One of the things that coaching and playing poker have in common is pressure. You constantly have to be at your very best. There simply is no way to be successful and reach the top if you consistently are less than your best. I feel like there are common threads in why people become successful in poker and or coaching (or really anything for that matter). Hard work, studying, reading, learning, getting experience, watching those better than you, etc., are all things that help people become successful in poker and or coaching. However, one that I have found in many poker players that are successful that I try to use in coaching is the yearning to want to be proven wrong.

Now, I am not sure anyone has ever put it like that but its something that I think might be among the best ways to improve yourself. Basically, what I am saying is that everyone should want someone to prove them wrong about what they believe. Now, why is that you say? Well, if someone can successfully prove to you that your belief is wrong then you are becoming better. For example, if I believe that man-to-man defense is simply the best defense to play then thats great. However, if there is actually a better defense to play I WANT someone to come along and prove to me that I am in fact wrong and should be doing something better.

Poker players are great at this. They go on forums posting hands, theories, etc., looking for people to correct their play and tell them they were wrong so they can improve. Sadly this doesn't happen in the real world all that much. People are far to stubborn and don't like anyone to ever tell them they are wrong. They stick to awful theories or strategies in their lives because they do not want to admit they actually were wrong.

One last point on this as well. Something I cannot stand at all is having a discussion with someone who makes arguments with no evidence or facts of any kind. I am normally open to anyone's opinion on anything from Religion to Sports to Poker to Music to Movies to Politics, as long as they can present me some type of backing to their argument. This just seems to not happen so much anymore. People seem to be losing the ability to think rationally or logically. At least around me. All I ask is a little evidence and facts. However, inevitably what happens is that interupt them, tell them their postion is worthless without evidence, and politely ask them to refrain from disagreeing with me unless they have something worth while to say.

Probably have another story later...

I will get back to the stories soon, however, I thought I would offer up some information for people that might want it. I know a number of people that play poker love sports and especially basketball. Because of this, and because I currently coach college basketball, if you want to ask me any basketball questions about anything (ie. recruiting, strategy, motivation) leave a comment or pm if you want. There is nothing I love more than talking basketball so feel free at anytime.

I have received some requests for a story or two on here so I thought that I would give the masses what they want.

So my first trip out to Vegas was 2008. I was fresh out of college and determined to turn my $200 into millions. I had grown up with Aaron so he was really the only person I knew out there at the time. He introduced me to many people whom I have since forgotten. However, two of those people I met were Craig and Dave. They told me a story about how they tried to get some stripper to eat 100 oreos in an hour. Apparently, she couldn't do it. They had told this story to many people and others that had tried and this had led them to believe that it was impossible to eat this amount of Oreos.

Not looking up from my California Roll, I said, "I can do it." Almost instantly they said "I bet you a thousand dollars you can't!" Seeing as how I only had said $200 at the time, I politely declined. Then Aaron Jones, being the good friend he is, said he would back me and free roll me a certain amount based on how much action he got. So I accepted.

The Event would take place at 2 P.M. the next day. Going against what Aaron wanted I ate a large breakfast(always eat a hearty breakfast). I relaxed and exercised during the day and researched eating strategies such as shaking your belly to get the food to move down faster. When Game Time rolled around I was ready. There was ten stacks of ten Oreos in front of me. We talked about rules. I wanted to dunk my Oreos in milk. They believed this would cause me to actually be consuming more they agreed.

It was about this time I found out Aaron was the only person betting I could do this. He told me how much money I would get and he would take me out to dinner at this steakhouse. I was pumped. The timer said go! I went. I lost track of time eating and finally paused after 60. I asked how much time is left!! He said "Dude...you have only been eating for ten minutes."

Needless to say I had it in the bag. Finishing in 38 min I dashed the hopes of many people. I felt fine until later when I thought I had some type of sugar poisoning. However, that is not a real thing.

Moral of the story...Don't go Go Carting after eating 100 Oreos.

My name is Matty Bush, although you may know me as Matty Fucking Bush. Some of you may know me from my vacations to Vegas every summer to hang out with Aaron and Chewy and the gang. I am not what you would call a serious poker player. I do love the game though and find it extremely interesting. However, I am a college basketball coach, which is my first love and simply do not have the time to put into poker to become the best I could be.

Now this is not to say that I am completely terrible. I believe I am a +ev player at microstakes for the most part when I play. I know the basics and am a pretty straight forward player. I think my greatest weekness is post-flop play. I have a pretty good understanding of the importance of position and bet-sizing pre-flop. My stats are strange compared to other poker players at my level as my won without showdown is very high while my won at showdown is very low. Probably because my post-flop play is awful.

So the purpose of this blog is to tell some stories of poker. Mostly for humorous purposes as I play casually and will take weeks and weeks off before playing. I don't follow bankroll management rules all that much simply because I am not trying to make this into some type of second job. Basically I get bored at work sometimes and instead of playing boredom poker and losing the money I do have online I will post here often.