December Tidbits

Hi all. Poker has been good. I final tabled my first WSOP Circuit event final table, which was so awesome. I ended up getting 4th. I will post hands later this week. I went deep in 3 FTOPS events, with my deepest run ever in the hugest field, 85th out of 17,890. I was very pleased with how I played. I am so excited for poker in 2010.

I was pondering a poker player's resume. It could be quite impressive if worded properly. Phrases to be included on such resume would be:

** "actively participate in multiple online gaming events, whose cumulative monetary values total upwards of $200,000 and greater" (adding all the prize pools of all the events u play),

**"compete among the best in the world in my area of expertise and consistently place in the top 15%",

**"verbal and written communicate with colleagues both nationwide and internationally",

**"travel, both national and international for business purposes"

**"interact with various competitors, including sports stars and celebrities"

**"particpate in the trading of large sums of money for the purposes of funding accounts"

**"partake in several hundred trades and funding of colleagues for investment purpsoses"

Additionally, your job title can also vary. Professional mathematician/statician, professional gambler, Consultant, Independent Contractor, Gaming Expert, Semi-psychic,....any other ideas?

I will blog more later regarding last week. It was a great week, I really played my A++ game.
Right now, I am deep in the UB nightly, will let you know how that turns out.

More later,
Garnet.

EXTRAORDINARY

Extraordinary is one of my favorite words in the English language. I think is so funny to say extra-ordinary to mean something really special; I always found the inherent contradiction in the actual word and its meaning fascinating. Apparently it takes very little to fascinate me =)

On a side note, my #1 favorite word is Peoplemover- who invented that word? He is a pure genius. I loveeeeee that word! Every time I hear, I start laughing like a lunatic.

Ok...well the end of the year is approaching. I am excited for a new beginning! January is such a great month- a new year, my birthday, snow...so much good stuff! Over the last few weeks, not much has happened. Thanksgiving holiday was very nice; Jon and I spent a lot of time with family and we put up our Holiday tree (Christmas tree decorated 1/2 in blue and white for chanukah and rest for Christmas). I shopped online for a bunch of gifts and have played more volume poker online.

I went very deep in Full Tilt Sun tourney, 75/4500 and I also went deep in main event a few weeks ago, 140 something out of a gazillion players. I played my last hand on fulltilt poorly this Sunday and I was upset at myself for a while. I don't mind losing objectively to hands that kind of play themselves, or when I get drawn out. But when I defy logic and change my plan on each street for no apparent reason and play like a novice, it really bothers me. Silver lining is each cash is one closer to a bigger cash =)

Overall, poker in the last 6 weeks has not been great, but has not been terrible. I have 2 four figure cashes, and a bunch of small cashes, however because I now play higher buy ins (usually $55 and up, whereas before I would play 26$ and higher), it has become necessary for me to cash more often. I also find myself leaving more $$ in my accounts than I did before to ride out the variance. I hope I have a strong year next year in poker, that would be great!

One of my new year's resolutions is going to be to blog daily. I really want to do that. If I write every day, it will be a shorter post, but I think more focused. Hopefully i will increase my readers doing that also.

To finish up this entry, I want to leave you with a top 10 list:

10 HAPPIEST EVENTS/MOMENTS OF 2009:

10. VEGAS in Summer '09;

9. Starting my new business;

8. Jon quit smoking Aug 09;

7. Jon's 1st place cash in UB 200k;

6. Me chopping Foxwoods tourney Feb 09;

5. Winning a Step 10 and 2nd in another;

4. California Halloween weekend;

3. 3rd place finish in UB 200k;

2. Getting a House in Vegas;

1. My 4th year with my best friend and love of my life, Jon.

For all of these things I am happy and grateful. Every so often, when I feel down or sad/apathetic, I remind myself of all of these good aspects in my life and I cheer up right away. The truth is, I have so much to be thankful for and I seriously could not ask for much better (except maybe less bad beats in poker, haha).

Thank you for reading, and I love you all!

Garnet.

All Good Things....Continue

Hey all! I have some exciting news. Jon and I found out that the bank has finally accepted our offer for the house in Vegas! We have been waiting since July to find out whether the offer would be accepted or rejected. Now we have to do the inspection and deal with our bank on securing a mortgage, and if all goes well, we should close by the middle of December. If any of you know of any poker players, or anyone interested in renting the house, please drop me a note. We ideally would like to rent to friends or friends of friends, but if that does not work out, we are going to rent it through a management company.

I have not been focused on poker much since September. I have spent most of my time concentrating on my new business. It has become a priority. Ideally, I would like to devote my time to travel and poker, becoming a more well rounded player, focusing on the nuances of my game-I have my whole life for that. My goal is to start up a well grounded law practice, with solid clients and steady income. Once it is in place, I will have all the freedom I want. I am very lucky that I have a great business partner.

As far as poker goes, I am still focused on my 45 man sngs. I like the structure and always turn to them when I need to build my account. I am playing the FTOPS main event tomorrow and I am excited for that. Here are some hands that I thought were interesting:

1. AJ hh. I limped utg in the 100k nightly on stars. A well known, solid player Pwnasaurus was in the sb. It folded to button who limped. SB and BB checked. 4 way to flop. Flop came out 3h 7h 8 sp. Pwnasaurus leads 150(into 200 somthing pot) the bb calls, and I call, button folds. Pot is now 600 something. Turn is 9sp. Pwnasaurus leads again, bb calls and I decide to just call. I feel like Pwnasaurus has 2 pair or pair and draw, but he has a hand he is not folding at this point. River is Jsp. So now board is 3 7 8 9 j. Pwnsaurus takes a long time and checks, bb checks. Pot is 1400 and I have 2100. I was utg limper. I do not think AJ is the best hand, but I do not believe either of these players have a flush or a straight. I decided to turn my hand into a bluff by open shoving. Pwnasuarus timed out and then folded and bb folded immediately. I thought that was an interesting hand.

2. In 45 man sng on tilt. The big stack had been very aggressive and he seemed like a thinking player. He has 4k I have 2100 to start hand. Blinds are 30 60. I am in cut off with A8 cc. I raise to 110, he calls. Flop is 578. He checks, I c bet 200, he calls. Pot is 650. Turn is 9. he checks, and I check. River is 3sp, putting three spades out there,plus the four card straight. Ihave 1600 left. My thought when river came out was, I really think he called flop to make a move. If he shoves, I am calling, if he value bets I will fold. He open ships. I snapped, he has kq os, I won a big pot. I thought that was an interesting hand bc I hardly ever make calls like that with 20+ bbs in my stack, especially in 45 mans, but my read was so spot on, that I think it was appropriate.

Thats all for now, I will post more later.

Good money and peace,

Garnet.

Foxwoods World Poker Finals...

Hi all. Jon and I spent a few days at Foxwoods. We both played the $400 NL. I had a huge stack early. Here are some interesting hands.

Early- 50/100 level. I have about 6300 (started w 5k). I am sitting next to a good acquaintance, phil. He is very nice, and I respect his game. He had been raising frequently, but not ep. So he raises utg (my bb) to 300, folds to me, I look down at JJ. I decide to smooth. I can narrow Phil's range to AA KK QQ, JJ and AK here. I don't think he raises any other hands. Flop is J 4 5, 2 hrts. Even though I am friendly with Phil, I must play my game. I lead out for 350, Phil raises to 1k. I smooth call. Turn is Kd. I check and he thinks for a little while, and checks. Now I am certain he has AA. I beleive KK, AK hh- he bets turn. River is 9 diam. I lead out 1500, and Phil reluctantly calls and showes AA. We discussed the hand after and he said, he didnt know if he could fold that hand on the river, but he felt like he should've. I told him, which I believe 100%, that it was definitely a really tough spot. Problem is there are not many hands that he beats on the river.

Early- blinds 100- 200. I have AK os in the hijack. Folds to me, I raise to 550. I had been active, raising every three hands and have only shown down the JJ and maybe one other hand. The button looks at hand, appears that he may be reraising, and then decided to smooth call. All else fold. Flop is A 7 8, two spades. I had As. I check, and button thinks, and checks behind. Turn is 4 hrts. Which really does not change his range in my opinion. I give 10s-qqs, or mid pair, which means he may have a set. I lead turn for 700. He quickly min raises to 1400. Now I have total of 7500 behind and he has about 4800 after his minraise. I decided that if I re raised right here 1400 on top, not only am i representing so much strength, but I will get paid by AQ AJ, A10, and if he has two pair and im beat on the river, and I check river, he might check behind with two pair. Truth is, I am committed if he bets, and if he calls turn, he is not calling to bluff river, so I probably should bet river anyway. So he calls quickly river is complete brick, and I check (did not take long enough to act and he checks behind and tables AQ. I ship, but if I know he's that strong I probably just shove turn over his raise. I dont know. It was definitely a mistake to check the river. What do you guys think?

Then I got moved and everything went to shit. I lost two races, then built back up to 12k (was at 16k at one point). Then lost every hand I raised, and then 4 way limp pot at 300 600- I find AQ os in bb w 8400 and ship and of course one limper has KK. But what annoys me is that guy was so aggro all the time. and then limps w kk and gets action from me, of all people. Like, just play your hand dude. Follow ur image, if he raised, truth is i shove anyway. And I felf tkind of done. Flop was q hi and i brick obviously. wasnt getting away from it anyway w 18 bbs in unraised pot had i decided not to raise. Oh well.

Jon and I both played $1500 on Sunday also. That was a lot of fun. I busted 10 from money with 4 tables left and Jon busted 33rd or something. Really frustrating. I think I played too tight, but Jon had soo many chips and just found himself in really bad spots in big pots. It just was not meant to be. Vanessa Selbst won the tourney, congrats to her. She played well at the one table I was at with her. She was ok. I thought it was really pretentious that she was reading law school books at the table. When I was in school, I could never think of reading a law book in such a distracting environment. Not to mention, as an attorney, it appears that she is trying to show off. I thought it was ghey, but to each their own, I suppose. She is an extremely talented player and I did respect her game. I thought one move she made was obvious, but other than that, she played well. Even in her move hand, she got a guy to lay down an over pair, which he played really really bad. Eh, whatever, she deserved to win.

More later.

Good money and peace,

Garnet.

I have Returned...and a crazy non-poker experience

Hi all. Sorry for not posting for a month and a half. So, since August, I have been kind of down on multi tables. I had a long streak of not cashing live (like 10) and online has been such a grind and every tournament has felt like a bubble. Jon, on the other hand, has done amazingly. He has had 3 five figure cashes in the last two months. I am so super proud of him. He is playing so super well and his game is A+++++. In September, I played maybe 15-20 multi tables all month (I usually average 60-80 a month). Instead, I focused on 45 man sngs. I <3>

Sunday, I finally finally had a 5 figure cash myself! I final tabled the 200k on UB, came in 3rd and it felt awesome. It renewed my spirit to grind and keep playing. Poker funks are not fun. I wasn't depressed or sad about poker, I was just very apathetic. I simply did not care and was not excited to play online. Instead, the energy I normally put it into poker, I used to focus on my business and to grow it.

My partner, Cesar and I have developed a website http://www.repulaw.com/, and we are spending a lot of time advertising. Our goal is to build a stable per diem business and eventually gain clients and start our own firm. We specialize in insurance defense, but we are also looking to expand into healthcare and business law. I feel lots of good things happening in the future.

Foxwoods is next week so I am really looking forward to playing some events, and then Jon and I are off to California Halloween weekend for a Phish festival. Jon loves Phish and his family and I chipped in for his birthday to get him the trip. It will be a great experience, I think. We are having a hard time deciding what to dress up as, any suggestions?

Non poker experience. So, just for a bit of background- I have a strong faith in God and I believe we have spiritual connections, and there are people in this world with special psychic abilitites and individuals who can communicate with the dead to some extent. I am not a freak and I do not conduct seances or dance around a cauldron, lol. I am a realist in many ways, but like to think I am not ignorant to the fact that there is more than just "us" to this world. That being said, I have never had a "ghostly/spiritual experience" before three weeks ago. It really shook me up.

I was sleeping on a Wednesday night (I think the second week in September) and was suddenly awakened. Not a groggy wake up feeling, I woke up as if it was the middle of the day- my eyes snapped open and i was very alert. There was no chance I was dreaming. I looked over at my alarm clock and it said 5:20a.m.

I turned over to go back to sleep, and all of a sudden, the "pins and needles" feeling that you get when a limb is asleep, spread throughout my entire body. I couldn't move but I don't know if I couldn't move because I was scared or because I was physically unable to move. I do not know how long that feeling lasted. While I was experiencing the pins and needles, and wondering what the hell was going on, I heard a white noise in my ear, like a whisper. it didnt say anything. it was just white noise, like from when a TV channel is snowy. shwishshwooshshowwhwhwsoohh. And then, out of nowhere, a phrase popped into my head "0 waiting, zero waiting" like a banner running through my mind. And then...it was over. The pins and needles feeling slowly exited my body. It did not just disappear, but left my head and shoulders and arms and exited through my feet. The noise stopped. And then it was quiet.

I started crying. I looked over at the alarm clock. It said 5:26 a.m. I then noticed a feeling inside of me. Inside my stomach and esophogus, there was a really warm warm sensation. It felt good. It was not a burning, but almost like I had a warm fire inside of me that was giving me a high. I woke Jon up. I was upset. But I don't know why. Perhaps because I was scared of the unknown. He stayed up with me until daylight.

Since then, I have had no other experiences, except now I wake up every single night for 10 or 15 minutes. One time, I dreamt about the pins and needles and that my cousin Nicole who passed away five years ago, and my aunt Maria, who passed 4 years ago, were visiting me during the pins and needles. In my dream, I was floating and embracing the experience. Jon was on the bed below me watching in awe and I was screaming "I embrace you, I embrace you." Then suddenly I was awake, wide awake. And my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. My heart never beat so hard before in my life. That was the only other thing that has happened since my first experience.

Going through this has prompted me to call Sabina, a medium I went to 5 years ago who was absolutely amazing- she was spot on with her statements. Very very good. I have been to her three times in my life. Only once out of the three times, I was not impressed. I cannot wait until my appointment with her, I will let you know what she says.

That's it, hopefully I will find peace at night- I would give anything to sleep undisturbed throughout the night. Even though it happened a month ago, only once have I slept through the night.

I will post more soon- no more 1 month breaks, I will try really hard to post regularly, like I used to!

Good money and peace,
Garnet.

Summer Travel Continues....and the Foxwoods 2k

Hey guys. This has been a crazy summer. Since April, I have been crazy traveling, but only within the U.S. Vegas twice, Jersey shore/AC three times, Foxwoods and Mohegan, and Pennsylvania a few times. In September, I will be going to Vermont for a week, and Aruba trip is still up in the air for October. So far, it has been a great time, but I am happy to be home for now. My goals for the fall are to build up my practice and continue to build my bankroll. I have been thinking about visiting Australia a lot. I want to go so badly, I haven't seen my cousins in over 10 years; it would be an awesome trip. I think my first 6 figure cash, which I know will happen eventually, my reward will be Australia.

All of this traveling has caused me to start thinking critically of the direction my life is going. I am a super planner, but- extremely happy with a non-conventional job/schedule. I used to think that this is how my life would be- financially stable by 30, married by 33 and 1 child by 35. A very set plan.

Over the last month, I have realized that you cannot map out your life. Goals change, life is unpredictable. Athough I love kids, I don't want to give up my lifestyle and my freedom. I don't want to stop traveling. Domestication scares me. I can barely plan to renovate my bathroom without dreading how domestic that chore is. How can I get married, have a kid and be chained down? I always pictured myself as being a success, no matter what I do. I am still working at it when it comes to poker; I think its a never ending journey. As far as being an attorney, I have found my niche in per diem work. While I will not get rich in the area I am practicing, the flexibility and mobility it provides me is worth more than any amount of money. It is a nice balance- having a steady source of income, while focusing on my poker endeavors. Overall, I just want to be happy, no matter what happens. No amount of money or life planning will give me that.

Ok. Sorry for the life rant, just felt the need to blog about what was on my mind. In more relevant poker news, I played two live tournaments at foxwoods, the $340 with my dad last Tuesday and the $2,000 on Thursday. The $340 was easy, I had a super easy table. Late in the day, I lost two monster hands, and then shipped 12 bbs w 44 and ran into 66, LMAO. Nice game. I played really well though, and my reads were spot on.

While I was up in Foxwoods, I met up with a friend of mine, Matt aka ipayurrent online. He is an extremely talented player; and he is one of a few players I can actually discuss hands with on a deeper level. I was not planning on playing the 2k event because of my deep runs/no cash phenomena in 1k + buy ins in the last 8 months, but he offered to stake me for 1/2 so I decided to take him up on his offer. On a side note, I actually do like being staked. I thought I would feel stressed about it, but in a lot of ways, it forces you to bring your A game to the table and focus harder. I actually liked the pressure of it (even though players tell me all the time, you should feel no additional pressure). I played well. Starting stack was 30k with 1 hr levels. I chipped up to 40k early, then lost a few pots ak v. jj, etc, and was down to 29k. I played tight for a while, opened up a bit and chipped up to 55k. Then I lost a monster pot with top two against a set (my opponent was short enough that I could just not get away from my hand there). The sick thing was I raised early pos w j9hh, got two callers, and the caller on button had jj w only 15 bbs behind. Flop is j 5 7 and turn is 9, so sick. Pot was so big at that point, and I thought he slow played jj-aa, but I figured he would be lucky to have jj there, and my hand is so hidden. Anyway, not being results oriented, I think I played the hand well, it was just a huge set up/cooler. After that I had 20 bbs, so card dead, and ended up squeezing w 88 into KK of the big stack, that was fun. lol. lasted about 11 hours, there was 130 left when I busted, 315 started.

Matt on the other hand, shipped the whole tournament! The results are available at http://blog.ptseats.com/. Awesome job Matt, and I hope you have many more wins this year!

On a final note, now that I am comfortable with being staked, I am thinking of selling shares of myself for $3500 at Borgata, like $500 for 10%, and sell like 4 shares and put the rest up myself. What do you guys think? I am not big on asking people for money/staking, but a bunch of my friends are constantly sending emails/texts regarding staking. I guess I just have to look at it as purely a business deal.

Ok, I am going to finish my wine and go to bed since I have to be up early for court in Manhattan tomorrow...

Good money and peace,
Garnet.

Contemplations...

On a completely non poker note, and I may have said this in the past, Devil Dogs are by far the bestest, greatest junk food in the world. I have been on a strict diet for the last two weeks, and in my spare time, i have given this a lot of thought. Once a month I will indulge in one super sweet thing, and it will be devil dogs =) Whats hilarious is that a few of my friends who live in the South have never heard of Devil Dogs, they thought I made up the name. Too funny. Devil dogs are my ultimate weakness in the junk food of life.

As many of you guys know from reading this blog, I am constantly balancing my emotions in poker versus objective, rational decision making. This has continuously been my greatest obstacle. Emotions serve to cloud judgments, change reads, and cause just downright bad play. Being a chic, it is harder for me to separate my poker self from my emotional self. In every tournament over the past ten days, with the exception of the 2k at foxwoods (which I will blog about separately), I have built a huge stack, just to get some sick fkin cooler, which prevents me from an inevitable final table. Cursing immediately follows my bust out. But then I remind myself that its my job to get my opponent to play poorly and trick him into getting his stack in bad. Whatever happens after that point, it is ultimately out of my control.

That being said, I have tried many new things to improve my game the last two weeks. I played a bunch of points tournaments and lower limit tournies to practice being more aggressive later in tournaments. LOL. I know some of you think i am super aggro as it is. However, what I need to add to my game is more three and four betting without being all in. In other words, three betting and four betting when my stack is really deep. It has worked out well, and I am much more comfortable now than I was last month. I feel an immediate improvement and I am excited to play every day.

As far as results go, I have three final tables in the last two weeks, two in the 130$ nightly on UB and a smaller tournament. I have a step 10 for Aruba (but I might save it and use for another trip), and a bunch of step 7-9s to play. I have really mastered my sng-satellite game and I think it shows in my success in steps.

I played the $55 nightly on Stars and Full tilt 4x in the last week, I went deep three times. Top 40. Last night was the worst, I got it in 4th in chips w AA against AK diam and was practically drawing dead when he flopped nuts. Sigh. If I win that hand, I guarantee a top 3 finish instead of 30th place. Another tourney another day.

I have a bunch of hands from live play to blog about, and I will post them soon. I played a small satellite at Borgata on Sat and bubbled that too, its all about the bubbles these days. =)

I am excited for my Sunday tournies, I will post tonight or tomorrow, along with the hands and let you know how it went. Last Sun was torture, I wish my laptop caught on fire so the torture wouldve at least been stopped, lmao. Ok. More later,

Good money and peace,

Garnet.

Hachem speaks the Truth

Please read this post re: Hachem's take on the players at the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-forums/7/hachem-people-in-me-are-f-ing-idiots-4474508

I agree with him wholeheartedly. Although I DOwant to play against the monkeys, it angers me that they get to participate in a 10k event. It is insane how bad people play and what they can afford.

Comparatively, I played a 10k event in Paris in 2004. It was difficult- the toughest field ever and there was no four betting with second pair, with no thought, no skill, no concept. Everything was professional- from the plays, to the players, to the etiquette displayed. No stupid rain dances, no screaming and hollering when they suck out, none of that garbage. It was the epitome of poker in good form, from the level of competition expected in a 10k event to the decorum and demeanor of players. The only one out of line (but was super entertaining) was TONY G. Given his TV personality and noteriety in poker, he was the exception to the norm at the time.

Last night, Jon and I were discussing players' egos in poker. I just dont get it. Granted I myself have thought at times how much better I am this game than Joe Cool. Yes, people play poker for a living, and yes it provides well if you are talented. However, players are not SAVING LIVES, WINNING TRIALS, INVENTING A CURE FOR CANCER. SO FOR ALL OF U- LET GO OF THE EGO, GIVE IT UP.

I witness complete ego maniacs in poker on a regular basis. I don't understand it, I do not wish to understand it. When I talk to players and their egos get in the way while I am discussing poker with them I do my best to ignore it, or change the topic. I myself have been victim to my own self boasting at times and I try to remind myself of its detriment.

But please, I beg all poker players and I remind myself- nobility and humility are great qualities and will serve you well at the tables. I believe you will earn more respect these attributes. I wish you all the best of luck in all of your poker endeavors.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Spring and Summer 2009

I have not posted in a long time. For that I apologize. Jon and I have had an amazing two months. Jon cashed for 13k in one of the Venetian Events. I have been focused on the steps online- I won a step 10 for 12k. We have played a pleothora of tournaments in Vegas. Sadly enough, we did not play any wsop events. We decided to be careful with our bankroll and focus on the Deepstack events at Venetian and Caesars. I went deep in the Caesars' 1k main event, made it to day 2 and finished 180th about, out of 705. It was a very unfortunate day 2. I started the day with an above average stack and lost 2/3 of it on jj v. what I was told was AK hh, on an ace hi board. It was frustrating, however I was happy to go deep.

Two nights ago, I finished 2nd in the 25k on UB. Finally. It was so long since I final tabled a multi table online, like over a month. Granted I have not been playing as much, but still, it felt good. I also went deep on full tilt in the 75k guarantee which was nice also.

While I have been out here, I have made a few lists I would like to share with you. Playing live and against bad players face to face makes loathing their bad poker habits very easy-



TOP 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT POKER

10. Dealers in their own spaced out world not paying attention;

9. Bad players making horrendous plays....and then winning;

8. Dealers who talk to much;

7. Players mucking the winning hand before they are pushed the pot;

6. Players who misread the board & cannot see value of chips b/c of their sunglasses;

5. Sunglasses. period.

4. The slow roll;

3. Players who celebrate when they suck out;

2. Dealers who cannot do side pots; and

1. Players who say set instead of trips and have no clue at all.

I will keep you apprized of how everything is going and I promise to update my blog more often!

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Nothing surprised me...until Vegas

As a poker player, you meet all types, all kinds, shapes, sizes, opinions, smells, looks, weirdos, eccentrics, movie stars, nobodies, doctors, contractors, etc, etc. At some point, you become immune to the weirdness, the outrageousness, and you just shrug your shoulders at anything...well almost anything. While in Vegas last month, there were a few occasions where I was like, what the f%$k is going on. It was pretty hilarious.

THE BIRDLADY: At the Venetian one day, specifically the day of the Charity Auction for the ASPCA, I played a long 2-5 ssession (7 hours, my longest in years). I got up from the table to have a quick dinner with Jon during his break in the tournament. When I got back, I walked up to my table, and there, on my seat was an empty birdcage. I looked to the right of where I was sitting, and there was a white, middle aged, normal looking guy. To my left was seated a long, long, long black haired, slutty dressed, 50 somethin year old asian chic, and I thought- she must have the explanation for this birdcage on my chair. I said loudly, what is this? Asian chic turns around, with the longest longest, thickes, fakest, fake eyelashes I ever saw, and said, ohhh i am so sorry hoooney. And there, nestled in her low buttoned blouse, right between her breasts, was a real live little bird! I was like, oh jesus christ, out loud and i grabbed my heart. What the fk?!!! For the record, I hate birds. I think they are dirty disgusting, little diseased creatures and I have no interest sitting next to one at my poker table. She starts kissing the gd bird (it looked like she was kissing her breasts), and mumbling mommy loves you and making smoochie noises. I turned to the guy next to me, and I was like is she kidding me? Seriously. It took over two hours for the floor person to enforce the "no pets allowed" rule. This woman objected venomously- there were cats and dogs here earlier. The floor person politely explained that was for a charity event and those animals were here for a purpose and in cages. The asian chic started screaming double standards, animal discrimination, it was quite hilarious.

QUADS V. QUADS: The following hand occurred that literally made my head spin. It was absolutely, the craziest fkin hand I have witnessed in a long time. So this weird tight old guy, who hates folding and overvalues top pair like every other two five no limit player, limps utg. New guy at the table, in middle pos, makes it 25$ to go. You could tell he was a regular and liked to push the action, and was definitely not a level 1 thinking player. So, anyway,, only the old man calls. Heads up and the flop comes out 8 2 2. Old man bets $40. Original raiser calls. I had a feeling that guy was floating the flop and/or calling to make a move later on in the hand. Turn is 2, making the board 8 2 2 2. Old man checks (to slow play, lmao) and aggro guy bets 45, old man proceeds to check raise to 100. Im like, this is getting good, in my head. Aggro of course calls. River is 2. Which is actually a great river for the aggro guy, because now old man cannot have teh best hand. Old man checks, and aggro guy shoves for $300. Pot is about $360 something like that. Old man goes, I call. Aggro guy goes, I was bluffing, I play the board and turns over pkt 55s. Old man goes me too, and turns over 8 6 os. LMAO. It was timeless I tell you. People don't believe me when I tell them the story, but for everyone's knowledge, I am not that creative to make that up. Hee hee. So they chopped. Aggro guy went off for like 15 minutes, it was pretty incredible.

On a different note, I have not written in a few months because I have been extremely stressed with a personal, family matter. It is still going on, but at least somewhat under control. During that time, my poker results have been lacking, majorly. I am now focused, in terms of online, on building up money on Bodog, playing step tournies for the world series, and multi tables on ultimatebet. I finally had a final table today, after almost three weeks without one, on Bodog. A small cash, but a final table nonetheless.

Jon and I will be playing some WSOP events this summer, I will let you know what we decide on. We will also be playing the Venetian Deepstacks and Cesar Deep Stacks- will keep you updated on those.

Lastly, would like to say congrats to Arjun777, my friend online who won a wsop package thru the steps- very proud of him!

Ok all, I will write more often I promise, thanks for reading!

Good money and peace,

Lucky C.

Genesis

YEAR: 1998 Age: 20

I started playing poker in college. This is right before poker became mainstream, before every other college kid's dream was to "drop out and play full time." My poker beginnings were drastically different than the college/poker pros today. I was working as a bartender at TFGIF's in Rockefeller Centre, NYC and attending school full time at New York University. At the time, I started dating a rather shady character named Adam (nickname: Snake), a guy much like Worm from Rounders...Ed Norton's character in Rounders was a notch more dysfunctional. In any case, one night, he came out to LI and we went to dinner. Afterwards, we went to a bar called Oasis in Baldwin. Recently, I drove past this bar, and I only have one memory from there. It is that night with Snake, where we sat at a small hi top bar table, sipping our drinks. All of a sudden, he said "Do you want to learn 7 card stud? I looked at him puzzled, and said, "Is that like rummy?" He laughed and said no, it is a form of poker. I'll show you. For two hours, he dealt out mock hands of 7 card stud and he taught me the hand rankings. I had a blast (even though I had no interest in Snake, he was just a filler between boyfriends, lol). A month later, in January 1999, I turned 21. Me, Snake, Ruthann (my roomate and good friend at the time), and her man, (Snake's best friend, coincidentally) piled into my little red Mitsubishi Eclipse and drove to Atlantic City. We got there at 3 a.m. Ruthann and I played blackjack. Over breakfast the next morning, Adam whipped out the deck of cards and said, you are going to play 7 card stud in the poker room. I got a tingly feeling- you know, that nervous feeling of anticipation right before you open a present, combined with the feeling I had right before a big exam- super anxiety. We practiced for 1/2 hour and then I sat at 1 to 3 stud with $50. That was a lot of money for me in college. I played for 1 hr, folded mostly. In one hand, i had queens rolled up and called bets all the way down. I did not understand raising, or strategy or anything. I knew 3 queens were very good, in a vacuum. I had no concept. My poker mind was a blank slate during that session, with only a grasp of the hand rankings and that's it. After that, I was hooked.

Years 1999-2000

Ruthann and I had a blast. We were roomates. I started law school and I hated it. I was working 40 hours a week in Queens and going to school 20 hours per week. My life was hell. I was miserable. My only bit of fun was poker. It rescued me when I couldn't handle school. Often times, on Thursday night or Friday night, Ruthann and I would be sitting on the couch. We would look at each other and say what should we do? We can't go to foxwoods again, can we? And then we would take off. We would laugh uncontrollably as we scrounged up money to go play 1 to 5 stud at foxwoods, knowing we were most likely going to lose what we brought with us, but have a great time in the interim. We would leave at 10p.m. and play all night. Then I would drive home, deliriously tired, praying I would get home in time (no cell phones then) to call in sick to work, but before my boss got there so I could leave a message on her voicemail. Then we would sleep all day and order sandwhiches from the local deli that delivered, relaxing after a fun night. One particular time, we were driving home from Foxwoods and stopped at the Dunkin Donuts on Route 2. We pulled up to drive thru, I ordered the coffees, and said to Ruthie, you want anything else? She goes, why don't we get 10 munchkins. Without even thinking I said, we might as well get 50. She looked at me and burst out laughing. It wasn't particularly funny, but after being up all night and losing, it seemed like the funniest thing in the world. I couldn't even order because I was crying from laughing so hard. The ghetto guy working the window kept asking me, when I pulled up to pay, where he can get the same type of weed we were smoking. That resulted in us laughing even harder.

During these years, I only played 7 card stud, 1 to 5 and sometimes, 5 -10 stud.

Year 2001-2003

During this time, I started playing on Ultimatebet, hold em and 7 card stud cash games. I played $5 and $10nl hold em sngs. I played all this time just for fun. I played play chips and low limit cash games. I deposited often and never made withdrawals. It was just fun, although I wanted to win. I thought over and over, what an awesome life it would be if poker could be my job. Remember, this was before I was educated about players. I did not know that people actually played poker professionally, I did not know money could be made at this game consistently. I was ignorant and having fun.

In 2002 and 2003, I played the Limit $50 tournaments they had at Foxwoods and the $40 Stud tournaments on Saturdays. My dad and I would go up for the day, or I would go by myself. I was still in lawschool, but graduating soon, so I didn't care as much. It was at Foxwoods I cashed in my first tournaments. I came in 5th, and 7th and 4th. Three tournaments, for a few hundred dollars. I was happy. Ecstatic. I proved to people that I am good at this game, or so I thought then. I was just unbelievably tight and I thought bluffing was a myth, lol. I was so gullible. I always believed my opponents had the nuts or the best hand. I got very lucky to cash in those tournaments.

In October 2003, I asked my father to stake me in a $300 Limit Hold Em World Poker Finals at Foxwoods. This was my second or third $300 buy in. I had not cashed in any other tournaments other than the weeklys. My father agreed to give me $150 toward the buy in and I put up $150 and he would get 1/2 of what I made. I remember it was Halloween. I was with my friend Brigid, and we were driving to Boston to meet our friends for a weekend of fun. I told Brigid that the tournament might take hours and hours, and I might bust, but if I made it to the money, we weren't getting to Boston until 11pm or later. She was cool with it. I played so hard that day. I was tight and made great folds, and chipped up. In all honesty, there was no skill in my game. It was ABC poker. It was about my hand, my cards, not my opponent. There were no pot odds, priced in calls, none of that. It was pure, unadulterated ABC I have the best hand at showdown poker. I came in 6th for $6300.00. I felt like a millionaire. My dad only took $2500, and I bought dinner for my friends in Boston. I was so happy. Men the Master came in first for $55k in this tourney. He was drunk and playing bad, but getting sooo sooo lucky. It was a great final table. I was very happy. My first cardplayer cash.

**What's funny now, is that my dad has started playing tournaments seriously in the last year. He always played poker for fun, and he is realziing that he could make some real money at it. In March, Jon and I had the opportunity to return the favor my dad did for me years before, and staked him in a $600 buy in for 50%. He cashed 60th for $1100, but the best thing is it was his first card player cash!!! Just like the tournament he staked me in was my first card player cash....another sign of how things in life come full circle.***

Years 2004- Present

I played poker at a cash game in Westbury with a group of guys from LI. It was weird bc I was the only girl, and young compared to the guys playing. But I learned. I learned Omaha and Stud Hi Lo and how to lose and deal with it. I was still bad.. And then, on Ultimatebet I played a $13 sng for a $100 entry. I won the $100 entry. That was to play for a WPT Package to go to Paris worth $14,000. I came in first out of 78 and went to Paris. In Paris, I played tight and then I got really aggressive- I just got into a zone. I noticed that players were folding so often when I raised, so during the second day of the tournament, i went from short stacked to third in chips. I ended up busting on day 3, 24th for $12,600. I was thrilled. This is where I met David Levi, the professional poker player. He was extremely nice to me. I was with a really inconsiderate boyfriend on the trip, who left me at the club in Paris, a 15 minute walk from our hotel, with no way of getting back at 3 am. David was nice enough to walk me to my hotel. On the walk, he told me how he lived in Vegas and played full time. He played Hi Limit Cash Games, 400 800 limit and mixed games. I was so impressed. Even to this day, I believe he had a big influence on the decisions I have made regarding poker.

Since then, as you all know, I have studied the game. I am fortunate to have people like Jon in my life, and Dragon, and our roomates in New Jersey and many online friends, to talk about poker and study the game-analyzing hands, and discuss new strategies, speaking of different/unique ways of playing hands. I am super lucky to wake up every morning, with the knowledge that the next poker cash is just around the corner. My confidence level has increased drastically in the last year, and that only came from the revenue I realized from my game, combined with constant improvement/skill. I am so excited for our poker future. We get to travel and play and exploit our freedoms to the fullest. Not many can say this, and I appreciate it every second of my life.

I will post hands soon. Lastly, Jon came in 3rd in 30k a few days ago, along with my friend Timburt who got 6th in that tournament as well! Good job guys.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.

When U Feel Down About Poker &/or Life...

I am multi tabling right now, but I just wanted to share this tidbit with you:

When I am aggravated about poker or players, I listen to "Lowlife" by Kidrock. A friend of mine, Tater H0 on Ub, just forwarded me this link...this is great too to add some laughter to your life:

http://www.fmylife.com/top hilarious!

Good money all, I have lots of good stuff to post soon!

Lucky C.

A New Era...

I predicted a while ago, that Jon's time in poker was "just around the corner." I also stated that we were both "on the cusp" of great things. It is coming together. Since January, both Jon and I have run incredibly well. I don't have bad runs as severe as Jon, but I have been running extremely well as of late. I think this elongated 'good run' also signifies our improved play/abilities. As poker players, it is a well known concept that if you are a learning player, a skilled player, talented and eager, in essence, it all comes down to "a matter of time". This is Jon's time. It is well over due, and far more deserved than ever. As I speak, Jon is on to day 2 tomorrow of the Borgata Deep Stack, he is currently 5th in chips for the players who remain from day 1A. Anything can happen- he may final table, bust with a minimal cash or bust before he cashes, but one thing is for certain, he played his best yesterday and he so deserves to be 5th in chips. Check out the blog: http://borgatapoker.blogspot.com/2009/03/official-day-1a-chip-counts.html. I wish I was down there to root him on, but I will be there on Tuesday, if he makes it to day 3. I have every confidence that he will play phenomenally and whatever happens happens.

Speaking of Jon's coming into his own in poker, he won the 200k on UB last Sun. Sorry it took me a week to post, I have been ill. As Cardplayer described, it was his second 1st of his career. I am so proud of him, my heart is overflowing. If you every have the opportunity to meet Jon, you will come to know him as a sweet, nice, caring person, who just never has a bad word to say about anyone and who would go to the ends of the earth for his friends and family. This is not me speaking as his girfriend (ok, maybe a little =) ), but also as someone who knew Jon long ago, before we started dating, and was told by many third parties, how nice and good he was. I am so happy to see a good hearted, loving, genuinely nice poker player be so successful - especailly when they are my boyfriend.(as you can also tell, I hate when scumbags win, lol).

There are so many exciting things coming up for Jon and I this year. We will be going to Vegas for the WSOP May-July, and we will be flying to Vegas in April to look at properties out there. We are seriously considering the purchase of a condo/townhouse out there, since we plan to travel there several times a year, and perhaps move eventually. We will also be at Foxwoods this week coming up, so I am sure I will have stories/hands from that trip.

Speaking of hands, I have two from the Borgata 50k guaranteed this past Friday (I somehow managed to final table and get 5th place after bobbing and weaving for literally 10 hours). First hand: Blinds are 100 200 with an ante. UTG raises to 700 chips with 6500 behind. I call with pkt 55 in late position with 7500 or so, and button calls. Flop is A 3 5 rainbow. UTG shoves for 6500 (pot is approx. 2500, lmao by the way), I snap, and button folds, he has Aj os, have a nice day sir, nice not to sweat when he is drawing dead on the turn. It is unbelievable how people play, sick isnt it. I then played more aggressively (after cultivating a tight image, if that was worth anything) and built up to 28k. I then got moved to another table, with about 110 people left, started with close to 200. I get to my new table, blinds are 200-400 w 50 ante. After witnessing a few hands, I decide that I am going to play aggressively and raise/fold, no limping. This table is too weak to limp. So after raising and winning a few nice pots at show down, I have about 35k the following hand comes up. 97ss utg +2. I raise to 1150 three players call. 5k about in pot. Flop is A Q 6 with two spades. I check call the button (deep stack player, I think CL at table) 2500 that he bet on the flop. Pot is now 10k. Turn is 6 diam. I want to setthe price of the spade draw, bc I give him any ace here, and I dont believe I will get check raised unless I am drawing dead. So, I bet 5k, he hesitates and calls. River is 5 sp. Now i have flush on a paired board, but bc my hand is so hidden and I beleive I have the best hand, I value bet 7500 (pot is 20k), and also, I can only get raised by a better hand, I cannot check call a big bet and lose. So he tanks. I am convinced my flush must be good. He finally calls. I show my hand and he flips A 10 sp! I almost fell out of my chair in shock. After the hand, apparently it appeared to several players that I had qq for a full house. Dudes, more power to you for giving me that much credit. Considering that I was nearly drawing dead on the flop, I lost the minimum on that hand, lmao. It was a crazy hand. Very rarely do I believe I have the best hand on five cards, and I am incorrect (not being obnoxious, but as you can see from the first hand, how bad players play in the 50k guar at borgata...i mean that tourney is a $340 buy in, a complete shit show). As my dad pointed out, to a majority of those players, the tournament is just a $340 "shot", money they would blow in 10 min at the black jack table or 2 minutes in a slot machine. I made the final table with 2 very good players and the rest were just idiots. One player in particular, Steve B from NJ, who has turned pro, has been a player I have been aquainted with for over 5 years. He has gotten really good. He travels pretty often, and he and I, for the most part stay out of each other's way. He made a sick fold when we were 12 handed. He raised and i shoved JJ, and he folded 10s, sick fold. He was kind of odded into calling, but it was a good portion of his stack, and it turned out to be a sick fold. he knows I am not shoving on him unless i believe I have the best hand, or at least Ak and he is in a tuff spot with 10s there. It was a good lay down. I ended up folding 88 6 handed at the table, to a guy who raised 5 bbs on the button. I was in sb with 8 bbs. My gut was to shove. However, there was no fold equity, my table was so weak so that I could just get chips by open shipping, and finally, the last bunch of times this dude raised more than 4 bbs, he had a monster. I folded and he showed me JJ! Laydown of the day, I swear. If I shipped there, I would've cashed for 1k instead of close to 4k.

Anyway, that's all for now. I still have the hand histories from Tunica saved, I will post soon- I know, the promise that never comes through, but it will, for sure!

Oh, also, if any of my readers want to send me their email (my email is cmrinaldi@hotmail.com), I am going to start sending auto email when I post on the blog, so you will be notified when I post. I also want to get to know people who read this ( I know about 20 people, but there are many of you who tell me at the tables/on facebook that you read my blog, and I would like to get to know you better!).

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.

The Perfect Balance in Tournament Poker

Recenty, Jon and I were discussing various hands in tournament poker. I explained plays that I observed in Timburt's game last night and other players at his table (Timburt got 2nd in 30k gooo Tim, congrats!). We analyzed hands, talked about the different thought processes behind them, the way players at other levels think, etc.

I also confided in Jon that I felt I was playing a bit too aggressively in the last two weeks, and at times, it is difficult to find the perfect speed. My aggression does not stem from playing a large quantity of hands; rather when I decide to play a hand, it is goin to be a very big pot. For ex, yesterday I had AK ss in position, (at 75150, middle of tourney), facing an utg raise and caller in front of me. I had approximately 30 bbs, however, any reraise I made committed me to playing for 2/3 of my stack, if utg shoved all in. I knew utg was an O.K., fairly tight player, and the caller in between was a station. Because I have position with a decent stack, is it appropriate to call here and play post flop, or do I reraise and be committed to utg's shippage? There are a few factors to consider. By calling, if I miss the flop, I will have lost only 3x bb and preserved my stack. On the flip side, if i reraise pre and my opponents fold, and I take it down, I gain 7.5 bbs, and add more than 25% to my stack. Alternatively, if i reraise pre, get shoved on by utg, and end up winning the hand, I more than double up, thus giving me a nice working stack and top 5 chiplead with 150 or so players left out of 300- if I lose, I have less than 10 bbs, and am looking to get it in to double back to where I was. Considering the options, and without being results oriented, I think that the reraise is appropriate. I do not want to play AK suited that softly to smoothy on the button, possibly bring in the blinds and play a 5 way pot. If the blinds were smaller, such as in the early stages of the tourney, I exercise more pot control and just call. However, given my options I like my re raise. Most online professionals would likely advise that it is almost always appropriate to 3 bet AK, yet that is a volume, and therefore, hi variance mentatility. While I play many hours online, I do not super multi table. At most, I play 3-4 screens at once, but usually only 2.

So, my aggression has been slightly problematic, combined with the fact that my hands have not been surviving on five cards in crazy situations, to cause me to have a 21 non cash online tourney streak, with the exception of 3 to 4 minor cashes and no final tables.

What Jon and I concluded, based upon our discussion of hands played by third parties, and ourselves is this. Tournament poker is about losing your fear. Yet, one must not lose their discipline. Loss of fear and discipline causes reckless, insane play without any thought as to stack preservation or opponents' image. Maintaining fear and discipline will result, most likely, in being forced to play a short stack in the middle/late stages of the tourney and the player is now looking to get lucky to double. Losing fear and maintaining discipline is the ideal combination to succeed in tournament poker. As a skilled player, if you have hand reading abilitites, can play well post flop, and are willing to trust your reads, you can accumulate chips by making moves and trusting your reads, while being disciplined enough to not get caught up on a move, not bluff your stack away, and make unemotional, intelligent decisions.

Another example of such fear is a hand I played on the tourney bubbled last week. I hadn't cashed in a few tournaments and was playing rather timidly on the bubble. My goal at that point was cashing. I had 30 big blinds, was comfortable and playing well when I picked up JJ utg, two from the money. I almost open mucked just to guarantee a cash. Then I was like, am i nuts? And raised 2.7 bbs. One caller, all else fold. Flop is 5 6 8 all sp. I have two red jj. I check to exercise pot control. My opponent bet 5k into 8600 pot, i felt he was bluffing. We had almost the exact same stack. But I decided, im out of pos without any redraws, I will call and if a scare card comes on the turn, i can make my decision there. Turn is Qc, which I thought was a great card to bet. I could get my opponent to fold A8 pkt 77, a draw, etc. However, if I got raised I would have to fold, so I decided to be safe and check. My opp checked behind. River is 9 c. I checked and my opponent thought for a bit and shipped 25k. Pot is less than 20k and I had 24k in front of me. I was like what? The little voice in the back of my head whispered, he would never bluff on the tourney bubble, he is not that player, and instead I said f it and called. He had pkt 99 for a rivered set and I finished 47/300 something for a bubble two from the money. I think I played that hand as poorly as anyone can play a hand and I recognize that. But it reminds me that while I was comfortable and playing well, my bubble strategy was discumbobulated- a pure disorganized mess. I was not focused, I changed my plan for the pot on each street, which is not disciplined. I invoked fear on the flop and no fear on the river when it should've been the other way around. Granted, he might not have folded the flop, but at least it would've been a more appropriate play.

On a non-poker note, I am in <3>

I started writing the blog with my hand histories from tunica and my f***ing battery died on my IPOD where all my notes are. I will continue composing the entry and publish soon.

Jon and I are heading to Atlantic City for some WSOP circuit events at Cesars. Will let you know how it goes, I am excited to play live cash!

Good money and peace!

Lucky C and Ace.

The Worst Fortune.....Cookie Ever...

I have never been impressed with fortune cookies I receive. I love the idea of a treat that provides you with an insightful tidbit..so cool. At David Burke's restaurant in Foxwoods, CT, they serve "fortune" donuts at brunch. You are given three warm donuts and the fortune inside is either a prize or a fortune, which is extremely creative. Jon actually won a cookbook last time we were there. I remember my most memorable fortune from October 2003- I was having lunch with attorneys from my new firm. I was nervous, it was my first week at work and this was my "welcome lunch". I was getting admitted to the bar the following week, and I did not want to screw anything up. At the end of my meal, I opened my fortune and it fortold "You will be a great attorney." I laughed so hard, and so did the rest of the table. It was the best fortune ever and timed so perfectly! Needless to say, I laminated it and I still have it on my desk, six years later.

I think that particular fortune esentially used up all "my good fortune getting". Since then, my fortunes have been horrible. Things such as: it will be sunny today, you make people smile, wisdom comes from experience not age...blah blah.

Last month, Jon and I were at a chinese restaurant at some casino, at 3 a.m. I had just went very deep in a tourney and we were having a late dinner. I opened my fortune and it said "YOUR FORTUNE IS ON THE WAY." LMAO. It was hilarious. I was laughing so hard I cried. It was by far the worst fortune I ever received.

Another example. Recently, I went to dinner at this fabulous chinese/japanese restaurant by my house and my fortune was "failure only occurs when you accept it." I felt like saying to the waiter---did you order these fortune cookies from http://www.obviousfortunestold.com/? Thank goodness that fortune cookies are not indicative of how we will succeed in our real lives, i'd be screwed.

I actually read an interesting article in The Week, a great publication, about the life of a fortune cookie teller/writer. I can not find, however I did come across a similar article..here is the link: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/06/06/050606ta_talk_olshan.

I did make another final table last night, I was very happy with my play- 3/180. It was great. I got five outed to bust, but that's how it goes. I have another great night of online lined up, we will see what transpires!

I will post hand histories soon...no worries....

Ok good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.

Good Run Central!

I am on what is, by far, the best run ever for me in poker. I have made 7 final tables live and 8 final tables online, plus had a few tournament cashes other than final tables, since January 17th. A good friend of mine pointed out that if this was June/July WSOP events, i would be rolling in several hundreds of thousands....but I'll take what I can get, lol.

A few of my friends questioned what is different this month that last five months. Remember I played 90 hours of tourney poker (which was only 6 live tourneys), without one cash. I was going deep, bubbling, playing over 12 hours a day, and could not get there. I think that the following have contributed:

1. I stopped runnning AK into AA on the bubble- happened 3x last two months (not intentionally of course, short stack play);

2. I am trusting my reads a lot more. Check raise on a move, raise all in on bluff, bet to commit my opponent when I do not believe they have a hand, etc. This is much easier to execute online than it is live;

3. My races are winning/holding and suckouts have fallen by a large percentage;

4. I am playing larger buy ins so players are more aware once you get deeper into tourneys.

That being said, I am super happy with my results and very excited to continue playing a lot this year. Additionally, I played two tourneys at Borgata this past weekend, where I was out in less than 4 hours in both, however....it was a shit show. And my hands did not hold up. And the play I saw was absolutely horrendous. It was hilarious. For ex, 4 way pot....I had K9 hh, I limped bc I had 13 bbs and was playin bad, flop is j 3 4 with two hearts, bb bets 3k, opp folds, I ship 7500, sb folds and bb calls of course. I anticipate he has qj something. He has K3 off suit. Get that, overbets pot with bottom pair into three opponents. Its very difficult to play against illogical plays....hurts my brain I tell you.

In Jon and I's personal life, Jon will be flying to Vegas and driving cross country with his best friend Pete. During that time, I am going to Cancun with some friends....I am excited and looking forward to the break. I am even considering leaving my laptop home. The week I return, I will play the $500 and $1500 tourneys at Cesars. I might play the deepstack at the end of March at Borgata as well.

I have created a new system for keeping track of upcoming tournaments- between online, the East coast and Vegas, I need one place to look at the schedule. So I created a calendar on Word which I update with upcoming tournaments each month. If anyone is interested, I can forward it to you, just drop me a note.

I know that I promised hand histories and I will post shortly. I still have hands saved from Tunica and i will post. There were some interesting ones.

Is Poker an Alternative Lifestyle?

At my final table at Mohegan Sun yesterday, some players were joking about how two transvestites played the Ladies Event the day before. A very funny, Irish guy said, forget the transvestites, poker itself is an alternative lifestyle!

I pondered this comment and decided that while it was quite humurous, in many ways it is filled with truth. Playing poker for a living breaks conventionality on many levels. The hours are long and strange, you are home or in a casino more than any other place, the people that you encounter are from all walks of life, the income is, while very good, not consistent and steady. Famililes don't understand, civilians (non-poker enthusiasts) will criticize, and you are a part of a sub culture which will stigmitize you. If you are, or claim to be, a professional poker player, by society's (and my sister's) standards, you are a degenerate, a gambler, a creepy crawler among the casino riff raff throwing $100s into the slot machine and taking your chances at black jack and roulette. You are broke and struggling and this is what they want to believe- it gives them satisfaction As much as you try to break free from this stereotype, it is always there, lurking behind every conversation that remotely touches on poker, hiding slimly behind the commentaries that sound neutral, but you know better.

Recently I informed a relateve that Jon and I are considering purchasing a foreclosure in Las Vegas, and I have been speaking to my father about assisting us with the downpayment. It was as if I said that I was buyin a 500' yacht and sailing around the world. She stated, "Who do you think you are that you of all people can be bi-coastal? You don't even have a j-o-b." Which is her favorite line in the world, by the way (purely ridiculous,b/c I do have a side business, poker is not my sole source of income).

Her reaction was on cue. I challenged her inner belief that 'poker players' are broke and always struggling. I explained to this relative that Jon and I are comfortable, we have a nice cushion, and it makes sense, with the real estate market, to buy a place now in Vegas. She continued on her rant.(***text deleted to protect certain individuals' sensitivities***) And there it was. I don't have a 'conventional job', I don't get up and have a schedule each day and therefore, I did not earn the right to purchase a second house. Its funny. I know this person is not truly jealous or petty, but there is that underlying, 'you don't deserve it' attitude, all rationalized by the fact that I don't put in 50 hours a week at a job. Just an example of how society views poker players and their 'alternative lifestyle'.

In other poker news, I am 4 for 4 my last four tournies and not only did I cash, but I made the final table in all four. It was amazing. My third largest live score, 12.2k occurred Sat night. I final tabled two tournaments Fri and Sat last week and then again, this Monday at Mohegan Sun.

As promised, I will post hand histories from Tunica and I have plenty more from the last four tournaments. I will be a mad post-er for the next few days =)

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.

KJ off suit is the NUTZ in the South...

Hey readers. It has been awhile since I blogged. Today, I am feeling very ill so this will be a short post. After examining my stats from last year, I arrived at the following conclusions:

1. I cashed 7 out of 31 live tournaments, which is slightly below where I need to be;

2. The last 90 hours of live tournament poker went without a cash, however out of the last 4 tournaments, all were bubbles and/or ended with day 2 appearances;

3. My tournament game has stepped up immensely in the last six months but the areas I still need improvement on most is: a. aggression in the middle stages of tournaments, and b. executing my moves based on my reads more often (i'm getting there though), and c. more HU practice bc i am not nearly as aggressive as I need to be hu; and
4. lastly, I <3 tournaments so much!!!!!!!!!!

That being said, I have traveled much since my last blog. Jon and I were at Borgata for some of the winter open events- I only played two tournaments without a cash. I traveled to Tunica MS with my mother and grandmother for four days. I had a great time. I met up with two online players, yngmanin4quiki and Tim Burt, two extremely talented players who were super hospitable to me. It was lots o fun. As for tournaments in MS, I bubbled two of three events (one within 15 players, and one within 8 players), and I played soo soo sooo well. The third tourney, I busted w 9x bb, 10s v. jj. Oh well. I have never seen people play KJ os so strongly as they do in the South. It has become a popular hand in Atlantic City also. I will post hands from the tournaments later on, but i was so on my game. You will see in the hands I post how KJ os was overplayed. Overall the players were super nice and polite.

Jon and I were also in Foxwoods for two days, we got back last night. I played the weekly $340 on Fri and teh $560 on Saturday. Both had small fields, less than 100 players. I final tabled both, for a small profit on Fri of $700 and a profit yesterday of $1500. It was a good trip in all. Jon and I also both did well in cash. Its nice to be the one sucking out. The only time I got my money in behind in the Saturday tourney was with 12 players left, I r Aj ss out of sb with 15-17 bbs total, and the bb reraised 1/2 my stack. Normally I would fold, but this player reraised me twice before. I believe he had legitimate hands, these players were generally tight, but by the same token, I was so tired of folding, I was like, I can't keep folding so I stuck it in. He snap called and flipped KK. I flop AJx likeit was poker stars and doubled up for the final table. I am not proud of that play, but it shows that sometimes getting lucky at the right time is key for cashing. My other thought was, only 6 players at final table got paid, so even though there were 12 left, 1/2 the field still had to get knocked out to make money. This was also a factor in my decision making. It is awesome to cash two tournaments in a row.

I have some very funny commentary from the poker tables. One in particular. Tight player to my left at foxwoods witnessed the folllowing hand with me. folded to button who raised 3x bb. SB who was aggro player, reraised pretty big (i thought he was on a move). button called. Flop is A 2 4. check check. Now I thought set of aa or kk. turn is 9. Sb bets 1/2 the pot and button folds and he shows set of aa. He then says, I know that ace on the flop kills my action. Which is a logical and reasonable comment. The guy on my left goes, why? you should be happy you got the ace, you know you can't get sucked out by two pair, or any other hand. You have to play the "odds". I looked at him and said,by that logic, if you are playing the "odds" AA is way ahead of any hand heads up, so why would you want an ace hi flop, you aren't going to get much action, unless u happen to be against ak or aq. He turns to me and says, you always have to worry about getting sucked out on, and you can't play the way you said. I want that ace on the flop every time with pkt aa. LMAO. And that's why I know what hand you had every time you bet sir, well played. Thank you for that conversation. It was stellar. That is another thing I want to get into. Verbal and non verbal tells. But I will save that for my next blog, I need to rest. I feel like my head is going to explode.

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.

Phenomenal Month

Hello all. Thursday night I had my second largest cash online, over $20k - second place in the UBOC #10, PL Holdem. This is the first PL holdem event I ever played. It was awesome. Jon and I were at Borgata this past week for the Winter Open. I played the deep stack event #1 very well. Made it to Day 2 with 9 bbs. Was down to 7.5 bbs 30 min into it, and shoved AK....right into AA...for the second time straight to bust out of live tourney.

What is frustrating for me is that in the last 4-6 live tournies I have played, I have either been the official bubble, or invested over 12 hours into tourney without cash. This includes the $1500 at Foxwoods in Nov, the $560 WSOP event at Harrah's in Dec, Sat Foxwoods $560 ((10th pl, with 9 paying) in mid Dec, the 1 in 20 sat at borgata (22nd with 16 paying) and the deep stack this week at borgata. Believe me I am not complaining. It is super gratifying that even with putting in sixty hours live without a cash, 7.5 hrs of one online tourney more than compensated for my live dry run the other night.

Here are some funny tidbits. You know I like to write down interesting, quirky things people say at the poker table,, either relevant to poker or not. The first one, this small hispanic guy was sitting across from me in the deepstack. He was blatantly hitting on me for the first hour. I was polite but nonchalant, trying my best to discourage him without being rude. During his ongoing comments, he said, "What do you do honey?" I replied that I am an attorney. He goes, "I was supposed to be a lawyer, instead I am a ticket scalper." I excused myself, went outside the room, and burst out laughing. I could barely hold it in. It was by far one of the most ridiculous comments anyone has ever said to me.

The following day, while I was playing the "survivor tourney" at Borgata, this older gentleman sits down, two to my right. He and another player start discussing cashes and tournament poker. He said he had a really large cash last year. The other player asked for details. The old man stated the following: " I was playing at a local bar. It was a $50 tourney. I played and busted. Then I lost $200 in the cash game. I saw the exit sign and got ready to leeave. It was the rear exit and I had come in thru the front. I walked outside and it was a porch. I stepped off the porch to walk down the stairs. There were no stairs, I fell right to the ground and woke up in the hospital. Ended up settling case against the bar for $175k." And then he began to tell details of his injuries which included graphic medical terminology....at which point I raised the volume on my IPOD touch and ignored. It was pretty funny.

Ok guys, I will let you know what happens, i am playing my first 100$ r tonight, maybe I will run good there too. Would be nice. Talk to you soon!

Good money and peace,

Lucky C and Ace.