Heater

Unfortunately they're keeping me busy at work nowadays so it's tougher for me to post on here (at least good posts)...

But January has gone extremely well for me, which is suprising because as I noted the past two months of January have been two of my worst months ever.

I did bust out quick as hell in the Commerce 200k guaranteed opening event of the LA Poker Classic. I had KT, other guy had T7, flop comes TT8, turn 7. But it kind of worked out because I went downstairs and make 1500 in the cash game.

By pure coincidence after I entered my hours from the weekend, I'm at 100 hours exactly for the month. I've dabbled in the $500-unlimited NL buy-in game at Hollywood Park and I haven't lost in it yet, I'm up about $6000+ in that game but I don't want to mess around in it unless I know it's a good game. I'll stick to the $400 for the most part right now.

Another thing I realized this morning is that since I took out the 401k loan for poker, I've made at least $20k, probably $25k off of that initial loan.

Here's some info:

Overcoming January so far

I'm at work on one hour of sleep going strong so far. Last night I was on a heavy grind session that shouldn't have been so difficult. I played 10 hours on an action-packed table (serious action) with three donkeys and finished the session up only $320. It all boiled down to one huge hand ($1700 pot) that I lost on the river. Here's the action:

I have AcJc in the big blind. A (poker buddy) of mine raises to $35 in middle position. There are two callers to me: the big donkey on the button and the tight player in the small blind. I call and one other calls.

The flop comes AK5 with two spades. The small blind comes out and bets $125 into a $250 pot. I call. Original raiser folds and button donkey calls. The turn is a blank and the small blind quickly checks to me. At this point I don't have him on a strong ace and I bet $200. The button donkey thinks and goes all-in. I don't have him on anything, maybe a weak ace or some straight or flush draw. At this point the small blind says "It's now or never," and goes all-in. The button donkey has me covered for $250 more and the small blind has only $100 more that he puts in the middle. I'm worried about the small blind having AK but ultimately decide that I'm at least 50/50 to be good here and the pot is giving me great odds to call, plus if I have the donk beat, I get a side pot rebate of $300. The river is a spade and the small blind hits his king high nut flush and the button donkey shows KQ for one pair. I get $300 back and the small blind scoops the $1400 main pot.

The action was great though and I really hope to see the action like that in the future. The button donkey reminded me that a couple of weeks ago I called him "the worst player in the casino," and I had forgotten all about it but he was right.

Basically a tight player was on tilt and gambled on a gut shot when I had flopped a set. He missed his straight but ended up making a one-card flush for a huge pot and it slightly tilted me only because of the player that made the play. It's one of those players that always begs everyone to fold and not suck out, then he calls me with a gut shot and hits a one card straight. A few hands later I try to steal a pot on the river and the donkey calls me, then tells the table "It just didn't make sense, why would he bet when the deuce hits the river?" He was actually right in his logic, but I still said "Great, now I'm getting critiqued by the worst player in the casino."

He had no hard feelings and neither did I. The guy didn't even know what a straddle was, but he was winning so I can't knock him.

So far I'm doing alright, especially considering that my last two January's have been horrible. December 08 was my best month ever so I can't hope to match that, I just need to try and reach my goal. I'm just really grinding except for Sunday, when I hit for $1500 in two hours. If I want to hit my goal of $85k, I need to make an average of $7k/month and I'm pretty much on target right now.

1.1.09, Hollywood Park, 0.25, 3/5,-43
1.1.09, Hollywood Park, 4.25, 5/10,+540
1.2.09, Hollywood Park, 2.0, Tournament, -130
1.2.09, Hollywood Park, 1.0, 3/5, -220
1.2.09, Hollywood Park, 6.25, 5/10, +605
1.3.09, Hollywood Park, 2.75, 3/5, -76
1.5.09, Hollywood Park, 3.0, 5/10, -1500
1.7.09, Hollywood Park, 1.0, 3/5, -200
1.7.09, Hollywood Park, 5.25, 5/10, +1680
1.9.09, Hollywood Park, 6.0, 5/10, +170
1.10.09, Hollywood Park, 1.0, 3/5, +335
1.10.09, Hollywood Park, 6.0, 5/10, +240
1.11.09, Commerce Casino, 2.5, 3/5, -200
1.11.09, Hollywood Park, 0.5, 3/5, -60
1.11.09, Hollywood Park, 1.0, 5/10, +1600
1.13.09, Hollywood Park, 10.0, 5/10, +320

3/5: 9.0 hours, -464
5/10: 40.75 hours, +3655
Tournaments: (1) -130

Total: 51.75, +3061

Monday prevails

I don't have much time to post but I showed up at 830 pm determined to beat Monday and I was crushed for $1500 in the 400 game. I was card dead and ended up loosening up to try and catch a fish and just never hit a hand. Playing too many hands resulted in me making too many moves and chasing too many draws.

The good news is I'm undefeated in pick-up basketball this year going 3-0, 3-0, 2-0 in the three times I've played. Hopefully poker will follow the trend.

2009 Poker
Date, Place, Hours, Game, +/-$

1.1.09, Hollywood Park, 0.25, 3/5,-43
1.1.09, Hollywood Park, 4.25, 5/10,+540
1.2.09, Hollywood Park, 2.0, Tournament, -130
1.2.09, Hollywood Park, 1.0, 3/5, -220
1.2.09, Hollywood Park, 6.25, 5/10, +605
1.3.09, Hollywood Park, 2.75, 3/5, -76
1.5.09, Hollywood Park, 3.0, 5/10, -1500

Total: 19.5, -824

Get it this year

I'm pretty excited about the new year heading into 2009.

I finished off 2008 on probably the hottest run of my poker career and feel like I'm playing pretty well. Not perfect but definitely way ahead of the competition.

I've told my family that I'm hoping to eventually play professional poker once I have enough money saved up. Everyone has been very receptive of it except for my girlfriend, who is already kind of against all of the time I spend in the casino. I talked to her about it on New Year's Eve and I think I changed her mind a bit. It was basically "Do you want me to always be broke living check to check behind a desk not enjoying my life, or do you want me to make a lot more money doing what I want to do?" and I think she had never really thought about it like that.
She then proceeded to put up an argument that it's not a legit job and I told her "It'd be like if you wanted to be a make-up artist for a living and your parents told you to get a real job, no one is a make up artist for a living," and then she really understood.

Anyways I played one session so far in 09 and it was a mess. I was card dead as hell and anytime I raised preflop with shit like 66, 9s10s, Ax suited, I would completely miss and either fold or get re-raised on my continuation. I was determined to start the year off with a winning session and was down about $800 when I doubled up twice, once with a set of 5's and then with AK vs. AQ on a 446Ax board. I managed to win $500 last night. I lost $43 in the $200 game before I got moved to the $400, where I won $540.

I have a shit load of resolutions and I guess there's no better place to list them than here:

1. Get in shape

1a. Eat healthier
1b. Work out in the mornings
1c. Play ball at least four times a week
1d. Light weights
1e. Run and/or play tennis on the weekends
1f. Get my six pack back

2. Poker

2a. Make at least 50k in poker for the year
2b. Manage my money better
2c. Win a tournament
2d. Finish in the money at a WSOP event

3. More music

3a. Make better music, songs with content and direction and at the same time widespread appeal
3b. Start producing my own beats
3c. Start performing regularly
3d. Get on a track with a big name

4. Money

1a. Conserve my money and manage it better
1b. Get a new car this year (Cadillac CTS?)

5. Family/Friends

5a. Keep in touch with more friends
5b. Make a better effort to see my family and take a couple trips

6. Manage my time

1a. Keep an agenda/schedule
1b. Don't waste time watching tv, on the internet
1c. Be punctual
1d. Get sleep so I'm more efficient

Obviously the last of every list is the high goal of that part of my life. I wish all this would be easy to attain but it's a lot to aim for. Definitely not out of reach though and I think that's important. A lot of it can go hand-in-hand too. The more money I make in poker, the easier it'll be for me to take trips to see my family, etc.

One of the hardest things out of all this will be my time management. That's the hardest part of my life and has been for the past ten years. There's never enough time in the day and I just don't have much down time in my life. I've had a Nintendo Wii for almost a year now and haven't even been able to play it yet, it's still fresh in the box. I even bought Mario Kart because I love it and haven't played it.

I hope everyone else has some goals that they'll reach this year. No reason not to.

I'm going to start the '09 log.

Peace.

2009 Poker
Date, Place, Hours, Game, +/-$

1.1.09, Hollywood Park, 0.25, -43
1.1.09, Hollywood Park, 4.25, +540

Total: 4.5, +497