If you're into House/Electro music check this out while reading. I can't stop playing it lately.
I'll just post my results first and get that out of the way. All in all was an ok month (mostly due to the absurd amount of rb I am getting). Started off running very bad but picked it up towards the end. I played about 75% 100NL and 25% 200NL with a few hands of 400NL thrown in for good measure. Volume-wise I didn't reach my goal of 80k hands but I got relatively close. Its just very hard for me to get motivated to grind out long sessions lately. I miss rush poker so much. I played ~80 hours which is about half of the hours a normal person works so I guess I can't complain too much about making $6k+. I feel like I am playing some of the best poker of my life and should prob start shot taking higher but I really don't feel comfortable keeping a large amount of money on Merge atm.
I just started a new workout last week. I have always had trouble sticking to workout routines and in the past I would just go to the gym and kind of do whatever I felt like doing. It worked ok for awhile, but I definitely have been plateaued for awhile now. A friend recommended I hire this guy to make a routine for me and so I did. He had used him in the past and had nothing but good things to say about him. I filled out a pretty detailed questionnaire about my goals and what I was looking to accomplish and he set me up with a 4 week routine.
It's probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. I am currently focusing on endurance and am doing a lot of reps with very little rest in between sets. The first workout I couldn't even get all the way through but now that I am a week into it its getting better. I'm pretty excited about it and hopefully in a few months I will be in the best shape of my life.
Other than that I have been hanging out with my cousins and their friends out here in California. I've been spending a little bit too much money since I moved (specifically at bars) but that's not the end of the world I guess. It's taken me awhile to get accustomed to how much more expensive everything is out here. For example a pitcher of Coors light on a Wednesday night out here was $16. I could have got that back home for about $7, lol.
I have a dual commentary video with former Leggo coach Jaymesbond coming out in April sometime that I think turned out really well so be sure to watch for that.
So you may have noticed that I haven't blogged or made a video in awhile (actually, I'm fairly certain you didn't notice). I have been super busy the last couple months planning to move out to California and I am finally all set up in a new condo. I'm currently living in Walnut Creek which is ~45 minutes away from San Francisco with my cousin. I've been out here for a few weeks already, but the condo still wasn't painted when I got here so we have been working on that for the past couple weeks. Finally moved in a few days ago. Its been a really refreshing change being out here. I had been in upstate New York for far too long.
I have not been putting in much volume lately, but since I have been out here I am sort of remotivated. The time zone is way better to play in for the Merge games. I really like to get up in the morning and put a decent length session in which was just impossible on the East Coast b/c no games were running that early. This really killed my motivation to grind and hopefully I can start to put in 80-100k hand months again now that I am all set up here.
I played a little bit on my laptop last month and ran pretty good. Rb is also awesome at Lock and anyone that hasn't signed up there yet I recommend talking to Matt. He will hook you up with a good deal for sure. Hopefully I can continue my success going forward. Played mostly 100NL, but some 200NL and maybe 500 hands of 400NL are mixed in as well.
I've thought about making this blog for a couple weeks now and currently have nothing to do so here it goes.
I have been playing poker as my sole source of income for a little over 2 years now. The vast majority of my income has come from playing cash games online, but I have dabbled a bit in the live, and tournament arenas as well. I have been through all the ups and downs one would expect to experience and for better or worse I have made it this far. Throughout this journey I've found a few different things to come up again and again.
1.) The high points in your career are never as satisfying as the low points are demoralizing. I think almost everyone who plays for a living would agree with me here. I'm not sure what the cause of this is, but I am guessing it has something to do with the brain being trained to think we should be winning. So when we are on a big upswing we think that is just how its supposed to go. When on a downswing its just unfathomable that people far below your skill level are continuing to win pots off you. I have personally had two $20k+ scores (which, for a small stakes grinder are quite large). One was winning a miniFTOPs and the other was hitting a BBJ. On both occasions I got a bunch of joy out of it but it was so short lived. A few hours after they occurred it was just as if nothing had happened. On the other hand, I have gone on downswings that just demoralize me and kill my confidence for weeks and even months at a time. I have been on the verge of quitting for good on numerous occasions.
2.) Poker truly does desensitize you to money. While constantly winning and losing 3 and 4 figures on a daily basis it is hard to see how much money is truly worth. I have found that there are two times when I will spend a lot of money and not think about it. These two times are when I am either on a big upswing or a big downswing. The mentality on a big upswing is "Well, I just made $x, so I can spend $x on this, even though it is super overpriced and not worth it." On the other hand, when I am on a big downswing I think "Hey, I just lost $x amount over the past few weeks, whats another $x?" Its pretty easy to see why this can be very dangerous, especially to someone in their early 20's who has never held a "real" job in their life (Not counting cart/bag boy at the local grocery store when i was 16).
3.) Not many people in the "real" world will give you much credit for what you do and no one that hasn't played the game extensively can really understand what playing for a living is all about. All of my friends know what I do for a living and will often joke about how I've got it so easy and such. I usually play along because from the outside it truly does look like a pretty easy life. I choose my own hours, I answer to no one but myself, and I make a pretty decent living. Not many people realize how difficult it is to actually pull this off though. It took an amazing amount of time and effort to get to the point where I am at now. I studied my ass off and played many hours grinding away a tiny hourly just to get better. Not to mention all the stress that comes along with not having a guaranteed income from week to week. Also, the level of focus you have to maintain while playing is way higher than your typical office job. After a standard 2 hour session I would bet that I have used more brain power than most people use in their entire 8 hour workday. I can't turn my brain off for one second while I am playing.
4.) Playing online for a living can be lonely at times. You won't have much social interaction some days as an internet grinder, its just the truth of the matter. A lot of your interactions with people will be messaging other poker players with instant messaging programs. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one of my friends from HS or college that still uses AIM, and its only to communicate with other poker players. Unless you are living with other poker players you will likely be on a different schedule than the people you are living with who work regular jobs. I have found that most of the time I have to make a big effort to get out and actually be sociable. Its sometimes hard to pry yourself away from the tables when you are stuck 10 Buy-ins, but its just something you have to do imo.
I could go on and on with this list, but I don't want the blog to get too long. All in all poker has been a very rewarding career for me and I am very glad that I pursued it. It is extremely challenging and extremely stressful at times, but I think that I have handled everything pretty well and I wouldn't change much about the last couple years of my life.
Here's some sweet mash-ups I have had on repeat recently.
Just thought I'd point out a cool opportunity for people to give back. Christmas morning was one of my favorite days of the year when I was younger and I think its cool to be able to give back a little and help give less fortunate children the same opportunities I had as a child.
Here's a description of the charity and how the guys on 2+2 do it:
Quote:
This is the second annual Christmas Toy Drive organized by Sparky999, thepizzlefosho, and myself.
This is a charity effort to help sick and poor children this christmas. Given Black Friday, we know it has been a tough year for all, but remember that even a couple of dollars goes a long ways in terms of what we can accomplish. Check out the Results from Last years event here.
It's very simple, you donate money, we go and buy toys and make sure they get to kids who need them.
Closing deadline for donations is 8th December, so spread the world!! I'm going to be doing this out of Vancouver, Canada.
Payments can be sent to
mab812 on stars
Please PM that you've made a donation so that I know who's who.
Here is the post w/ information. Right now we are just seeing if we have enough interest to move forward so shoot me or him a pm if you are interested or have any more questions.
2 Cheeseburgers, home fries, and mac salad all mixed together and topped off with a meaty hot sauce and ketchup. Used to eat these all the time in College, just got one for the first time in over a year. If you are ever in Upstate NY (Rochester specifically) you have to get one of these. They look gross but are truly the most delicious things ever. Particularly amazing when drunk.
Q
dealt to Hero (UTG)
T
(2 Players - 1 is All-In)