As you may or may not know, I am fairly into fitness and consider myself to know more about weightlifting + nutrition than any other HSNLer out there/99.9% of poker players (Yes this is me calling out David B ). In fact, I have a 3 part series coming out highlighting nutrition, weightlifting, and how this applies to a poker player which I am really looking forward to, and actually enlisted the help of someone who's opinion I respect a lot for it too. It will basically be my powerpoint presentation x10-25 and everyone should learn a lot from it.
My personal fitness history is that of a former recreational bodybuilder. Although I never got into competitions, the best form I was ever in (these numbers will mean nothing to a lot of people) was 5'11", 215 lbs, 12% bodyfat - this was during freshman year of college. I actually started out at Wake as a health and exercise science major, and planned on owning my own wellness center after college. Of course, this plan was constantly being derailed by my infatuation with poker. I basically didn't lift all of the following year, and half-assed it 10% on 90% off until this fall when I started back up again. My current lifts are *ok,* but still a bunch less than when I was in true form back in the day.
Essentially, I have always been a competitor, which is why I got frustrated this week during flag football when I got cheap shot and thought my shoulder got blown out. I'm pretty physical when I play (flag football is supposedly "no contact") and apparently this kid didn't like it so he went after me twice, succeeding the second time (My mom reads this blog and she won't be happy to learn of this news because I told her my injury wasn't that bad!). Needless to say, I absolutely trucked him later in the game on a block (with my good shoulder), and I am praying that we meet this team again in the playoffs. The kid was a real douche and made the game unenjoyable for a lot of people, whining and complaining throughout.
So I went home and couldn't lift my arm at all. My lifting partner Kyle and I took a day off (because of his schedule, lol) but the day after that was shoulders + chest day. It was pretty brutal because I was unable to do about 80% of the exercises, including one of the easier isolation lifts - Side Lateral Raises. Fortunately, I am feeling a lot better today and my shoulder doesn't hurt as much. I expect to be around 80% by tomorrow and fully ready for the next game on Tuesday.
As I finish writing this I realized this has almost no relevancy to anyone reading this blog. But then I thought: Isn't that what a blog is? Yes, it is. *Post*
It's here! We basically looked at everything that our site was lacking and patched it up while make advancements in all the other areas. Chris and our designers worked really hard on this site and I am very proud of what they accomplished. I am going to copy and paste what Chris wrote about the parts of the new web site [1]:
Improved overall look and feel of the website
We wanted to change the look, so we went all the way and did a makeover.
Site Navigation
We simplified our website navigation areas to make it easy to find what you want even faster. First, we moved the account area to a bar at the very top, which is displayed on every page. Second, the main navigation bar contains our most popular pages. We moved all the other pages (Store, About Us, Contact Us, LeggoCast, Rakeback) to the bottom of the website for easy access on every page. And finally, we made it easy to see the latest training videos (HINT: hover over the links on the left to see a quick description).
Improved Videos Page
We wanted more room on the videos page so we got rid of the left sidebar altogether and used the entire real estate to make it easier for you to search and find the exact videos you are looking for. This page uses AJAX technology to make searching, filtering, and moving between pages very fast.
Comment/Rating System
We have completely integrated out "Pro Video Analysis" forum with the videos. Each video has a post where members and coaches participate in discussions about every video. This is a very popular feature that our members enjoy. So..... we made it easier. Browse the posts while watching the video on the same page! You can easily post and quote in the thread directly from the video watching page. You can thank us later - go try it out!
We also changed the rating system to a 10 point system (it used to be 5).
Coaching Page and Bios
The coaching page and each coach's bios are completely remastered. Take a look!
My Account Area
The "My Account" area is now completely consolidated. On our old site made it difficult moving between different my account pages. Now, the entire "my account" area is integrated, and easily accessible by clicking "My Account" at the top of any page!
NOTES: 1. We also have a brand new homepage coming that is not yet finalized. For now the videos page will appear by default when visiting our homepage. This will be updated shortly. 2. Video ratings system is inactive until Friday evening due to the upgrade.
We hope you enjoy the website as much as we do. This is only our first step in improving our already well received poker coaching website into THE place to be for all of your poker training and entertainment desires. Stay tuned.
PS. Would you just start your LeggoBlog already?
-----------------------
So, adding on what Chris alluded to, we are still designing our new homepage. We thought it was absolutely a necessity to get v2.0 out before we opened our LeggoPoker forum on 2+2, and therefore have made the video page the current default homepage. This is *ok* as a temporary replacement because our new homepage emphasizes our product more as well.
As Chris also alludes to, this is only be beginning.
[1] As hilarious as this is, you can always tell when Chris or I have written something. Chris will always include (HINT, and I will find a way to use at least 2 parenthesis per paragraph.
I'm watching MLB Gameday as the last regular season game for the Mets takes place. They are tied with the Brewers for the NL Wildcard.
For those who don't follow/aren't familiar with MLB (Major League Baseball), 8 teams make the playoffs each year. 4 From the National League, and 4 from the American League. Each league has 3 divisions, where the winners of each division make it, and a 4th spot is reserved for the team with the best record in the league outside of the division winners. Today is the last day before the playoffs, and the Mets are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for that wild card spot.
If the Mets win and the Brewers lose, they will make the playoffs. If both teams win or lose, there will be a 1 game tiebreaker where the winner moves on and the loser goes home.
For those that do not like baseball, here is a picture of my watch. It came in around Wednesday of last week and I'm really excited with how it turned out.
This is probably the most incredible blog title I will ever have so relish it.
The last few days have been going pretty well poker-wise. I have been running badly at lower stakes and well at high stakes so poker is an easy game clearly. I've also been pretty satisfied with my sessions (almost every aspect of them) so I'm excited.
Unfortunately, I busted in the WCOOP main event and "only" netted $8k (busted 134 out of 2185), but I am still struggling to come to terms with the fact that that tournament might have been my best shot ever at winning a 1.5M+ 1st place prize and I didn't come through.
As for Leggo, I think you should hang around a week or so .
River: ($9,100) A (2 Players) Hero bets $3,700, SB raises to $16,249.50 and is All-In, Hero calls $12,049.50 and is All-In
Results: $40,599 Pot ($0.50 Rake) Hero showed 7 6 (two pair, Sevens and Sixes) and WON $40,598.50 (+$20,299 NET) SB showed 5 T (Ace Ten high) and LOST (-$20,299.50 NET)
Results: $11,554 Pot ($0.50 Rake) Hero showed J K (a pair of Sevens) and WON $11,553.50 (+$5,776.50 NET) BB showed Q T (a pair of Sevens) and LOST (-$5,777 NET)
River: ($10,300) K (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Results: $10,300 Pot ($0.50 Rake) Hero showed J A (a pair of Kings) and WON $10,299.50 (+$5,149.50 NET) BB showed 9 7 (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$5,150 NET)
I haven't been playing that much poker lately as I've been pretty busy with a lot of things in my life. Today I played a session when I woke up around 11 and just opened up some HU holdem (gasp!) tables, but did so at 5/10, 10/20, 25/50, and 50/100. Since I don't play as long and don't have as much time to play, I wasn't really worried about draining myself mentally.
Almost comically, I got action at 5/10, then 10/20, then 25/50, and then 50/100. The results were as follows:
I had one person play me on 25/50, then sat down at a 50/100 table with me as well. Then he got on another 25/50 table vs. me (yes I was very confused at this point as well). Then he left one of the 25/50 tables because I was up a bunch on the 50/100 and I assume he wanted to move what remained of his roll to there.
It was also at this time I IMed one of my students and asked if he wanted to sweat me through teamviewer. I think I am going to do this more often because it helps me play my A game. /plug for the benefits of being my student .
The reason I was excited about this session was because I was very focused. I know a ton of my friends (and myself I suppose) are going through downswings and it's easy to get sidetracked or not play well. When I am in the zone I am going to do very well, and not feel bad if I run poorly. This session started with my playing well and focused, and ended the same way. I even quit the guy despite him having 16k left because I didn't think I was as focused as I should have been. I have countless stories consisting of telling myself to keep going because it's a weaker player and regretting it afterwards because I wasn't into it. I really like how this session felt and therefore am going to play less in the bunch of weeks and see how my hours/results/hourly wind up being.
As far as PLO, I will still continue with that, but it will be centered around my coach's availability. He is currently in London and will be doing some travel after that, and I am at the point where the opportunity cost of continuing on my own without a coach is too high (ie, me spending the time to figure it out instead of my coach being able to explain it to me).
I guess I'll include one hand that seems very boring if you just look at it but was actually pretty crazy. In the hand I had AA and I generally smooth call a 3bet if I think is it likely my opponent is bluffing, but this time I actually 4bet to induce a 5bet shove. Obviously I have to think my opponent is capable of doing this for this play to ever be good.
So we are playing on two 25/50 tables and one 50/100 table at this point. Table 1 and 3 are the 25/50 table and table 2 is the 50/100 table. The following is in chronological order and numbered based on the table:
1) I raise Q3o to 150.
2) I raise AA to 300.
1) He 3bets my 150 open to 550.
3) I raise 57o or something to 150.
2) He 3bets my 300 open to 1050.
3) He 3bets my 150 open to 550 almost instantly after 3betting me on table two.
1) I 4bet to 1225 after about 5 seconds.
2) I request TIME.
3) I fold.
1) About 5 seconds later, he folds table 1.
2) About 7 seconds after this, I 4bet to 2350.
I guess it would be more interesting if you figure out why I did the actions in the order I did than to have me just tell you. I will create a custom title for the best answer!
Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (SB) Hero raises to $300, BB raises to $1,050, Hero raises to $2,350, BB raises to $5,450, Hero raises to $12,049.50 and is All-In, BB calls $4,650 and is All-In
Flop: ($20,200) 3 A 2 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: ($20,200) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($20,200) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: $20,200 Pot ($0.50 Rake) Hero showed A A (three of a kind, Aces) and WON $20,199.50 (+$10,099.50 NET) BB showed J K (Ace King high) and LOST (-$10,100 NET)
So Omaha is going "ok." I think I am learning a lot, not playing very much, and have some really concrete plans for attacking the game in the next upcoming months.
I am also cruising with school which I am very happy about. However, I am not so happen that our flag football game tonight was canceled, and obviously it's rescheduled for Sunday night, so I will not be playing it in due to the PS $5,200 WCOOP main event taking place then. I'm hoping I don't bust early enough to play in the flag football game, but I guess it's one of the better alternatives that can come from busting out early in a tournament, with one of the worst being able to fully concentrate on the "second chance" version of the tournament.
I have picked out a sweet watch that I am super excited to finally get, and will post a picture of it when it is ordered/en route. Secrets until then!
My dad is here to visit for a couple days, and we both are injured from the brutal beatdowns the Washington Nationals are putting on the Mets bullpen. Time to get back to that and sulk. At least it distracts me from watching Brett Favre fall to a one-winged New England Patriots.
On the upside, I made a video with Jay today and it was a ton of fun. He is actually an intuitively strong HU player, adding to his ridiculously strong portfolio of poker skill. That one will be out soon enough, and the series will certainly be worth watching.
When a wrestler finishes the last match of his career, he symbolically removes his shoes and leaves them on the mat. I am doing that for no limit holdem. Kind of .
Actually, for the next month I am devoting myself to pot limit omaha. For the past two months I have convinced myself about 15 times that I wanted to learn a new game, and thusly played around 5 sessions of pot limit omaha lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Well, this time I am actually going to go through with it. Every time I play poker in the next month, it is going to be PLO. Good luck me.
I will still be very connected and in tune with NLHE. I will still be making videos at NLHE, and I think that I currently coach more than a lot of HSNLers play. In fact, I will be taking on a few new students, so please contact me on AIM (same name as here) or email (same name @ leggopoker.com) if you are interested in coaching. My rate is $600/hr.
I will be posting updates on my progress in this blog, so I won't be too distanced from everyone about it. I know I have a lot to learn because I've spoken with a couple of my PLO friends and apparently my general mindframe/approach to PLO is a little off, but time will fix that.
When I dry myself off after showering, I don't do a good enough job of rotating the towel. This makes the towel get really wet in some areas, and sometimes it's still damp the next day when I use it (I generally take 2 showers a day (one after working out) and have 2 towels at my disposal).
Ok, the big ones now:
Since this holds true for most/many/all people reading this, I will shift in and out of "we" and "I". First and foremost: We are all such fortunate people. Let's start at the very basics elements that we take for granted: there are many people in the world who are blind, or deaf, or cannot walk, etc. The overwhelming majority of people reading this (if not all) have full functionality of their senses and full motor control. However, society generally views those who do not as unlucky, as opposed to seeing those that possess these things as lucky. I need to do a better job of really putting things in perspective, and not just acknowledging them.
When I was younger I was constantly reminded by my parents that people would literally kill to be in my shoes. It was certainly true then and still holds true today. In fact, I would travel so far as to say that there are people that would kill to be in the position of every person reading this entry. Sit back and think about that for a second - you are so fortunate to be in the position you are in that someone is willing to commit one of the most unimaginable deeds out there to be you. Are you really taking this into consideration during your everyday life? I have not.
I thought about this stuff and after a while had difficulty justifying stuff like not working out, not investing significant effort into school, and not being fully cognizant of my position at all times. So I'm going to work better to do this. Does this mean I am going to become a monk or hermit who just focuses on taking advantage of every fortunate situation I ever come across? Of course not. I'm still gonna go out a bunch, spend money, and splurge on things. It just means I will do a better job by not disrespecting my situation, and constantly understanding that I am very, very fortunate. Yes, I have worked equally hard and have invested countless hours into all of my pursuits; and yes, I believe that opportunity finds people that are looking for it; however, where I am today is not a right, it is a privilege.
On a related note, I think one of the more interesting topics to really think about is poker. Everyone who reads this blog and plays poker understands the fact that you can make thousands of dollars per hour if you get good enough. I have no idea what % of people in the world (or even the US, or your own country, etc) ever have the opportunity to make $100/hr, but I assume it's very low. But each of you has the opportunity to make literally thousands per hour, and the best part is it is all in your control. You can learn, you can play, you can improve, and you can get to that level. So why doesn't everyone do this?
Well, I think that the first problem is even struggling poker players are very jaded, primarily because they are constantly shown success, even if it is in the form of something simple such as a fellow player posting a graph (My apologies for contributing to this! ). They see the level of success that others currently have, and wonder why they don't. Then, they feel some sort of entitlement to it, because they are working hard too and deserve it dammit! Thusly, the first step in the right direction comes when you realize poker is about you. You aren't entitled to ****, but you can earn it by focusing on YOUR game and YOUR results. If you can't use the success of others as motivation and it only impedes your progress, there is nothing wrong with that, but you better put some blinders on and re-focus your emotions and energy to improving your game. Remember, you are in the position to reach a financial level that 99.999% of the world will never have access to. Is it really going to kill you if it takes 3 years to do it?
So tomorrow is the first day of classes for the fall semester. Admittedly it feels a little strange returning to school after I left specifically to pursue Leggo and play poker because I feel both of those are at highs right now (we have a ton of awesome stuff in the works with the site/product, and I made like half a mil this summer playing).
However, it is important to me that I finish my undergraduate degree, so here I am. I am living off-campus in my own 2 bedroom apartment (one bedroom has been converted to an office), and I must say the place is pretty balling. I have to order an adapter for my camera because I lost it, but upon receiving said adapter I will take a bunch of pics and throw them up on the blog.
I have around 45 credits left to take, but I am going to try my best to finish up between the next two semesters + summer school. To be honest, I'd rather skip half of Vegas next summer and finish school instead. 6 weeks vs. 3.5 months is a no-brainer to me. Additionally, since all of my friends here are finishing up "on time," and Danielle as well at Penn State, I would feel somewhat left behind.
I watched Peter's WSOP debut tonight and it was definitely fun. I saw myself and Craig about 10 times which was an unexpected thing, and of course Peter's Leggo patch looked nice . I will say that every time they showed Mizrachi's family I shook my head in embarrassment, as I am both Italian and from the tri-state area, lol. I also wanted to say that Peter played phenomenally, and although ESPN gave him a bit of justice, they didn't show a couple things that made him look like a genius. I'm sure he will mention it in his blog, and we talk about some of that stuff in the new LeggoCast that was released today as well. I also interviewed Jay about his $200k cash so be sure to check it out.
In poker news, I played according to my plan for about 2 days I would say. Then I quit and decided that I would just play 25/50NL. Standard for most people making really ambitious plans IMO. There are two reasons I have decided to deviate: 1) I found out really quickly I have a cap of mental capacity and the amount that I can devote to playing poker. For example, playing for 4 hours of day every day 2 tables of HU will murder me after about a week. 2) I have found something to devote my efforts to while sitting at the computer: real estate...
I have decided that I want to start investing in real estate. Basically, I want to be able to purchase property next summer. That means that I will have to become fully educated about real estate investing up until that point, which won't be the worst thing in the world. I also think I am at an advantage after starting Leggo because I have a better idea of what information actually matters - meaning I'm going to focus less on books (excluding getting fundamental knowledge, etc) and more on picking peoples' minds who have experience.
If someone approached me and didn't know anything about poker, I would tell them to read a book to learn the basics. Then, I would tell them that there is no substitute for talking to someone who knows, or interacting with people who know. My experience has been that way with poker, with business, with the stock market, and with life, so I think I'm headed on the right track. I'm going to try to join a REI (Real Estate Investment) Club around here when I feel I have sufficient knowledge to be able to interact with other investors and go from there.
In the meantime (from now until next Summer) I am going to be trying to look into ways for me to throw some money into investments. I have the majority of my money in mutual funds and actually a special account that receives about prime interest rate, but I have a feeling there are very passive investments that people just don't look for that are out there. There is so much misinformation about everything (look at poker the way we as insiders view it, and the way the general public views it) that it would be silly to take the generic opinion of anything (which tends to be formed by unqualified people anyway) without personally investigating it.
So that's my investment plan, my poker plan, my school plan, and my life plan. Whew! What are the odds all those things stay together?
). In fact, I have a 3 part series coming out highlighting nutrition, weightlifting, and how this applies to a poker player which I am really looking forward to, and actually enlisted the help of someone who's opinion I respect a lot for it too. It will basically be my powerpoint presentation x10-25 and everyone should learn a lot from it.
, and I will find a way to use at least 2 parenthesis per paragraph.
6
2
(2 Players)
(2 Players)
