I've started looking into buying a house. 2 years ago I was fairly certain I was not going to buy a house in 5-10 years but things change. The market was so inflated then that I would've probably lost at least 10% of my investment if I bought then. Since the market is so beat down now I'm looking into it more. I really want a dog and a place I can call my own.
Something about being completely independent makes me smile. Right now, I'm paying some guy money for his mortgage. Why? The me from 2 years ago would say renting gives you an easier out if you decide to move away or travel for an extended period. Well I don't think I'm ever going to be moving away and having my own place will help me from doing the one activity I despise, moving.
I won't be buying until at least 2009 so hopefully real estate prices continue to fall until then. Hoping to have 100% of the cost of the house saved up by then(looking at homes in the 150-200k range). I'm not going to pay it all off but will put a huge down payment down. I figure it's going to be a complete bitch to get a decent mortgage rate with the current state of the economy and the fact that my income comes from poker. Luckily, my credit rate is flawless.
With all that said, I need to get my grinding shoes fitted. My goal for next month is 25k profit. Really confident that I can make more but don't want to set the goal so high that I end up quitting halfway through. Alright, I'm off to GRIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, October 03, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Back again
Not much has been going on since I got back from Vegas. I only played a few events out there and decided to skip the main event. Tournaments aren't nearly as fun as they used to be. I used to look at the big prize and dream of winning it and going on to become a sponsored pro. Nowadays, all I have to do is think of how much I hate sitting in a casino playing poker and that stops me from entering any tournaments. It's weird, less than 3 years ago all I wanted to do was play live tournaments for a living and now I'd rather drive a dump truck all day They glamorize it so much on tv that people don't realize that it's not even a tenth as exciting as they make it out to be. Almost always it's a big fucking disappointment or a huge tease. I don't enjoy either.
I've really settled into cash. The idea that I can play and quit on a whim is amazing. It's also way easier on me mentally. Sit n go's would stress me out so much, especially during downswings. Downswings for cash stress me out but not nearly as much. IMO, it's a lot easier to tell in cash when you are getting royally f'ed up the ass by the cards. For whatever reason knowing I'm playing good and getting screwed is much easier mentally.
I'm making a vow to update this thing on a regular basis. I've got some future topics in mind that have nothing to do with poker. A lot of stuff about life and fun trip reports. Stay tuned.
Michael
I've really settled into cash. The idea that I can play and quit on a whim is amazing. It's also way easier on me mentally. Sit n go's would stress me out so much, especially during downswings. Downswings for cash stress me out but not nearly as much. IMO, it's a lot easier to tell in cash when you are getting royally f'ed up the ass by the cards. For whatever reason knowing I'm playing good and getting screwed is much easier mentally.
I'm making a vow to update this thing on a regular basis. I've got some future topics in mind that have nothing to do with poker. A lot of stuff about life and fun trip reports. Stay tuned.
Michael
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Chilling in Vegas
Didn't make as much as I wanted to in May due to not getting in very many hours. The weather was amazing in May and I spent a ton of time outside, hiking, playing tennis, bbqing, etc. It would've been nice to make a ton of money but I'll gladly take the 8k or so I made and the good times I had.
I'm now out in vegas for the WSOP. However, I've only played in a few events and haven't cashed in any of them. For whatever reason I'm just not very into the Series this year. The more I'm around live poker the more I dislike it. It's just not as fun to play as it was when I was first learning. It also is a complete grind since the variance on the tournaments are so ridiculous. I'm convinced the only reason to play live events over online is to get a sponsership. Still trying to decide if I want to satellite my way into the main event. Almost played a mega satellite at the Rio today but just wasn't in the mood.
Online has been going really well for me this month. I'm slowly moving up and taking more shots at bigger games when I notice a fish. Played some 25/50 the other day and made 3k in less than 100 hands. Also crushed 10/20 for a bit. I'm not that comfortable playing that high just yet so I really need to grind the lower stakes to give me a little cushion in case I run bad at the higher stakes. I'm excited to play a lot in the next couple of months so I can put a lot of money away for the future.
I'm now out in vegas for the WSOP. However, I've only played in a few events and haven't cashed in any of them. For whatever reason I'm just not very into the Series this year. The more I'm around live poker the more I dislike it. It's just not as fun to play as it was when I was first learning. It also is a complete grind since the variance on the tournaments are so ridiculous. I'm convinced the only reason to play live events over online is to get a sponsership. Still trying to decide if I want to satellite my way into the main event. Almost played a mega satellite at the Rio today but just wasn't in the mood.
Online has been going really well for me this month. I'm slowly moving up and taking more shots at bigger games when I notice a fish. Played some 25/50 the other day and made 3k in less than 100 hands. Also crushed 10/20 for a bit. I'm not that comfortable playing that high just yet so I really need to grind the lower stakes to give me a little cushion in case I run bad at the higher stakes. I'm excited to play a lot in the next couple of months so I can put a lot of money away for the future.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Time to set some lofty goals
For whatever reasons I always set goals and never attain them. Most of them have to do with a certain number of sng's or certain number of hands. I think it psychologically hinders my ability to play as I feel like I'm forced to play to meet my goals. Ultimately, I go on a downswing, in part from the stress of trying to get my hours in, and don't achieve my goal.
The goals that I have attained are more material and I'm sure more fulfilling than getting in a certain # of hands. In 2006 when I still had my 8-5 job, I set a goal to qualify for the World Series. Through a lot of luck I achieved that goal in late May. Not only was I really proud that I was going to be in the "Main Event" but it also gave me the confidence to make the leap into playing fulltime and quitting my desk job.
Next major goal was set in Sept/Oct of that year. I had always wanted to go to Australia and was trying to find a reason to go. Eventually, I started talking to a 2+2er that lives over there and he invited me to stay and grind in his apartment right by the beach. There's was no way I could turn it down and by December I was sipping cocktails on Bar Beach in Newcastle Australia. One of the coolest experiences of my life. It wasn't really a "work" goal but one of those things that you always tell yourself that you are going to do.
After that it was Vegas in June of 2007. I wanted to stay in Vegas and play in a lot of events last summer. My year had been really shitty up until I won a sat from Stars and that 12k gave my bankroll enough boost that I could take some shots in some of WSOP events. Before I went out there my goal was to final table an event. I knew it was a longshot but eventually ran really good in the NL Shootout and final tabled it to get 5th. Boom!
I did fail in one of my major goals in that I didn't get to play in any of the EPT event's that I wanted to. Really wanted to satellite into the London event but it wasn't meant to be as I got headsup for a package only to get 2nd. However, I still made the journey to Europe and had some wonderful experiences, including surfing on one of the best beaches in all of Europe.
In december I won a main event package to the aussie millions which was really huge. I hadn't really tried that hard to win a package but there was a huge overlay tournament and I got really friggin lucky and won my package.
My next major goal is to make 30k next month, 20k to use at the WSOP this year and 10k so I don't feel bad if I go 0 for 20k in events. It's a very lofty goal as I'm going to have to grind a ton of cash and probably luckbox into a 5-10k score in a mtt. However, I'm fully confident that I'll make it. Will try to update along the way. Of course, if I'm losing hand over fist I'll probably never mention this goal ever again.
The goals that I have attained are more material and I'm sure more fulfilling than getting in a certain # of hands. In 2006 when I still had my 8-5 job, I set a goal to qualify for the World Series. Through a lot of luck I achieved that goal in late May. Not only was I really proud that I was going to be in the "Main Event" but it also gave me the confidence to make the leap into playing fulltime and quitting my desk job.
Next major goal was set in Sept/Oct of that year. I had always wanted to go to Australia and was trying to find a reason to go. Eventually, I started talking to a 2+2er that lives over there and he invited me to stay and grind in his apartment right by the beach. There's was no way I could turn it down and by December I was sipping cocktails on Bar Beach in Newcastle Australia. One of the coolest experiences of my life. It wasn't really a "work" goal but one of those things that you always tell yourself that you are going to do.
After that it was Vegas in June of 2007. I wanted to stay in Vegas and play in a lot of events last summer. My year had been really shitty up until I won a sat from Stars and that 12k gave my bankroll enough boost that I could take some shots in some of WSOP events. Before I went out there my goal was to final table an event. I knew it was a longshot but eventually ran really good in the NL Shootout and final tabled it to get 5th. Boom!
I did fail in one of my major goals in that I didn't get to play in any of the EPT event's that I wanted to. Really wanted to satellite into the London event but it wasn't meant to be as I got headsup for a package only to get 2nd. However, I still made the journey to Europe and had some wonderful experiences, including surfing on one of the best beaches in all of Europe.
In december I won a main event package to the aussie millions which was really huge. I hadn't really tried that hard to win a package but there was a huge overlay tournament and I got really friggin lucky and won my package.
My next major goal is to make 30k next month, 20k to use at the WSOP this year and 10k so I don't feel bad if I go 0 for 20k in events. It's a very lofty goal as I'm going to have to grind a ton of cash and probably luckbox into a 5-10k score in a mtt. However, I'm fully confident that I'll make it. Will try to update along the way. Of course, if I'm losing hand over fist I'll probably never mention this goal ever again.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Sick = hard to play
So I went to the doctor's last Wednesday finally and found out I had Mono. It cost $200 which was really ridiculous as all the did was swab my mouth and take some blood. I was 95% sure I had mono but I had really started feeling terrible so I thought I'd get it confirmed just so I didn't have to worry about having some deadly disease.
Since then I've been taking it pretty easy but have started to feel a lot better. I'm back to working out eventhough the doc says I should take 4-6 weeks off. I had been sick for 2 weeks before I went so I think my body has pretty well fought off the virus.
Poker playing took a hit while I was sick. I'm up to about 20k hands this month with ~4k profit. Had a huge 2k+ day a few days ago eventhough I only played 1500 or so hands. Even now that I feel healthy I find it hard to play. Bad habits are hard to break and my work ethic continues to be shit.
Since then I've been taking it pretty easy but have started to feel a lot better. I'm back to working out eventhough the doc says I should take 4-6 weeks off. I had been sick for 2 weeks before I went so I think my body has pretty well fought off the virus.
Poker playing took a hit while I was sick. I'm up to about 20k hands this month with ~4k profit. Had a huge 2k+ day a few days ago eventhough I only played 1500 or so hands. Even now that I feel healthy I find it hard to play. Bad habits are hard to break and my work ethic continues to be shit.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
A little grinding
Got 3k+ hands in yesterday but less than 1k today. FT was down the majority of the day and was a little weary to play on stars. Short stacked 2/4 full ring for awhile but it was so damn boring. There are guys that 20 table full ring and probably make a decent living but it's got to be so fucking painstaking. I guess it's a nits paradise but to me it's the 7th level of hell. I did lose a big pot on a 245 rainbow board with QQ vs JJ vs 33 for ~$600. Was a little painful but 100% standard and something that poker players have to deal with it and move on without dwelling on it.
After quitting hell I decided to go down and full stack 1/2 NL 6 max on Stars. From my very small sample size the players were much fishier than FT. I figured it was because you can't datamine on Stars and they don't have rakeback. A lot of the "stat" NLers play on FT where they'll always have datamined hands on 95% of players at the table. I'm contemplating on making the switch but it's really only worth it if I stay there and get supernova.
I'm probably going to stop playing the cap games or only play the 2/4 cap. Usually there are less than 6 tables running at 1/2 and 2/4. I hate playing with only 4-5 tables as I know I can handle 6 and thus lowering my hourly rate. I can mix in non cap NL games but it sometimes gets hard to distiguish which table is cap and which one is not. This can lead to big mistakes especially in the non cap games. The cap games have been really good to me and they are so so fishy which makes it really hard for me to give up on them. Plus, it's so much easier mentally to lose 30 bbs at most in one hand.
Totals for the month(I'm going to mix in cap and no cap together for 1/2 because Holdem Manager can't distiguish the difference):
2/4 2344 hands -$48.00
1/2 3651 hands +$1280.50
.5/1 10 hands +$1.25
Total 6005 hands +$1233.75
After quitting hell I decided to go down and full stack 1/2 NL 6 max on Stars. From my very small sample size the players were much fishier than FT. I figured it was because you can't datamine on Stars and they don't have rakeback. A lot of the "stat" NLers play on FT where they'll always have datamined hands on 95% of players at the table. I'm contemplating on making the switch but it's really only worth it if I stay there and get supernova.
I'm probably going to stop playing the cap games or only play the 2/4 cap. Usually there are less than 6 tables running at 1/2 and 2/4. I hate playing with only 4-5 tables as I know I can handle 6 and thus lowering my hourly rate. I can mix in non cap NL games but it sometimes gets hard to distiguish which table is cap and which one is not. This can lead to big mistakes especially in the non cap games. The cap games have been really good to me and they are so so fishy which makes it really hard for me to give up on them. Plus, it's so much easier mentally to lose 30 bbs at most in one hand.
Totals for the month(I'm going to mix in cap and no cap together for 1/2 because Holdem Manager can't distiguish the difference):
2/4 2344 hands -$48.00
1/2 3651 hands +$1280.50
.5/1 10 hands +$1.25
Total 6005 hands +$1233.75
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Long time
Like most blogs in cyberspace this one has become dormant. I'm intent on changing that. My motivation has severely been lacking since I got back from the Aussie Millions back in January. It was a great trip but unsuccessfully financially.
I've been pretty sick the past 1-2 weeks and have yet to figure out what is causing it. I thought I had mono but it seems like today I'm feeling better so maybe I don't. It's fucking tough to play when you barely have enough energy to get out of bed. Plus, it's depressing as my workout routine has been completely shot and I'm starting to look and feel unhealthy.
I officially made the switch over to cash in mid February. The money potential is so much greater and it's a lot more interesting than sng's. Right now I'm grinding 1/2 NL and Cap and 2/4 Cap. It's a lot less of a time committment to play cash but at the same time it can cause laziness since it's very tempting to quit after winning a few big pots. I think the fact that I only played 34k hands in the past month in a half is disgusting. Part of my problem is that I'm not confident I'm a huge winner at these stakes eventhough I should be as there are god awful players at these levels. I'm hoping the more hands I get in, the more my confidence goes up. Once that goes up I should be able to reel off 75k hands a month.
I'm going to try to post my results at least every few days to serve as a motivator. So far this month:
2/4 - 606 hands -$275.10
1/2 - 1397 hands $582.30
total - 2003 hands 307.20
Forgot to mention I played a few of the WSOP steps at Stars. After getting sucked out A9 < Q7 for a seat to step 5 and losing with AA vs AQ twice in step 4 for big stacks I decided to layoff these obviously rigged steps.
I've been pretty sick the past 1-2 weeks and have yet to figure out what is causing it. I thought I had mono but it seems like today I'm feeling better so maybe I don't. It's fucking tough to play when you barely have enough energy to get out of bed. Plus, it's depressing as my workout routine has been completely shot and I'm starting to look and feel unhealthy.
I officially made the switch over to cash in mid February. The money potential is so much greater and it's a lot more interesting than sng's. Right now I'm grinding 1/2 NL and Cap and 2/4 Cap. It's a lot less of a time committment to play cash but at the same time it can cause laziness since it's very tempting to quit after winning a few big pots. I think the fact that I only played 34k hands in the past month in a half is disgusting. Part of my problem is that I'm not confident I'm a huge winner at these stakes eventhough I should be as there are god awful players at these levels. I'm hoping the more hands I get in, the more my confidence goes up. Once that goes up I should be able to reel off 75k hands a month.
I'm going to try to post my results at least every few days to serve as a motivator. So far this month:
2/4 - 606 hands -$275.10
1/2 - 1397 hands $582.30
total - 2003 hands 307.20
Forgot to mention I played a few of the WSOP steps at Stars. After getting sucked out A9 < Q7 for a seat to step 5 and losing with AA vs AQ twice in step 4 for big stacks I decided to layoff these obviously rigged steps.
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