been lazy lately. just having had like 2 or 3 sessions this week so far. pretty pleased with this month so far. i still find myself making a few bad plays here and there, usually it costs me a stack and then im forced to shut down in an attempt to calm myself.

i would like to see myself actively be more aggressive preflop with some more 3 betting. i've been seeing a lot more flops lately and putting more emphasis on postflop play. but i can never play enough hands on the button and should really strive to make the conscious effort to do so.

i had a super weird session yesterday. i was happily grinding away on a bunch of tables. then for some weird reason, 3 tables at the same time just go blank. i had typed in my bet and hit bet but nothing happened. sure its might be no big deal if it was some blind steal spot vs 2 regs or something, whatever. but it just so happened to be KK 4 way to a flop of Q94 and AA vs a 70/12 drooler who open limped the CO. i get force folded on the AA hand, effectively losing 4 dollars in the process and my DP apparently finds a way to work and i win the KK hand. this was extremely frustrating. normally i'd stop my session, but i had just started, the tables were great and these random freak occurances didnt really affect my bottom line that much.

so i try to sit back in on those 3 tables that went busto. the client refused to let me sit back in. so for 2 orbits i was active on a bunch of other tables, but handicapped on those 3 select tables. fine, screw you party. i'll just leave those tables and find more. the session continues. an hour in. all 10 tables just instantly shut off and party reboots. i am so very confused. nothing like having 10 tables pop up and you are posted OOP on 4 of them.

words can not describe my frustration. i actually had that session recorded too, but then camtasia decides to bug out and lose that video. *sigh*

while im talking about camtasia, can anyone out there explain to me why none of my videos work? if i record 2-4 tables its a great success. but i cant ever get any of my 6-10 tabling videos to develop. instead i get to ocnvert the camrec file to an avi and stick that file into WMP so i can review my session. if anyone (im looking at you vita23) knows how to fix this, shoot me a PM.

a hand for the readers :

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $77
UTG: $243.61
MP: $639.75
CO: $952.35
BTN: $428.60
Hero (SB): $411.10

Pre-Flop: 8 8 dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls $4, MP raises to $16, 2 folds, Hero calls $14, BB folds, UTG calls $12

Flop: ($52) 8 A K (3 Players)
Hero bets $44, UTG folds, MP calls $44

Turn: ($140) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP checks

River: ($140) K (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $100, Hero raises to $351.10 and is All-In, MP calls $251.10

Results: $842.20 Pot ($3.50 Rake)

this hand really had me steaming the other night. i absolutely hate my river play. its funny cause i recorded that session on camtasia and watched a few parts of it today and i can see my thought process on the river. just bleah, way to turn my hand into a bluff. my thought process on the flop is that im going to bet/3 bet hopefully trapping the middle player who was a fish. when villian, who is a very good reg flats, i figure he never has a set, and he probably doesnt have the Qd either. when the turn is checked thru, im 100% certain he doesnt have a flush, however when the board pairs on the river, i get all excited. i has a full house! take manies!

what a horrible thought process on the river. what the heck flats that flop, checks that turn and bet/calls a check raise all in on that board?

**** all.

i managed to find someone who might coach me in PLO. im remotely excited about this possibility. all the larger cash games in my city are mainly PLO. they are super soft and action filled. i mean sure, live poker to me is equal to getting on my knees and walking through broken glass, but once in a while doesnt hurt. I'd only ever play when the CPT comes into town anyways. still, i'd like to learn PLO, NLHE has kinda become a bit stale. its a great source of income, but meh, its nowhere as thrilling or exciting as it was a year ago. learning something new will be cool i guess, we'll see how it unfolds.

for the record, im terrible at any form of poker that involves me having more than 2 cards. and everyone who plays with me in real life knows this, so being able to not suck at mixed games will be great

hopefully i get time to put in more hands. kinda tied down with the worst sleeping schedule and exams and assignments. school cant end fast enough. the novelty of school has definitely worn off.

till next time, stop tilting at the tables.

one of my friends in europe is curious about poker, so i gave him some pointers and got him started on some fundamentals. hes a super talented gamer who is sickly smart. ontop of that the guy is a machine capable of sitting infront of a computer for 16h straight making right decision after right decision while not getting emotional when things arent going his way. honestly he should have made the transition into poker sooner. its funny that over the years of online gaming i've done, there are some people who have the raw talent for potentially being great at poker, but lack the emotional control. however, i think this guy, pointed in the right direction will be sick within a few months. he is finnish too and we all know that finns are sick.

i decided that since i wont have too much time to put in hands, i'd surf the forums and post some stuff. i was never really one to write strat posts, but i figured i'd give it a try. its weird how many posts i see where people just say 'this is without reads' or 'villian is 22/18 over 100 hands' it just boggles my mind. i leave two computers on 24/7 and have them datamine the stakes i play. sitting down with a bunch of unknowns never happens. if someone i dont know appears and is playing several tables, i make the generic assumption that hes probably someone tagish. the thing that irks me about the '22/18' statement is that not all 22/18 are the same. i actually happen to play in and around that area, but since we are now in the HEM and PT3 generation, we can, in realtime see peoples ranges by position. i can almost promise you that my positional stats are not the same as another 22/18. therefore, i think when people are posting reads. it should be, this guy LOOKS 22/18, but hes 28/23 in the co, or 13/13 UTG.

also, if you play on a site that doesnt allow datamining. i feel sorry for you.

lately somnius has found this new program, and he is all about it lately. its an interesting little thing that has caught my interest. however im definitely nowhere as keen in regards to sitting down and punching in numbers. we've gotten into some pretty indepth discussions and arguments about ranges and its totally fun. he is such a sick person to talk to, since i like being stubborn but definitely have my moments. we argue and argue. then conclude ok this is cool. then out of nowhere i'll say something like ok, but what if we check raise the river instead and then the discussion starts all over again.

with poker friends like that, its amazing how fast your game can evolve. when you have two or three people playing the same stakes and you can bounce ideas or lines off one another. im super lucky i have a few trusted individuals i can do this with. it sure as hell beats sitting down and grinding out 5000 hands a day but not really learning anything. i'd rather play 10000 hands a month, but advance my game, plug leaks, evolve into a sicker player as opposed to grinding out 50000 hands and having some boring 2ptbb winrate or something.

in other news, one of my friends took me to a hockey game today. it was my early birthday present i guess. i was kinda taken back when we got there and she told me these are awesome seats. i figured oh i'm not going to be in the nosebleeds. turns out she got us seats 7 rows up from ice level. i was the happiest boy there. being a huge hockey fan it was a definite treat, there is no way i deserve to be spoiled like that. unfortunately, my team put out a stinker, and we got served 5 - 2 by toronto. toronto of all teams. the team that will probably never lift a stanley cup. sigh. i also lost the shots on goal prop for that game. i totally jinxed myself when i texted my friend after the first period and the oilers had 13 shots.

now its pretty late, i'll hit the books for another 20 mins.

oh yeah, i also had this 'caesars' drink at the game. im kinda a noob when it comes to alcohol since me and jack daniels have been best friends for 10 years. clamato juice and vodka is disgusting. you people who drink this stuff and smile are sick. whats wrong with you.

so after the weekend passed, i woke up in a wreck as has been my regular habit now. i probably have one of the most unhealthy lifestyles ever. i might eat twice a day. i probably pass out for 3-6 hours in the middle of the afternoon for no apparent reason. i dont sleep well at nights and things are just an absolute wreck.

it kinda sucks, cause i have been aware of this for a while and sure i tell people oh yeah im gonna fix it and things will go back to the way they were. i just dont know. i should really make the effort and stop relying on prop bets or friends. if i can get out of the rut myself, its all for me.

anyways i ended up doing like nothing school related during the long weekend and went to classes today. i was surprised that there were lots of assignments due this week, an exam on friday. another exam on tuesday and some group project due in a week. seriously, where the hell did all this stuff appear from.

since school is obviously the priority, i will be taking a few days off poker to focus back on school and get caught up. i did remotely decent on my last accounting exam, while it wasnt stellar, its definitely a step in the right direction and i totally feel things are still salvagable.

my poker game has been nothing short of amazing lately. the month started out rough, but i've been on a tear lately. hell i am almost to 10k hands already this month, which was my goal. lol, what a work ethic i know. regardless, my game continues to evolve, my tilt control is superb and my reads get stronger with each session. in the past 3500 hands, ive been stacked twice. and frankly i think both times i got stacked, i spewed and they should have been folds really. its truly sick how when you are playing your A+ game consistently, how easy every decision is.

i guess i'll post a couple of fun hands i've hand this month. i like to overbet jam a lot. its fun times. no one ever folds anything anyways.

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $458
UTG: $404.70
MP: $400
CO: $920.38
BTN: $1,714.88
SB: $400

Pre-Flop: 9 T dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG calls $4, 4 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($10) 3 6 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $8, UTG calls $8

Turn: ($26) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $18, UTG calls $18

River: ($62) A (2 Players)
Hero bets $428 and is All-In, UTG calls $374.70 and is All-In

Results: $811.40 Pot
Hero showed 9 T and WON $861.20 (+$456.50 NET)
UTG showed and LOST (-$404.70 NET)

they obviously had the dry Ace.


Party Poker, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $937.49
Hero (SB): $603
BB: $1,147.04
UTG: $888.55
MP: $700.85
CO: $724.92

Pre-Flop: T J dealt to Hero (SB)
2 folds, CO raises to $12, BTN folds, Hero calls $9, BB calls $6

Flop: ($36) T J K (3 Players)
Hero bets $31, BB folds, CO calls $31

Turn: ($98) T (2 Players)
Hero bets $71, CO calls $71

River: ($240) Q (2 Players)
Hero bets $489 and is All-In, CO calls $489

Results: $1,218 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed T J and WON $1,215 (+$612 NET)
CO showed and LOST (-$603 NET)

i'd never fold the straight on this board either. i call to chop!

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: $464.52
CO: $443.40
Hero (BTN): $514.50
SB: $281.21
BB: $867.59
UTG: $400

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG raises to $14, 2 folds, Hero calls $14, SB raises to $48, 2 folds, Hero raises to $111, SB raises to $172, Hero raises to $514.50 and is All-In, SB calls $107.21 and is All-In

Flop: ($580.42) Q A A (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($580.42) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($580.42) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $580.42 Pot ($236.79 Rake)
Hero showed Q Q and WON $343.63 (+$62.42 NET)
SB showed and LOST (-$281.21 NET)

villian actually turns up here with K3o. it was super sick.

and for the hands i got stacked:

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

MP: $424.23
Hero (CO): $406
BTN: $974.70
SB: $889.90
BB: $626.70
UTG: $1,165.80

Pre-Flop: Q A dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, MP calls $4, Hero raises to $18, 3 folds, MP calls $14

Flop: ($42) J Q A (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero bets $33, MP raises to $66, Hero raises to $156, MP raises to $246, Hero raises to $388 and is All-In, MP calls $142

Turn: ($818) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($818) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $818 Pot ($3 Rake)
MP showed and WON $815 (+$409 NET)
Hero showed Q A...

things have been progressing along decently since the last entry. i feel that i did very well on my accounting exam, so its a burden off my chest. i have been neglecting school a bit lately, since i've been occupied with a variety of poker related things.

first off, i've recorded about 6 or 7 of my sessions. since getting my new computer i've felt the need to put it to good use, instead of having some super desktop that lets me play a lot of poker and watch a lot of porn, i could use it to actively improve my game by recording sessions and watching them over. so far i've picked up a few things that i do wrong. when i start off a session, my timing is great. i am a very very slow player and i like to make the table play at my pace. it helps me think through my decisions and also lets me judge their response time in regards to my actions. however it would seem that about 40 to 45 mins into my sessions, my timing gets all screwed up. sometimes even faster if im playing on speed tables. i really hate those speed tables, but the weirdest fish show up on them and i cant pass up some juicy tables even though i'll probably time out a few times. of course thats bad cause i time out and then start to get frustrated for timing out and the downward spiral starts there.

if i could describe my own form of tilt and make it so anyone reading this could understand. its like guitar hero. i hate the game to be honest, but well, anything you can bet on you cant really go too wrong with. anyways, while i have only played it a few times, i manage to start off really strong. it could be 150 or 200 notes in a row. but the moment i miss one note. everything will fall apart and i wont ever do one of those snap recoveries and proceed to string together another 150 string. poker is the same way. i'll be able to play what i consider 'perfect' poker for a certain period of time. yet the moment something goes wrong, whether its a small thing or a donkey play happens. its good game. atleast i realize this these days and can force myself to close down the session.

this is something i've struggled with for a long time, and it wasnt till recently that i was able to realize my faults.

today was like that, i stuck in a quick 40 min session where things went well. then i started to unclick autopost and think about dinner. i caught myself, staring at 9 tables. 9 very profitable tables. it felt like i was hating money by not playing more. sure i was up for the session, nothing went wrong. there was a spot i wasnt too happy with, but JJ vs KK aipf is kinda a whatever spot for me these days. the flop was 942r also so its not like i would have folded that flop either. but i almost wanted to force myself to play, just because the games were so profitable.

i stopped myself there.

and i shut down the tables.

there is no reason for me to FORCE myself to play. if i was going to keep my session going, i would have just grinded along. but the thought of food had invaded my mind. i was hungry. it was the correct choice to close down and go eat.

people around me talk about how the games just arent as good anymore and 'winrates' are lower nowadays. i disagree with this. i can open up a poker site, scan the tables and almost be sure to find profitable tables. its not a problem. why should i be putting so much pressure on myself. it doesnt make sense.

i had dinner, went out to smoke some cigars with a friend and shoot the ****. then i wandered over to the casino, threw some dice and happily lost a hundred dollars. i've always been one to resist the pit games during my casino days and i cant say that this is a good thing throwing dice again after swearing it off when i turned 19 (fwiw im almost 26 soon) but i guess we all need to just have a little fun and a hundo doesnt really hurt anyone.

etown is shipping me a gift. we each bought 30" monitors when they went on sale last month. 999 was a super sick price obviously. he cant use his because he has a imac, which is a total beat. so i will be buying his monitor from him and having a nice dual 30" monitors to play poker on. kinda excited about it. what to do with my dual 20" monitors now. ugh.

i have also finished my video that i'll be submitting to leggo. i sent it out to a few friends and they gave me a pretty good review. im used to public speaking a lot and totally feel it translates over into my commentary, i talk about a bunch of leaks that i see in most players games these days. i was kinda torn on whether to delve into a single tangent and explore it as much as possible but ended up going with a variety approach. i hope the guys at leggo like it. it'd be sick to win.

off to bed now, gotta grind some hands tomorrow.

perhaps this is a post that is a day or two early. but with the current leggo 'promo' i've been inclined to video tape my sessions and review them myself as opposed to using the HH replayer. i think this is superb as i get to make more notes on certain regulars and catch all the things that i do miss when im multitabling. so after recording two sessions, both of which where i run like super sickly i am almost out of this hole that is november.



thats november so far. and i mean i hate talking about equity graphs as much as the next guy as it totally is a crutch people use to justify their play in marginal spots. i can honestly say to myself, yeah the first few days were me running bad, but i also did some stupid stuff that i normally dont do. follow that up with a session where i am abnormally aggressive in spots where i dont need to be. next thing you know, in a standard float spot where i decide to peel a checkraise with a gutshot and nut bdfd i see myself bluffing off my stack vs a flopped two pair for no reason. no matter how cliche it sounds, small mistakes in marginal spots lead to huge mistakes on later streets.

as for video producing, its been quite a pain in the butt. i have no idea how this program works and one of the sessions already went busto. todays session went great though and im glad i caught it on video. i also got to see a few spots that i have been neglecting while i play my own style of 'autopilot' so i'll definitely have a few things to fix in my next few sessions. with just two recorded sessions, i've already found a lot of things and its weird how your mind set evolves when you are forced to vocalize your actions and justify them. not only can you find leaks in your own game, you can take it a step further and come up with a more creative approach to the hand in question. people who view poker as a game of absolutes are wrong and rarely should the game been examined in a vacuum.

the coaches who spend time to make videos definitely do not get enough props for the job they do. myself being a relatively 'slow' player would have no chance of 4 tabling and discussing tangents that are relative to the hands playing out. not to mention discussing alternative lines and doing my best to not sound like a boring person lecturing.

i have another exam this friday, i figured i'd take a break from studying to write here. not because i need to be acknowledged as a person or whatnot, but writing definitely is something soothing and relaxing for me. its something i used to do alot, then not so much anymore. its also nice to see myself make goals and strive to achieve them. for the rest of the week, i hope to record every session i play and review my sessions with friends or by myself. i hope to have a great success on this accounting exam, cause if i dont do well i am so ****ed and its not even close.

i also started a little project with a fellow leggo member. i think it has some definite potential in the games these days. a bit thrilled about it since its something that caught my eye in the middle of september and now i have energy/time to look into it.

looking forward to the long weekend, expecting to grind a lot.

im resolving to put in more hands and hopefully profit a lot during this month. its not like i have anything better to do.

for a low volume player, im not used to swongs. in the past i've put in long sessions and while i think they arent amongst my strengths, i still feel mroe than capable of doing them. this session was a session i was totally 100% proud of. except for one hand. which is going to be shown below.

i put in 2313 hands at nl400. i lost -3794 dollars. my ev adjusted is -258 dollars. i believe the meaning of run bad is pretty simple.

lucky i did manage to make 2 buyins at nl600. so this day in total was a -6 buyin drop at nl400.

if anyone has something constructive to say about the hands below, that'd be cool. if you need more of a read just ask.

i did make a straight flush today and stack the Ace high flush. yay for that.

------------------
HAND #1
------------------

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

Hero (SB): $531.50
BB: $400
UTG: $551.22
CO: $251.48
BTN: $625.80

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG raises to $14, CO folds, BTN calls $14, Hero raises to $64, BB folds, UTG calls $50, BTN folds

Flop: ($146) 7 9 T (2 Players)
Hero bets $91, UTG calls $91

Turn: ($328) 8 (2 Players)
Hero bets $123, UTG raises to $396.22 and is All-In, Hero calls $253.50 and is All-In

River: ($1,081) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $1,081 Pot ($21.72 Rake)
Hero showed A A and LOST (-$531.50 NET)
UTG showed and WON $1,059.28 (+$527.78 NET)

villian has JJ. this was vs a reg, i guess i could be bet folding the turn. but im a bit of a station i guess. looking at this hand now, it would appear i do not take into account stack sizes, which is very bad. theres no way i should be squeezing such a small amoutn being this deep.



------------------
HAND #2
------------------

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BB: $196.40
UTG: $575.60
MP: $442
Hero (CO): $561
BTN: $447.90
SB: $669.70

Pre-Flop: A A dealt to Hero (CO)
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $14, SB folds, BB calls $10

Flop: ($44) 2 J 4 (3 Players)
BB bets $48, Hero raises to $188, BTN raises to $433.90 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls $245.90

Turn: ($959.80) 5 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($959.80) 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $959.80 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed A A and LOST (-$447.90 NET)
BTN showed and WON $956.80 (+$508.90 NET)


villian has AsTs. the donk bettor was some random fish, villian was a reg. snap call for me.

------------------
HAND #3
------------------

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

BTN: $416
SB: $377.90
BB: $1,618.53
UTG: $803.60
Hero (CO): $436.50

Pre-Flop: 8 6 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $14, SB calls $12, BB folds

Flop: ($46) 6 3 J (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $31, BTN calls $31, SB folds

Turn: ($108) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $69, BTN calls $69

River: ($246) 7 (2 Players)
Hero bets $322.50 and is All-In, BTN calls $302 and is All-In

Results: $850 Pot
BTN showed and WON $847.50 (+$431.50 NET)
Hero showed 8 6 and WON $20.50 (-$395.50 NET)


villian has KcJc. i put his range on 88-TT to a weak jack. he goes in the tank and cry calls here. im not sure if he folds QJ or JT here, but i dont hate my play.

------------------
HAND #4
------------------

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

BTN: $212
SB: $704.80
Hero (BB): $400
UTG: $400
CO: $746.45

Pre-Flop: K A dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, BTN raises to $10, SB raises to $16, Hero raises to $61, BTN folds, SB calls $45

Flop: ($132) 5 Q 4 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($132) A (2 Players)
SB bets $204, Hero raises to $339 and is All-In, SB calls $135

River: ($810) 8 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $810 Pot ($2 Rake)
SB showed and WON $808 (+$408 NET)
Hero showed K A and LOST (-$400 NET)

villian has JcJh. some moronic drooler. hand #10 was the history we had prior to this hand.


------------------
HAND #5
------------------

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

CO: $418.30
BTN: $511.70...

just finished a session and i think im going to call it a month. sure, i'll post my numbers and i'm sure some people are going to read it and think im really lazy.

those people are right.

but i'll take sometime to think about this month. things were great i guess. minus being sick for a week. i got to hang out with somnius. the frost party we went to was unbelievable. poker had been sick good. i think everytime i login to play, oh no, games are dying. then i laugh. i got this sick new setup for poker, a setup that i have long been overdue for, but i have it now so thats all that matters. school has been a bit of a trip, but i know what i have to do, so i'll focus more energy on that in november.

its been 2 months since getting back from that disaster of a trip in LA. Thankfully, i havent had any nightmares about the commerce recently. however, if i had to go drop a couple thousand while playing live poker to get my head on straight for online poker, seems like a pretty good deal. i've been on a pretty sick tear since landing on canadian soil and really feel like this is how i was supposed to be playing poker.

there are a few things i'd like to see happen though. first off, i am a huge hockey fan. being from canada and all. the oilers have been my team for god knows how long. i made a season long prop bet that the oilers could get 30 shots a game. now, if any of you reading this know about hockey, you can also safely conclude that i am indeed a prop betting fish when im drunk. so far 8 games into the season, im down 6 points. at 10 bucks a pop, this could be a pretty expensive season. i'd definitely be ok if my oilers were winning and missing the SOG prop, but they are losing too which only makes things more miserable.

besides that, i also applaud the plummet of the canadian dollar. thanks for the 20% wage increase this month.

anyways. here is october.



bring on november. lets see if i can get to 10000 hands in a month. hehe.

heading out to dinner with etown right now. that ****ing credit card roulette luckbox is up 3-0 on me. TONIGHT IT ENDS.

midterms are over, the results are slowing coming in. its not the great feeling of, sweet, i just booked 50% of the course, now i can sit back in class and watch porn knowing its more or less impossible to fail. instead im going to be stuck in two courses, while the other 3 courses are heading towards 90%. this disappoints me.

but wait, what disappoints me more.

i failed the math midterm.

i dont get it either. i mean. how does an asian person fail math? thats just tragic. that midterm was worth 40% of my final mark too. and i bombed it. i get back the dreaded accounting midterm tomorrow and we'll have to assess the damage.

besides the tragedy that is school, life has been alright. had a wonderful weekend after midterms were over. finally setup my new desktop, its simply amazing. to all the grinders out there that actually put in more than my 14 hours in a month, if you are playing without a 30" monitor, you should dip into your bankroll and acquire one, if not two of these massive beasts immediately. how i played so long without one is beyond me.

it'll be a busy week, i hope to put in a couple hours to grind. i'll admit, staring at these monitors make me even more tired than usual, i guess it'll take some getting used to.

i woke up at a moderately decent time today. i had an exam at 8am. so i was pulling out of my garage at 720 or so like i normally do. it might have been 725, but regardless, the drive usually takes 25 mins in the morning.

anyways i arrive at school at 815 cause of every freaking street being backed up. i turn onto a different route online to be trapped behind construction and an accident. super awesome to show up to an exam 15 mins late.

i spent most of the weekend studying for this exam, and definitely kicked it into overdrive yesterday. i wish i had my own prescription for ritalin, but having friends who are crazy might as well be the same thing. i get in and burn thru 2 of the large questions. sadly, the new chapter that i memorized cause i felt it would be weighted heavily turned out to be worth 6 marks out of 80. i was not pleased.

long story short, when i went back to do other parts of the exam, my numbers wouldnt balance. for those that dont know, i sold my soul to be an accountant, a bean counter, like my dad. when your numbers dont balance. things are very wrong. panic would set in and i'd start punching in a variety of possible combinations in an attempt to balance the books. no luck. two of the questions did not balance, they were worth a combined 37 marks out of 80.

pretty choked to say the least. could i have been better prepared? sure. did i miss a few classes this semester. absolutely. thats 50% of my mark for this semester and now in a semester where i really only have the one course, im kinda caught.

being all cynical now, i ranted to a friend about my situation. i should have logged the conversation, but essentially it went like:

him: how bad could you have possibly done?
me: id consider 65% to be running super good in part marks. 50% to be about average.
him: no way, you? 50%?
me: ok maybe 55%
him: i'll take the over on 55%
him: 50 bucks?
me: booked

so now i dont even know which way to root for

instead of studying for my next midterm, which is in 12 hours. i have decided that watching californication s2e5 is a better way to spend my time.

i guess i should make it my goal for the rest of the semester to have my nose really deep in this intermediate accounting. i'd like to call it garbage, but in some sick twisted kind of way, i dont mind doing it. *shudder*

combined my pt2 database with my HEM database. came up with a pretty graph that i'd like to share.



get a new computer and my 30" monitor arrives next week so i might be motivated to play again. midterms are this week though, and i really hate multiple choice based exams. two of the answers always look so good, and sometimes they all look so good.

i have to figure out how to transfer my HEM database from current desktop to new one too. going to have to do a lot of computer stuff this week actually, with regards to making backups and saving music/movies/porn. ugh i really hate this part about computers. but its for the better.

even though i probably play the least amount of hours in comparison to the rest of the people who blog here and post to the forums. i do believe i actively think about improving my game as much as anyone who takes the game seriously. however for me, i tend to put more weight on things such as emotional control, when to shut down a session and how to improve my own game by studying others.

emotional control is what i struggled with while moving up the limits. being numb to suck outs and never getting into wars with regs made a huge difference in my winrate. even in my graph which is most of 2008, its pretty damn obvious where i tilt. looking at the graph from a yearly perspective though, all those sessions where things just went horribly, i wish i stopped about halfway thru the session instead of trying to talk myself into grinding it back. another thing that helps with this is realizing what type of poker player you are.

lets be honest, we all like to play this game. we all have a bit of gamble in us to force this mental torture upon ourselves. therefore we are all a little sick in our own way. but this doesnt mean we are all built to have 3000-10000 hand marathon sessions. not all of us we made to sit there and grind for 8 hours straight while pissing in a bottle cause going to the bathroom is -ev for us. i dont lie to myself, i hate working. the less work i can do in a day, the happier i am. if i could crawl out of bed, shower, and then turn into a vegetable some place warm and relaxing for the rest of the day. i'd totally do that. with that said, one of the things i discovered about myself as a poker player this year is that long sessions are not for me and under no circumstance should i ever force myself to play more than i should.

people can say oh, its better to keep the tables going when you are playing good and to shut down when things are going bad. i think thats a fair statement. but usually the opposite happens. we play longer when we are stuck, and we might leave a bit too early when we are running good. playing when we are stuck sucks. but who cares if you leave while playing good? while in LA with my friend who frequently plays high stakes, he said 'if you always quit a session when you are up, are you ever a losing player?' this mainly applies to 6 max players, if i was a HU player, i'd probably sit and give action as long as possible.

finally, on improving your own game. when you go over your sessions, what exactly are you doing? are you looking at all the big wins and losses? if you are, i think you could put your time elsewhere. look at the medium sized pots that didnt goto showdown. hell, these days i dont even look at the medium sized pots. i sort all my hands by position and look at my CO/BTN and SB hands only. sometimes i venture into my BB, but i'll filter and sort by hands i defend or 3 bet. one thing i do enjoy researching, is looking at other regs and checking out what they do in the SB and BB. i would like to think of myself as a smart player who always utilizes position. most regs are terrible out of position and making some notes on their tendencies is +ev for me.

for people who say the games are dying. i was at the casino the other night with a few friends and was forced to playing some NLHE live. after suffering 15 minutes of boredom, im fairly confident the games arent dying.

another thing i'd like to ramble about.

i notice a few things when i do sit down to play poker. and to my surprise, when i go through the forums on a daily basis, i dont see a mention of the things that catch my attention. therefore, am i going crazy? or has the poker community turned into one huge metagame levelling war. if you play in the party400/600 games and sorta have an idea of what im touching upon, feel free to drop me a line, cause its something i find truly interesting. i only see 2 players doing it right now, but in my opinion, it could be a sign of things to come. i'll even post their stats:



anyways, i should get back to studying, this turned out a lot longer than i expected. been meaning to do some free writing, this blog seemed neglected for sometime though. i should also make a conscious effort to make my red line go up.