Blog
Huge Announcement!!!…
It’s pretty late in the Bahamas. It’s 1:30am so I’m going to write a quick update. I am playing the $10k Main Event tomorrow. I wanted to let everyone know some great news before I started playing though. I recently signed a deal with DeepStacks University. I am now a part of Team DeepStacks! I am very excited to work with everyone involved in the company and I like what they are doing. I will be doing online modules as well as live coaching at camps for them. It should be an awesome experience!
That’s the big news I have for now. Sorry for such a short update but I have to get going to sleep. I will update the blog tomorrow after play and I might be doing an interview for pocketfives as well. I’m going to try to wake up early in the morning and get a workout in before play.
The stay at Atlantis has been nice so far and I will talk more about that in the next blog. Goodnight guys.
Super Busy/2010 Goals…
I have been pretty busy the last week or so. I haven’t played much poker. I had a great month of December and am pretty upset I didn’t get to finish it out with more volume. With the Holidays and everything, I just wasn’t able to find time to play. I had a great Christmas with my family and friends and also a nice, relaxing New Years. Poker can’t always be a priority.
I have not forgot about the free coaching I offered and I will definitely do that when I get back from the Bahamas. Sorry about that. I wanted to do it before I left but I just haven’t had the time and I don’t want to do it tonight on such short notice. I will do it when I get back and give everyone a heads up. I will probably go through a Super Turbo MTT hand history/strategy involved since most people hate them but they are really profitable.
Other than that let’s see… I had lunch with my buddy Amir the other day. He’s a nice guy and he owns the website PokerWit. It’s a site for posting poker hands and it’s pretty neat so check it out. It makes discussing hands and situations a little easier. We just had lunch, talked and caught up on everything. He was in town for a week so it was nice to meet with him.
I have also been running a bunch of errands before heading off to the Bahamas. My vision has started deteriorating in the last couple of years. I decided to get contacts today. I’m still getting used to them but it’s nice to be able to see everything clearly. My vision wasn’t that bad but at times it was hard to make out details that were far away. For example, when I would play basketball at the gym I couldn’t really make out faces from across the court. It’s different but it’s not so bad. Hopefully I get used to taking them out and putting them in pretty quickly.
I’m leaving tomorrow to the Bahamas. It will actually be my first WPT/EPT/10k Buyin Event aside from the WSOP Main Event. I am pretty excited about it all. I went to the PCA two years ago but I just played a couple side events. The Bahamas is a nice place but I’m there to play poker and try to win a huge tournament. Hopefully I can keep my mistakes to a minimum and make a deep run in the Main Event. I’m sure it’s going to be a tough field with a lot of good players but I am up for the challenge. I felt like I really played well when I went to Aruba so I am excited to play some more big buyin live tournaments. We will see how it goes!
I have some poker related goals for 2010. I will look back on them at the end of the year and see if I accomplished what I wanted to do. I want to…
1) Have 500k in profit between MTT/Cash/SnG/etc.
2) Final table a big live tournament (If I play enough live this will change to WIN.)
3) Win a major online tournament (Sunday Majors/FTOPS/WCOOP/etc.)
4) Continue to grow as a poker player and person.
5) Minimize mistakes on the felt.
6) Continue to control my emotions and keep a positive attitude.
7) Continue to balance poker and life.
8) Move up the rankings on pocketfives (almost in the top 100 now I believe.)
9) Frequently update the blog (at least once a week.)
10) Play more live tournaments while maintaining good volume online.
11) Stay ahead of the curve.
12) Have fun.
That’s all I can think of now. There are a lot of things on that list and I would be ecstatic if I could accomplish them all. Normally I don’t set goals but I think everything I said above is attainable. The end of 2009 went real well for me so I am hoping it continues over in 2010. Time will tell. My next update will be from the Bahamas in the next couple of days. Talk to you then.
Bored and Blogging…
What’s up world? I got a little bit to talk about I suppose. This week has been going alright so far. I had a pretty good day Monday, making two final tables, and have had some shots yesterday and today. The luck wasn’t there in the end of the tournaments from Tuesday and today though. I’m getting there and that’s all that matters.
I booked my flight for the Bahamas. I’m going a day early with my girlfriend on January 3rd. It will be nice to have a couple days of relaxation before I play the main event on Day 1b and ship her back to America lol. I’m excited to have her come out for a couple days and she is excited as well. I am definitely focused and ready for the tournaments out there and won’t be distracted.
As far as my last blog about the free coaching I was looking towards doing something this Saturday night. I might have to change those plans because there is a $1k tournament at the Hard Rock this Saturday. It’s a pretty good tournament that runs the last Saturday of every month and I will probably play that. If I survive in that I won’t be around Saturday night. If anything maybe I could do it tomorrow night. I know that’s kind of short notice but it’s better than nothing. I could always do it again I suppose but I like the idea of a one time thing. Thursday is Christmas Eve so that might not be the greatest idea either. I guess I won’t rush it and I will look to do something very soon before the Bahamas. I will keep everyone updated don’t worry. I don’t want anyone left out.
I’m kind of distracted and tired right now so I don’t remember everything else I had to say. Hopefully everyone enjoys the Holidays and has a great time. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, whatever else anyone might celebrate enjoy it! Goodnight.
Hard Rock/Free Coaching/Vote!…
Friday I played the $1100 buyin Hard Rock $175k guaranteed. They have two day 1’s where if you bust out the first day you can buy in on Saturday again. All the survivors from Friday and Saturday return on Sunday to fight for the prize money. I played on Friday and didn’t survive. I logged a bunch of my hands but I don’t know if I should write about them. I had a couple interesting hands but the day didn’t go my way and I lost about an hour and a half before play was over for the night. I decided to play again today. I had an even worse day.
I basically just hovered around the 20k starting stack until we got to 400/800/100a. It was the 7th level and the levels lasted one hour. We had just finished dinner break and the antes finally kicked in. I had about 14k. I shoved a couple hands and my stack was up to 16k. My table had one player who literally limped every hand and lots of people would limp behind him. He limped in 2nd position and another player limped in middle position. I had 33 on the button and moved all in. The first limper folded and the second limper snap called me. I thought I was in rough shape vs 88 or 99. He turned over ATo and won the race. It would of been nice to win that pot because I really couldn’t get anything going today. I battled though and I cant complain. I didn’t have many spots to accumulate chips today. I whiffed every flop and always had the second best hand. That’s just how it goes some days.
I guess I am destined to win a huge tournament online tomorrow. I had two chances to miss some online poker tournaments tomorrow. Since I didn’t make day 2 (which probably happens 10% of the time with two shots) I know I am supposed to play online tomorrow. Why else wouldn’t I make it to day 2? 
That’s just my wishful thinking. I haven’t played online since I had that sick day Monday. I was in Orlando for some business and to celebrate my birthday with my girlfriend and friends. I’ll talk more about all that later on in the week.
I am planning on doing some free coaching before Christmas if I can. I figure I will load up Ustream, Skype, etc. and give a free couple hours of coaching to whoever is available to watch. I guess it’s just my way to give back a little bit for the Holidays. I am currently looking into a website I could use so that I could have as many users as possible. Once I find out some more information I will update the blog and let everyone know when this will take place. If anyone has any site suggestions that would be good for this let me know. I want to share my screen so I could go through a hand history from one of my tournaments but I don’t think Skype conference calls allow for that and I’m not sure how many people I could get in one conference call. I don’t want anyone left out. I think if I do it through Ustream you would only be able to see me and not my screen. I will try to figure it out but if anyone has any ideas let me know ASAP.
Also one last thing. Vote for my good buddy “Tim0thee” for TableRatings.com Mid-Stakes Cash Game player of the year! He has absolutely crushed the games on Full Tilt this year! He is currently second in votes. You can vote for him by going to TableRatings.com website for their player of the year. Here is the link. VOTE FOR Tim0thee for Mid-Stakes player of the year!!! He is a great guy and a great player and definitely deserves some recognition. I know the money he has won speaks for himself but I’m sure this is something he would like to win. Best of luck to him in the voting.
I’ll update again soon. Lot’s more to talk about!
Big Update…
I have a lot to talk about. All of this will be a poker related blog and most of it will be how I have been doing the last week. So if you don’t want to read about my results please don’t continue reading.
Last Sunday I made it deep in a bunch of tournaments. I bubbled a couple huge tournaments (100r, Mulligan, 163, one other big tournament) all on the money bubble which isn’t a huge deal because there was a long ways to go still. I was getting deep and getting close at huge scores though. Then I got 8th in the 6max cubed that same day along with a bunch of other deep finishes.
Come Monday I got 7th in the 100 cubed turbo, and then bubbled the 163 on FTP in 11th place. Tuesday I had deja vu and got 7th AGAIN in the 100 cubed turbo AND bubbled Stars 162 in 12th place. I took two days off because I was mentally drained from all of the close calls. Friday I played again and bubbled the 100r 6max on FTP in 8th place I believe.
Saturday I took the day off again. My nephew had his first birthday and I spent time with my family and friends. I was ready to win something big on Sunday. Sunday came and I finished 21st in the Warmup (142k to first) and 25th or so in the 163rebuy on FTP (67k to first.) I was getting so close. I didn’t want to have another typical Sunday. I was deep in a satellite for a PCA package. The package is worth a little over $15k. It contains a seat to the 10k main event, 8 days in the hotel, food voucher, and 1k spending cash. It was my last hope.
With about 45 people left this hand came up.
PokerStars Game #36665957995: Tournament #219296327, $665+$35 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XX (700/1400) – 2009/12/13 23:18:47 ET
Table ‘219296327 42′ 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: kidsolid (9715 in chips)
Seat 2: Cre8ive (31275 in chips)
Seat 3: TheTaker (37817 in chips)
Seat 4: evo404hp (21121 in chips)
Seat 5: GavinGriffin (67748 in chips)
Seat 6: dragosgiu (78591 in chips)
Seat 7: newg_choier (77552 in chips)
Seat 8: NoMeNot (70788 in chips)
Seat 9: Luie Sojo (11719 in chips)
kidsolid: posts the ante 175
Cre8ive: posts the ante 175
TheTaker: posts the ante 175
evo404hp: posts the ante 175
GavinGriffin: posts the ante 175
dragosgiu: posts the ante 175
newg_choier: posts the ante 175
NoMeNot: posts the ante 175
Luie Sojo: posts the ante 175
Cre8ive: posts small blind 700
TheTaker: posts big blind 1400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cre8ive [8h 8d]
evo404hp: folds
GavinGriffin: folds
dragosgiu: folds
newg_choier: folds
NoMeNot: folds
Luie Sojo: folds
kidsolid: folds
Cre8ive: raises 29700 to 31100 and is all-in
TheTaker: calls 29700
*** FLOP *** [7s 2h Ac]
*** TURN *** [7s 2h Ac] [8c]
*** RIVER *** [7s 2h Ac 8c] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Cre8ive: shows [8h 8d] (three of a kind, Eights)
TheTaker: shows [Td Tc] (a pair of Tens)
Cre8ive collected 63775 from pot
I’m pretty sure this is a standard shove in a satellite when you are this close to a package. I was lucky enough to hit a 2 outter and double up. I now had an even better chance of winning a seat because I was probably in the top 10 in chips with 45 people left. I then lost this hand…
PokerStars Game #36666091824: Tournament #219296327, $665+$35 USD Hold’em No Limit – Level XX (700/1400) – 2009/12/13 23:23:42 ET
Table ‘219296327 42′ 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: kidsolid (12690 in chips)
Seat 2: Cre8ive (60425 in chips)
Seat 3: TheTaker (5317 in chips)
Seat 4: evo404hp (24821 in chips)
Seat 5: GavinGriffin (64948 in chips)
Seat 6: dragosgiu (80166 in chips)
Seat 7: newg_choier (76852 in chips)
Seat 8: NoMeNot (70088 in chips)
Seat 9: Luie Sojo (11019 in chips)
kidsolid: posts the ante 175
Cre8ive: posts the ante 175
TheTaker: posts the ante 175
evo404hp: posts the ante 175
GavinGriffin: posts the ante 175
dragosgiu: posts the ante 175
newg_choier: posts the ante 175
NoMeNot: posts the ante 175
Luie Sojo: posts the ante 175
dragosgiu: posts small blind 700
newg_choier: posts big blind 1400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cre8ive [Kh Kd]
NoMeNot: folds
Luie Sojo: folds
kidsolid: raises 11115 to 12515 and is all-in
Cre8ive: calls 12515
TheTaker: folds
evo404hp: folds
GavinGriffin: folds
dragosgiu: folds
newg_choier: folds
*** FLOP *** [6c Ac 4h]
*** TURN *** [6c Ac 4h] [Js]
*** RIVER *** [6c Ac 4h Js] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kidsolid: shows [Jc Jd] (three of a kind, Jacks)
Cre8ive: shows [Kh Kd] (a pair of Kings)
kidsolid collected 28705 from pot
Another standard spot. Now I was on the other side of a 2 outter. This pot would have put me well over the average stack for being in the money. I grinded my stack and eventually made it until there were 31 people left. The final guy busted and I had won my package!
I was super excited and still am. I have tried for the last month to win a package and I have been running pretty bad in all the satellites and sngs. It’s poker though and I knew it was bound to go my way eventually. I am so excited I won the package. This is actually my first satellite win on stars to a live tournament. My last satty win for a live event was on Party Poker for my first WSOP main event.
Now on to today (or yesterday if we are getting technical) Monday. I got back from the gym a little late around 2:40pm and registered for the 100r and my typical tournaments. I took a couple beats early and wasn’t playing my best poker. I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been and my results suffered. I made it deep in a couple tournaments but didn’t have any results. I went to my room and laid down. I knew I was playing bad and wasn’t focused. I took a break and geared up to put in a good night session with a couple tournaments.
I registered for the 100r, 1k, 162, and the 100 turbo. I also played the 50r turbo and the $117 super turbo later on at night. I ran pretty well in the 100r on Stars and ended up chopping it even heads up for almost 18k.
I was still deep in the 1k with two tables left. I didn’t want to try to play the 1k and play a HU match so I elected to even chop with the guy although I am pretty sure I had an edge on him in heads up play. I wanted to bring all my attention to the 1k.
I made a bad shove with A9 into a medium stacked players open 6 handed. I knew it was a bad shove but I was finishing the heads up deal and still made the bad play. He turned over KK and I was lucky enough to hit an ace on the flop. I won’t talk about all the hands I played in the 1k but I played my heart out and that was the only pot I sucked out in.
Stuart Paterson also made the final table with me. He had a pretty good stack and I was one of the shorter stacks. He got it all in in a monster pot below. Unfortunately his hand didn’t hold up and he was eliminated in 8th place.
Full Tilt Poker Game #16815226758: $1K Monday (120270734), Table 27 – 2000/4000 Ante 500 – No Limit Hold’em – 2:49:47 ET – 2009/12/15
Seat 1: Dudderz (306,638)
Seat 2: DimJarnaby35 (44,105)
Seat 3: A__theKevlar__2 (303,787)
Seat 4: BigMoneyBogart (450,771)
Seat 5: aka_advanced (86,190)
Seat 6: hoodini10 (101,281)
Seat 7: Cre8ive (116,226)
Seat 8: Stuart Paterson (211,002)
Dudderz antes 500
DimJarnaby35 antes 500
A__theKevlar__2 antes 500
BigMoneyBogart antes 500
aka_advanced antes 500
hoodini10 antes 500
Cre8ive antes 500
Stuart Paterson antes 500
A__theKevlar__2 posts the small blind of 2,000
BigMoneyBogart posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cre8ive [8d 3c]
aka_advanced folds
hoodini10 folds
Cre8ive folds
Stuart Paterson raises to 9,885
Dudderz folds
DimJarnaby35 raises to 43,605, and is all in
A__theKevlar__2 calls 41,605
BigMoneyBogart folds
Stuart Paterson has 15 seconds left to act
Stuart Paterson has requested TIME
Stuart Paterson calls 33,720
*** FLOP *** [9c 4c 7c]
A__theKevlar__2 bets 259,682, and is all in
Stuart Paterson calls 166,897, and is all in
A__theKevlar__2 shows [Js Jd]
Stuart Paterson shows [9h 9d]
DimJarnaby35 shows [Qh Kh]
Uncalled bet of 92,785 returned to A__theKevlar__2
*** TURN *** [9c 4c 7c] [Th]
*** RIVER *** [9c 4c 7c Th] [Jc]
A__theKevlar__2 shows three of a kind, Jacks
Stuart Paterson shows three of a kind, Nines
A__theKevlar__2 wins the side pot (333,794) with three of a kind, Jacks
DimJarnaby35 shows a straight, King high
DimJarnaby35 wins the main pot (138,815) with a straight, King high
I ended up getting down to 6 handed play and I lost this pot to bust…
Full Tilt Poker Game #16815533996: $1K Monday (120270734), Table 27 – 2500/5000 Ante 600 – No Limit Hold’em – 3:16:12 ET – 2009/12/15
Seat 1: Dudderz (374,188)
Seat 2: DimJarnaby35 (216,540)
Seat 3: A__theKevlar__2 (310,620)
Seat 4: BigMoneyBogart (469,596)
Seat 5: aka_advanced (150,530)
Seat 7: Cre8ive (98,526)
Dudderz antes 600
DimJarnaby35 antes 600
A__theKevlar__2 antes 600
BigMoneyBogart antes 600
aka_advanced antes 600
Cre8ive antes 600
DimJarnaby35 posts the small blind of 2,500
A__theKevlar__2 posts the big blind of 5,000
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cre8ive [Qs Qd]
BigMoneyBogart folds
aka_advanced folds
Cre8ive raises to 12,226
Dudderz raises to 34,555
DimJarnaby35 folds
A__theKevlar__2 folds
Cre8ive raises to 97,926, and is all in
Dudderz calls 63,371
Cre8ive shows [Qs Qd]
Dudderz shows [9h 9d]
*** FLOP *** [5s 9c 6d]
*** TURN *** [5s 9c 6d] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [5s 9c 6d Td] [3s]
Cre8ive shows a pair of Queens
Dudderz shows three of a kind, Nines
Dudderz wins the pot (206,952) with three of a kind, Nines
Pretty unlucky. I got a great situation with pair vs pair and he hit his 2 outter. I did of course get lucky to get where I was but I wanted a better finish. I received about 16k for my 6th place finish. I have been getting so close to big final tables and I wanted this win. With 40bbs I would have been a problem and definitely had a chance to win the tournament. I had an amazing day. I can’t really complain but if you don’t win first you always want to do better. I fought real hard today and I am glad I gained my composure and put in a strong night session. I wish I could of had better results in the 1k but that’s how it goes. That is tournament poker.
Today is actually my Birthday too. December 15th. It would have been awesome to scoop both tournaments for my birthday but I have to take what I can get. I guess I still have all day to win something else. Maybe the Pokerstars $1k?
That’s it for now. That’s how my last week of poker has been going. A bunch of bubbles with close calls and then I have put together a couple decent scores yesterday and today. There’s always room for improvement and hopefully I can keep the success coming. Goodnight.
Close But No Cigar/Tiger Woods…
Close but no cigar. That’s been the motto lately. Yesterday I went down to Miami to play poker and also have a coaching session while I played. He watched me play, we talked a lot of poker, I watched him play. We discussed a lot of things and hopefully everything we talked about will help him with his game. It was his first lesson but he enjoyed it and wants another session soon. He had a couple sweats watching me. I got deep in the first 100r on stars, 163r on FTP, Mulligan, 163 on FTP, 100 cubed 6max, and maybe one or two smaller tournaments.
The tournament I had the best shot of winning was the 100 cubed 6max on FTP. I think I played it real well. I was real focused and didn’t have many tables left when I was deep in it. My hands were holding up, I was controlling pots, controlling tables, and manipulating opponents. With two tables left in the tournament I 3bet the button from the sb with K7o. He flat called and the flop came J34r. I bet about 33k into 70k and he folded. I showed the bluff. I had a tough table and I wanted to generate a crazy image. I had been playing solid at the table since I got moved there. The next orbit this hand came up:
Full Tilt Poker Game #16599608529: $33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) (121372191), Table 47 – 2000/4000 Ante 500 – No Limit Hold’em – 1:35:58 ET – 2009/12/07
Seat 1: Bustable (208,001)
Seat 2: Cre8ive (292,132)
Seat 3: AJKHoosier1 (278,195)
Seat 4: bestlayever (165,872)
Seat 6: ryanghall (215,936)
Bustable antes 500
Cre8ive antes 500
AJKHoosier1 antes 500
bestlayever antes 500
ryanghall antes 500
Bustable posts the small blind of 2,000
Cre8ive posts the big blind of 4,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cre8ive [Kh Ks]
AJKHoosier1 raises to 11,000
bestlayever has 15 seconds left to act
bestlayever folds
ryanghall folds
Bustable folds
Cre8ive has 15 seconds left to act
Cre8ive raises to 34,632
AJKHoosier1 has 15 seconds left to act
AJKHoosier1 raises to 277,695, and is all in
Cre8ive calls 243,063
AJKHoosier1 shows [Kd Td]
Cre8ive shows [Kh Ks]
*** FLOP *** [Ad 3s Jh]
*** TURN *** [Ad 3s Jh] [3d]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 3s Jh 3d] [6d]
AJKHoosier1 shows a flush, Ace high
Cre8ive shows two pair, Kings and Threes
AJKHoosier1 wins the pot (559,890) with a flush, Ace high
Pretty nasty. I would of had all the chips with 8 people left. I now had 3bbs. I doubled up 56s vs 57s. Then A4cc vs Kx. Then I won a flip and suddenly I was back up to 20bbs. Wow. Time for a comeback! I built my stack back up to 280k and this hand came up:
Full Tilt Poker Game #16600054911: $33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) (121372191), Table 47 – 3000/6000 Ante 750 – No Limit Hold’em – 2:10:19 ET – 2009/12/07
Seat 1: Bustable (178,635)
Seat 2: Cre8ive (278,600)
Seat 3: AJKHoosier1 (543,403)
Seat 6: ryanghall (159,498)
Bustable antes 750
Cre8ive antes 750
AJKHoosier1 antes 750
ryanghall antes 750
Bustable posts the small blind of 3,000
Cre8ive posts the big blind of 6,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cre8ive [8h 7d]
AJKHoosier1 folds
ryanghall raises to 13,250
Bustable folds
Cre8ive calls 7,250
*** FLOP *** [Td 4c 7s]
Cre8ive checks
ryanghall bets 18,250
Cre8ive has 15 seconds left to act
Cre8ive calls 18,250
*** TURN *** [Td 4c 7s] [8d]
Cre8ive has 15 seconds left to act
Cre8ive checks
ryanghall has 15 seconds left to act
ryanghall bets 41,500
Cre8ive raises to 246,350, and is all in
ryanghall calls 85,748, and is all in
Cre8ive shows [8h 7d]
ryanghall shows [Ah Ac]
Uncalled bet of 119,102 returned to Cre8ive
*** RIVER *** [Td 4c 7s 8d] [Th]
Cre8ive shows two pair, Tens and Eights
ryanghall shows two pair, Aces and Tens
ryanghall wins the pot (323,496) with two pair, Aces and Tens
Another unlucky pot but I still had 120k behind. I won’t go on with my reasoning for the hands or my thought process cause I think it’s giving too much away. But it was dirty. I doubled up the #1 and #2 chip (like 900k combined) leaders now and still had 120k and a chance to win. I thought that was a pretty sick factoid lol. I got the last of it in KJ vs AT and that was all she wrote.
That’s how it went yesterday. I bubbled 3 major tournaments yesterday with 40k+ to first place on some nasty beats. It’s just how it goes with MTT poker and people need to realize that. You can lose any given hand at any given time. It’s a continuous race/coin flip/domination. Just keep fighting and if you’re playing well you will have some sweats at big scores.
I had a pretty sick day today too. I got 7th in the 100 cubed turbo on stars, 10th in the 163 FTP, and just busted the 1k on FTP in 23rd place. I could have played better in all of them but still lost some pots in standard spots. As long as I keep getting to the end it will all work out eventually. I feel like I’m playing well overall though and that’s all that matters.
That’s all the poker talk I gotta say. Keep pluggin away… Let’s talk about the Tiger Woods situation.
So I was thinking about this whole Tiger Woods situation last night driving back from Miami. I am not saying what he did was right. I think Tiger and his family need to handle the situation ON THEIR OWN, just like any personal problem in any family. I guess he is a role model to the world, and since he is in the public eye, people think his life should be in the media. I don’t know how fair that is to Tiger. He is a golf player. Probably the best golfer to ever live. He is still entitled to his privacy and to be able to live his life. It must be real difficult to be a celebrity and have to deal with all that.
Another thing that bothers me is how the media points all the blame on Tiger. He is the world’s most famous athlete. He is a billionaire. You’re telling me these girls didn’t throw themselves at him? He has to have women throwing themselves at him at all times. They are all making it like Tiger is to blame. LOL. Cmon now. These girls wanted it too. That bothers me that the media is portraying him like that. Yes he committed adultery. He is HUMAN. He made mistakes. We have all made mistakes.
I guess I just have an issue with the media. They are able to twist and turn anything however they want and they are definitely doing it here. I mean it would be tough for any man in his situation to turn down all the girls that come at him. Of course it could be done though. I’m not saying he had to cheat. He has a family he needs to take care of and worry about. This is horrible for all of them. I wish Tiger and his family the best. I just wish he was able to take care of his problem with his family. I mean this is huge for him. He made a mistake. What if he really wants to change now and be a better father and husband and not make the same mistake again? The media is just ruthless.
There’s always two sides to the story though and Tiger is definitely at fault. So are the girls involved too though. So much could be said on this topic. Oh well, who am I to judge or comment anyways. Just my opinion and I wish them all the best. He seemed like a good guy and good role model for people but you never know what people are like behind closed doors. It’s hard being in the public eye and having people watch your every move. I can’t imagine what it’s like. Enough of all that though. Goodnight.
So Much To Learn…
I just finished playing for the day. Had a couple cashes, couple bubbles. I got 18th in the $300 NL on Stars today. That was my closest call of the day. I blinded down and didn’t pick up many hands in the end. Overall it was a decent day with some good action. I am still making mistakes. I don’t know if I will ever get to the point where I feel like I am not making mistakes, but I can try.
Aside from poker not much is going on. It’s 8:15pm right now and I have no clue what I am going to do tonight. It’s pretty early but I’m already tired. Maybe I will go workout and see if anyone is around to do something tonight/hang out.
Let’s see… What can I talk about? UF football lost today. I wanted to see them win it all again. The Heat lost last night on a crazy buzzer beater by Kobe Bryant. I guess I can talk a little bit about some other life thoughts. I normally stray away from being too personal or telling too many of my thoughts. Last night I was driving back from Orlando (I was up there for a couple days) and the thought came across my mind that I have so much to learn.
“I’ve got a lot to learn.” It’s a general statement but it has a lot of merit to it. The more I think about life and it’s purpose, more and more thoughts run through my mind. There are so many interesting things that are worth knowing. There is just as much useless information out there as well. My brain is probably filled with more useless information than vital/interesting/worthwhile information. What’s the point in that? Is my environment to blame for this? Am I at fault for not monitoring what stimulates my brain? I’ve been alive for almost 25 years and everyday I learn something new. The point I’m making is every time I think I have figured it out, I learn more and realize different things. I will never know it all. Some things can only be realized through experience. I thought that statement that came to my mind last night was pretty worthwhile and true. I do have a lot to learn.
Another major factor of life is perception. Everyone has a different perception on life. My life has different problems and factors than your life. My problem could be the polar opposite of your problem but they both might hold the same weight due to the individuals perception of that problem. Sometimes when I am driving I look around at people. Who are they? What is their life about? What are they thinking? I look at them and try to think about life through their eyes. Perception. That’s all it is.
One of my professors in college made a statement that the meaning of life is for the individual to determine. The more I grow the more I understand that statement. Nobody knows how long we are here for. You just have to enjoy the time that you are here and try to make yourself happy. Some people want to be millionaires and have financial freedom, while other people might be happy working 9-5 and spending all their time with their family. It’s up to the individual to figure out how they want to live their life.
I think I have always searched for an ultimate purpose to my life. When I was nearing the end of high school I thought college would help me realize that purpose. When I got to college there was no epiphany. I figured I would have to wait until I finished college and I entered the “real world” to understand. I’m two years graduated from UCF and the deeper I get into my life the closer I come to the conclusion that there is no ultimate meaning or purpose to life. I’m not saying life is pointless. Life is to be cherished. I am merely saying that I am not going to wake up one morning and realize the meaning of life, or the meaning of my life. I always thought it would smack me in the face one day but it won’t. I just have to enjoy my time here and try to be happy.
I have challenges in life because I choose to have them. I control my life. I enjoy success. I am addicted to success. Success can be measured. It has feeling. The feeling of accomplishment is something great. Just think how dull life would be if everything was easy. I’ve had that conversation with a friend before. Here’s what I wrote to him a couple years ago.
“I realized it tonight. Making dreams come true is hard. Living the normal life is easy. We could easily mold our way into society and conform, but if we keep fighting then success will be sweeter. Dreams are only fun because of the struggle to attain the dream. If the dream wasn’t hard to do it wouldn’t be as fun or self-fulfilling. Life is about challenges. I’ve conquered all of my challenges so far. Yet to fail. Now I fear failure. Failure is scarier to me than the feeling of success.”
I’ve experienced failure plenty of times in my life. I’ve always bounced back. The only kind of failure I fear is failure of a monumental goal/dream of mine. Luckily I haven’t experienced failure of that magnitude. I don’t know if I ever will. I feel like if I put my mind to something I can overcome anything. Actually, I welcome failure. When I wrote what I wrote above a couple years ago I probably didn’t feel that way. Now failure wouldn’t bother me because I would learn and move on. Failure and success have to go hand in hand. If you never knew what it was like to fail how would you know what it’s like to succeed?
So that leads me to my last point I will make. I also wrote this down in my phone at one point over the last couple of years. “You can’t measure my success until I stop trying.” Success is a never ending fight. If I don’t win by TKO it will definitely be by decision in my favor.
I’ll be playing online tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Decent Night…
Haven’t blogged in a couple days. I watched my buddies’ townhouse over the weekend with Brian. He lives right on the Intercoastal in North Miami Beach. It was a pretty relaxing weekend aside from the poker aspect. Like I said in the last blog I have been twittering. My page is open but follow me if you want to see my updates. I will try to keep all the bad beats out of them lol. I will probably talk hands and update my position in tournaments though. You can follow me on Twitter here.
I had a good night poker wise tonight. I won the 100r on Stars for $26k. I also got deep in the 100r 6max on Full Tilt. I didn’t have the same good fortune in that tournament and finished 7th, bubbling the final table. That tournament actually had a bigger prize pool with first being $39k. I really wanted to do well in both but I will take it.
When I got Heads Up a well known player on the rail was talking trash to me. Saying I should chop even although I had a 3-1 Chip Lead. “An even chop is fair skill wise” he told me. I got it in for the tournament A3 vs AQ on a A93hh board and he rivered a Q. He then was about even. In the hand above I limp/called a 3x. I then grinded back. The chip lead changed places a couple times. I showed one bluff when I 3bet J2o and he called preflop. The flop came Q84 rainbow and we both checked. The turn was a 7 and I check raised his 76k bet to 220k or so. I figured this line looked the strongest and I told my friend I hope he bets the turn here. I showed the bluff and took a decent chip lead. Then I got it in QQ vs AT and held. Good thing I didn’t take that even chop! Thanks for the motivation.
(This picture just so happens to also represent the person who fueled the fire.)
I’m sure you guys will be able to figure that little puzzle out lol. So yeah thanks for the motivation. “Faithfully, tell anybody who hated me, hastily, all it ever did was motivated me.”
I will probably take the next couple days off and come back strong on the weekend. Thanks everyone who has contacted me about the Brian/Basketball situation. We’re still doing what we’re doing and hopefully something good happens. I’ll keep everyone updated with that too. Need to have a good month in December. Not slow down like I did in November. Goodnight.
Short Update…
Hey guys. Been super busy with the Holidays and everything. I had a root canal done the day before Thanksgiving. Probably not the smartest idea. Luckily it didn’t affect my dinner. My tooth is pretty sore now and I can’t find any Advil.
I am going to play the Hard Rock $1k tomorrow. Hopefully I win it this time. It’s been a while since I won it and I’m due. I have been very close every time there lately.
Follow me on twitter! I guess I was influenced to start doing this so I will most likely be talking about poker stuff when I tweet. Twitter page/follow me.
That’s it for now update with hands and all that here later tomorrow.
Favor (Continued)…
I have been super busy all day. Woke up early, worked out and then had a dentist appointment. I need to have a root canal re-done to this tooth I already had one done to. I scheduled it Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Hopefully it doesn’t interfere with my Thanksgiving dinner! After that my nephew and sister came by because she had to show me something. My nephew who is almost a year old is now walking and taking his first steps! It was pretty amazing to see him walk around here and there. He’s growing up really fast. Just last week I could play with him and he would hold objects and not be too rough with them but now he’s throwing them around. It’s really crazy how quickly things change for babies.
Yesterday I played a bunch of tables and had a couple shots. I got 3rd in the 55r and took a couple nasty beats at the final table. I lost JJ vs A4o three handed which would have had be heads up about even in chips. I am playing well for the most part (when I can focus on individual tournaments.) I am excited to play more and more poker. I played one tournament today, which was a $33 rebuy PCA qualifier to win a seat to the PCA. I didn’t win. After that I got back to editing video footage and handling a bunch of other stuff. It’s now about 5am and I am just about to head to sleep. Approaching 20 hours of being awake.
I have had some people contact me about the last blog and I really appreciate everything everyone has said. We will see if anything works out. Those that have suggested something or sent me an email I really am grateful. Hopefully with all this work I am putting in recently I can help Brian get a job somewhere. Tomorrow I have to upload more game footage for him to the youtube page we created. Then I am going to attack the professional basketball world. They better watch out. I have done it before but this time I’m coming harder and won’t stop until I have set out what I plan to do. Here’s the new highlight reel from Brian’s camp in Germany a couple months ago. He was named one of the Top 5 players at the camp. He’s #20 in case you can’t tell.
Youtube link in case the video above doesn’t work.
I’ll keep everyone updated on the progress and let everyone know how it goes. Thanks again. I will probably play some poker tomorrow and definitely a bunch this weekend. Maybe I will write another blog tomorrow too. I tried to pump this one out since I just finished editing his video.