as me isn't great).

I recently took up rock climbing. It's something that I enjoyed doing when I was younger. I decided to try it out last week and god, I realized I'm not 130 pounds anymore. Big fatboy has gained some weight since that time and cannot fly up there like he used to. I'm hoping that my body can get used to the strain and I can build my back/arm/finger muscles quickly. I asked for some climbing shoes over break as well as some forearm clasps to work out with so hopefully that'll be fine. I want to get in tune with some of these strange skills that I'll (hopefully) be using when traveling. Scuba diving is next on the list and that should be fun as well. I'm hoping that by the time I get to go to Asia (hopefully Thailand in the summer), I'll be well acquanted with these things.

So I fucking hate spanish. It's such a retarded fucking language. I actually hate all languages to be honest, mainly because I suck ass at them. This spanish class I'm taking now is horrible and I have to do all these idiotic exercises. I fucking HATE it ughhh...thank god it only lasts until Feb. Sucks dick that it impedes on my winter vacation though.

I'm going to Miami. I booked the flight/hotel/tickets for the game already. I can't remember the total but it's like $800 for tix/$270 for plane/$250 for hotel. So probably closer to like...$1500 w/ everything. I'm leaving on Jan 6-9th so that should be a good time (or a horrid time) depending on the result. I'm going w/ dbc.

Christmas is coming up. I don't really know what to get for my siblings so I just get them gift cards. I know its impersonal but I doubt my sister really wants me to pick out a shirt or jeans for her. My taste in clothing is awful and I think she thinks the same. Meh, whatever. I asked for a football (since mine got stolen), some rock climbing shoes and a clamp, and a few dvds.

Gotta think of other ideas for winter break. flirting with the idea of going skiing, as i have for the past few years. obviously going to miami, should be fun. i was going to the PCA but miami sortve got in the way of that so whatever. regardless, should be a fun break.

Miamiiiiiiiiiiii

UF beat bama on saturday, really a fantastic game. the line was -10 UF and i bet $200 on it (as well as a bunchve small retarded bets with other friends). i was pretty confident with my bet even with percy harvin being out.

UF scored first. we marched down the field decently enough, tebow had some pretty bad throws. i was confident that we could move the ball against their D. i'm happy with the way our offensive coord planned for this game as well, ie. not doing idiotic shit like running it up the middle to fat terrance cody (almost 400 pounds of a black woman). i think we could have thrown a bit more but UM's offense is typically based on running first, with lots of misdirection/zone read/option/motion play (and the throws typically being play action).

Urban Meyer's offensive philosophy/scheme is detailed here. the guy does a much better job of explaining it than i do.

regardless, UF scored 7, bama came firing back. tbh, i was very surprised with how well their corners played against our WRs. while harvin WAS out, they played very aggressively and blanketed UF WR decently. they scored off like 2 plays with julio jones (future NFL wr one day, kid is a stud) and coffee (we had trouble with him all day long).

some of the key matchups of this game that won UF this game:

-battle of the trenches- bama had an edge off both lines i think, maybe neutral on their DL vs. our OL. i think the 4th quarter displayed pretty nicely how UF wore them down. cody wasnt much of a factor and UF OL was able to create some nice holes both up the middle (occassionally) as well as on the edges.

-getting at JPW- he isn't a good QB. he's a 'game manager'. while he doesn't explicitly hurt his team (ie. reggie ball), he still is pretty bad, especially under pressure. Bama had one of the best OLs in the nation, A. smith and Caldwell destroy DLines. Smith is definitely 1st or 2nd in terms of LTs in the nation, perhaps behind or slightly ahead of michael Oher from miss. regardless, UF did well today and i was happy with how some of our blitzes got to JPW. while UF missed a few tackles and WERE owned in the trenches on a few plays, i'm happy with the pressure we presented JPW.

-controlling both the rush and the clock- UF controlled the clock and won the TOP battle (32 min) as well as outrushed them (142 to 136). while neither number is huge, i'm very happy with containing ingram/coffee to 136 yards. bama's offense is a very good one when countering teams like UF/OU. their entire philosophy is based around a few elements- ball control, field position, and not really making mistakes. (meaning turnovers). all week long we heard 'blue collar bama vs. flashy UF'. UF has a very underrated OL and are imo, one of the best in the nation.

it really looked like in the third quarter we were going to lose this game. they held UF to like 50 yards or somethign ridic like that, controlled the clock and did long consistent drives. basically, we were playing into their favor. i was real proud and happy with the way UF responded in the 4th. UF finished like 7-13 on 3rd down conversions, which was huge. obviously you aren't going to get a ton of opportunities against a team like clock eating bama, so every drive counts.

-another huge key in this game was UF backups- carl moore, DAVID NELSON, riley cooper all came up huge in this game (all are UF wrs). while all have had touches this season, they have typically been in the shadows of murphy (who had a good game), harvin (obviously), and deonte thompson (who did not play for whatever reason). emmanuel moody also did well. i'm surprised we didn't use him earlier in the game, though his physical running style may have been better in the end against a tired bama DL.

i was also happy with jeff demps. he's going to be great in the future. chris rainey had one touch i think, if that. demps played great, blocked well, had a few nice runs.

props to the entire team. cbs played lights out, aside from letting up the big one to julio. a few blown tackles as well, a few terrible angles, but meh. for the most part, they played great. barring some sick sick sick circumstances, UF will be going to the NC game to play OU, which is going to be huge. pretty sure i'm going to miami with dbc on january 8th.

anyways, all my winter break plans were dependent on the outcome of UF. PCA is prob on hold for this year, despite it being pretty fun. i might hit up vegas in december or so for a few days with shpanko/flancrest/terp/goofy so we'll see. i think a vegas trip + FL trip would be decent enough so meh. we'll see. finals coming up, papers coming up, sucks my ass.

FUCK SCHOOL

I just started my queer ass spanish course. god i hate languages.

I have a billion papers due. Many tests coming up. Fuck my life.

Oh well, tune in and watch UF play Bama on Saturday at 4 p.m.

No more updates for a few more days, ughhh school sucks my ass.