Hey guys, just wanted to let you know I'm heading over to CR as their newest pro so I'll be ceasing my blog here. I appreciate all the feedback and relationships I've developed over here. I think very highly of the guys that run this site, including Matt and Ae and hope for success for Leggo. This doesn't mean I won't continue to check out this site and your blogs, because I will. For the guys that I talk w/ from time to time, our relationships will cease...jk, everything will stay the same and if any of you guys ever want to talk about anything, feel free to PM me anytime.

Peace,

John

Continuing on, I met a girl in Vancouver (same girl from last post), and being smitten w/ her settled down there for a bit. She became my girlfriend and early on she continued working as a waitress while I played poker. We decided to move in together and life was great. Eventually she would start accompanying me to the local casinos and poker rooms and sit behind me while I played. She had never played poker before and asked me to teach her because she saw me winning consistently and thought she could do the same. I was against it for awhile because even though I made it look easy, I knew it was difficult to win at it long term. Eventually I gave in and started teaching her and I don't know if it was beginner's luck but she started winning right off the bat. Again we were playing $5-$10 to $10-$20 limit hold'em back then.

Also we started having a few arguments here and there, but nothing serious. A few of them involved poker. Sometimes we would sit at the same table (because some of the rooms only had 2-3 tables) and I would see mistakes she would make. I would tell her of her mistakes and early on she agreed but later on when she started winning more than me (short term), she started disagreeing w/ me. That led to arguments because I know she was thinking "well I made more than you so I must be right and you're wrong". I knew eventually I would end up winning a lot more than her and she would realize I was right, but damn, women sure get stubborn! I guess if someone reels off several winning sessions she feels like she is doing nothing wrong...that was the case w/ my gf at the time.

Eventually she felt confident in her poker ability to quit her job. She was still attending college part time though, which I encouraged. After a few months we decided to get married. No one really proposed and I can't even remember who brought it up first but we really don't care tbh. We also decided not to have a big wedding and ended up getting married fairly quickly after we decided on marriage. After that we applied for her to come live in the states permanently because I was an American, not a Canadian. Along the way she got pregnant and we continued to play poker to support ourselves until she was allowed to become a permanent resident in the U.S. During her pregnancy I worked my ass off trying to save up as much money as I could so we'd have a nice foundation to start w/ when we moved down to the U.S. She didn't play much because of her pregnancy.

One of the first things I did was order every poker book out on the market, notably 2+2 books such as "Theory of Poker" and "Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players". I read every Cardplayer issue as well. That was about everything they had back then to improve your game. I digested as much info on poker as I could during that time. I wanted to be able to make the most money I could playing poker and I became a student of the game. I remember thinking I never studied this much before, ever, even in high school or at UCLA.

Now I'm gonna brag some and say that I crushed the $10-$20 limit hold'em game at the Holiday Inn in downtown Vancouver back in those days. I kept an accurate log of my wins and losses and hrs I spent playing for a couple of reasons. They were that I wanted to see how I was doing per hr and I knew I needed to pay taxes on my winnings, even abroad, and needed to have a good record of my income in doing so (not to mention if I got audited). I also befriended some Canadian poker players during my time up there including Greg "FBT" Mueller and Adam Schwartz (does a lot of work in poker media inc. hosting the 2+2 podcast). I still remain friends w/ all of them today.

Anyway after the birth of our daughter and after a couple of years living in Vancouver, we flew to Montreal to get my wife's paperwork which allowed her to live in the U.S. legally. We didn't really get to enjoy the city because we were there for a day. I remember there were a lot of friendly french speaking people though.

When we came back to Vancouver, we rented a U-Haul and hitched my Nissan Sentra to the back, prayed for a safe journey, and began our journey to the U.S. to start our new lives. We headed to Los Angeles to my parents' house from Vancouver. The drive would not be the smoothest drive. It is about 1500 miles I think so it is quite a long drive. I remember driving through Seattle in this big truck w/ my wife cradling our newborn in her arms (seat belts on). During the drive in Washington, it was snowing and the roads were very icy (it was early January). There were cars off the side that had slid and lost control. I'm not sure how but we managed to get through that stretch unscathed. Also when we got to California we hit a heavy patch of fog where visibility was a few yards. Again we had to drive very slowly and very carefully. Again I felt lucky that we did not get into any sort of trouble or accident. Finally we made it to my parents' house safely and thanked God we made it.

Now my wife and I talked about our future, after all we had a baby and wanted the best life we could for her. I told her since I did well playing poker in Canada I'd give it a shot here in the U.S. and if it seemed like I couldn't make enough to provide a comfortable life for us I would go look for a job. She agreed and we decided to get our own place in Los Angeles. We had $10,000 to start w/ and only half that after getting a place and putting a couple of months deposit down on it. My credit was not that good back then and actually had to persuade the landlord to take a chance w/ us and he did and am forever grateful to him that he did so.

So w/ $5,000 in hand I started playing poker for a living to support my wife and child. I started off low, playing $6-$12 limit hold'em around town in the local cardrooms like Hollywood Park, The Bicycle Club, and Commerce and did well from the get go. I was smart enough about playing within my bankroll while trying to get better at the same time. Even though I officially started playing poker full time back in Canada, I felt like this is what I wanted to do for awhile and wanted to do the best that I can to provide the best life I could for my family. This would be the start of my "career" as a full time poker player over the next 10 years (2 years previously in Vancouver) and where I am today. For those interested in the first 10 years of my poker "career", check out this link where I posted about it (mostly as an inspiration that one can live a normal life as a professional poker player, actually written 2 years ago)....

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54...ht-way-368361/

What started as a summer road trip for a buddy and me ended up w/ me getting married, having a kid, and starting life as a professional poker player.

12 years ago when I got married...





Today (left out my kid's face for safety reasons)...

Continuing on from last time, we ended driving up to Canada. Crossing the border back then was a simple "What's your citizenship?" and "Reason for visiting?" and crossing. Nowadays it's more stringent because of 9-11. Anyway we headed to Toronto because my traveling buddy Dexter knew a girl there. The 1st thing I noticed is that Canada had a different set of measurements. It wasn't miles but kilometers (for speed limit) and it wasn't gallons but liters (for gas). As for Toronto it was a big city w/ a diverse group of residents from all ethnicities. I don't remember playing any poker there but I'm sure there are plenty of poker rooms and casinos there.

We headed west towards Vancouver because somehow Dexter had a job interview there. Now Vancouver is in western Canada while Toronto is closer to eastern Canada so it was quite the drive. We decided to drive through the U.S. again because, let's be honest, there aren't as many cities or things to see and do compared to the U.S. Now I want to mention that there are a whole lot of cornfields in America. I know because it seemed like we drove through nothing but cornfields from northeastern U.S. to northwestern U.S.

Anyway when we were driving through South Dakota we noticed a bunch of bikers passing us often. I remember thinking, damn there are a lot of bikers living in South Dakota. It turned out they were all heading towards the annual motorcycle rally at Sturgis, South Dakota. We went ahead and followed the bikers to Sturgis and it was quite the spectacle. There were bikers and girls in leather everywhere. I read they had over 750,000 people attend it in 2000, 2 years after we attended so you can imagine how crowded it was. Sturgis is listed as having a population of 6,400 in 2000 so to say it was crowded is an understatement. Again we were fish out of water. Here we are, 2 young asian guys, surrounded by (mostly) older white guys in black leather riding around on their Harleys. It was a fun time though.

Nearby Sturgis was Deadwood, a small town that allowed gambling. Now if Deadwood sounds familiar, that's because it was a popular HBO series based in Deadwood of the 1870s. It is also the town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead holding the poker hand appropriately named after him ,"dead man's hand" aces and eights. Anyway we played some poker there but unfortunately the state allowed a maximum betting of $5 per round so stakes were small.

Along the way we drove through a few different states but I remember driving through Montana because it was a vast land of openness and there was no speed limit. The law was to drive at a speed that was deemed safe, and for us 100mph+ seemed safe to drive at. We zoomed through Montana for that reason but did make a pit stop in a casino in Billings I think. I remember cleaning up in limit omaha 8 while playing vs. a bunch of white people (after all, it is Montana) and thinking these locals have no idea what hit them (literally...wonder if they've ever seen an asian guy in their city before...joke, somewhat).

We drove to Washington and hit up some casinos outside of Seattle before making our way up to Vancouver, Canada. Now once in Vancouver we had a few days to spend before Dexter had an interview (for a job in Dubai of all places). We ended up frequenting local casinos and poker rooms and did well. I believe the biggest games they spread at the time was $10-$20 limit hold'em. Also the conversion rate was 1.5 Canadian to 1 American so the games played smaller. Now if you've never been to Vancouver, I'd recommend visiting. It is a really beautiful city next to the Pacific Ocean. There is so much greenery around (trees trees trees) and it rains quite frequently. I believe Vancouver has the largest Chinatown outside of China in the world so the asian population is pretty big (ah, finally a place I didn't feel like a fish out of water).

Anyway one day Dexter and I decided to head out to celebrate his birthday. We went to a restaurant where we were serviced by 2 pretty waitresses. Dexter was a little smoother than me around girls I have to admit, and he managed to get the waitresses to go out w/ us once their shifts were done. We ended up going to a coffee shop (Bread Garden) and I somehow managed to get the prettier girl to like me by pretty much bs'ing the entire night (jk, I told the truth, mostly). Anyway we decided to meet for lunch the next day at Knight N Day (think a little more upscale Denny's, but Canadian) and almost fell off my chair when I saw her walk in in a mini skirt. I don't want to say it was love at 1st sight (probably lust at 1st sight, technically 2nd sight) but I knew I had a keeper if I could, well, keep her.

Anyway we ended up dating just about every day after that. Dexter had his interview and told me he was ready to go back to Los Angeles to get his things together before heading to Dubai for his new job. He thought we would be driving back together and finish our trip but he would be wrong. I told him I was serious about this girl and gave him money for a flight back to L.A. He wasn't too happy but understood and left w/o me. Somewhat sadly that would be the last time I'd see Dexter in my life. He did take the job in Dubai so I lost touch w/ him.

Part 3 and final part next time...

Back in 1998 a buddy and I decided to take a road trip centered around poker. We were winning low stakes poker players living in Los Angeles and thought it'd be cool to spend the summer driving around North America playing poker in casinos, bar rooms, poker clubs, etc. while taking in all the sights Canada and America had to offer. We didn't have much money at the time but thought we'd be able to win on the road to sustain our trip. Anyway w/ a couple thousand dollars each in our pockets, we hit the road in my Nissan Sentra.

Starting from Los Angeles, the logical place for our 1st stop was Las Vegas. I remember we stayed at the Flamingo for free because my traveling buddy Dexter had some comps. I also remember going out on the balcony looking out towards the strip and taking in the view while thinking we were going to conquer the world, one poker hand at a time...lol. We were young and foolish and I guess at that age you tend to have a sense of invincibility and confidence. Anyway back then the only games spread were all limit games and we played limit hold'em and limit stud, stakes ranging from $3-$6 to $20-$40. We decided to pool our enormous resources, all $4k of it and make it a bankroll for both of us to use. I knew right away I was the better player and felt confident I'd be able to add to our roll, but did not feel the same way about Dexter, even though I felt like he was a winning player. He had tilt issues and a propensity to play higher than what our roll could manage.

Vegas was fun and we did what guys our age would do...gamble all the time (mostly poker but a little bit in the pit), drink when not gambling and hit up some of the strip clubs. This lasted for about 3 or 4 days and we set off on our adventure again. We drove past Hoover Dam and headed toward Arizona to take in the Grand Canyon. When I laid my eyes on the Grand Canyon I was in awe. It really is magnificent and for those of you that have not been there, it is definitely something that should be on your bucket list (things to see or do before you die). I know atheists point to the Grand Canyon and say that's a reason God doesn't exist because the bible only dates back a few thousand years while the Grand Canyon is evidence that the earth is millions of years old. I like to think something that magnificent and spectacular had to be created by a higher entity, and in my case God.

We decided not to head down to Phoenix and hit the casinos there because it was kind of out of the way. We headed to New Mexico next and thought we might come across some poker rooms or casinos on Indian reservations there. Wrong.

Next stop Texas. Now for sure there would be casinos or poker rooms in Texas, after all it is called Texas Hold'em...wrong again. Anyway we hit up Amarillo 1st where I almost got a speeding ticket but managed to talk my way out of it. Probably had something to do w/ the fact we were asian and the cop knew we were just driving through...after all, it is Amarillo, Texas. I remember we drove for countless hours in open grass land through Texas. I recall trying to keep myself awake driving during the day because there was nothing to look at for hours. We did end up spending some time in Dallas mostly because we were relieved there was an actual city in Texas after all the driving. We visited Dealey Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository. For non history buffs, the Plaza is where JFK was shot and assassinated and the Depository is where Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly fired the gun that killed JFK.

Our next stop was Louisiana. We hit up Shreveport and Bossier City and found out this is where Texans came to gamble, and gamble they did. The games were very good. We played $20-$40 limit hold'em and remember the games having lots of gamblers. Next stop was Tunica, Mississippi. Tunica is a weird place in that it is a very small town comprised of 4-5 large hotel casinos. To be honest, I don't even think there are residential areas in Tuncia. Now we did ok playing poker but Dexter, being the degen he was, decided to make $500 bets on the Don't Come #4 in craps. Based on our roll, he had about 10 bets before going broke. Luckily he broke about even but more importantly, we got comped for a really extravagant suite in the Horseshoe. It beat the cheap motels or nights we spent sleeping in my car in order to save money. That was one of the best nights of sleep I ever got!

We also got comped for food and ate all the crawfish we could handle. It is the south after all and they make crawfish in every flavor you can think of. We hit the road afterward and stopped by a little southern town in the middle of nowhere to grab a bite. It was a small mom and pops BBQ place and when we walked in, we were surrounded by black people. That's right, 2 young asian guys in a small BBQ joint run by black people located in a small black southern town. Now if that isn't fish out of water, I don't know what is. I don't consider myself having a racist bone in my body and treat everybody as I would like to be treated but I'm not gonna lie and say we didn't feel a little intimidated being there. I will say this though, the BBQ was good and I can see where the term southern hospitality comes from. They were very friendly towards us, in fact I can't ever remember another time in my life where I got friendlier service. We left the place thinking that was awesome and I for one wouldn't mind going back.

Next we headed north. Along the way we took a detour and ended up visiting a monastery. I did not know about it but Dexter had visited it before. It was a unique experience being in a place where everything was deemed holy. There were a bunch of monks that lived there and travelers were welcome to sleep the night in one of their many dormitory like rooms but you were expected to give a donation. They also fed you lunch and dinner w/ food they harvested. The monks did a lot of farming when they weren't praying or worshipping. I did find out they made most of their money in technology (I think it was running a printer cartridge company)...go figure. I definitely took it as an opportunity to try to find the inner peace within me (along w/ trying to get closer to God...no more religious overtones rest of the story, because I know some of you guys don't care for it) and enjoyed the experience. Anyway after spending a night there we made a fair donation and headed our way.

We ended driving up to Dexter's home city of Chicago next. I gotta say Chicago is one of the coolest cities I've been to. We drove through the north side and got to see Wrigley Field from the outside, but alas did not catch a game. Also we got an awesome view of Lake Michigan driving along some of the freeways. We also hung out at Michael Jordan's sportcafe 23. I left Chicago thinking it was one if not the best city I've ever been to.

Pokerwise it was not a very good time. We ended up visiting some local riverboats in the area and Dexter ended up losing nearly all our bankroll. We had to stay a couple of more days in Chicago waiting for money that was owed to him. After collecting we decided to head east, notably New York.

I felt the opposite toward New York w/ how I felt toward Chicago. I did not like New York at all. I remember being stuck on one of the bridges due to traffic and having to go bad. I ended up emptying a...

I'll just get my poker talk out of the way and say that I've played 13 hrs in cash games and am stuck $800. My all in ev line is at +$1200 though. As for mtts I'm down another $1200 so not exactly a robust start to the month. I do have to say that my effort time wise is not good. I'm probably feeling too complacent after having a good month last month (+$63k). I might've mentioned this earlier that I tend to do so and need to work on this. To be fair I've had my parents over for a few days and wanted to spend some time w/ them. Also it's almost NFL season which means 1 thing for me....fantasy football!

If there's one degenerate aspect of my life that would be fantasy football. If there's one blog post I hope my wife never reads, this would be it. I tend to go overboard in side action...maybe that's because I've been crushing it the last 2 years. I'm in a $500, $1k, and a $3k buyin league this year. That's $4500 in buyins which is probably about 1/10th in side actions, almost all of it in the 3dime league. There are some big degens (big gamblers is more appropriate I guess, or maybe it isn't) in the 3dime including Erick Lindgren, Brett Richey, and Matt Woodward and I have a lot of weekly and total points bets w/ them. Just about everybody in the 3 leagues are professional poker players except for the nickel league which has 1 non poker player (and yet he's the best ff manager in the league, go figure).

The nickel league is a friends' league that I've been a part of for several years and we have a mandatory $50 weekly bet vs each team along w/ the standard payoffs for 1st and 2nd place and for total pts leader. It's a 8 team full ppr (points per reception) league that starts 2 qbs and has 2 flex spots so it's unique. I managed to win the league last year. I won about $3k in it but better yet won a yahoo tshirt proclaiming me league champ for the year which is awesome because I get to wear it every sunday when I get together w/ my league buddies to watch games. I can happily point to my shirt whenever someone points out so and so on my team sucks. Childish, yeah, priceless, definitely.

As for the team I'm ok w/ it but felt like I could've done a slightly better job drafting it. I had the 6th pick (out of 8) and went w/ Gore in rd 1. I think I screwed up taking Tony Gonzalez over Arian Foster and Michael Bush over a couple of different other backs inc. Ahmad Bradshaw in the mid stages of the draft. Out of all the drafts, I felt like I did the poorest job here but luckily it is the cheapest buyin. I do come in as the reigning champ and hopefully I can become the league's 1st back to back champ. Nickel team...



Now the 1dime league is a new league for me. It's a mid stakes nl cash game players' league comprised of guys from 2+2. I don't know most of the guys in the league but I play against most on a daily basis in the cash games so I trust them (please don't check raise me anymore guys). I do know the man, the myth, the legend AeJones (wait, isn't he a high stakes guy? How'd he get an invite?!). I'm trying to work on becoming the man, the myth, the legend myself but got a long ways to go. I think I'm at the footnote right now.

Obviously as true to form for good online players, this league is comprised mostly of young guys. I probably brought up the avg. age of guys in the league from 23 to 30 w/ my participation. I wonder if I would've ever been allowed in if they knew I was in my mid 30s. Too late now fellas! I was going in thinking "sweet, bunch of young guys who crush online poker, probably a bunch of degens...they'll probably want to wager (and lose) thousands to me!" but I'm beginning to think these guys value money more than I thought, more than me anyways, oh well.

Anyway I was very happy w/ how the draft went. I loved getting the #2 spot out of the 12 teams. I'm bullish on AP this year and pretty much got everybody I targeted. I haven't really looked at all the teams but just the fact that this is a 12 team half ppr league I'm assuming I have one of the top 3 teams (it's all just a matter of opinion really....nah I really do have a top 3 team). The league pays top 3 spots and total pts leader so I'll be disappointed if I don't show a profit in the league. I guess I can always take their money on the poker tables (or maybe it's vice versa?). 1dime team...



In the 3dime league there are 14 teams and it's a half ppr (.5 pts per reception). So this isn't chump change, considering the prize pool is $42,000. Top 2 teams and top 2 total pts leaders get paid. Since it is a pretty expensive league I brought in a co manager to take some of the buyin and action. It's none other than Hemmacuda! He lives in Vegas so it'll be cool to sweat games w/ him. Also I figure a young kid from Iowa will know a little bit about football since they're crazy about their Wolverines there (haha, I'm kidding, I know it's the Buckeyes). We have several 4 figure weekly bets and 5 figure seasonal total pts bets w/ various teams so it's not a league for the faint of heart (Hemma, get on that grind so you can cover for both of us!).

Last year I managed to come in 3rd which sucked but managed to get 2nd place in total pts which was my buyin back if I recall. I did manage to clean up in side bets and won a car, errr the cash equivalent ($25k). Sounds cooler saying I won a car in fantasy football though. We did up our side bets this year so if our team sucks I could be paying back 2 cars worth (hopefully kia's if that's the case).

An additional bet I have w/ Erick (edog) is if I beat him in total points I get a red pro deal w/ FTP, and if he beats me I have to wear a dog outfit w/ a big letter E on the front at next year's WSOP (or maybe just a simple edog tattoo on my rear end would've sufficed). Actually I'm kidding about the additional edog bet but just in case he ever reads this, the offer will be on the table...for real.

Anyway we changed our draft format from the standard snake to auction which made it very interesting. A lot of guys were rookies (inc. myself) but I felt like I had a great approach and did a good job overall getting the players I wanted. Obviously w/ 14 teams and a 3dime buyin it was very competitive and bargains were hard to find but I think I found a few. 3dime team....



I have a 2ndary plan in place if we get pummeled... I hear Ecuador is a really cheap place to live and hard for anyone to find out if you're living there (get your passport ready Hemma!).

Anyway I'm excited for the upcoming season and to say I'll be sweating the games is an understatement. I'll be sweating and I'll be sweating (perspiration!...nah I don't really sweat perspiration...asians don't have much body hair, or does that matter??).

Now I do want to point out something. That the frick'ing gov't has no clue when it comes to regulation! They pass the UIGEA which bans payments to offshore gambling sites like online poker sites because it's the ethical thing to do (in their minds). Oh we can't let Americans play poker or bet sports on their own free will because they won't...

So I played the Detox main event ($550 buyin) over the weekend at the Hard Rock here in Vegas and finished 3rd for $25,400. Not a bad pay day but disappointed in not winning it all esp. the cool trophy that comes w/ it. Here's a pic of it (w/ some deadmoney next to it..lol...nah that's my buddy Joe that won the 1st event and $31k..Matt Savage next to him).



I started the day 13th in chips out of 18 and really didn't pick up any hands at all all day and nursed a short stack until we were 4 handed. It helped that the levels were increased from 40 mins to 60 mins at the final table. Matt Savage usually runs player friendly tournaments and this was no exception. He is arguably the best tournament director out there today, and he's very friendly w/ players. He's also a mod on 2+2 and contributes there a lot so if that's not cool, idk what is (the fact that he's a well know tournament director for major events yet has the time to be a 2+2 mod, and he doesn't just post in the mtt threads...his posts are all over 2+2). He also has a charity golf tournament named after him (which he hosts) so he's into philanthropy as well (shameless request..Matt if you ever read this I'd love to be invited to it sometime!).

Anyway at the final table I never picked up a hand before a timely double up w AK vs J7 aipf. That only got me to 12 bbs or so. If there was one complaint I had about the tournament it was that there wasn't much play when were we 4-7 handed. I think there was a decent amount of play hu but alas I didn't make it, which compounded my disappointment because I felt (knew) I was the best player at the final table and probably been a favorite hu even if I was outchipped (unless I was really short).

When we got down to 6 handed, others proposed a deal and even though I only had 10 bbs at the time (along w/ 2 others at 10bbs, the cl's w/ about 25-30bbs) I nixed the deal (deal consisted of me receiving $16k when 1st was $60k w/o the deal) for a couple of reasons...I was the best player (stating my opinion w/o trying to sound arrogant) and a couple of the guys really wanted the deal so I knew there was a lot of fold equity against them. I was able to bust the next best player w/ QQ vs ATs and was up to 400k w/ blinds at 15k-30k and they proposed another deal. This time I was offered $25k and after deliberating on it for a few mins (others wanted the deal) I decided to take it for 1 reason only...because there still wasn't much play w/ the stacks at 200k, 300k, 400k (me), 1mil, 1.2 mil with blinds 20k-40k (see not much play). I knew it was somewhat of a crapshoot and I could bust out 5th easily and receive $10k (vs the $25k I was to get w/ the deal + 10k left to play for for 1st..actually $7k for 1st, $3k for 2nd) so I took it but wasn't excited about it like the others were.

There was an older asian guy that kept telling me I should take the deal because I'm getting $25k and that that's a lot...he hounded me for a few mins. about it while I deliberated it. I had to tell him everybody has different interests in regards to the $ and the tournament. He wouldn't let up though and asked me for my name because he said I must've been someone important in the poker world not to take the deal (especially since I was the only guy that was hesitant on it). I gave it to him and he said he would look me up online. Well sir if you are reading this, you found me and congrats on your 4th place finish.

Anyway after I unenthusiastically accepted the deal I lost every hand. I opr w 99 fr the sb and bb called, flop J86r, I cbet bb raised little over 2x, I tanked for awhile and folded and he showed me QJ. Then the asian guy opr to 120k on the button w/ 400k behind and I look down at KJo in the sb w/ 700k and based on his physical tells I was nearly 100% certain he didn't want to face a reraise (I guess I'll help him out if he's reading this but he got really silent when he held big hands preflop and talked a lot when he held weaker hands..was such an obvious tell...he was talking a lot here after opr) so I elected to shove and he tanked and started talking about how happy he was to have locked up $18k (like very very happy, remember he was hounding me to take the deal) and I was thinking uh oh, I didn't think about the fact that he's very happy securing $18k so I prob. have way less fold equity. Anyway after a couple of minutes about how happy he was w/ $18k (he was pretty nitty before the deal) he said, I'm gambling ..I call!! and rolls over 44 and it holds and cripples me. It was a shame because I would've been 3handed w/ equal stacks w/ the 2 older gentlemen (1 played ok, somewhat abc but ok, other loose and somewhat below avg).

Anyway after the asian guy busts w/ a very bad call (sb opl, he raises, sb shoves huge, he again goes into his usual outburst about $18k and how he didn't expect to make it this far and calls w AT and busts to AK). It was a bad call because the sb's range crushes AT based on my reads of the sb and the asian guy had plenty of chips to work w/ if he just folds (about 1mil w/ blinds at 20k-40k). Couple of hands later I was down to 285k and decided to shove K2o on the button and got called by KJ and that's all she wrote. The hu match was 2 guys in their 50s and the better player ended up winning it.

Anyway back to the asian guy he was irritating while amusing to play w/ because of his outbursts and his nonstop endless chatter when deliberating to call or fold. Think a lesser versian of Hevad Khan (during his deep main event run) but in an older asian guy's body. If you want proof, check out his post bust out interview, esp. the end when he finds out he's itm....

http://www.detoxpoker.com/2010/08/ma...-bona-sar.html

Yeah he was doing that dance and more every time he won a hand, especially when he doubled up. Now I thought he was out of line when he was hounding me to take the deal and his outbursts were a little annoying at times but for the most part I found it amusing and I must say my impression of him is that he's actually a nice guy that was excited to get as deep as he did so it's all good.

As for me they interviewed me as well....

http://quadjacks.com/videos/377/john...ker-main-event

As you can see, it was a more low key, more somber interview than the interview w/ the other asian guy. Also the interviewer's reaction when he finds out my online sn is kinda funny..."really, you're Nicolak, what was that again?"....lol. My thought while watching it...geez I need a new hair stylist!

Overall though I enjoyed the experience and enjoy playing live mtts from time to time ...although I felt like I wasted 2 months playing a lot of WSOP events over the summer, as evidenced by my June and July results (+16k total profits for the 2 months, guess it's not that shabby). I should mention I brought my ipad w/ me and pretty much did stuff on it between hands while playing. After all I'm used to playing 1k hands/hr so seeing 30 hands/hr seems snail pace to me and needed to stimulate my brain somehow (by reading football stuff for this upcoming season on the ipad).

Also I will try not to take any time off after...

So I was playing some 2/4 nl yesterday and in sits Tom "Durrrr" Dwan to my direct right. He tells the table he is going to play for 20 minutes. I assume he's making a video for the FTP academy. Anyway how often do you get a chance to play vs him at these stakes? So I looked for every opportunity to play hands vs him and they didn't end well as evidenced below.

Full Tilt, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UPsDaeSy (UTG): $465
Tweelingen (CO): $777.60
durrrr (BTN): $548.20
Hero (SB): $400
cwalk2k3 (BB): $406

Pre-Flop: 4 5 dealt to Hero (SB)
UPsDaeSy raises to $12, Tweelingen folds, durrrr calls $12, Hero calls $10, cwalk2k3 folds

Flop: ($40) 3 A 7 (3 Players)
Hero checks, UPsDaeSy checks, durrrr bets $31, Hero calls $31, UPsDaeSy folds

Turn: ($102) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, durrrr checks

River: ($102) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $82, durrrr raises to $505.20 and is All-In, Hero calls $275 and is All-In

Results: $816 Pot
durrrr showed J 7 and WON $961.20 (+$561.20 NET)
Hero mucked 4 5 and LOST (-$398 NET)

Full Tilt, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

UPsDaeSy (BB): $495
Tweelingen (UTG): $777.60
durrrr (CO): $885.20
Hero (BTN): $400
cwalk2k3 (SB): $433

Pre-Flop: 8 4 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Tweelingen folds, durrrr raises to $12, Hero raises to $36, 2 folds, durrrr calls $24

Flop: ($78) 6 6 5 (2 Players)
durrrr checks, Hero bets $40, durrrr calls $40

Turn: ($158) 7 (2 Players)
durrrr checks, Hero bets $92, durrrr calls $92

River: ($342) 2 (2 Players)
durrrr checks, Hero bets $232 and is All-In, durrrr calls $232

Results: $806 Pot ($3 Rake)
durrrr showed 5 5 and WON $803 (+$403 NET)
Hero showed 8 4 and LOST (-$400 NET)

Obviously they're not +ev spots $ wise but they are +ev in happiness and experience. Also I'd rather lose to him at 2/4 than say 50/100.

As for my actual play of hands postflop I think they were ok and tbh were coolers in his favor. The 1st hand I thought I could be beat when he shoved but he's Durrrr, he's capable of bluffing anytime. The 2nd hand I thought @ turn I got this dude now (w/ thoughts of stacking Durrrr by 3betting w/ 84s..get a taste of your own medicine Tom!!). Oh how wrong I was! Anyway I got owned by him and he quit shortly after he stacked me for the 2nd time. Hit n Runner!

Anyway besides that I'm off to a good start to the month. Just been grinding 6max (w/ a little hu) 2/4 nl...



Now this is the way to start off a month! I'll be looking to play 3/6 and 5/10 soon and hope the good run continues. No matter how I run, I'm gonna aim to play a ton of hrs this month. I wanna give myself a chance of having my best year ever in terms of $ won and even if I don't reach that goal, I wanna know I tried my best.

As for other stuff, I've been getting exposure which is a good thing I guess. I guess I should've started a blog years ago. Anyway I was asked to come on Cardplayer's UTG show to provide some strategic advice...I thought I could've done a better job here...

http://www.cardplayer.com/cptv/chann...o-and-john-kim

Also I got to answer some questions about my career and hosting Cash Plays on PokerRoad. I thought this came out well...

http://www.pokerroad.com/news/newsbrief/1907

W/ Jeremiah Smith (a friend of FTP) called Cash plays where we focus on cash games, notably online cash games. 1st podcast came out today...

http://www.pokerroad.com/radio/cash-plays/81

As for poker, been grinding a lot..up a whopping $300..welcome to the world of the rakeback pro!

I cashed for $41,098 total at the WSOP. I missed 4 events totaling $10k. So 1% would be $410.98 + $120 = 530.98. Already shipped to everybody their shares. Everything should be correct, let me know if it isn't. Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. Sorry I couldn't make more than the measly $20 per 1% invested.

Also after talking w/ friends, I should've folded the A9 hand on the flop mainly because I could use my knowledge and skills later on in more favorable spots. I think I put too much weight into the fact that the guy wanted to make it to day 5 and a few other assumptions that may not have held too much water. I still don't think it's horrible but it wasn't good, esp. for someone w/ my knowledge and experience vs. the rest of the field. Anyway I feel terrible about busting out like that, and feel bad that I could've done better for myself and everyone that had a piece of me.

I know that I'm not the best player, but I do think I'm pretty good. W/ that said I'm prone to err in poker and I hate it when I do so, esp. in the main event. I'm still trying to get over it but I'm feeling like crap. I will continue to work on my poker game as I continuously strive to do so so I don't make these kind of mistakes in the future, and that's all we can do as poker players.

Also back to online poker fulltime!

Good news: I cashed for $24k today and profited in the WSOP..not much though. I'll figure out the #s tomorrow...my brain is fried right now.

Bad news: I busted from the main event...in a pretty sick way. I'm almost too embarrassed to say the hand but I don't feel bad about it because I went out swinging instead of waiting for big hands. I also went w/ a read and it was wrong..it happens.

Anyway I had 235k, w/ avg around 350k, playing 3k-6k. TD announces 3 more hands for the night and I opr/ w A9s ep to 14k and get called in 2 spots. Flop comes 6h5c3h, I normally c/f the flop but decided to cbet 24k thinking both guys will want to make it to day 5 and will fold a lot of their range there and also my hand looks strong cbetting into 2 there...anyway 1st guy folds, 2nd guy w/ exactly the same stack as me raises to 60k and I think about how he threw in his chips preflop (he called quickly out of turn preflop and quickly after the guy in front of him called so I deduced he had a medium strength hand but not a premium hand eg small-med pps and JTs, QJs typish hands), and I tank and I'm pretty sure (over 90%) that he's folding everything but 2pr+ there (he 3bet and folded QQ preflop and 3bet and folded on the flop earlier) and I deduce that he has 22-TT here mostly and was raising to protect. Anyway again I'm pretty sure he's folding all pps here that isn't 33, 55, 66, so I decide to jam for 160k more and he calls w/ 55 and it's gg me (had 1 ante left and that was agonizing). Obviously I feel like an idiot when hands are turned over but I went w/ my read and it was wrong, plain and simple.

Anyway I finished the series w/ 5 cashes and am up a little. Again I'll figure out the #s tomorrow because it always feels crappy the moment you bust out of the main event and don't feel like doing anything. I'm happy to make everyone money, even though it wasn't much. Maybe next year (when I'm not dusting off my chips!).

Edit: Just off the top of my head, I cashed for about $41k and didn't play in $10k of events (so you'd get back $120 for every 1% you had of me + your % of $41k) so 1% returns about $530. #s aren't exact because I'm basing this off the top of my head. I will compute exact #s tomorrow and ship back same method I received. Eh, looks like I made investors very minimal profit..about $20 for every 1% you had of me.