http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/ PocketFives - Online poker discussion board en Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:16:52 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.pocketfives.com/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/jv-circuit-586866/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:29:49 GMT The poker world as it turns out is a very big place. Most of us got interested in this industry from one of a few tent poles. We saw Chris... The poker world as it turns out is a very big place. Most of us got interested in this industry from one of a few tent poles. We saw Chris Moneymaker win the WSOP ME on a $40 online qualifier or we watched Rounders and got very interested in the prospect of playing cards for a living. Whatever the case may be, the poker world has a lot more going on in it than people think of at first glance. I’ve been keeping my ear to the ground to find some events to travel to and play in that would be within my buy in range (for MTTs $200-$600) and still generate enough buzz to really build some cash game action. This is to build what I am calling the “JV Circuit.” Events that are well worth my time being a smaller stakes grinder at this point in my career, but nothing so big that the poker media will suddenly be covering my every move if I win.

The easiest place for me to start is Foxwoods. Essentially my hometown casino, they run a series roughly every 8 weeks. This week is one of their Mega Stack Series, which features 4 two day events ranging in buy ins from $300-$1200 as well as some one day events that will generate quite a buzz. I’ll be there Wednesday through Friday this week using some of my comp rooms. Unless things go well that first day I probably won’t play in any of the 2 day events, but I’ve got my eyes on the $230 bounty event on Wednesday. Each bounty is worth $100, $20K guaranteed prize pool, and 25 minute levels. It’s not a hugely serious event and there will definitely be some gambling going on, but with such a huge price on each head I don’t know how I could pass it up.

Thumbing through Poker Player Magazine I stumbled upon an article for the Delaware Poker Classic. This year’s event will be from March 14 through April 2 and will actually be hosted by Greg Raymer. More importantly, the event features a very ambitious schedule with some very fun looking events. There is a $230 head’s up championship event that I would love to head down for as well as some other really solid value events for under $400 buy ins. If I can swing taking $1500 down there and grinding in some of these smaller events I’d love to take that shot. I’ve actually never been to Delaware Park so it could be a whole new experience in and of itself.

I also have some connections out in LA that are interesting. There are friends of mine that I could go out and visit, stay with them on the cheap, and catch a ride from them to the Commerce Casino. The LAPC is actually going on right now, though I doubt I’d be able to get out there for any of the prelim events. There are however some more low key series going on out there. The California State Championship has the majority of their events under $400 buy ins in the spring, just before the WSOP really gets underway in Vegas. I also have some friends in Florida that are interested in flying me down to play in some of the smaller dailies down there.

I’ll probably be able to travel to some of these events at the end of the month. I know Turning Stone and Atlantic City will eventually be destinations I’ll look to go to as well. The idea is simple, the more poker I play the better my chances are to win money and if this is the career I want to have I have to spend the time competing at these different locations. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/jv-circuit-586866/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/eerie-end-week-586845/ Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:58:38 GMT Every once in a while you hear these strange stories coming out of casinos. Some are so outrageous and fanciful that by the time they reach the ears... Every once in a while you hear these strange stories coming out of casinos. Some are so outrageous and fanciful that by the time they reach the ears of the outside world it’s just assumed that they have been over exaggerated and details have been drastically skewed as would be expected when playing a bad game of Telephone. They range from people dressed in funny costumes to serious medical emergencies happening at the tables. Even though everyone has stories like this it’s just human nature to assume that the whole truth isn’t being told and that while a person may have had a clown nose on while grinding out a session, he wasn’t an exact replica of Ronald McDonald as the story will surely state. With that in mind, I’m going to do my best to give this tale its due justice. I was witness to a medical emergency down at Foxwoods last week.

Let me set the scene a bit. Monday afternoon I arrived at the casino to do my usual grinding. Normally I cap off my session around midnight and begin my trek home. On this particular night there was a pretty bad snowstorm and the roads were just awful, so rather than take a risk driving home while half asleep behind the wheel I opted to get a room and stay the night. Tuesday was a big day for me, I found myself at a very live table right out of the gate. One player seemed to be driving the action, I would later find out he was stuck for around $3,000 at this 1/2NL table. I managed to pick up about $450 off of the game and when the villain left, I cashed in my chips and grabbed myself some dinner. I came back to another table and found the exact opposite dynamic, namely people weren’t putting hardly any money in pre-flop. The game was still pretty weak so I bided my time and got into some decent pots with people who were just overplaying their hands. I had managed about a $270ish profit when things went all crazy in the poker room.

I had my headphones in at the time and was sitting in the main section of the Foxwoods cash game room. For those who have been there before, I was a table or two to the left of the skylight. At about 9:15PM EST a few of my table mates started pointing over towards the 5th Street Café. I looked over and saw a woman being restrained by a couple of security guards. My first reaction was that some kind of fight broke out, we are in a casino after all and tempers can flare up. I took my headphones out and heard this woman wailing at the top of her lungs and suddenly the fight theory seemed to melt away. Right about then one of my table mates noticed that there was a body down on the ground over by one of the tables. The person down on the ground appeared to be motionless. About 8 security guards at this point came out with bed sheets, large white ones, and began holding them up around where this guy was at the table. The floor came over to talk with the tables in my section and just remarked, “When they put those sheets up, it’s not a good sign.” Many thought this player had died right there.

I can say for sure that as the gentleman was being carted out, he was alive. I could see small movements and heard him moaning in pain a few times before making it to the ambulance. The player I’m told is a regular at Foxwoods, in his mid-50s, and has been on and off chemotherapy for some time now. The woman crying out was his wife. After this mess was all sorted out I just felt completely unnerved. I cashed in my chips and called my mother on the phone to tell her what I had just witnessed. I don’t know this person but to have an experience like that was just too unsettling for me to keep playing that day. I’ve read about stories where players have had medical emergencies at the table during long sessions, but I never really gave it much thought. It’s one of those things you just never expect to see. We all have heard crazy stories before. Many of us are now familiar with the gentleman who was playing World of Warcraft, thought he had super powers, and jumped out of this 80th floor of his building. Seeing this unfold at Foxwoods was like being in the living room when the dude jumps. You never expect to see something like that happen on just another lazy Tuesday. So much for a normal day. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/eerie-end-week-586845/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/kick-off-weekend-586838/ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:17:11 GMT This weekend marked my return to the felt as a full time grinder again. Right now I’m more in a 6 week trial period. Keep winning and I keep... This weekend marked my return to the felt as a full time grinder again. Right now I’m more in a 6 week trial period. Keep winning and I keep playing, lose and I just head to get another job, which I have connections to so I’m safe as far as that’s concerned. It’s a bit of a gamble to do this but now seems as good a time as any to try and build myself back up. That was of course before I hit some pretty solid short term variance this past weekend.

I found myself after my first session stuck a little more than $100, which is nothing to be too concerned over. I made a mistake and ended up tanking the $100 but outside of that I was playing pretty well. My original table was pretty wild. There were a ton of callers for every open at the table. Even though I was more or less nut peddling for a couple of hours I still managed to get calls from hands like Q8s when I woke up with KK. I had one interesting hand turn up. I had $97 in front of me and woke up with AKo in the SB. Middle position opened to $17 and it folded around to me. I made it $45 to go and got a tank call from the villain. The board ran 763 with two hearts and I went all in for my last $47. For those of you wondering, this was my plan whether I hit a pair or not. I’m not going to put in half my stack pre only to check/fold the flop. If I wasn’t comfortable shoving this board, then I can’t make the play I made pre. The villain calls and the board runs A of hearts K of diamonds. I table my AK and the villain just looks off in disgust. He shows the 6 of spades and mucks his hand, and then complained to his neighbors about how he knew I had AK and how unlucky he just got. I just chuckled to myself while he continued to complain to his neighbors for a little while longer.

After the table broke I took my dinner break and headed to a fresh table. This one was a bit livelier and had a ton more money at the table. There were a few $400-$500 stacks, two of them directly to my right. I lost a flip with AK on my very first hand at the table and reloaded. I never really got a great feel for the original group of players I was playing against, and we rotated about 5 players in and out during my time there, but there were a couple of epic pots pushed around, some in the ballpark of $800. I was able to run my stack up to about $175 when I got involved in what would be the biggest hand of the night for me.

One of the original big stacks at the table made it $10 from the CO. He had about $900 behind and had shown he could make this move as wide as 87s. I had KJs in the SB so I opted to make the call, there was a limper in UTG+2 that also called. The flop came down AKJ all hearts. My train of thought here was if either of these guys has a heart, I’m not going to chase them away. I also don’t want to build a huge pot here since I have a hand that could very easily turn up no good by the river. I opted to check my bottom two pair and the action checked around. The turn came the K of spades, my gin card. I suddenly went from no chance to all but a lock on the hand. Going with my earlier logic I figured a heart would still play given the action on the flop so I bet $12 to try and build some value for myself and keep both players drawing. Both called and the river came a T of clubs. I have $152 behind at this point and I think at least one of these guys is going to pay me off with something marginal. I make a $40 bet into the around $60 pot. The original limper folds and then it’s back to the big stack in the cutoff. He asks for a count of my stack, and then jams all in. I snap call and turn over my KJ, only to find he had flopped a royal flush with his QT of hearts. I mucked my hand and quietly packed up my stuff. That one hurt more than a little, so I just decided to call my session at that point and not start chasing my losses.

All in all, I’d say I played at best average. There were a few spots where I got careless and undisciplined, some of those plays worked and some didn’t. Those cost me some value in later hands and most definitely resulted in at least $100 of my $313 in losses on the day. Tis the life of a grinder, not everything will go how you want it to. I just have to keep my head up and move on. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/kick-off-weekend-586838/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/grinding-milford-nh-586822/ Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:57:07 GMT A buddy of mine told me about a small poker room about 10mins from his house. The room is called “The River Poker Room” in Milford New Hampshire and... A buddy of mine told me about a small poker room about 10mins from his house. The room is called “The River Poker Room” in Milford New Hampshire and they were running an interesting promotion for their first tournament of the year. It was an $80 event with a maximum of 2 rebuys that could be used at any time, each buy in and rebuy worth a 15,000 chip stack. Also, if you went ahead and put in for the full $240 before your first hand you were given another 10,000 chips. The winner of this event would be awarded the first place cash prize as well as entry into a promotional, “Best player in New Hampshire” tournament to be held the following weekend. Win that event, and you get a seat into the WSOP Main Event. Since I was back in the Boston area visiting my family for New Years anyway, I decided to trek up to the woods of The Granite State and take my shot against what I expected to be a soft field.

I put down $240 to start the event and right out of the gate had 55,000 in chips. With 20 minute blind levels and a very irregular structure I wasn’t really expecting to see a huge amount of play later on regardless of the grossly inflated stack sizes. Never the less if it just becomes a turbo late I should still be more experienced in proper shoving ranges, stealing, restealing, and all the other tricks that make up short stack play. As expected, the field wasn’t anything to write home about. There were players on the first level, 25/50, opening the raising for 1,000 chips, “because they didn’t want limpers.” There were players that were just limp/calling with 84o, 73s type hands for big portions of their stacks, smashing the flop, winning big pots, and then repeating the cycle until they eventually would miss and just bluff like they had it.

The dynamics of the table with that many chips in play to start I will admit through me off a bit. I was a tad uncomfortable with the stack sizes being the way they were early on in the event. Given the level of play at the table it was almost like the big stack was nothing more than insurance against bad beats, which came in handy for me a few times. Being a chip leader and having the ability to KO someone from the event is only really an edge if the other players adjust how they play because of this. If shorter stacks just keep ramming and jamming trying to play big pots then you are left to bide your time until you yourself hit something big. You can’t really out aggress an aggressive nutcase at a poker table regardless of how many chips you have. I understand there are other ways to combat these types of players, but the point still remains that having tons of chips just doesn’t make as big of a difference under those circumstances.

I didn’t play particularly well early. It took me a while to adjust to just how stubborn some of these players were. For example, I had to stop continuation betting as a bluff all together because people were calling with two overs, bottom pairs, 3 card flush draws with one over, and all sorts of hands that had they turned their cards face up I still would have bet thinking they would never be able to call anyway. Couple that with flopping trips and losing about half my stack to a turned flush I wasn’t exactly a destructive force for most of the event. That said I did manage to pick up some steam knocking out two shorter stacks, both hands sucking out with a worse hand, and as the field thinned from the starting 42 players down to two tables I was able to actually maneuver a bit. The blinds got big enough where people didn’t want to mess around anymore and the players that had just kept calling down were mostly gone by then. I was able to gather up 45,000 by the time we reached the final table of 10, with the top prize of about $1,800 looming and the top 5 players getting paid.



I didn’t really pick up any good hands or good spots for the first orbit or two. I had a solid player to my right and to my left, both of which would have made some thin call downs were I to ship or reship on one of them. Finally, at 2K/4K with a 500 ante I picked up AsKc and a favorable spot. 3 limpers come in before me and I make the trivial shove with my hand and only 35,000 chips left. Things folded around to the middle limper with a stack of around 160,000. He is a solid player and has done very little to get out of line. He tanked for about 2 minutes before finally making a call. The final limper was the solid player to my right. He started tanking as well for a solid minute and a half before shoving for 120,000 in total. At this point, I’ve been sitting here with all my chips in the middle for about 6 or 7 minutes now. It’s not normal for me to get anxious during a session but I genuinely wanted there to be some kind of resolution to this hand so we could run it out. Were I to win this hand, I’d have more than tripled up and be right back into the thick of things. Once the third player isolation shoved, I felt pretty solid my hand was good. Sure enough the first caller folded and I turned over my AsKc and was way ahead of the isolation shove with AcJd.


The flop came down JcTcXx


Oh well I thought, still two more cards to come. My buddy at the table called for a Q as the dealer burned and turned.


Turn Qc


Cool, I’m back in the driver’s seat. The dealer without really any hesitation dealt out the river.


River 7c


Without blinking my buddy went, “That’s absolutely gross.” I wasn’t exactly sure what happened at that moment, but I knew I was out. I saw the nut flush my opponent held and quietly went off to the rail. My buddy went bust in 8th and the two of us left shortly after his KO hand.



All in all, I’m impressed with The River poker room. If there was a little bit more action and some more players in the event I would highly recommend anyone within an hour’s drive to take a trip up for the special events they run. As for me, I head back to my day job for this week and next to finish out my time before I return to grinding for a living once more. I have a feeling some of the smaller rooms in the region like The River will be places I’ll be spending quite a bit of quality time in the coming months. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/grinding-milford-nh-586822/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/end-2011-586820/ Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:24:32 GMT It’s New Year’s Eve as I write this post. I decided to take a night off from partying, even though this is one of the big nights to get shitty. I’m... It’s New Year’s Eve as I write this post. I decided to take a night off from partying, even though this is one of the big nights to get shitty. I’m sitting in my parent’s house, spending the last holiday of the year with them, drinking some cheap champagne and combing through some 2+2 threads. This year, has been a wild one for me. I started the year off lousy with regards to poker, took a crap turn in July, and only recently did I rebuild my roll enough to start grinding once more. I now have my bankroll back and I’m going to be leaving my job within the first two weeks of 2012. I will once again be playing for a living and I can’t wait.

This week my current employer shut down the corporate center and about 85% of the workforce has the week off. That has left me time to be making mid-week trips to the casino rather than just waiting for the weekend. There has actually been a TON of action this past week. Probably because it’s a week that most people have taken off or at least aren’t taking as seriously so people are heading to gamble and blow off some steam. I watched some very clueless players walk away with some serious money, most of them at or near $1,000 cashed out of a 1/2NL game. I didn’t pick up much money from these players, but I did get to pick off the players that were going after the fish. I had a solid week on the whole, and I have padded my bankroll a little bit more to start off my new year of grinding.

All during my sessions I had the same thoughts running through my head. Driving to and from Foxwoods is about 2 hours and 15 minutes of downtime in the car round trip, so I have some time to think to myself. The thought that keeps running through my head is that this reality, going to casinos during the week and playing poker, just makes sense to me. The economy sucks in the United States. I have friends that have gone through 300+ job applications to get work in their field of choice. Those struggles yielding nothing more than internships and contract work. The game of poker just seems more beatable than the job market right now. Sure there are drawbacks. As a poker player by trade you are competing for a paycheck rather than just being handed one, but aren’t you more in control than you would be trying to get a job on the ground floor of a company? My current job is working in HR in the Staffing department, so I see resumes coming across my desk for all kinds of positions. The people who get special treatment and get noticed first, are the ones that already have ties to the establishment. Even if you have better qualifications for a position, it’s still no match for having shared some childhood memories with someone who heads the department you’re applying to. I’ve said this before, though I’m not sure if I ever put it in a post, I have more faith in my own abilities to generate an income than I do in the system as it exists today.

Working at my current job for almost 9 months has taught me a lot about myself. I’ve learned just how different of a mindset I have than my co-workers, most of whom have been working in the department for 5+ years. Everyone who has played poker seriously on any level has experienced this. Someone asks how much you won or lost, you give the number, the person looks at you thinking that amount is a lot and you should quit while you’re ahead or before you lose more. You try to explain that kind of thinking is too short term. You say that you’re investing in your long term results and losing 1%-5% of your bankroll in one session isn’t a big deal. Never works though does it? I take that one step further. Having spent quite a bit of the past 3 years in a casino, I can’t possibly fathom why people go to them. I’m there for a specific purpose, I’m there to work. I am playing a game where I think I am fundamentally better than my opponents and as such I can earn money from my own abilities. But walking out of the poker room at 1:30AM I see countless masses huddling over slot machines, looking simply miserable but locked into finishing what they started. What’s the point? It doesn’t even look like you’re getting a rush from losing anymore.

I understand an addict, someone who just wants to experience those highs and lows. Someone with a gambling problem just loves the ride, the end result hardly matters. That person makes more sense to me than just a person who walks in and sits at a penny slot for 14 hours having lost $300 one max bet at a time. I don’t understand how that experience is at all fun or even providing a rush of emotion. I play poker because I like to win and I like being in control of my own fate. Am I totally running the show, of course not, but I have a lot more control than the faceless masses sitting at the roulette tables. Talking with my co-workers or other friends of friends in the workforce and this reality started spilling into life outside of poker. How is working in this cube acceptable to you? Because it’s what you could get? Because you don’t have to think about it? That logic just baffles me.

Before I get spammed by people saying I’m just some punk kid who doesn’t know any better let me get this disclaimer up, “THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH GETTING A DECENT JOB, PAYING YOUR BILLS, SAVING YOUR MONEY, AND JUST LIVING YOUR LIFE.” I’m not ranting because you need to change your ways, I’m ranting because I feel like I fundamentally don’t belong in that world. I am starting off 2012 without much of a plan. I have a proper bankroll, I have a couple of months’ worth of bills, and I have a desire to never step foot into an office building again (unless I happen to own the company but that’s a story for another day). I’m not weird for thinking this way, just like you’re not weird for working 9-5 in a cube. I’m just not comfortable with that life. I don’t like what I see in the mirror when I’m at work. I feel like I don’t belong. In 2012, I’m not fighting it anymore. I’m going back where I believe I should be, and that’s to a felt covered table shuffling clay betting discs together and competing for my paycheck rather than having it handed to me. This is what I am and who I want to be. Why fight that? ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/end-2011-586820/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/reflective-thoughts-586806/ Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:13:17 GMT Back in high school, my varsity football coach loved his catch phrases. He would always go on about how, “There was nowhere to hide on the football... Back in high school, my varsity football coach loved his catch phrases. He would always go on about how, “There was nowhere to hide on the football field” or that, “football is an uncomfortable game, you should be uncomfortable.” While a lot of what he said could be chalked up to just some tired cliché that has been worn out from overuse in every sports movie, TV show, and uttered by every coach on every sideline because that’s what he or she was “supposed” to say, there are still pearls of wisdom to be found in that bucket of sand. Coach loved to talk about looking yourself in the mirror and facing the truth of what you’ve done, how hard you’ve worked, etc. That was one that always stuck with me. I’ve lived my life with the thought that if there was something I didn’t like in the mirror, just fix it. You think you’re fat, work out. You don’t like your hair, grow it out, cut it, dye it, go crazy. For the first time in a very long time, I’ve had trouble looking in the mirror. I’m not proud of myself, of what I’ve been doing with my life. And the punch line to all of this is that I’ve been doing what is considered the “responsible” and “sensible” thing.

I got a job in late April, with Black Friday taking effect and my poker money not really substantial enough to play live I did what I was supposed to do and got full time work. Slowly but surely, I went through the ringer. I tried to invest myself in work the way other people do, the normal ones. I have a routine that will make and Rocco’s Modern Life fan proud; up, work, home, TV, bed. I worked hard, got close to my colleagues, hell I even got a raise because of my effort and production. With all that though, I never felt comfortable. I never wanted it to be a final stopping point for me. There was a long stretch in there that I was not playing poker at all, due to lack of funds. All I had was work and friends. But that’s life right? That’s where you are SUPPOSED to start. Then you start a family of your own, have kids, and the cycle repeats itself again.

I get called “weird” at work. They know about my past playing poker, they know about my love for the game, and they know I am trying to build myself up to play again. They think of me as a gambler, a kid with a dream that will eventually be grown out of. So let me get this straight. You guys have given up on your own dreams, have arbitrarily ended up at this job, working on this career path. Many of you have families, kids, and are cruising down that path I mentioned above. By many metrics you are successful, and yet everything I just mentioned about that reality physically repulses me. Don’t get me wrong, someday I would like to have a wife and children and live in a nice house, growing old and spending time with my loved ones. But…right now you mean to tell me I’m the weird one for wanting more? For wanting to do things differently?

I also want to be clear, I truly love working with the people in my department. They have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome since I started there in April. The only problem with all this is I’m not hard wired for all of this. It hit me when I was walking to the poker room at Foxwoods. I was walking past a long stretch of windows and I saw the image of myself walking along. That image just made sense to me. I had my blue jeans on, WSOP hoodie from the Rio, my World Poker Finals jacket I won from my chop in 2009, and my Adidas bag with my iPod and other poker gear in there. Compare that image to the image I see when I look in the mirror at work, shirt, tie, nice pants. I can’t stand myself in that second get up.

This goes beyond just “not wanting to grow up.” There is something fundamentally different about me. I think about things on a different level, not in terms of intelligence but just the way I approach my life is very different than my peers. I have friends that are my age, fresh out of college, have a steady job, and they play video games all night when they get home. Life is good right? Well, talk to me in 15 years when the mid-life crisis strikes because those guys will have spent all that time and never gave it second thought. I feel uncomfortable with that lifestyle, as though I am wasting time that I can’t afford to. I want to take this time and really work towards something I love. I’d rather take a swing and miss rather than just play things safe and live life the way I’m supposed to. This is my life, my story to tell someday, and I want to be able to tell it right. I want to be able to tell it with all the great detail and adventure I can imagine, and still be able to look myself in the mirror at night. I’ve given up on trying to be normal, I’m focusing on being me. Where ever it leads, I’ll take that over what I have now. Good or bad, I’m going to take my shot. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/reflective-thoughts-586806/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/returning-felt-586799/ Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:35:42 GMT Man does it feel good to start playing again. I’ve been largely on the shelf since the end of July, when I went on a solid 10 buy in downswing and... Man does it feel good to start playing again. I’ve been largely on the shelf since the end of July, when I went on a solid 10 buy in downswing and had to stop playing in order to replace my eviscerated bank roll. Starting earlier this month, I made a few return trips to the felt. One break even sessions, two sessions stuck $300 each, then one solid $800 session round out the bottom lines for me so far. I’ve learned two things coming back, first and foremost I need some serious work on my standard game, and good lord do I feel more comfortable at a poker table at 1AM than I do waking up for a job at 5:45AM.

As I said from the top, I’m a tad on the rusty side. With regards to any cool hands I played or interesting spots, I did get into a few spots that I had questions about, but when I posted them or started talking to some other players it became clear that these spots were largely confusion because of lack of fundamentals on my part. So in short, I sucked, but I won so I’m happy enough with it for now. I’ve been spending more time on the forums lately, trolling threads on 2+2 in the live cash game forum to get myself thinking about the game again. I even cracked open my Harrington on Cash Games vol 1 and 2. The skills will come back, and improve with time. What is far more entertaining is to talk about the gentlemen I have found at the 1/2NL tables, and man oh man have I found some gems.

I do want a disclaimer up from the get go. I’m not trying to bash any of these players. If when reading this you think I mention you, and you find offense, please call me on it. These stories are in no way intended to belittle any of these players. I’m just trying to have a little fun and let those who are not able to make day trips to casinos get a taste of what I see on the regular. This is all in good fun…now then let’s begin!

On the weekends I get into a lot of new 1/2NL games. The lists are usually big enough that the floor will just start another table, and for those who have never been to the Foxwoods WPT poker room there are almost 100 tables in the cash room alone, there is always space. I arrived and sat in a new game a couple of weeks ago, only one or two players buying in for the full amount ($300). One of these players, who I will call Howard because I don’t actually remember his name, seemed like an average 1/2NL player. He’s here to have some fun, knows in the ball park of how to play and has certainly been to a casino before. He knows how to conduct himself and isn’t uncomfortable at the table.

In the first 10 hands at the table, there were 3 all in pots, and the action didn’t slow down from there. Howard started driving action, maybe feeling a little left out since he was not involved in any of the chaos of the first 10 hands. He made up for lost time, promptly finding ways to go broke and soon found himself in the game for $900. Then…well he just kept fucking winning. He doubled up a couple of times, then just kept felting people, including me when I ran my QQ into his KK AIPF (he tank called too just to give me that twinge of hope that he had something like AK/AQ/AJs). He left the game with $1700, making himself a nice profit and to celebrate took his dinner out for an expensive steak dinner. By itself this isn’t really a funny story. The reason I bring it up though is because I’ve continuously seen this happening at 1/2NL games. Maybe not as big as an upswing as Howards, but that type of action just seems to gravitate to those lower limit games.

That 1/2NL table was probably for a good 3 hours the best table I’ve ever sat at. Action was everywhere and AIPF hands saw 77 and AJs rolling over for 100BB stacks. Sadly I ended up losing that particular session, the rust reigned supreme in that game for me. But I did what any pro should do in that spot, left without making a scene and tried my best to remember the faces from that game so I knew next time I was grinding what tables had some action junkies in them.

All in all, it feels great to play again, it feels right to be at the table, and boy does it make me happier than staring at a computer screen in a cube somewhere. But all that means nothing, unless I get better and make this life work. Here’s hoping. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/returning-felt-586799/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/back-work-586778/ Wed, 30 Nov 2011 03:18:56 GMT The title says it all, I’m back on my grind. Let’s get a few preliminary thoughts out of the way first. No I don’t really have a serious bankroll,... The title says it all, I’m back on my grind. Let’s get a few preliminary thoughts out of the way first. No I don’t really have a serious bankroll, right now it’s just loose cash that I can play with and try to grow into a more proper roll. No I’m not playing for a living again just yet, because I don’t have the BR to be playing anything bigger than 1/2NL. No I don’t really have illusions of grandeur thinking I’ll turn my last couple thousand into a million by the end of the year. What I do have, is my smile back. It feels PHENOMENAL to get back in that chair, shuffle chips at the table, and to feel the felt and cards once again. I don’t want to get really sentimental with this post, but I can honestly say it’s been a long time since I’ve felt comfortable with my surroundings and the direction things have been going in. Now, it’s time to knock off some rust.

Returning to grinding live has its perks. One of which is the free copies of Card Player that are around the casino. One writer in particular has caught my attention and I have found very helpful. Roy Cooke has been writing articles for Card Player since 1992. He is definitely a member of the old guard. A former pro now real estate broker, Mr. Cooke talks about playing $40/$80 FLHE at the Bellagio and the different points and perspectives he has developed over the years. What I really find fascinating about his column is that, were you to read it without any idea who the author was or what stakes he was playing at you’d never know this column has been around near two decades. What I mean is Roy isn’t someone who the game has passed by, if anything it seems like the game caught up to him and both are now jogging happily down life’s road side by side. In a recent article, he talked about how you’re not winning and losing pots when you play. The focus is on the equity you gain or lose by playing your hands correctly and making fewer mistakes than your opponents. Obviously that’s a very watered down statement compared to the full page magazine article he wrote, but that gives you an idea about the guy.

The reason I bring up Roy is because his articles to me are an interesting way to learn about the game. The question I always struggle with is how to get better when not grinding my life away at the tables. I’ve been doing some reading, catching up on classic poker authentication like Professional No Limit Holdem Volume 1. Card Player actually is a pretty font of knowledge to drink from. Is it going to dramatically improve your game, chances are likely not, but reading these articles has two nice perks. First off, they are being churned out much quicker than a book publication which can take years from conception to print. It’s still not as fast as a forum post, but there’s also a lot of junk on forums that you have to sift through before you find concrete knowledge about how to play. The second point in favor of the publication is these articles just get you thinking about the game. You don’t have to memorize a play, you don’t even have to agree with the line the author is taking (though I’m sure more often than not they know more than the readers do, myself included in that) but if you can think about why you agree or disagree then you can better your own game in the process.

Bottom line, it feels good to be grinding again. Being active with the game, reading it, studying it, and playing it just feel like a much better use of my time then sitting in some cube for the next 40 years of my life. Also, there are some interesting people grinding 1/2NL and they provide some great blog fodder. My first day back there I played in one of the nuttiest tables I’ve ever been at in all the sessions at these stakes that I’ve played. There were three people at the table that ran up stacks at or near $1K, and that was within the first 2 hours of the table opening. I’ll get more into that particular session later, right now I’m just happy to be back on the grind once more. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/back-work-586778/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/doing-interesting-things-poker-586764/ Fri, 11 Nov 2011 03:54:21 GMT So recently I’ve been spending some time trolling around the local poker establishments to see who has the best action and when. What I’ve been... So recently I’ve been spending some time trolling around the local poker establishments to see who has the best action and when. What I’ve been looking for is what I’ve been calling the “JV circuit.” I don’t mean this as a slight to those that play in these events on a regular basis or to challenge the validity of the tournaments themselves. What I mean is these are events that will have first place prizes hovering from $20,000 up to $70,000 and there will be a week or two where these size events will take place. You won’t see TV cameras or big name pros, but you will find plenty of action and plenty of money up for grabs. In my search I trolled over on the Trump Taj Mahal website and clicked on their “special events” section for their poker room. It was there I found something very unique. It was the NDPT, National Deaf Poker Tour.

From what I can gather from their website, the NDPT is an organization founded in 2006 to give the deaf community a chance to play poker. My initial reaction to this was similar to what I’m sure most people thought, “Why can’t deaf people just play poker? You don’t really need to hear what’s going on to play in any casino ring game or tournament.” The more I thought about it though the more I thought this idea has some merit. Think about it, deaf people have a whole culture that is very different. There is a natural barricade between deaf people and hearing people, and that particular wall can be so great that it becomes overwhelming and discourages people who are deaf from playing poker in general. Similar logic as to why the ladies only events are important in the WSOP and other tournament stops, but not exactly the same. Rather than splitting people by gender, they are being split by skillsets. You are giving deaf people a chance to thrive and let their own skills be put on display rather than asking them to conform to a “normal” tournament.

I am particularly curious about this because I have a good friend of mine that is a CODA, a child of deaf parents that can hear. I’ve been exposed a little more to the difference in culture and lifestyle between his parents and me. Everything from the doorbell, to the telephone (used for texting only for obvious reasons), to alarm clocks, and several dozen kitchen alarms and appliances are all experienced differently because they are in this world with the sound off. I’m genuinely intrigued by their lifestyles and habits because it’s something I’ve seen very little of in my own life. I don’t mean to make them sound like zoo exhibits, because they are not nor do I think of my interactions with them to be anything like that. What I mean is it never occurred to me that there is a culture within this community. They are almost like another race of people. Independent of skin color and background, they see and experience the world differently than I do, and it can be eye opening to see the differences.

Now add to this mix that there is a group out there that I do have a tremendous amount in common with, a love affair with the game of poker. That common thread between us peaked my curiosity. I’ll be honest; I’d like to go down the Atlantic City to check this event out. Not to play, but more to watch and see how these people view the game of poker. How is a deaf person’s experience at the tables different than my own? If you share my curiosity you can check out their website at:

http://nationaldeafpokertour.com/wp2/?page_id=906 ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/doing-interesting-things-poker-586764/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/fixing-espn-coverage-wsop-586759/ Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:14:12 GMT So for those of you that are unaware, ESPN 2 and ESPN 3 ran a 15minute delayed broadcast of the WSOP Main Event on Sunday. I was actually pretty... So for those of you that are unaware, ESPN 2 and ESPN 3 ran a 15minute delayed broadcast of the WSOP Main Event on Sunday. I was actually pretty excited by this concept. The live streams of events like the $50K players championship for me are way more interesting than the TV broadcasts. The problem is that to the average fan, watching live streamed poker is like watching paint dry. With no certain end time, no good spots for regular commercial breaks, and no hole cards it’s hard for an average Joe to really get into the event. With that said, I think the coverage of the Main Event this year is a step in the right direction towards a happy medium.

Personally, I find the telecasts that ESPN runs on Tuesday nights rather boring. I already know what happens, I already heard about the bigger hands, and really all I’m watching for is the one or two spots where cards didn’t get turned up to see who had what (but there is no guarantee that the hand I’m waiting for made the cut). Ever since 2004 I think televised poker has gone downhill. We only get NLHE events and I can only watch someone get smashed over the head with set over set before it loses its comedic and entertainment value. I’d love to see more games on TV. I think at this point Omaha can be a pretty easy next step for the casual fan to take in their TV watching experience. Maybe then we can get crazy and even bring back a Stud game or two.

One thing I loved about the live coverage this year, was the way the hole cards were shown. For those that didn’t see it, hole cards were hidden from the viewer until the action was completed on the hand. Whether that meant getting to a showdown and the cards turning face up, or the big blind getting a walk, we got to see the whole cards once the hand ended. This added some drama and gamesmanship to the broadcast. I got the same rush I usually get from the live streams. Watching hands without knowing what each player has allowed me to guess and make reads of my own just the same as before. The difference this time around is that I didn’t have to wait for the TV cut to see what was going on. I think ESPN should try doing that for their regular broadcasts as well. Rather than just showing the audience the hands, let some suspense creep into the game again and only show the hands when that player is done playing (folds, wins the pot, or gets to showdown). You wouldn’t even need to change the wild card hand gimmick they have. Rather than blocking one person’s hand from the cameras, simply show one of the players’ hands and let the audience play along with that player for the hand rather than guess what the player is holding.

I think televised poker needs a facelift. Some changes have been made and this year’s WSOP ME broadcast is certainly an example of this. I’d like to see more changes made to the programming to try and find a happy medium between the casual fan and the diehard grinder. I think that would be in everyone’s best interest in the long run. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/fixing-espn-coverage-wsop-586759/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/inmates-running-asylum-586750/ Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:46:19 GMT Ok, I’m sure no one here is shocked when I say I’m pissed off about Black Friday. I’m sure a lot of grinders are, to say nothing of the thousands of... Ok, I’m sure no one here is shocked when I say I’m pissed off about Black Friday. I’m sure a lot of grinders are, to say nothing of the thousands of players who were earning a living playing the digital version of our beloved game. But that’s not even the biggest problem I have with what has transpired. The poker world is viewed as nothing but a bunch of degenerates that need to be protected from themselves. Even with ESPN coverage of the WSOP on national television, you will still see people posting just pure idiocy in the comments section of this year’s WSOP ME recap article. You’ll read things like, “The economy is awful and this kid got paid $9million to play cards? This is what’s wrong with this country.” If you think I’ve gone off the deep end, just take a look at some of the comments when Cada won it in 2009, people right away went for the “college dropout” angle rather than praise him for his achievement. This is part of a larger misconception of poker in the United States today. More importantly what the main stream sees and hears from us is two major scandals within the last decade during one of the worst times financially the world has ever seen.

I am personally a lot closer to what’s going on with Full Tilt now than what happened to UB years ago. I didn’t start playing on Ultimate Bet until 2010, and only because PocketFives gave me a sweet rakeback deal. Full Tilt on the other hand I was a champion of. I was convinced of Full Tilt’s superiority over Poker Stars. Obviously there is more money flying around on Stars given the sheer size of the site, but Full Tilt had won me over hands down. The tournament schedule was phenomenal, particularly in the $26-$75 range, every night. Mid stakes action wasn’t as solid over on Stars, and being primarily an MTT grinder for most of my hours logged on FTP, I felt like that was where I wanted to spend my time. Ironically enough, I had lost most of my money on FTP a few months before Black Friday and had moved about 80% of what was left over to Stars to grind the $4.40s. Turns out that was a sick read that I just fell right into.

What really bothers me now about all of this is that Full Tilt has set poker back in the public eye. Politically, I don’t think much has changed. Online poker is a billion dollar business and there is no way it will be gone from the US forever. There are too many people in this country, call them smart, call them greedy, but there are too many business men and women that would jump at the chance to get to the front of the line of this industry. You have a very high demand that could explode even more if poker were to be legitimized from a legality perspective. It’s a low overhead business when compared to brick and mortar establishments (or at least they should be). You have the flexibility of choosing any location with enough space to hold your servers. The world can be your oyster. And yet with all this upside, people are now going to focus on Ponzi Schemes and Super Users rather than give the players a chance to defend themselves in the court of public opinion.

Full Tilt representatives, I know you’ll probably never read this but I’m going to say it anyway, you haven’t just brought all this legal crap onto yourselves, you brought the banhammer down on your customers as well. There is no reason for any of this to have happened. I don’t blame you for online poker being stripped from the US market almost entirely, that’s not your issue to solve. I blame you for being caught with your pants down jerking off on the crapper and using your financial books to clean up your mess. That’s the part that sucks the worst. Every time I see another law suit come out against Full Tilt, I start hoping this will be the one that just kills the brand. At this point, let’s just cut the cancer out of our world. Let’s study it, learn from the mistakes that were made, and become better for them. This is an ugly blemish on the face of the industry, and it’s caused people to think we simply can’t control ourselves. We need a fresh start. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/inmates-running-asylum-586750/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/congrats-role-model-586746/ Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:51:35 GMT I know this past weekend I played in what will likely be my final tournament of the year at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals. But when I turned to... I know this past weekend I played in what will likely be my final tournament of the year at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals. But when I turned to PocketFives on Monday to write my personal recap of the events of the weekend, there was an article that caught my eye. Ever since Black Friday it’s been hard to find news in the poker world that has genuinely brought me joy. But on this past Monday I learned that fellow blogger on P5s Tristan “Cre8tive” Wade had won his first gold bracelet over in the WSOPE.

I remember when I started this blog; I was looking up at Cre8tive. He had the most posts at that time on PocketFives as well as a backlog of material on some other blog platforms. I haven’t been a diehard reader over the past two years, but I certainly have looked up to him. Selfishly, I wanted what he had earned through his writing and his play, respect. I know a few people that have met, played with, and been busted by the one and only Tristan Wade and not one time have I heard anyone talk about him with anything but respect. Great player has been the most common descriptor of the man who bested a final table with a host of P5ers on it over in Europe, including the great degenerate (which I mean as the highest compliment possible) Elky. An impressive resume online has now been parlayed into some serious live success over this past year.

I wish I could call Cre8tive a rival, but that would be putting me on a poker platform that I just simply don’t deserve yet. The only one up I have on Tristan is that I’ve had a bigger mouth over the past two years and less to do allowing me to dominate our keyboard battle like there’s no tomorrow. With that said, Cre8tive’s success has been impressive to see over the years. Both online and live he has now had success, and in a moment of honesty I’ll admit I’m quite jealous. But that little green monster doesn’t stop me from being extremely happy for Mr. Wade.

Cre8tive, I don’t know you really outside of what you’ve posted over the years. I can’t say I’ve been there rooting you on all this time, but you are definitely someone to root for. I’m not a fanboy, but I do respect and admire what you’ve accomplished so far in the poker world. I haven’t been seeking out your story, but when I hear your name my ears always perk up to what people have to say. Tristan, congratulations on getting a bracelet on the resume, I’m sure it’s one of several more to come. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/congrats-role-model-586746/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/writers-block-586737/ Wed, 12 Oct 2011 02:39:38 GMT I must admit, writing a poker blog in this day and age isn’t easy. It’s not that I’ve lost interest in doing this by any stretch. Though I’m not... I must admit, writing a poker blog in this day and age isn’t easy. It’s not that I’ve lost interest in doing this by any stretch. Though I’m not someone who has ever been fond of studying the English language on any level of academia, I’ve enjoyed finding the time to sit down and type up a blurb about my experiences at the tables. The problem now is…well I’ve been sidelined for quite a while. I haven’t had a cash game session since the end of July, I haven’t played online since Black Friday, and I’ve only made one casino trip in the last 2 months, which was to play in one of the Foxwoods Mega Stack tournaments. Now as I type this latest blog up I am on the verge of returning for another shot at MTT glory, this time as part of the World Poker Finals.

I’ll be honest, I’m really not sure what to expect. Normally when a series of this nature comes to town I have plans to play in a few events and I’ll talk about which ones mean the most, which ones I think I have the best shot at winning, which ones would be fun to play in, etc. This time around I’m feeling a little more nonchalant about the whole series. Two years ago, I found myself sweating the main event final table for the series. I was in the audience when the winner was crowned at around 12:00EST. Last year I played in one event, made a little more than a min cash, took my money and paid bills. This year things are different. I’m excited about the prospect of playing, but these past few months have given me a different perspective on returning to the felt.

I understand that this event isn’t really a silver bullet. It can be, and I don’t even need to make a really deep run for that to happen. If I do a little bit better than min cash again this year I’ll have money to start another bankroll rebuilding project. Hell if I ship the son of a bitch I may be able to return to my desired career and leave my desk job behind, hopefully for good. That said though, I feel no pressure surrounding this event. The need to do well just isn’t there. It’s hard for me to really explain, and certainly is hard to convey using only the written word but I’ll give it a shot anyway. For a while I wondered if this really is what I want to do with the rest of my life. Maybe poker just isn’t my thing; maybe it’s too stressful for someone who takes the thought of losing so seriously.

After 2 months of downtime though, I’ve learned what’s really going on in my head. My confidence has quieted down. Don’t mistake that for having gone away. What I mean is that I don’t feel the need to go out and prove myself this time around. That’s not to say I think I’m the best player in the world, even my ego which is already over inflated since birth won’t let me entertain that thought. That said though, this game just feels more natural to me now. I feel like this is where I belong and that I will make it back to doing this full time. I’m not going to be the next 21 year old champion, that ship has long since sailed as I turned 24 not 2 weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still do what I love to do for the rest of my life. In pervious posts during this dry spell I was a bit on the angsty side of the spectrum. Right now I find myself simply wanting the same thing I wanted in 2009 at this time, just play to be proud of myself. If I come up short, so be it, just let it all hang out there and see what happens. This Saturday I step into the ring again, and I’ll be coming out guns blazing. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/writers-block-586737/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/honest-admissions-586727/ Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:19:56 GMT When I started this blog back in 2009 I had a few things in mind. First off, I wanted to use it as a tool to push myself. I would write about my... When I started this blog back in 2009 I had a few things in mind. First off, I wanted to use it as a tool to push myself. I would write about my career developments, the highs, the lows, and every story from the funny to the tragic. I also wanted to share my adventures with the poker community. I’d like to think I’ve come up with some good moments too, ranging from getting into a digital brawl with a donk in the $4.40FLHE on Stars (you still owe me the $50 btw kyrsosa1) to watching a man’s pants fall to his ankles as he got up and left the 4/8FL game at Foxwoods. I’ve even tasted glory chopping the $400NLHE event at the 2009 WPF at Foxwoods for $50,272. I’ve had some crazy adventures, but they have stalled as of late. I’ve been out of serious action for the past two months and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my career and what I’ve done with it to date.

I’m in the longest drought since this blog has started. With no online poker options that I feel comfortable with and no money to play live for a while I don’t really have much to say. What I DON’T want this blog to turn into is some emo ranting twice a week about how I can’t “seem to catch a break” and how “if I could just get something going I’ll be fine.” I am partly to blame for my situation. Back in 2009 I was on the doorstep of my career. I had the money to play, I had the money saved up to pay bills, and I took it all for granted. I won it once before, winning again should be easy, right? I wasn’t quite that naive but I was in the ballpark. I stop working at the game the way I had in the months prior. There was a time when I was grinding out $1.10 45mans on FTP to try and build my BR up from scratch. Taking a shot used to me putting up the buy in for a $4.40 180man on Stars. I lost a bit of my edge, I got soft and my play suffered.

The worst part of the past few months isn’t being broke. I’m quite a bit better off than a lot of people in this world. I have parents that in the blink of an eye have been willing to help me out. My mother has been wildly supportive of her son’s crazy dreams and has been there supporting me through the highs and lows. My father has without second thought handed me money to play cards with in the past and in a pinch he’d be willing to do it again. They believe in me, and that alone puts me in a better spot than a lot of other grinders. My problem, and the cause of my frustration, is I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve wasted the opportunities I’ve been given in this life. I feel like I’ve had excuses for every time something has gone wrong. Now let’s be fair, set over set isn’t my fault, getting the money in with a flush on the flop and the board pairing isn’t my fault, and I could name at least 10 other major scenarios where the deck didn’t break for me in big pots. What is my fault though is that from 2009 until this year, I stopped really trying to get better. Too often players don’t take personal responsibility for their situations. It’s easy to blame luck, or a bad run of cards, or the other players at the table. Poker is a game where you only ever truly have one person to blame for your mistakes, and that’s you. If you lose when you have the best of it that’s one thing, but it’s another to only remember that hand and not try to really break down the sessions you’ve played. It’s easy to sit down and lament, it’s hard to face the truths of your session.

I find myself now in a position where I won’t be able to play any serious poker for the rest of 2011. I’ve got one more MTT buy in I’ve been promised but outside of that I’ve got nothing until I rebuild the old fashioned way, by saving my money and cooling my heels. It sucks, but I don’t have a choice. The hard lesson that needs to be learned now is that rebuilding is going to take a while from here on out. Screw ups aren’t going to only take a few weeks to correct. With student loans to pay and no safety net under me anymore, it will take me around 5 months to fully rebuild barring success at the WPF in October. That kind of timeline really makes you appreciate those 15 hour grind sessions. You may not have had your best session, but you were at the table, you had the chance to make something happen instead of idle by on the fringe. I’ll be back in action soon enough, but for now I need to grit my teeth and bear it. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/honest-admissions-586727/ http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/rejuvenating-spirits-586695/ Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:03:01 GMT I’ve been working on some plans for myself for the rest of the year, tirelessly trying to build myself back up from the ashes and get my real career... I’ve been working on some plans for myself for the rest of the year, tirelessly trying to build myself back up from the ashes and get my real career back on track. This weekend I was encouraged to take a break as one of my good high school friends came home from Los Angeles. I got to spend some great time with him, catching up, reminiscing about our high school days, and talking about plans for the future. It was great to see him again and just hang out with one of the better friends I have in this world. Even though this is a recharge vacation for him and a break of routine for me, the two of us inevitably started talking about him bringing me back west with him as part of a career reboot.

We weren’t all business this weekend. I went and picked him up Friday evening and the two of us went to a concert at the Worcester Palladium to see Within Temptation. The concert was AMAZING. They are a rock group that really tries to build epic songs and stories with their instruments and performances. The entire show blew me away. After that we returned to my apartment where for the first time my buddy was introduced to my life since high school. He hit it off with a group of my friends, we all drank more than our share of whiskey and beer, and just simply had a great night. I brought him back home on Saturday and that’s when the two of us started talking shop. He has been out in Los Angeles pursuing his own dream career as an actor for the past 6 years. He’s established himself a nice little foothold with some very impressive connections and an ever growing resume of projects he’s been a part of. As a fellow dreamer and a close friend, he started suggesting a move for me out west.

The two of us had started this conversation before last weekend. I called him a couple of weeks ago to float the idea of me moving out west and it was that initial conversation that sparked my blog last week about deadlines and changing my life for the betterment of my career. I’ve thinned my options down to two choices for my future living arrangements, one of them is Las Vegas and the other is Los Angeles. Las Vegas for the obvious reason that it’s the center of the poker universe year round and would be the place to play with the highest ceiling as far as growth in the industry is concerned. For a serious poker player, all roads at some point all lead to sin city. On the other hand, Los Angeles from all accounts seems to have some very solid action and wouldn’t be a complete reboot for me since I do have friends out in the area. In either case, I need to do some research to see which location is a better fit for me over the next several months, and I’m all for any excuse to head to one of these two cities for a poker retreat.

For the rest of this year I have one goal, rebuild the bankroll. That’s the first hurdle that has to be conquered before anything else can happen. I expect things to be slow for the next few weeks but the bottom line is rebuild by any means necessary. Felt good to take a quick break, but now it’s back to work. ]]> dtools22 http://www.pocketfives.com/blogs/dtools22/rejuvenating-spirits-586695/