Friday, November 19, 2010

Quick update

Ive been back in vegas for 3 weeks. Ive lost 17lbs and havent drank since nov 1 ! I feel pretty good about it and about myself. Ive been eating very healthy on a low carb/sugar high fat diet. Ive also been going to the gym regularly.
Poker hasn't been all that great. I busted NAPT LA in a hand where a crazy maniac opened in ep to 2bb. The guy was raising about 80% of hands, I 3b 99 on the button for 5bb and he jammed 40bb in my eye. I knew it was thin but thought he could show up with worse pairs, and since I 3b my hand for value I called and he had QJs. I obv lost the flip and proceeded to lose 3k at 5/10 within 25hands and headed straight back to vegas. I dropped 7k that sunday without cashing in a single tourney. It was a very exp week for me and I just can't afford to go on these tournament swings. I am starting to learn hu and 6m plo this coming week. Hopefully I can retire from mtt's in style with a nice finish off the 2k or ftops main! ship it

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Europe/home/vegas/poker/etc

I have done a lot since my last blog. Most of it bad to my health but I finally think I fell on the right track.

I played a ton of poker in september all the way through the wcoop main event. I bricked basically every event and lost a ton of money. I did however win a seat to ept london the week before it started. I have never been out of the country before so I decided to play the seat. I took a first class flight, (which in my opinion, is worth every penny) and arrived in the cluster mess of an airport Heathrow. From there I took a train to Paddington, where our hotel was located. Our room was very very small, and I had no power adapter for the first two days I was there. It was actually pretty great not having a working cell phone or computer because no one could bother me. I was disconnected from the world and I have to say I kinda liked it. But we eventually got an upgrade to a huge room and found an adapter to keep up with reality. Anyway my buddy Jason flew out and later on our first night after busting one of the prelims we met up. We walked around the city for a few hours and somehow managed to get lost. We asked a local street vendor how to get back and he said it was about a 3hr walk! We walked for a half hour and luckily found a bus route that took us within another 40minute walk before we got back to our hotel.

London is a very dark and gloomy city. It rains there almost everyday and you rarely see the sun. I don't know if I could live there because of it but it wasn't that bad. The casinos there are almost like private clubs. Everyone is dressed up in suits and the casino is very small. They had 1 dice table, probably 10 roulette tables(virtual and real) and a few slot machines. The poker room was the floor above the gaming area but was reserved only for poker and a restaurant. The rake in those games is much higher than here in the US, but it didn't stop people from giving crazy action. All around the area of our hotel was mostly Lebanese restaurants so we ate mostly kebobs. The actual tournament was hosted by local casino, but held at the hotel due to spacing issues. Overall I think 850ish people showed up which is a great turn out. People is europe love to gamble and I was quite surprised at how quickly the tournament progressed. I got to sit with a lot of well known pros including the likes of Phil Ivey. I ended up making day 3 in the money when I got my pocket TT in against 99 and lost to a brutal river card for a top 5 chip stack with 62 left. But thats poker and you gotta take the good with the bad.

After the tournament we were supposed to go to the pokerstars party that was hosted at a local club, but after working for 2 and a half full days I was so exhausted that I passed out at 7pm that night. And for good reason too because we booked flights to amsterdam the next day. I woke up early and went to the casino to find the only game running was 1/2. I don't like to play that low but I had nothing else to do so I played and drank with the locals until our flight left. The airport at heathrow is very nice, but the security wasn't as aggressive as ours. They didn't scan shoes and we didn't have to go through an Xray machine or get pat down. They also don't check your carry on until you reach your gate and are about to board. Our flight was somehow delayed an hour and on top of that I had a rather large man overflowing into my seat the entire way there.

Upon arrival we couldn't read any of the signs and had no currency. In london we used the pound, but here in netherlands we needed euros. They wouldn't accept our credit/debit cards at the train station. I didn't remember the number to my debit card and we couldn't do cash advances so we were almost stuck until jason found an atm and was able to use his debit card there. All the signs were written in dutch and it was very hard to navigate our way around but we finally got on a train for 45minutes before it reached the last stop and we realized we went the wrong way. Luckily another guy went the wrong way too and we got directions to get back on track. So we were supposed to arrive in amsterdam at 9pm and we didn't get to our hotel until 1am. By this time all the coffee shops were closed and there were very few bars open. We ate at another Lebanese restaurant and walked around the red light district before getting to sleep. The next day we headed straight for the coffee shops where I had a hash brownie and muffin and a few J's. I don't usually smoke at all but you only live once so I enjoyed myself to the fullest. We then rented bikes and rode around the city stopping at the Heineken brewery for a tour. One interesting thing is they serve extra cold Heineken on tap in the bars there, where the taps are actually frozen in an inch of solid ice. We partied and hit the sack before heading back to london for our last few days.

The seats in first class are the most comfortable seats ever. The seats go back a full 180 degress so that you can sleep like you were at home on your own bed. There was a full 5 course meal and a rather large tv (id guess 15-17 inches) with tons of shows and movies on demand. It made the flight so comfortable that I didn't want to get off the plane. I finally got back to Cleveland later that night and stayed in ohio for 3 weeks. In that time I went out every single night and drank all but one night I was home. I didn't play any poker other than a stupid 1k at mountaineer which was a total pitts fest. It had a total of 39 players and Im so glad I wasted 2hrs of my life to drive there each way because I busted before dinner break. Its probably a good thing because if I had made dinner break, I probably would of rolled dice since they offered exceptional 10x odds. It was great being home and I definitely miss the fall weather. I got to see a lot of my good friends and most of my family too. I was planning on continuing onto foxwoods and then florida before making the journey back to vegas, but decided against and arrived back in vegas last week.

I have ate sushi almost every night I have been back and thats probably the best part. There really isnt anything good to eat in ohio, or atleast north royalton. I rented a car when i was home so I ate a ton of fast food and really just unhealthy food. Im glad I have the convenience of going to get sushi at 2-3am every night if i want. My buddy zach and I went out for halloween friday and saturday nights. I was a blind referee and he was lil wayne. We went to a presidential suite at venetian that was so exclusive, that it can't be rented out for cash. Then on saturday we went to Pure nightclub. I only had 2 drinks that night and was very proud of myself for doing so. I decided that the whole month of november that I wasn't going to drink. Ive been 5 days strong so far and eating very healthy too. I went to the gym the other day and plan on going tomorrow and starting a routine. I haven't felt this good in years and I don't want to jeopardize that so im going to try my hardest to continue. My roommates are helping me pick out foods and showing me workouts in the gym. I think if I can put up with it for 2 months ill be back to what I used to weigh a year ago. Ill hopefully update more on my progress but I can't make any promises. Ive been playing more poker lately and trying to keep busy. Last night I got to sit with Olympic extraordinaire Michael Phelps, phil hellmuth, antonio esfandiari, and some other big cash game pros. It was a good experience and I know that im a decent favorite against all those guys.

Well anyways Im hopefully going to wake up tomorrow and workout, maybe go to church, and get some more poker in before a big sunday grind online. My parents are coming in monday and I plan on taking them to my favorite restaurant Nobu at the hard rock. From there Ill be heading down to palms springs to visit them at my uncles summer house and play some golf before I head down to LA on thursday to play in the NAPT 5k at the bike. Later this month is the Venetian Main and then the Bellagio doyle brunson classic. I plan on playing all of those and hopefully winning one so I can buy a house in straight up cash. I will be heading home for xmas and then traveling to the bahamas for PCA, and hopefully australia before my birthday in feburary. Anyway thats a long time away and its pretty late here now so im going to bed. Later!

Friday, August 13, 2010

New motivation, I hope...

Ive come to a point in my poker career when I am not motivated to play anymore. I have basically accomplished everything I wanted. I would normally use this time to set new, higher goals, but I haven't had the motivation. I don't know what/why this happened to me. I am one of the hardest working people I know when I get motivated and passionate about doing something. I only play tournaments one day a week and never grind any live cash. I am at a point where I don't know where to go or what to do about it.

I watched a few motivational speeches online trying to find something inspirational, and failed. I did however come across something rather unusual. While reading Doyle Brunsons new autobiography "The God Father of Poker" , I read something that jumped out at me. There was a point in Doyles life where he lost his first daughter and was very upset about it. He never was a religious man, but his wife was. He had an empty void in his life and couldn't fill it. He even stopped playing poker for over a year because of this tragedy, so he decided to give religion a try. Now I was brought up as a Christian, but I never enjoyed going to church with my family. I definitely think a big part of it was because I was forced to go, and almost like anything in life, if your forced to do something, you probably don't enjoy doing it. Well Doyle started praying and going to church and also had bible study classes at his own house. A lot of his fellow poker friends started coming to them, and these guys were not religious at all. He said a few of them with very bad drug and drinking addictions actually stopped for the rest of their lives! Not only that but he filled the void in him and got back on with his life. I have been thinking maybe I need something spiritual in my life to fill this void and get more motivated in life. I don't know if its right for me, but I think I am going to give it a try. Hey, it can't hurt right.

I have been watching some videos lately on mixed games and am becoming more interested in learning how to play them. A new goal I want to set for myself is to play the 50k 8game next year at the wsop. Hopefully I can be motivated enough to accomplish that one.

I have been working out for the first time in years lately and starting to feel a lot better. It's keeping me away from eating out all the time and also eating poorly. I am unhappy with the way I have become over the past year since really getting into poker seriously. I have put on some weight and basically become an alcoholic. I always drank a shit ton in college but this has actually gotten worse. Luckily I am smart and strong enough to realize this and actually make a change in my life. Hopefully I can keep motivated to stay on this new track.

I am definitely excited for the Ftops 2k 6max on saturday and for the big juicy sunday tournaments! After that I plan on going to LA for the WPT Legends a week from today. Then I have no idea what I am doing as I plan on moving out of the mansion in which i currently reside and possibly move to Miami for a month or two to grind cash. I think a new scene will help me get back on track and I am willing to try new things. I am thinking about going to London at the end of September for Wsope. I am also planning on playing in both wsop circuits in Indiana in October, and visiting back in ohio between the two. Who knows though, I live my life one day at a time and without any regrets.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Long anticipated update

If there is one thing I learned from living out in Vegas, it is this; This is the greatest city ever built. I have been living the dream day in and out from playing golf, eating luxurious meals, hitting the hottest night clubs, spending a shit ton of money, and gambling my life away. That being said, it can also be a double edged sword. I do not have any motivation to play poker anymore. Not only that but I also have not been taking care of my body. Endless champagne and liquor binging, eating very delicious but unhealthy meals, and not going to bed until sunrise etc. It is starting to take a toll on me, and although I already knew that it was I chose to ignore it for too long. Last night I lost the most money gambling that I have ever lost since I was 19. It's ok now because I never bet more than I could afford to lose and I am ok with it. Back when I was 19 I lost half of everything I had. It made me finally realize though that I need to get my life back into check and start being responsible again. It's the best feeling in the world to be able to do whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want for months on end. I have played poker 1-2days a week max for the last 3 months. Nobody I know can take that much time off of work. It's truly a dream situation, but it also makes it that much easier to get sidetracked and fall off course.

WSOP : I have bricked everything so far. Monday was the 2500$ six max and I played very well throughout the whole start. Doubled early and got to sit with the prince of poker himself. I ran up a 90k stack (started with 7k) very early and was one of the chip leaders for awhile. Then coming back from the last break I made the biggest error of my career. A loose opener raised from the cutoff, and I for some reason thought I was in the big blind. I shipped in 20bb as a resteal with 22. All of a sudden I hear, "please have aces one time" from what was the real big blind. I was actually in the small blind! That is a very awkward raise size and he realized that I had made a huge misclick. It was very very unfortunate for him to go all in for 40bb total with 88. Shitty fucking luck imo. I had to call off the rest and lose half my stack that hand. I was tilted as fuck. I made a horrible river call basically out of spite after that and then triple barreled my way out of the tournament with 9T on qj74A. I am 95% sure if the river didnt come an A, I would have won the pot but I felt he would fold often enough. He didn't fold the J and I threw away 50bb with 30 away from the money and 1/2hr left in the day. So demoralizing.

Anyway I will be playing this sunday online and some events next week. I cant remember off the top of my head what they are but ill be sure to update when I make the final table!

Friday, April 30, 2010

Vegas life

It was been a crazy time in the couple weeks I have spent here. I havent been doing so hot on the online front in poker. I played some cash and ran pretty bad and ended up losing a nice chunk. Other than that I had a piece of my roommate in the venetian 2500 and made a cool 11k. We popped Cristal and celebrated into the wee hours of the morning, which left us not waking up in time to play the caesars 5k. I have also been running reallllly bad in credit card roulette ( i have won the last 7/10 for just over 3k in food). Other than that I made a few purchases including some new 2300$ buffalo horn cartier sunglasses and a louis vuitton wallet. Never had a chance to shop for nice things back in ohio so getting it all out of the way before I start playing mad poker.

Last night was one of the craziest nights here, and unfortunately cost me 1500$. We spent most of the night at tryst nightclub and drank way too much gray goose, then headed to the rhino for the after party. I tipped the doorman 100$ to get us in right away because we do not like to stand in line. I ended up puking on a stripper and in the cab on the way home, then passed out on the front lawn when I got back to the house. After about a half hour I woke up and passed out on the steps and then on my roommates floor. Needless to say I hope I do not have another night like that for awhile but overall we had a great time and some hilarious memories.

Probably going to play the 2k tomorrow on fulltilt and grind hard through sunday. I am thinking of playing a few events at commerce in a couple weeks. Other than that I really cannot wait for the wsop to start.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Viva Las Vegas!

I finally arrived in Las Vegas early friday morning. It was a very long drive (2200 miles) and I will never hopefully have to drive that far again in my life. I ended up taking a few days to get here. I stopped in council bluffs, iowa to check out the horseshoe casino and lose 700$ in the 2-5 game they had going. I then made it to fort collins, colorado to visit my cousin who I havent seen in atleast a year. Since moving to vegas I have lost a shit ton of money and credit card roulettes. I am 6/8 on paying for my last roulettes and hope that this streak does not continue or else I will have no moneys to play the wsop.

I started thinking about selling a % of my action for the wsop. I was totally against it, and kinda still am, but the total I want to spend is going to be a big % of my BR and do not want to go bust if ftops/scoop do not go well for me. I will let people know in about a month if I decide to. I will be very busy the next week so might not have an update for awhile. I might be playing the 2.5k venetian main on saturday but with ftops, I am not sure about my schedule yet. I have some big props on scooping a bracelet or ftops these next couple weeks so expect to read about me winning all the monies in the next few weeks.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

time for a quickie!

Will update more on napt/poker etc etc etc later. Started my long drive from cleveland to vegas yesterday. Drove 14hours straight and am finally in Omaha Nebraska. Passed a gas station called "Kum and go". Drive was long and boring so Im getting a few hours of sleep before I head out for Fort Collins, Colorado to visit my cousin Theresa for the day. Then will finally make the last leg of the journey into Las Vegas. Can't wait to eat some sushi and get a happy ending upon arrival. JKJKJK