Monday, October 10, 2011

Things I Didn't Get To Tell You This Weekend:

A little background: Me and Acecy have named our yet-to-be- born daughter, Isabella. I believe Ace has picked out Isabella Magdalena in memory of her much beloved Grandma. Anywho, we have had strange coincidences with the name Isabella. Namely one that I can remember together, but I know its happened more than once. We were cleaning out the closet in our new condo. It was pretty damn near cleaned out, but for some reason they decided to leave behind this beautiful wooden mirror, obviously made for kids, with the name Isabella underneath. When Acecy showed me we both kind of gasped together, it was cool.

Fast forward to this weekend. We are playing in the park and after about an hour make our way to the seesaw. Its just me and him for a while until this little girl kept bugging us to hop on. I didnt feel comfortable cuz I was going pretty fast, and I didn't feel comfortable breaking any other kids bones than my own. "Izzy" insisted it was easy and that she could even stand in the middle of the seesaw cuz she was "Fo" little kid speak for 4 years old.

We had a blast and afterward told me she didn't tell before but her full name was, you guessed it, Isabella. So cute...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Post Black Friday ... finally.

Ok, so I understand this post is long overdue. Like most things in life, I left this blog and never really looked back, however, I put a somewhat significant amount of effort in trying to update it, make it look presentable, etc. So I knew it was significant when the damn thing kept popping into my head. It went something like this:

Brain: "Upppdaaate yoooour blooog."
Me: Oh yeah, gotta go do that.
Brain: Dooooo ittttt nowwww
Me: But I'm watching Netflix..
Brain: Frrroooot Loooops.

So yeah, basically it was this circular conversation, and I just kept putting it off. And yeah, for the record when I hear my brain talk to me, it has a zombie/ghost of Christmas past tone for whatever reason.

Anyway, for my non-poker playing friends; On Apr 15, online poker was effectively shut down for U.S. only players playing on the two largest poker sites: Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker.

Now, supposedly Full Tilt was the more reputable of the two companies, boasting big name talents like Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen, Patrik Antonius and a slew of other high-profile online pros..

However as of the date on this article, Full Tilt has yet to pay back its customers. Millions (or thousands, who knows) of players have their "bankrolls," locked up by Full Tilt and the good ole Department of Justice.

For yours truly, that means about $570 locked up online, which, for an online micro-stakes grinder, equals a hefty sum. The good news is that its replaceable. The bad news is that it was originally $1000 and given on a loan basis. The good news is that my loan shark is a very loving and caring shark.So, as far as poker goes, that is it for my journey. Well, for now... as a wise person probably said somewhere, "Where one door closes, another opens."

I truly believe that. I've waited a solid 4 months for something to happen with online poker and all I have seen is a bunch of scandals and a ton of fuckery. None of this gets me any closer to being able to pursue the dream.

My back up plan goes as follows: With no reliable way to make a few extra bucs per month to help out my hard working beauty queen of a wife, I have taken a second job working for at a gas station near my house. I hate it, but so far its working out well.

I tell myself every time I walk into those doors:

"that this is simply going to be an exercise in discipline building. It's going to suck, you will need to stand for most of the shift, on graveyard nights you cannot fall asleep, but this is the way it needs to be for now... You want to be able to record music and play cards? Ok buddy, well then you need to put in some fucking work."

And just like that, my shift begins and ends a few hours after that. I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to work and help take care of my family because NOT being able to, is just too shitty of a feeling.

Ok onto some good news, that good good:

"Black Friday," as it was labeled by poker nerds all over the world, did bring a few immediate positives into my life: I began to do a lot more work on the music front. Recorded a few more songs, developed some new concepts and ideas for upcoming projects, and actually put a show together for the first time. It probably should be a whole separate entry but its been almost a month now, and all the details aren't clear. Plus, we are debating or putting together how to do the next show. So here is the Cliffs notes:

My friends have LOTS of music. As an honest fan and critic of the music I try to lend my opinion to which ones are dope and "ready" for public consumption. On the side I am also developing this Hugo Justice character, which is really just a manifestation of some inner thoughts of mine but presented in a particular way. I feel like they have put in a lot of work musically, and are decent enough to find a platform to get to a next level producer/artist that can help them further develop into complete artists ... if they want to do that of course, which all signs indicate 'yes'.

Even though it was not a smashing success, I was more than thrilled with how the final product came out. I guess not getting booed off stage was a big accomplishment for me.

I only performed one verse off one song, but that makes sense because as far as recorded material goes they are years ahead of me. I like that everyone got a chance to showcase their skills. As far as I know, it was one of our bigger shows, opening up for Slum Village, which is a pretty big underground hip-hop act.

Me and Acecy are doing better. I feel like we are stronger, even if we still fight sometimes, it feels a lot less intense now and shorter periods. I hope that is just a part of getting to know each other more than we thought we did before and dealing with problems in new ways. She truly is the love of my life, and even though married life can make a nigga bitter or fucked up, no one does the things she does for me or does them with as much finesse or style as her. I pray I never lose her.

Other than that, its just back to work and chasing the dream.

As a comical side note, I couldn't take not being able to play poker online. At first I needed to take a break, but once I felt mentally prepared to go at it again, I couldn't. Live poker is a possibility but it requires a bankroll and I just wont be full prepared to play live again until I can come up with that bankroll on my own, and continue to just play on impulse. Surprisingly, that has been one of my bigger/only (along with the relationship stuff) successes.

Oh the comical side note? I started playing Zynga poker pretty hard core. It's almost shameful to admit, but flopping a set on my Droid felt disgustingly GREAT! Luckily, I quickly realized that other smaller online sites still allow U.S. players to play for money.

So I'm gonna take like $15 bucs and start trying to build up playing penny poker. That's how I did it the first time, at the very least I think I'll get some relief from these withdrawls.

I feel big things are in store for me in poker, as long as I keep the right state of mind and stay hungry for knowledge. I've just also realized how far away from those goals I am. I'm nowhere near them, but just by keeping them in my mind, somewhere in there flowing around with the other pointless bullshit that swims around my head, if I can just keep it in mind like I did this blog, it will come back to me, and it will flourish into whatever success is destined to come.

Thanks for reading. I promise more picutres and pretty/interesting stuff to look at soon.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Back in the SWING of things

I forgot what it was like to be rusty at something. Fuck, in a little under 5 hours of play I have dropped back into the poker economy 3 1/2 buyings or about $35 for muah. I know that aint shit but still, it always feels better to step back and start absolutely crushing it. The last 30 days I have done some good AND bad stuff for my bankroll.


Ugh. Just check called with AJ all the way down to the river on A high board, got value towned by AQ by some guy who should never have AQ there, ever. REad might be a little off. Eh, I've done that twice today.

The beauty of online poker is there is not too much time to simmer over bad beats, but u can constantly think about mistakes and ways to improve because there is another table available

So currently down about 4 buyins. Fighting my way back though, with 4 screens up. 4 is my max on the laptop. I can do more but I feel the most comfy with this set up.

Ok my game is rusty, so time to just to do work...

Friday, March 25, 2011

Life Update - some poker stuff

I have been crushing lately... not the game so much, but life in general. This is not a false boast nor an ego rub. So the story goes, I get my ass handed to me at $25nl over about 50k hands. I drop down to $10nl and begin to crush it... ok, not so much crush as beat at a very opposite-of-rapid pace.

Unfortunately my volume in February and March is half as light as in January. Basically I was determined to get my ass handed to me AS MUCH as possible in January, got sick of it and only played when I felt the games were good in the following months. The result of which is better, meaning I am seeing more green than red numbers, but I am left feeling like I am definitely slacking in my game. My brain is fucking warped; I got into poker partly to fit my procrastinating, lazy ass schedule yet laziness and slothiness are the death of a poker player.

I read this really interesting article in Card Player magazine, which Poker Grump posted on his blog. I think it pretty much hits the nail on the head in my situation. Bottom line is that I need to work harder, not ease up, when the game(s) becomes easier/beatable. For sure, I know it never lasts. Not to say winning doesn't last over the long haul, cuz Duh! Charlie Sheen just proved us wrong on that... but rather always making your flushes and getting paid off, or flopping trips 5 times a night and having them hold up and take the other guys stack doesn't continue to happen. Only if I stay sharp will I be able to get myself into those situation because that is where the most money is made... on heaters. And if you slack during a heater you can let oodles of money just pass you by. You'll be winning so you might not notice, but if you look harder you will see times when you are absolutely killing it, yet totally missing HUGE profit opportunities.

And if you aren't focused during the downswings, well that's the difference between a $20 to $30 (2-3 buyins) loss turn into a $100-$120 (10-12 buyins) loss. Tilt and its various forms can wreak havoc during a freezer (opposite of a heater obv) so the key is to always stay sharp.

In some other news I resisted temptation and decided to not get an iPad 2 (yet). I freaking loved my iPad and the camera is a simple yet HUGE improvement for the possibilities it can do. Yet, after our income tax return got basically cut in half, I decided against spending most of my money on one thing. Anyway, I still felt an electronic void in my life so I relented a little and got the iPhone. And umm, ya its pretty fucking sick. I am addicted to Free Apps, especially bomb free apps and I came across this little gem called Instagram... its pretty fucking dope and turns my iphone camera into a cool little retro camera.

For example:






Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The New Bobby and Whitney

A copy of our police report (click for a better view):

Friday, February 11, 2011

Best Vampire theory/plot I've Ever Heard

*editor's note: This is not mine, but as told to me. The author shall remain anonymous.


The Origin of Vampires



So last night I got this idea for a book. The title is Origin of Vampires.

show details 9:39 AM (25 minutes ago)


The story line is that there is a plague of vampires killings all over the place, and this doctor researches the anthropology of vampires and discovers that back in year 500 or something, vampires were just people who had leukemia. There was no cure at the time, until this very rich guy came to a witch doctor. The witch doctor said that the vampire needed to sacrifice a virgin girl and drain out all of her blood. And that the vampire needed to drink her blood in order for him to survive. Scientifically, this makes sense, because bone marrow stem cells are contained in the blood… and someone with leukemia would feel replenished by consuming a large quantity of blood. But just like a blood transfusion would only last a short period of time, the vampire would have to continually drink blood to survive. Over time, it became known to the vampire community that this was a cure… and then over time evolution did its thing, vampires (whose children inherited their tendencies towards having leukemia) evolved to have long sharp teeth and nails, and abilities that give them the ability to hunt human prey. The doctor decides that the cure for vampire would be intense chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. But there are also sociological aspects that need to be addressed – the vampires have had a long history of drinking human blood, and having been outcasted many centuries ago, have an inbred distrust and violent reaction towards humans.



What do you think? Is that random enough for you?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

One Month Recap

When I started on this journey a little over a month ago, I had big hopes. Perhaps more hope than an actual shot at being successful, but I had my target in sight. Although I was optimistic, I tried to stay realistic.

I literally just learned to play this game within the last 3 years. While that may sound like a long time, I had absolutely no clue how to play the game. lol, imagine if someone told you they learned to play freeze tag three years ago and still didn't know all the rules.. haha, poker is a tad bit more difficult than that. There is a saying that it "takes a day to learn poker, but a lifetime to master." That was probably originally used for chess or some other strategy game, but its quite fitting.

So obviously I'm aware that there are literally thousands if not millions of people just like me; who saw some poker on TV, had friends playing it, and finally decided to give it a try - then somehow decided they were awesome at it and can make money at it. Like seriously, if not millions of examples there are a few hundred examples online of players that have gone thru this.

I've always been a gamer of sorts. Usually that title is reserved for players who have played millions of hours of xbox or computer games, but I was always very much into competitive games. Basketball for most of my life, but always loved computer and video games too.

Anyway, I spent that last 3 years just basically learning as much as I can. Watching videos, reading books just trying to learn it all. While my knowledge is definitely not top notch, I felt like I was ready to take this gamble because I felt like I have a good "read." I can't instantaneously call peoples hands outs, or make extremely awesome folds or bluffs because I know my opponents cards - but I have a very good knack for picking up on peoples tendencies and/or idiosyncrasies in their behavior.

So anywho, long story short I am here taking my chance. I began with $1000 playing in a $25 game. After over 30k hands played, I am down $600. While this obviously sucks ass and puts a total dent in any plans I had with money making, the $400 allows me to drop down to the $10 game and still be able to play with full confidence. I have to admit that the "variance," that is the amount of fluxuation in wins and losses is a lot more than I originally planned for. I hope that this is due more to my bad play than actual results. There were literally moments where I would lose $75 then come back $125.

I am trying to hone in on that game which allows me to take $75 losses into $50 wins, because if I can then I know I can slowly begin to eliminate the $75 skids. There is a side to my game that is absolutely beastly and can dominate tables. The weird part is that it is born out of desperation, anger and hunger (from losing all that money previously).

So basically I want to get that winning game going, but without needing excruciatingly painful losses to bring it out. I also want to provide more thought-analysis on some of that hands I post. Right now, I'm just posting them so I don't forget to but then not adding much thought into it.

So onto month 2 of this little experiment I call living from the blinds.

Ciao!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Que Sera, Sera

Hand converter-Pokerhand.org

Full Tilt Poker, $0.05/0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash Games, 6 Players

Board:
uwmattyk13 (BB): $10
JonnyEfectivo (UTG): $6.24
Tequila0815 (UTG+1): $4.69
OCPYT (CO): $22.50
Kevinvdh (Button): $10.39
KENS CHIPS (SB): $9.47
 
Dealt to: OCPYT
Pre-flop:
JonnyEfectivo raises to $.35, (1 folds), OCPYT calls $.35, (1 folds), KENS CHIPS calls $.30, (1 folds),
Flop:($1.15) (3 Players)
KENS CHIPS bets $.20, JonnyEfectivo raises to $1.10, OCPYT raises to $9, KENS CHIPS raises to $9.12 and is all-in, (1 folds), OCPYT calls $.12,
Turn: ($20.49) (2 Players)
River: ($20.49) (2 Players)
Results:
KENS CHIPS Showed
OCPYT Showed

KENS CHIPS wins $19.13

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Discount from the Poker Gods

Thanks, I needed that.

Hand converter-Pokerhand.org

Full Tilt Poker, $0.05/0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash Games, 6 Players

Board:
se_mueve (Button): $4.35
OCPYT (SB): $10
snappuoff (BB): $12.56
Lunatic_90 (UTG): $10.72
CkA304HuK (UTG+1): $12.94
Merdoc_SNB (CO): $9.89
 
Dealt to: OCPYT
Pre-flop:
(1 folds), CkA304HuK raises to $.30, Merdoc_SNB calls $.30, (1 folds), OCPYT raises to $1.35, (1 folds), CkA304HuK calls $1.05, Merdoc_SNB calls $1.05,
Flop:($4.20) (3 Players)
OCPYT checks, CkA304HuK checks, Merdoc_SNB checks,
Turn: ($4.20) (3 Players)
OCPYT bets $4.15, CkA304HuK raises to $11.59 and is all-in, (1 folds), OCPYT calls $4.50 and is all-in,
River: ($21.50) (2 Players)
Results:
CkA304HuK Showed
OCPYT Showed

CkA304HuK returns $2.94,
OCPYT wins $20.02

Dropping down a level, seeing the same fun stuff

Hand converter-Pokerhand.org

Full Tilt Poker, $0.05/0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash Games, 6 Players

Board:
UTG: $10.22
CO: $10.80
Button: $21.35
SB: $23.90
BB: $11.57
UTG+1: $10.41
 
Dealt to: UTG
Pre-flop:
UTG+1 raises to $.30, UTG raises to $.55, (4 folds), UTG+1 calls $.25,
Flop:($1.25) (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, UTG bets $1.75, UTG+1 calls $1.75,
Turn: ($4.75) (2 Players)
UTG+1 checks, UTG bets $4.50, UTG+1 raises to $8.11 and is all-in, UTG calls $3.42 and is all-in,
River: ($20.59) (2 Players)
Results:
UTG+1 Showed
UTG Showed

UTG+1 returns $.19,
UTG+1 wins $19.22


Hand converter-Pokerhand.org

Full Tilt Poker, $/0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash Games, 6 Players

Board:
Ga0bo (UTG): $8.87
OCPYT (CO): $10.68
snappuoff (Button): $9.65
Kovalchuk19 (UTG+1): $10
CkA304HuK (BB): $12.27
pikachurra (MP1): $13.47
 
Dealt to: OCPYT
Pre-flop:
pikachurra raises to $.40, (1 folds), OCPYT raises to $1.20, (2 folds), pikachurra calls $.80,
Flop:($2.50) (3 Players)
pikachurra checks, OCPYT bets $2.50, pikachurra calls $2.50,
Turn: ($7.50) (3 Players)
pikachurra checks, OCPYT bets $6.98 and is all-in, pikachurra calls $6.98,
River: ($21.46) (3 Players)
Results:
OCPYT Showed
pikachurra Showed

pikachurra wins $20.03