Two more days

The time is nearing. The end and the beginning. And I can't wait.

I'm a bit nervous about a downswing but I have full confidence that if I continue to play the way that I'm playing, everything will be on the up and up.

I spent last weekend in Wisconsin with some of my closest friends and it was a nice time to relax, although Madison, WI is quite a boring place and it rained heavily while we there. But it was definitely worth the trip.

So here I am at work finishing my third-to-last day. All I've been doing is training the guy who is going to replace me.

When I first quit I pretty much held out on telling people what I was going to be doing and simply letting them know that it was "Time to move on," but since then I've given in and just told people that I'm going to be playing poker.

I played one LONG session since my last post and salvaged a $100 losing session after being in for $1600. It was an extremely long session and we were three handed at about 2:30 a.m. and I had $600 and ran it up to $1900 before the table filled up again and I dropped to $1500 before the table broke around 6:30 a.m. Once again my aces failed me when the table donk hit his QT two pair (he flopped top pair) on the river.

Here's a song that I recorded a couple weeks ago. I'm on the hook and first verse. Good luck, peace, four years.

Fruck

Let's say I'm a cat. Just for a moment, pretend I'm a cat.
Kind of like this:





Last night I got skinned in like seven different ways.
Kind of like this:





I put them all-in on the turn and they rivered me.

So I said 'fuck it, next time we'll do the flop' and they run, run, stunned me.

So I said 'fuck it, I'll just move it in pre-flop' and they still hit me on the river with the two out underpair.

This is a test and I'm determined to pass it.

So yeah, your boy dropped $1800 last night AFTER being up $500 in my first hour. I think that poker Jesus (not to be confused with Jesus Ferguson) was trying to tell me that if I don't follow through with my plans, I won't succeed. The reason I say this is that I finished my hoop game at 9 p.m. and went to HP with the goal of making just a few hundy in a couple hours. Well, mission accomplished... quickly. Did I leave? No.

I stayed and lost it back and then a lot more. Teach me poker Jesus, teach me. Punish me for my sins!

I'll be there tonight if anyone wants to take advantage of my bad luck.

Lol okay that's enough complaining, I'm really not bad at taking losses and bad beats but if I can't vent on my own blog then where can I vent?

The good thing is I feel like I'm playing my best poker right now. Just having a bad run of luck, although I did make one $200 mistake yesterday but that was nothing compared to the other hands that I lost. I was the fourth caller in the cutoff with 22 for $60 preflop. The BB, who was tight had raised it PF. Two callers to me so I call trying to hit the set.

Flop comes J-9-4 and everyone checks to me and I bet $200 and the original raiser smooth calls, obviously with top set. I never bet again and he pushed all-in on the river but I felt like a dumb ass for wasting the $200.

Good luck. four years (really 3.5 almost now).

gone!

Rough take off

Between Friday and Saturday I lost $3200. Even though I obviously wasn't hoping for it, I pretty much knew that once I quit my job I would lose. I'm still working at the 9-5 for two more weeks but Friday was the first session that I played since I submitted my two weeks, so I guess I'm not a "professional" yet. Hopefully it won't happen twice. It was a rough two sessions though. I think I got my aces cracked four out of four times. I sucessfully convinced a guy that I was full of shit when the flop came 3-4-9 and he shoved on me with TT on the flop, only to river a 10. Then a guy flopped two pair with KQ and I should have gotten away when the turn came a jack but I didn't.

Anyways I'm not complaining at all. I rebounded decently yesterday when I called in sick to the job and spent the day grinding. I came up like $1300 or something and I'm hoping that momentum carries over into my next session.

Celebrated 420 a bit yesterday but it's so damn hot in L.A. that my apartment was uncomfortable and I sent the following email to my roommate today:

I grabbed the fan from the living room and put it in my room at 5 a.m. I woke up with my head covered in sweat and my pillow drenched from sweat and couldn’t fall asleep, I’ve never been that hot in our apartment before.

I'm planning to go back tonight after my hoop game, I'll keep y'all updated.

4yrs.

2009: +$25331
January: 120.75 hrs., +$14,873
February: 77.75 hrs., +$8520
March: 69 hrs., -$1220

April: +$3158
04.01.09: +$978
04.03.09: +$220
04.04.09: +$3620
04.05.09: -$1320
04.09.09: -$1000
04.13.09: +$2470
04.17.09: -$1700
04.18.09: -$1500
04.20.09: +$1390

And so it begins...

I just submitted my resignation at my job. I'm working through the month of April and then I'm out.

Now the real work begins.

I've been playing poker for about 4/5 years, and for the last 2.5 years I've been playing profitable poker.

I've heard all the negative feedback about quitting my job in this economy yadda yadda yadda and I full understand where that feedback is comnig from as it's quite reasonable and considerate by those giving it.

However, every person has his own life and his own set of circumstances and I have mine. Here are the following criteria that I have been considering for months now:

- I've been at my job for four years.
- I'm still basically in an entry level position.
- By leaving my job, I'm not leaving a great potision that I can't get back, whether it's here or at another company.
- I have a college degree and I now have seven years of work experience in a diverse group of companies that vary from sports writing to radio and television to car insurance to legal work.
- I am tired of the work that I do.
- I have a back-up plan if I fail at poker.
- I want freedom in every day life with my own scheduling and being able to travel when I want to.

Then yesterday a couple of events occurred at my job that really helped push me to over the edge. I was promised a 6% raise in February. This raise wasn't given to me until yesterday's pay day and they promised me the retro pay for the initial raise date. Turns out, they only gave me a 2% raise so the retro pay check was 66% smaller than I thought it would be. Ugh.

Then, at the end of the day I get the head's up that I'm "under the micropscope." Whatever that means, it pissed me off. I almost sent myself an email that said "If you're reading this and your name isn't Kevin, fuck you!" but I refrained from doing so.

My decision was already made but the question that remained was when was I going to leave? I came to the conclusion that if I'm going to go to Vegas for virtually all of June, then I need to have time to grind and build my bankroll back up (I don't have all of the money in my BR). At this point, as you may have noticed, my hours are decreasing at the poker table and to be honest it effects my play.

For instance, if I know that I'm going out of town this weekend and I have a basketball game tonight, that means if I want to get in a session, I have to go play after my basketball game. Not to mention I have to be at work at 8 a.m. so I have to get this session in and make some good money while I'm there. This causes me to have a different mindset when showing up to the casino. I wish it didn't, but it does. A perfect example of this is the QT hand a couple posts ago where my final conclusion was "Fuck it if he has me beat, I'll just go home and take the loss. If not, this will be a great double up." Terrible mindset to have.

So I want to take the month of May to grind on my own time and my own schedule with peace of mind. Poker world, here I come. For real.

FOUR YEARS.

Sigh of relief

Ever since my last session I've been constantly telling myself that next time I go play, I'm going to minimize my mistakes and do everything within my power to not make any. So last night I went and played and was successful in that.

I can only really remember losing a couple hands at showdown and in one of them I ran my kings against a guy's aces. He was relatively short-stacked (about $450 or so) so it didn't kill me and I also couldn't really get away pre-flop when he went all-in, although he was a tight player.

But the guy in the picture above showed up and turned out to be a HUGE donk. He played for about an hour and a half and literally folded only two hands pre-flop. So he probably played 48/50 hands or something like that. Anyways, he was directly to my right. Here were two hands where I got him:

I have 8s4s in middle/late position. Flop comes K32 with two spades. He bets $10 into a $50 pot and I'm the only caller. The turn is the king of spades. Bingo. At this point I'm hoping he has a king, which is what I'm putting him on. He bets $100 and I make it $200 and he insta-calls. The river is the Queen of clubs and he comes out and bets $100 so I call and he turns over T3 offsuit. True story.

That hand was really the hand that exposed his donkish ways to the table. Before that, everyone was a little wary of him and no one had gotten into a big pot with him. However, the table was about seven regulars, him, and a tight player so clearly everyone was after his stack.

Two hands after I bet him with the 8s4s, another player felted him with AA vs. his K7 when he flopped a king. He rebought for $400 from the small blind.

I'm in the big blind and the table folds around to him. Normally this is a chop situation (actually 99.9% of the time it is) but he is confused as to what's going on when the dealer is asking him if he wants to chop or play the hand and he throws in $15. I tell the dealer it's fine, we'll play the hand out and I check with my J4 offsuit. Then the flop comes J44. This was truly a "WTF" moment for me as I prayed he had a jack or even better a 4. He bets out $10. I have no idea what to do because I want this pot to get bigger but I just call the $10. The turn brought a second club and he bet $20. I contemplated min-raising him but decided if he had any kind of overcard or draw that I wanted him to get there so I just called. The river brings a third club and he bets $60 with about $300 behind. I go all-in and he insta-calls with 3c8c. He leaves the table, the game breaks, and I put him on blast on my blog. End of story.

I went to San Jose for the weekend but just to chill with family for Easter so that's a boring story.

For years..

2009: +$27141
January: 120.75 hrs., +$14,873
February: 77.75 hrs., +$8520
March: 69 hrs., -$1220

April: +$4968
04.01.09: +$978
04.03.09: +$220
04.04.09: +$3620
04.05.09: -$1320
04.09.09: -$1000
04.13.09: +$2470

Pissed @ Me

Played a somewhat short session last night and just gave my money away pretty much in a hand that more than backfired on me. I'll just go through that hand and you can squint your eyes in disbelief.

I'm in the BB with appx. $750. Tight player in middle position raises to $35 with appx. $650 behind. Button (average player with huge stack) calls. I call in the BB with QhTh.

Flop comes ATT rainbow with one heart. I check, guessing that tight player is going to continuation bet or bet his AQ/AK. He checks. Button checks. Ugh.

Turn is a six, looks good. I bet out $100 to get action and hoping to look like a bluff. Tight player instantly shoves all-in. Button thinks for a LONG time and folds. Based on the way he was going over the hand, I put the button on the other ten so I've ruled out that the tight player has a ten. Now I'm thinking he has pocket sixes and just doesn't want the ace or ten to fill up.

This is where I go into moron stage.

I was already in for one buy-in and had rebought and worked my stack up to the $700. After going over the hand in my head, the only hand I can put him on to shove is either AK (suicide) or 66. For some reason I decide the old "if he has me, he has me," and call and he obviously shows 66. I miss the river and muck.

Then some guy says "You called him with the ace?" and I don't say anything. Then the button player who folded says "I would have beat you with my 9T anyways" and I shake my head at myself in disbelief. I always tell myself to bet out hard even when I have the nuts because based on my table image and the way I look, I more often than not get tons of action and get paid off on my monsters. This would have been a perfect situation to double up through the button player as he would have been trapping me after the flop with the worst hand. Only I let the tight player see the turn for free and gave him my stack.

Ugh. Couldn't believe I did that. Dropped $1000 in three hours for the night.

2009: +$24671
January: 120.75 hrs., +$14,873
February: 77.75 hrs., +$8520
March: 69 hrs., -$1220

April: +$2498
04.01.09: +$978
04.03.09: +$220
04.04.09: +$3620
04.05.09: -$1320
04.09.09: -$1000

Next week I'm gonna attempt to teach myself discipline, which is something I haven't really exercised in my life since high school. It'll be interesting.

Time to Get Paid

That's the new Great Chill Out anthem. It's official. You can find it on the right side bar with the ill picture that I photo shopped. Play it and find out. You'll be motivated to make some money.

I cashed $300 on the UCONN chix although I haven't received the money yet and there are no guarantees in life.

I'm hoping to make it to Hollywood Park tonight but it's uncertain, I have a basketball game at 7 pm and then I'm going to my boy's studio to put the finishing touches on one song and start another. Yessir! Might have something to put up on here very soon. I haven't been doing shit with music so I'm excited.

What else.. hmm.. I dunno. I'm pumped that baseball is starting but I'm giving the Mariners three weeks before they are out of contention.

I'm thinking about going and playing some of the WSOP Circuit events at Caesar's next month but it's going to be tough. I'm going to San Jose this weekend and Wisconsin in two weeks, which leaves me like four days to run up a better bank roll.

peace.

I know, that was boring. I just wanted to announce that there's an anthem.

Go UCONN Chicks

I'm not a big sports gambler because I tend to suck at it but I've been making bets with this guy at the poker table for the past week and I'm about 12-2 so I'm putting $300 on the Lady Huskies tonight to cover by 19.5. The spread is huge but I'm getting even money and I think Louisville is a one-woman team.

Anyways that same guy who bets me is a nice guy but very straight forward and a huge guy. He plays pots the same way against everyone, whether it's a friend or an enemy.

So on Sunday he raises pre-flop from the button to $60. He gets one caller, this kid named "G." The flop comes Q99 and G checks to him. He comes out and bets $150. G goes into the tank and asks Mark if he has an over pair, if a queen is good, and if he calls will Mark check it down? Mark doesn't say anything and G calls.

The turn is a blank and G checks. The big guy immediately says "All in" and G insta-calls with QQ. He doubles up and seemingly the hand is over.

The big guy (who is also a very good player) then cashes out and leaves the table. Two minutes later he returns and tells G that if he ever tries to pull that Hollywood shit again, he'll physically harm him (I think he said come across the table and punch you in the face). G is trying to go out and smoke a cigarette but the big guy is making him stay there to let him know he will beat his ass if he does that again.

G is feeling a bit threatened and says he won't do it again. They stop talking but then I see the big guy go outside after G goes out, so I go out to see what is going on. Sure enough, the big guy is again telling G that G isn't taking him seriously and he's not kidding when he says he's going to beat G down if he ever pulls those shenanigans off again on him.

I know that doing the "Hollywood" is a part of poker and I've done it a million times myself, so I don't see where it's acceptable for this guy to tell G that if he does it again, he'll punch him in the face.

Anyways because both players are regulars at the casino, this was the topic of discussion for at least 30 minutes at two tables. Just thought it was interesting because I think 75% of players do this type of acting when they have a monster and I don't see how it's inappropriate.

Back in business, kind of.

I went to Hollywood Park on Friday night with the plan to play all night and win millions of pesos. My gf was going out with her gay friend for his birthday and I didn't really feel like getting drunk at various gay bars in Hollywood so I saw this as an excellent opportunity to spend the night with overweight obnoxious men talking about horse racing and sports.

The night started off well and I was up about $800 or so when I got in a heated argument with my gf and I was steaming at her, but it usually doesn't effect me when I'm playing poker. It's kind of like basketball for me. Once I get on the court, I'm not really thinking about anything else. So as long as I'm not getting text messages and phone calls from her I'm okay. I just turned my ringer off.

But then I really pissed myself off. I got in a hand with the donkey of the table and the big bluffer of the table.

*** WARNING: IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT POKER, YOU'RE GOING TO THINK I'M AN IDIOT (if you don't already) AFTER READING THIS ***

I have pocket sixes on the button. The donkey calls the bb and the big bluffer comes out and bets $60. I call and the donkey calls. The flop comes K-Q-6 with two hearts. They both check to me. Perfect time to bet right? On the button, AK probably check-raising and hoping I'll bet, if the donkey has AK, KQ, KJ, KT, even a Queen or JT/AJ, I'm going to get him to call...

This is where I had one of two serious brain cramps of the weekend that both cost me a lot of money. I checked. If a scare card didn't come on the turn, I was thinking that one of them would come out and bet big on the turn. The turn was a 10 (no heart) so it was somewhat of a scare card because AJ now has me hurting, as do KK, QQ, and TT obviously. The big bluffer bets $150. This is where I had a decision to make. I know how he plays and he knows how I play so I know if I push on him and he doesn't have AJ, he has to fold. But I also know he could easily have AJ, KK, or QQ here. So I just call. The turn is a blank and he bets $210 and I make the call and he turns over TT.

Then my boy starts to tell me how badly I played the hand and I tell him that obviously I'm aware of this. He asks me "Why didn't you bet the flop?" and then the big bluffer, who I'm (casino) buddies with, also says "You know if you bet the flop, I'll fold," sarcastically. So at this point I'm like "No shit to both of you," and decided to leave because I was unhappy about the way I played the hand. I'm sure it looked like I was pissed at them but I was really pissed at myself for letting him hit his set for free.

So Friday was +$220. Of course when I leave the casino I'm instantly steaming at my gf again but that's life. I actually wrote a blog on Friday night while I was smoking a blunt but I fell asleep before I posted it.

Now Saturday I'm like 'fuck this, I'm going to make some money and no one is gonna get in my way.' So I go to the casino at noon, hoping to catch the $500-unlimited game when it starts because there's an old donk that always starts it on Saturdays. Sure enough, he's the only one there ready to play and we start three-handed. I ended up winning $2600 in four hours and moved to the $400 game after the old guy left.

Went to the $400 game and won another $1000 and left.

Sunday I went to the play the $500 tournament at HP and lost flush (turn) to boat (river) of course.

Went down to the cash games and there were some dizonks in the hizouse so I sat down and promptly lost two buy-ins. I then made a horrendous move with JJ against 77 on a flop of 447. Turn was an ace and I had put the guy on an ace and thought I could bet him off it, but that was a miserable fail and my second brain break of the weekend. The worst part is the guy I did it too was a vocal asshole and had been whining about bad beats for three hours straight. After the hand he took a 20 minute break and I got all the chips back on the next hand. When he got back he saw my stack and said "You got those chips back already? When is that horse shoe gonna fall out of your ass?" So I said "You probably think I'm lucky because I don't cry like a bitch when I take a lose a hand," and he stfu for the rest of the day. Then when the table eventually broke at 2 a.m. he comes to shake my hand and says I'm a cool guy and he enjoyed playing with me. I'm sure you did enjoy when I doubled your punk ass up on a flopped boat.

Anyways there's a situation that came up where another player physically threatened someone that I wanted to write about but this is getting too lengthy so I'll write about it tomorrow (hopefully) because I thought it was interesting.

Going to take tonight off and go play tomorrow. Here's the numbers, I'm still on my pace with my goal of ~$7k/month but I need a good April:

2009: +$25671
January: 120.75 hrs., +$14,873
February: 77.75 hrs., +$8520
March: 69 hrs., -$1220

April: +$3498
04.01.09: +$978
04.03.09: +$220
04.04.09: +$3620
04.05.09: -$1320

peace, GL, 4 years, dolla dolla bill y'all!