New Challenge: 500/Day for 10 Days

I've come to the conclusion that I play better when I have some sort of goal or challenge that I'm doing.

Therefore, I've set a new challenge for myself: the 500. My aim is to run off 10 straight sessions of $500+ wins. Not easy but definitely do-able.

In other news, I had a weekend full of fails. Most notably, went out on Friday night to a club called "My House" here in L.A. with a few big name poker players and it was extremely disappointing. "My House" is supposed to be one of the hot spots in L.A. but that became too literal when it felt like they had no A/C in there. Basically some bottles arrived at the table, we got settled and started sweating just sitting there at the table, not even dancing or talking to any girls or anything. So we left after about 30 minutes and they went back to Vegas.

Saturday was just as bad. I went with my boy to see some guys he knows perform at the Key Club on Sunset. The venue was packed but unfortunately it was packed with fat chicks and dudes. Full. With no cute chicks. At all. On top of that, the music was insufferable. That's the first time I've ever used that word. That's how bad the performances were.

Hopefully the tables will be more fun. Getting back on my regular grind today.

Still haven't heard back from Full Tilt regarding my check.

4years.

Can't Believe My Eyes

Had a bad day at work yesterday, lost 1500. Dropped $800 in the no cap game and $700 in a new game that Hollywood Park is spreading, a $5/5 no limit game with a buyin of $300-500. I love the game, just had some bad luck. I think I'm gonna take today off to get everything in order here in L.A...I've been bullshittin this week.

Here's a track that I recorded on Wednesday "Can't Believe My Eyes," I'm on the second verse...



cuatros anos.

Back in Cali

I got back to L.A. on Tuesday and haven't played poker since. Just been running some errands, relaxing and had a studio session last night that went well. The annual brush/forest fires have started up here in Southern California and the largest one isn't too far from L.A., about 30 minutes north in the valley. Last night I was driving over the Hollywood hill on the 101 and could see into the valley and the scene was just surreal. It was right at sunset and the entire sky was purple and orange. I wanted to pull over and take a picture because it looked like the world was going to end or some shit.

In other news I received my check from Full Tilt, went to deposit it and the bank wouldn't accept it because the account it was from had insufficient funds. So if anyone is planning on cashing out money from FT beware. I've emailed support but haven't received a response.

They better pay me my monies.

Gonna go back to the casino today. Trying to think of some sort of goal to keep things interesting. I was going to use the money from Full Tilt and see how high I could take it in two weeks at a live casino but obviously that's not gonna happen.

peace, 4, years.

Snoqualmie Casino

Over the course of our friendly hold 'em games in Hawaii, I learned that Real Estate Rob (aka the luckiest man ever) has been going to the Snoqualmie Casino a couple times a week since December and playing black jack. And the rumor is that he's only lost twice. This sounds amazing but if you know Rob, you believe it. The guy runs good.

So anyways I agreed with Rob to make a trip to the casino, which is about 35 minutes outside of Seattle, while I was in town. Last Thursday was the day and we agreed to meet there around 4 p.m.

I was running late getting there because I made a stop at the T.I.T.S. clothing brand office to visit my boys who run the company, but Rob arrived promptly at 4 p.m. By the time I got there, he was up $250 in black jack.

The casino itself is very nice. It's built to look like a snow lodge, the kind you would see as a snowboard/ski lodge. It's pretty big on the inside and is stocked with slot machines, black jack tables and even a couple craps tables.

Once inside, I couldn't resist getting some black jack in with Rob. I wanted to see just how lucky he was. I told him I'd probably lose my $300 in about ten minutes. To my surprise, I ended winning about $400 in 30 minutes or so. And that's after we started catching bad vibes from a dealer who was pulling the 6-card 21's. So we left the table and I told Rob I thought we should try our luck at craps.

We hit the craps table and due to our positioning on the table, we were due up to shoot the dice after about seven guys took their turn first. By the time the dice got to me, I was down to about $200. Forty minutes late my roll was over and I had about $1500 in front of me. Looks like Rob was rubbing off on me.

I left that table with about $1200 or so in chips from the original $300 that I used to buy into the black jack table.

We headed to the poker room, which is pretty small and had two $4-8 limit games going and two $2/5 no limit games going. We put our names on the list and got put on different tables.



My table was WEAK. There was one donkey, about two guys that were willing to mix it up but were easy to read, and four rocks. Perfect. The buy-in was $100-300 and it took me a long time to get something going. I kept trying to isolate the donk but juts couldn't make anything happen and he wouldn't fold if he had any pair or any draw.

But after a few hours I caught a little rush and started stacking my chips. We left around 1 a.m. and I was up about $1100 in the poker game. I'm not sure if the numbers add up on here but overall I left the casino with a profit of $2300, which made my day...or week. So between my only day at the casino and my tournament win on Full Tilt, I made about $4000 on this two-week vacation. Really incredible considering I was planning on spending up to $2000 (which I did.. and more).



Hopefully the luck will continue when I return to L.A. tomorrow. Good luck to everyone else as well. I know V is taking his shot at poker now.

4 years.

Hawaii Home Games

While I was in Hawaii we played poker probably about six or seven times. There were about six of us that played so we usually had 2, 3, 4, or maybe 5 guys that were willing to start a game up.

Games were very short-stacked.. we played min/max buy-ins of $20 with blinds of usually $.50/1.00 and sometimes $1/2. Overall I was definitely a loser. I played incredibly loose aggressive and was up against "Real Estate Rob" who has also been deemed the "luckiest man ever" by our group of friends. It was nearly impossible to get it all in against Rob and survive the river, no matter the size of suckout he needed (and to his credit he got it all in good many times and obviously no one was able to suck out on him).

I would say I lost around $200 in these games. I definitely bought in about three times as much as anyone else but also was able to build my stack up faster than everyone except for Rob...his stack just grew and grew.

Overall it was a lot of fun and I'm not keeping these numbers in my records. I basically came with a vacation budget and am just including the losses in that budget.

peace!! 4yrs.

Full Tilt in Hawaii

Right now I'm on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The island is breathtakingly beautiful but with one catch: There's really nothing to do after the sun goes down. This island has very little (if any at all) night life and besides that, I have no rental car to get me around.

So last night I decided to deposit some money onto Full Tilt and get my online grind going and before I knew it, I was at the final table of the $8.5k guaranteed at 5 a.m. with a monster stack. I battled my opponents and knocked out 6 of the final 8 players en route to winning first place.






Today I played $3/6 no limit and was up another $1200 before I hit some coolers, made some bad moves and ended up losing $600. I decided it'd be smart of myself to cash out $2000 and leave the rest on the site (the $300 I started with), since I could probably put that $2k to better use at a casino then on Full Tilt. It also ensures that I made some money while I was in Hawaii.

4 years..

7k in 7days final results

I'm gonna be completely honest here. When I said I was going for $7k in seven days, I thought I could do it but I also felt that it was unlikely. It basically meant that I had to win every day an average of a thousand (obviously) without losing. This sounds simple enough but it's very easy to have two, three, or even more losing sessions out of seven sessions. And when factoring that in, I would have to average about $2k per session to counter the losses.

Then my first session I lost, although it was a small loss of under $200. After that I didn't have another losing session and had my best weekend ever (I think).

I played the $500 game at Hollywood Park most of the time. The game is a $5/10 no limit game with no cap. The players are 90% regulars but it's a beatable game and when a fish comes in the game it's not too tough to capitalize. This is where I had my big sessions. One session I was into the game for $3500 (bought in for $1500, then $2000) and ended up over $4600.

I was actually able to take my last day in Los Angeles off to run some errands, pick up some bathing suits and stuff for Hawaii and pack for my two-week trip to Hawaii and Seattle, which I'm in the middle of. I ended up not only making the $7k, but more than doubling my goal, which is great for me considering I was looking at the next two weeks possibly with no poker at all.

Anyways, here are my numbers from my personal $7k in 7 days:

Day 1: -$170
Day 2: +$4320
Day 3: +$810
Day 4: +$1470
Day 5: +$4665
Day 6: +$3680
Total: +$15070

4 years..

Beast Mode

Short entry because I'm trying to get back to the casino this afternoon.

Right now I'm in beast mode.

Day 4 and 5 were both good. Both days I had to buy in twice. The first day I just had a cooler where I flopped a straight after I raised preflop with Ad4d and a guy caught a boat on the turn with 33. Yesterday I pretty much tricked off my starting stack with loose play and being too sloppy aggressive at a table full of tight/good players. Both days I rebounded well and the results are below. Yesterday I'm pretty sure was my biggest day to date. I'm not positive on that but I think it was. I have two days left and I've surpassed the $7k that I was hoping (and it was a reach) to hit. So I'm extremely happy about that and I'm hoping to take advantage of the heater.

My boy sent me back three of the tracks I recorded and they sound good. I've posted the Poker Face song above at the head of the blog. I'm going to put a link for download too. If you like it, feel free to post it in a forum or wherever. I'd like to see some feedback.

Peace.

Day 1: -$170
Day 2: +$4320
Day 3: +$810
Day 4: +$1470
Day 5: +$4665
Total: +$11390

7k in 7days: Ahead of Pace

I had a decent day yesterday. Had it not been for a horrendous call that I made on a river, I would have done a lot better. However, to counter that horrendous call I made two great calls. I'll go through all three hands in the order that I played them:

1) Donk straddles, I'm on the button. Three or four callers, I call the button with T8 offsuit. Straddle pops it $100 more. Everyone folds and I call. Flop comes Qxx. Donk insta-checks. I bet out $80 to get a read, I know that he's not folding. He raises to $180. I call with a read that he doesn't have shit, planning to pop him on the turn or river. Turn is a ten. He checks. I check, hoping to induce a bet on the river if I can fade a king or ace. River is another queen. He bets $200, I call and he mucks his hand and I don't have to show.

2) I straddle with Q9 offsuit, five callers. Flop comes Q8x. I check UTG and the whole table checks. Turn is a 9, bringing a second club. I bet out $80. One caller and the button, who is the tightest player on the table, makes it $150 more. I put him on JT and call, hoping to hit my boat or bluff the river if a club hits. The other player calls as well, killing my club bluff on the river. The only other hand I can put the raiser on is 89. The river is an 8, which is pretty much the worst card for my hand. We both check to the button and he bets $600. I tank and finally call with a prayer that he's bluffing and he shows JT of hearts. Like I said, horrible call.

3) Four limpers and I have 55 on the button. I make it $60. The same donk from hand (1) is the only caller. The flop comes J-8-4. He checks to me and I bet $100. He raises to $200. I call, I don't have him on anything. The turn is another jack and almost before the card comes out he bets $260. I call. The river is a 7. He fires out $400 right away and I think for a long time. I'd love to be able to raise him in case he got lucky with a hand like A7 but I only have $150 after the $400. I eventually call and he shows Q4 and the whole table can't believe that I called with 55.

Today I'm working on some stuff for my new business and then going to the casino around 1/2 p.m. I got there late yesterday and missed out on some good action. I think I arrived around 3/4 p.m. and there was a great game going. I got on the list but by the time I got to the game it wasn't that good.

Day 1: -$170
Day 2: +$4320
Day 3: +$810
Total: +$4960

Good luck, 4 years (don't forget)

Off 2 Good Start

Well Tuesday after I posted on here I was motivated to go to the studio and record so I didn't get to the casino until like 9 p.m.

The studio session was very productive, I recorded four songs including the poker song (that was the worst by far) and I'm waiting for them to be mixed down so I'll post a couple once I get them.

At the casino I doubled up my first hand of the night at the $200 game (2/5 blinds) when I limped in the cutoff with 57 offsuit and flopped the nuts. I just smooth called a guy on the flop and turn and moved in on the river and he had to call.

Then I table changed to a table that had more donks and promptly went down 170. At this point my boy hit me and told me p.i. was in town and ready to kick it so I left to go out and the first night was a loss. Great discipline right? Someone asks me to go out and I leave down.

Yesterday was a different story. I beasted the $400 game ridiculously and was up nearly $3k when the table was about to break. On the last hand of the table I tried to move a tight player off his pocket kings on a Q466x board and doubled him up to drop $900.

The game broke and I went to the $500 game and did well in that game. It was a crazy game with some eccentric personalities but unfortunately I don't have time to write about them. The funny thing is I ended up winning the same exact amount at both the $400 game and the $500 game: $2160.

So far here are my 7k in 7 days results:

Day 1: -$170
Day 2: +$4320

About to go back to the casino now. 4years, peace!

7k in 7dayz

Here we go y'all.

Another challenge to myself. I really wish I had set a goal when I was in Vegas so that I was more focused and disciplined.

Tryin to make 7k in 7 days.

Basically the reason for this is that next Tuesday I'm flying to Hawaii for a week and then to Seattle for a week. I don't think I'm going to make much money during that time (the biggest drawback of playing professional poker is there's no paid time off) so I need to stack some before I go.

I figure if I can make 7k, that will do.

Right now I'm writing lyrics so I haven't started yet but I'll start this afternoon.

four years!

here's my poker song, I think i'm gonna record it today to lady gaga's poker face beat.

Hook
You wanna play me? Then raise me...
Cuz guess what man I'm crazy...
I don't give a fuck about my cash
Or any odds you lay me...

verse1
I'm sittin at my table, all these donkeys workin' angles...
They don't understand I'm quite willing and able to fanagle...
..I dangle invitations to the soft calling stations...
Then I pop 'em when I flop 'em and they can't believe I'm raisin...
Yeah, I'm a test your patience it ain't safe when I'm involved...
Cuz I might just fuck around, play it blind and bet it all....
Best believe me there's a reason to my rhyme like every time...
Crazy dude I'm makin' moves that will confuse and blow your mind...

verse2
I'm still grinding like Phil Ivey, just as grimey as Jerome...
And I been known to kill a table anytime I'm in the zone...
Mista murda, killa kev I'm on the hunt for any fish...
Friday night you playin' poker cuz you couldn't get a bitch...
Well fuck it now you mine, I'm a catch you with these nines...
Hit a set and stick 'em up your ass until they touch your spine...
Now our chips are all combined, in the middle lookin' juicy...
You keep on throwin jabs but your punches couldn't move me...
And did I mention half the cocktail staff are my groupies?...
Probly cuz they see me with more sets than a movie....

verse2
I get rich, you get poor, there's nothing else to be explored...
Guarantee I'm here tomorrow so come back and give me more...
Yeah, go and ask the floor, how much money I be stackin'...
They livin' off my tips, so they're dyin' for my action...
Yes I give it and I take it, I been called the corporation...
Tax you dummies for your money that's my only motivation...
Hesitations I see faces when they twisted cuz they missed it...
Taking chips like they pics, please come again thanks for the business...