The Maven

TheMavenVT.com

The Maven — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:02:00 GMT

I'll try and give you all a quick update with what I've been up to as of late.

First off, The Dream Team Poker Tournament was a great success in many ways. They had an overflow of players and it was a pleasant, relaxed environment to play poker in... I had a very tough table draw in many ways...let me explain. The tables were supposed to be 10 handed,...that would have been nice. Instead, I was put at a 6 handed table for the first two levels with Joe Sebok and Paul Wasicka to my left. I played super tight the first couple of levels (and rightly so)...I trucked along into the third level and got semi-coolered AQ v.s. AA. Ari and I put four teams into the competition and one of our teams cashed in the "team" part of the competition in 7th place. The student of mine that got deepest was Mike Sims (a great guy and super-skilled up-and-coming player), one of the owners of PokerVT...he got down to the final two tables...raise, re-raise, he looked down at AKs and called if off...AKs v.s. QQ to bust out. All and all, a great experience and I'm looking to play in the next event they're hosting (word on the street is it will be in Panama, right next door to my second home Costa Rica...100% you can count me in!).

After the event, I headed down to Texas to spend time with my family and we had a great get-together for the Jewish holiday of Passover. I'm now off to New York to spend time with a good friend of mine and one of my original poker mentors TheLandlord1, Nachman Berlin, for five days. From there I'm off to Costa Rica for five days and then back to Vegas where I have a string of private lessons lined up. Ari and I are featuring daisyxoxo at the training center May 20- 27th (feel free to contact me for details). My plan is to watch and learn while he teaches...From there I plan on heading to Miami with my girlfriend and we're going on a cruise with my sister and her boyfriend to the Bahamas. I'll be back in Vegas by the end of May, well rested and ready to go for the WSOP. I plan on playing at least ten events and hope to do as well or better than my performance last year.

I've also spent a considerable amount of time recording footage for my online training course, TheMavenVT.com The splash page is up and I plan on having the entire coursework up and running within the next six months. I also recorded a question and answer session for PokerVT which should be on the site shortly (along with a cash-game that I recorded with Daniel Negreanu and Josh Arieh). I also did a podcast for neverwinpoker.com (mark my words, I'm going to make Bryan Micon "The Icon" a world-class NL Holdem player within the next year), feel free to check it out.

I have a front page article for pocketfives.com due by the 15th of April, so look for my article to be up in the next couple of weeks. The April edition of Bluff Magazine is finally hitting the news-stands and casinos...I've already had a gigantic response for training and I plan on scheduling months of training-work going forward after the WSOP.

I'll try and keep you all up to date with all that's going on in my neck of the woods in the very near future...until then, thanks for reading my blog and have a great week.

Latest Update: The Maven

The Maven — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:15:00 GMT

I'll be representing Ari's Training Center, one of four teams, this weekend in the Dream Team Poker Tournament. It will be interesting to have tweleve of my top players here in Vegas all at the same time. I originally contacted Daniel Negreanu with the intent of putting a PokerVT team together, but unfortunately he has other engagements. All of that said, I'll be more than comfortable playing alongside a promising and marketable student, locoenlacabeza and one of my original mentors thelandlord1. The tournament comes with an opening day cocktail party and should be an absolute shmooze-fest, which I'm looking forward to...

I spent much of the week recording content and working on my online training site. The site should be up and running in the next six months...should be state-of-the-art and a high quality product. Monday night, we're scheduled to have a camera crew in the training center and I hope to have the video up on my website currently under construction. I'm in the initial planning stages of doing a speaking tour at colleges up the west coast. Myself and my team are considering renting an RV and traveling around college to college spreading the gospel of poker.

Also, I did my first podcast with pocketfives.com today and really look forward to downloading and listening to it when it comes out...

This is the last week of the Bluff Magazine Lock Poker challenge and it's trying times trying to beat SNO0OWMAN. I had the pleasure to hang out and watch Brian "SNOOOO0OOOOWMAN" Hawkins play while traveling/training with Ari in Florida. Brian was seven tabling $1500 HU SNG's at the time on a laptop on one of the beds of our hotel room. Being so young and absolutely proficient at poker; I'll have to admit I was very impressed. It's kind of funny because Ari and I sat down and specifically talked about how tough he would be in this competition once the list of competitors was announced. I have the highest amount of respect for Brian as a person and as a player...it won't be a surprise to me when he signs a major sponsorship deal with one of the sites. He's a performer and a producer and this is just the beginning of a world-class career.

I'll try and keep you updated in the very near future with the latest that's going on in my neck of the woods.

More Than Meets the Eye

The Maven — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:07:00 GMT

I've spent the last couple of nights railing Ari. He's on an unreal winning streak and I don't expect it to subside anytime soon. The constant pressure, professionalism, outright aggression, and finesse is at the highest levels I've seen. Ari's off to Atlantic City the next couple of nights to play in a deep stacked $1,500 event.

On the student front...a student of mine chopped a $500 tournament at The Bellagio this week. We're all gearing up for the Dream Team Poker Tournament being held at Caesar's Palace starting at the end of this month. I'll be spending Passover in Texas with my family the first week of April...alongside traveling for another 12 days between Miami and New York (Brooklyn...Flatbush...11210!) where my mtt roots originally were spawned.

I'm going to continue playing mtt's on Lock Poker throughout the month. I recently won my first mtt on the site, a $10 multi with 85 entrants. Started out heads up with a 3 to 1 ish deficit and went on to ground and pound out the win. I really believe Lock Poker and the Cake Network have the easiest fields to beat compared with the other sites as a whole.

I'll be keeping everyone updated as to my plans and travels. Wishing you all well.

An interesting article about fighting paralleling well with the game of Poker, from the pages of the March 2009 edition of Inside Kung Fu, titled, More Than Meets The Eye:

A friend who is taking jiu-jitsu asked me why it's not coming as easily to him as he expected. He was surprised that he still felt stuck in a position during his Gracie Combatives course. It felt like there was no way out. He wanted to know what he was missing; why couldn't he see the easy escape? I explained that it boils down to flying time. Being in that position enough times and experiencing that first-hand will allow you to be more sensitive with it, and then little by little before you know it, you see the opening, it is like playing chess; the more you play, the better you can read the adversary's mind.

Over the years we've come across a lot of people with the attitude that they can use strength to power out of some of these moves. Although some people are so strong that they may be able to muscle their way out of some positions, we can not forget that the only reliable techniques are the ones that work without strength, because you could be the weaker of the two. Practice the correct techniques and they will work for you. Which is why, from the garage days until today, I still have a business where the weak become strong - the moves work.

In time, as you gain experience, unless it's a locked-up finishing move, you should be able to figure out how to get out of any position. It may even require for you to just wait, especially if the opponent is holding too tight, because then chances are he can't do much, either. That is why it is important to focus on the relaxation aspect, so that you can "see" better without the stress of having to fight to survive. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is so logical that if you have a problem and you work aat it, over and over, believe me you will develop the knowledge that will help solve the problem.You having a hard time is directly related to you not having enough experience to improvise.

Many years ago, a student said to my father, " Master Helio, I want to have private lessons with you." My father asked, "Why"? "Because I roll with your sons and although they are only 14, 15, and 17 years old, they always do well against me. And I want you to train me so that I could beat those kids." And my father said to the student, "I'll be glad to teach you some classes and some techniques, but if I show you how to pass their guard today, if you try it again tonight, you probably will not succeed." Intrigued, he asked, "Why not?" "Because in spite of their young age, they have enough hardwired input in their brains that they can improvise faster than you."

When I first started teaching ju-jitsu here in America in my garage, I had to convince a lot of other martial arts students and instructors by letting them put boxing gloves on and trying to hit me. They'd throw a punch and then, in a very friendly manner, I'd embrace the guy and take him to the ground. I'd do it again...a couple more times, and pretty soon they'd sa, "What the heck..." My opponent wouldn't know exactly what was going on but he saw the result. He couldn't touch me and I knew it was frustrating. What was I doing? Basically nothing. But I know the right time to get in, the right way to hook the leg, the right way to hold him down, how to stay mounted, when to squeeze my knees, when to spread my hands, and loosen up the hands, when to put the hand on the collar, how deep; there's all these little body movements that a person doesn't see. You don't see it, but it's there. There's much more than meets the eye.

Rorion Gracie

The Maven...Update!!!

The Maven — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:08:00 GMT

As you may have already read, I've been competing in the Bluff Magazine Lock Poker Challenge this month. It's been a tough grind, but I'm happy to say that I've doubled my initial bankroll of $200 and plan on increasing my profits throughout the month. I have a handful of students at the house who've been watching and rooting me on, which I appreciate.

I want to give a big shout-out to Shaun Deeb and Snooooooooowman for their great accomplishments thus far. Feel free to keep tabs on all of us via www.lockpoker.com/challenge

I'm also happy to announce that I've begun recording footage in creation of my own online training site. Nothing is easy (or cheap), but with a couple of months of hard work...I'm more than confident that the site will be state-of-the-art and will help better spread my information/system throughout the poker world.

Poker Pro Magazine has a full page article on me in their March edition and I'll be featured on the front cover of next month's Bluff Magazine (for winning their 2008 Online Player of the Year Award). Be sure to pick up the magazines at your local bookstore. I also plan on playing in the Bluff Magazine Dream Team Poker Tournament at the end of this month...I'm trying my hardest to put together a team of players from PokerVT (along with four teams of students from Ari's Training Center).

I'll try and keep you all updated in the near future. I appreciate you reading my blog. Take care and have a great week!

Lock Poker Bluff Challenge!!!

The Maven — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:45:00 GMT

Well, I'm off to the races in the Lock Poker Bluff Magazine Challenge. Anyone that hasn't signed up for Lock Poker...I'm of the opinion that it's on the up and up, a dynamic new site on the Cake network...

I'll be competing in the challenge all month and I'm very happy to be participating! The field of players is literally second to none. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgJr8Le5etk

I'll include a quote from Donald Trump's book Think Big and Kick Ass:

People always ask me, "How did you get so rich?" The way I do things has allowed me to succeed financially far beyond what I had expected. I have known many celebrities, billionaire businesspeople, and superstar sports figures. It is not easy to explain in a couple of words, but I have noticed that all these successful people have traits that set them apart from the pack: their attitudes, actions, persistence, and passion, plus a whole slew of other qualities that separate the winners from the losers.

To be successful you have to separate yourself from 98 percent of the rest of the world. Sure, you can get into that special 2 percent at the top, and it is not just by being smart, working hard, and investing wisely. There is a formula, a recipe for success that the top 2 percent live by and that you too can follow to be successful...

Work hard, Play harder!!!

The Maven — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:22:00 GMT

Well, skiing in Utah was great…until I crashed and broke my ankle! I’m now forced to gimp limp around in my temporary cast. This should sideline me from fighting for the next month (I was planning on taking some hardcore Japanese Ju Jitzu classes in Costa Rica per my usual), but I’ll welcome the break none the less. I was going really fast (full of too much confidence, what else is new?) and crashed on the very last run of my second day skiing. I ended up gathering myself and though it was painful…ended up skiing down the mountain with a broken ankle (not fun). I went with a couple of poker buddies, Bevos_Nuts (who really is semi-nuts) and Graytambar (the nicest guy I’ve ever met and a great raw poker talent). All and all the trip was great and I would do it all over again if I had to. Bevo of course didn’t believe I was actually hurt and was ragging me, “Come on Maven, hurry up rock!” At least I have the x-rays to now back me up…

A very memorable moment came the night after I crashed and burned. We had intentions of going to eat at a nice steakhouse at the ski lodge we were staying at…only problem was, I couldn’t walk! So, I bribed Graytambar into letting me piggy-back ride him for about a half of a mile all the way to the steakhouse in exchange for his meal (and wine, lots of it!). This was after he’d already split a half gallon of Maker’s Mark with Bevo. All and all a great trip and I’m looking forward to many more in the future.

I’ve spent the past couple of days in D/FW with my family. I have a private training session lined up with a poker player in Dallas in a couple of days which I look forward to. After that I’m off to Costa Rica for a week to pick up my girlfriend and take her back to Vegas with me. Starting March 1st I’ll be competing in a Bluff Magazine challenge where they put $200 in my Lock Poker account and I’ll compete for one month with 20 other players to see who can run up the most amount of profits. Winner of the contest gets the front cover of the magazine. As usual, I plan on putting out 1000% effort and will do my best to win the contest and grace the magazine’s front cover (wouldn’t it be great if pocketfives had a monthly hardcopy magazine?).

Below is a quote from Chuck Liddell’s New York Times best-selling book Iceman which translates well to the field of poker:

“Being mentally tough is not a sometimes thing. You don’t turn it on and off. If you’re not mentally tough in the gym while you are training, then when you’re challenged in a fight, you will fold. It doesn’t mean you have to be balls-out every time you work out. But, when you are being pushed in training, you can’t just fold a couple of times because you feel that you’ve done enough that day. Before you know it, when you get in a fight and are tired and beat-up and in a bad position, you will give up, too. That was the point of the beatings. If you were going to fight, you’d better be prepared—for anything.”

Blog it up...One time!!!

The Maven — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:39:00 GMT

Next week, I'm going skiing in Utah with my Kung Fu master and a few friends. I'm definitely looking forward to stepping away from the online felt and relaxing. The past couple of months have been very interesting, to say the least! I've been insanely busy training new students at Ari's training center, went crazy in December playing 15 plus hours a day to insure I won Bluff Magazine's 2008 Online Player of the Year Award, and I've only played maybe 9 or 10 days since the new year, but have already had a couple of big licks. My plan going forward is to play less volume and higher stakes mtt's a couple days a week.

I've looked at the 2009 WSOP schedule and am planning on playing somewhere around 20 events (double what I played last year). My confidence level has skyrocketed at games other than no limit since I've trained with some of the best PLO and PLO H/L players in the world. I've recently won a PLO rebuy on Pokerstars and got second in Absolute's Saturday PLO H/L...keep in mind that I was an inexperienced beginner a couple of months ago. I plan on playing the vast majority of the low to mid staked no limit, PLO, PLO H/L, limit, pot limit holdem, and mixed games...I'm setting aside six-figures for the 2009 WSOP.

I'm very thankful that I moved to Vegas, as it's opened up so many doors for me in such a short amount of time. Out of the blue I received a phone call and invite to play in a live cash game that was filmed and is to be featured on PokerVT in the very near future. The game featured myself, Daniel Negreanu, Josh Arieh, Jason “JCarver” Somerville, and Nick Rainey (Patrik Antonius' former manager and definitely a world-class talent). It'll make for interesting watching...I get it all in bad and suck out for a gazillion chips against the most aggro player at the table, JCarver. Negreanu and his team at PokerVT are top-notch and I'm extremely happy and honored to say that I've signed on as one of their featured pros. Already comprising some of the top online players in the world such as Annette_15 and Adam Junglen, it's great to see that they recently signed Moorman1 (I've offered to trade him all of the tricks I've used in my success in live poker for a glimpse at his unreal online game...I hope he takes me up on the offer). Unfortunately, Daniel's mom is very sick as of late and I know that is a heavy burden for him to carry...hopefully, she'll recover very soon. Our thoughts are with Daniel and his family. Thanks for reading my blog and as always, comments are much appreciated.

Power, Prowess...Profits!!!

The Maven — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:59:00 GMT

Just took down my first $100 rebuy on stars today. It was a short-fielded Saturday tournament, surprisingly drawing only 81 players. My game feels very sharp as of late and I can't wait to wake up to play Sunday morning.

Final two tabled the $1k Monday on FTP...it seems I'm getting deeper and deeper in bigger and bigger tournaments. I've completely lost my respect for the buy-ins and am simply looking to make the most positive-ev moves at all times.

I had several p5'ers contact me regarding the negativity expressed at the end of my last blog. It's important to treat people with respect and decency in everyday life, but in poker it's kill or be killed. I've called security and had them walk me out of casinos several times. I'm not going to be pressed at the table, I'm going to be doing the pressing. It's important to stick up for yourself, give it your all, and do everything you can to fight to earn the most amount of profit possible when you sit down to play poker. Life's too short to be mediocre and unmotivated. If I came across as a bit crass in my last blog, I assure you,...it's only to let you in on the killer poker mentality that is present in many top players. Put up or shut up!!!! Give it your all or get out of the arena. If you're not going to take your life seriously, nobody will.

Over the past 6 months, I've seen many instances of what I would describe as "A-player-itus." This is a term I made up to describe B and C level players who truly believe they are A players. Whether it's a student that comes through Ari's training center, a "pro" that comes into Vegas to try their hand at a few live tournaments or friends I know from back-home that also play poker...unless you are making well into the six-figures every year...you're probably not an A player. If you can't be self-honest with yourself, the odds of you drastically improving is unlikely. My humblest students, the ones most eager to listen to what I have to say (and ask questions) almost always do the best.

Happiness is infectious (like winning). The buddhist monks cross their arms in front of themselves as a "ward off" if someone with negative energy tries to touch them or give them a hug. People with negative attitudes give off different energies/vibrations than those who are positive. Always try and remain positive in support of yourself and to set a good example for others around you.

Every time I walk into my bank I notice this teller behind the counter who is always smiling, happy, and conversive. The last time I was in the bank it was my turn after waiting in line and what do you know...Mr. Happy says, "I can help the next customer." I had a friend with me and as I was in line I was pointing out to him just how happy this guy always seems. While I was taking care of my banking needs I asked the guy, straight up, "I know this might sound odd...but, what's your trick? Every time I come in here you seem so damn happy. What's the deal?" He laughed and said, "It's the drugs. No, just kidding. Really, I just want others to treat me the same way and I feel like I have a better day if I treat others with respect and friendliness."

It's unfortunate to have others treat me differently than the way I treat them. So often throughout my life I've seen others cut corners for short-term gains and end up burning bridges...costing themselves greatly long-term. I'll do everything in my power to keep people who are negative out of my playing and living environment. To a large extent, we program others to treat us in the manner we're treated. Go out of your way to help others, but don't be so short-sighted as to allow any form of negativity in your life in return for short-term gain.

The Poker Psychopath

The Maven — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 09:49:00 GMT

Information has the ability to change the collective mindset of a population...I had the opportunity to sit down with my Kung Fu master's master. He's in his 60's, a Native American, and one hell of a fighting machine...10th degree black belt (the highest possible rank). He told me a great story about growing up in Watts/Los Angeles. "There's nothing worse than being a minority in a minority area." Just walking down the street was enough to get into a fight...and fight he did! He mentioned that before Bruce Lee came on the scene...nobody knew anything about blocking. Someone would start a fight with him and he'd just kick them right in the face, in the stomach, etc. After people started watching Bruce Lee flicks, everyone started to BLOCK. Even the most amateur of fighters knew the most basic of defensive measures.

I've put serious time and energy recently into learning the mechanics of the stock market, as well as starting to price real estate properties both in the states and in Costa Rica. I have a long-term plan in place as far as poker is concerned, but I also want to begin to diversify my talents and energies into other productive/profitable endeavors. Alongside owning (ideally in the future, several) poker training centers, managing and investing my personal investments...I'd like to own a Kung Fu studio in Costa Rica (where I plan on permanently moving in the next 5 to 10 years). So much is possible in the future...at this point I'm trying to arm myself with the skills to succeed as I look forward into the next phase of my life.

The first thing I learned in intro to Economics is..."The key to making money, sustainable profits is to...look for expanding markets." When I got into poker, I was partners in a water conservation business. As prices for commodities (water, energy, etc) were increasing, companies were doing anything and everything possible to cut costs. My uncle and I started a water conservation company for large-scale commercial operations like hospitals, colleges, prisons, etc. Before the water conservation business, I studied at the graduate level (environmental studies, economics) and was preparing to enter the hybrid vehicle market in some form or fashion. I was/am convinced that hybrid/efficient transportation is the wave of the future...I was looking to enter an expanding market.

Times are getting tougher and tougher by the day. The economy is going to turn upside down in the next 5 years. We are living in interesting and volatile times. Poker is going to be one of the businesses that has the ability (if given true free-market conditions) to continue to expand. Markets like Central/South America and Asia are almost completely closed to poker...and a poker boom in these regions is a great possibility. We all need to try and do our part to EXPAND THE POKER ECONOMY in any and all ways. Remember, poker isn't just a game, it's also a business!!!

When you're at the tables (especially live), you've got to be completely ruthless and cunning in regards to dealing with opponents. I keep seeing references to psychological conditions and states that relate in some form or fashion to poker. Below is a description of psychopaths from Barbara Oakley's Evil Genes (it seems I'm being called a "psycho" more and more as a compliment on and off the tables in regards to my poker game...interesting choice of words to say the least):

Psychopaths might best be described as "predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, and violence to control others and to satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they cold-bloodedly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret...

I always used to laugh when someone asked what I did for a living. I used to say I stole college kids' money for a living...I'd talk to my brother over the phone to get motivated before a session, "I'm going to destroy people's lives; ruin their careers, cause depression, make them bow down to my will, bring them to the lowest point they could ever imagine." My brother would laugh and scream like a football coach, "Do it Dave,...do it!"

War, Poker, and Life...

The Maven — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:08:00 GMT

Looking forward to traveling the entire month of January. I plan on traveling to NYC, Miami, D/FW, and Costa Rica. I might sneek in a week of skiing at Lake Tahoe in as well. Life's too short to work all the time. I like to stay moving...visiting friends and family all along the way. Grab a half a dozen books and travel around with my girlfriend,...eating out at tasty restaurants and watching movies late into the night.

I've been going to a holistic doctor for nutrition, herbs, and weekly massages. If you feel overly tired, it's possible your diet and exercise routine (or lack thereof) needs an adjustment. I exercise seven days a week (twice a day 3 days per week)!!! It doesn't take much to get started...put on some tennis shoes and start walking around the block.

Ari and I had around 10 players living with us during the Venetian Deep Stack tournaments. Literally, more than half of them got sick...I know that my diet, supplements, and exercise has helped keep me from getting sick. Especially if you have aspirations of playing live poker (WSOP for example), you'll need to increase your immune system to feel healthy and energized on a consistent basis. Whether intensively grinding live or online...being in the best possible physical shape is a must.

It's been a bit of a joke the names that have come in and out of Ari's house as of late. I had the privelege to have a(nother) former #1 ranked pocketfiver sit down and watch me play tournaments for about an hour last week...we have a WSOP bracelet winner living with us...and the one of the world's top PLO cash game players has been gracing us with his presence as of late. I respect their privacy and would rather not name names, but some of our guests have been the creme-de-la-creme of the poker world and I couldn't be more pleased to be surrounded by such talent on a constant basis.

Again, I'd like to quote from the preface of Robert Greene's The 33 Strategies of War:

Depend on your own arms.

But true strategy is psychological – a matter of INTELLIGENCE, not material force. Everything in life can be taken away from you and generally will be at some point. Your wealth vanishes, the latest gadgetry suddenly becomes passe', your allies desert you. But if your mind is ARMED with the art of war, there is no power that can take that away. In the middle of a crisis, your mind will find its way to the right solution. Having superior strategies at your fingertips will give your maneuvers irresistible force. As Sun-tzu says, “Being UNCONQUERABLE lies with YOURSELF.”

Elevate yourself above the battlefield. In war, strategy is the art of commanding the entire military operation. Tactics, on the other hand, is the skill of forming up the army for battle itself and dealing with the immediate needs of the battlefield. Most of us in life are tacticians, not strategists. We become so enmeshed in the conflicts we face that we can think only of how to get what we want in the battle we are currently facing. To think strategically is difficult and unnatural. You may imagine you are being strategic, but in all likelihood you are merely being tactical. To have the POWER that only STRATEGY can bring, you must be able to elevate yourself above the battlefield, to focus on your long-term objectives, to craft an entire campaign, to get out of the reactive mode that so many battles in LIFE lock you into. Keeping your overall goals in mind, it becomes much easier to decide when to fight and when to walk away. That makes the tactical decisions of daily life much simpler and more rational. Tactical people are heavy and stuck in the ground; strategists are light on their feet and can see far and wide.

Keep working hard, keep your spirits up, be kind and appreciative to those around you and make the most of everyday.