2 Day Downswing and Survivor China

Tough going the past two days, I've lost 25 BBs...I've been really distracted. My daughter has been pretencious, wanting me to hold her...so when I do, I'm not concentrating on the tables. AS a result, I've been making bonehead calls. I haven't been to the point of tilting as I've been able to calm myself down during my bad swings..

Well, the new Survivor debuted tonight. I haven't really followed it since the first couple of season, but this year is intriguing. First, it's in China. Second the cast in interesting. There is a poker player Jean Robert Bellande, who really needs to hit the gym...(SIT UPs, Please) and Ashley, who is a pro wrestler for the WWE. I'm kinda a wrestling geek, so I have to wait and see how the dynamics will work out. First impressions is I think Ashley won't be around long, as hasn't endeared herself to her tribe by being sick all the time. Jean Robeft will probably last a long time. I think he'll lay low then strike when the time is right...just like a good poker player!!!

3rd Winning Session in a row

Had another monster session on 1-2 Omaha Hi Lo, won 20 BB. When you've had a bad streak like I've had, you take little streakes like this and enjoy them. I think the self analysis I've made on game has really helped. Been tighter on my hand selection, but playing them aggressively when I get a favorable flop/draw.

One the best features of Pokerstars is their Frequent Player Point system. I've used them to buy poker room, IPods, clothes and other items. It has also been a cheap way to accumulate tournament dollars. Well, tonight I mention to my finance the new items they added to their store. One of which was the Ipod Shuffler, so I guess I won't be entering any FFP tournaments until I get enough for the Shuffler. It should take me too long. I'm GOLD status, so I'm able accumulate FFP at a rapid pace.

Cooling off In Las Vegas

Weather wise, this is the best time of the year to live in Las Vegas. Last couple of days, the weather is cooling off and the first signs of the autumn season is here. Unlike other part of the country, when the weather changes you really feel it. A couple of weeks ago the weather was still in the 100's. Today it was 89....and the weather will only get better

I've had a very good couple of Omaha Hi Lo sessions the last two days -- winning about 40 Big Bets. It's a been a combination of hitting flops and players overplaying two pair. Will these guys realize two pair is not a strong Omaha Hand?? There has been an influx of new players in the 1-2 games, partly because of the %25 deposit bonus during the WCOOP, so the games have been softer than usual. Need to get these new fishes money before it's gone.

I played a 1000 FPPs satellite for the $1050 No Limit Event next Sunday. Only the top 4 got seats. Unfortunatly, I finished 34th. I was playing very aggressively trying to get a big stack because it wasn't worth finishing 5th..Oh well, I'll continue to try.

Emotions and Poker

As I write this it’s 1:24 AM Sunday morning. My fiance and daughter are fast asleep and I have a bad case of insomnia. I guess now is a good enough time to enter another entry into my blog. I just finished a roller coaster session of 1-2 Omaha Hi Lo on Poker Stars, and after a rough start I managed two squeak out a small win. Looking back at the session I realized two things: 1) I still have to work on my emotions. Too many times I take a couple of horrific beats and end up playing horribly for a few minutes. It’a major leak I’m desperately looking to fix. For example, tonight, in my first 3 hands I lost on the river a full house, a flush, then a straight, then I went on to donk off a few of my chips. I feel if I can get though this part of my game, I will be on my way to consistent poker. 2) There are just some really bad players, and I’m not talking about players who play for 2 or 3 days, then are never heard from again, but regulars who are just plain putrid. I won’t mention names, but if you watch the low limit Omaha games, you’ll pick out the fish.

I’m currently reading Matthew Hilger’s Inside the Poker Mindset, and it’s one of the great books in the subject of emotions and how to deal with them. Although I still have a hard time grasping at his concepts, I’m slowly starting to realize how important it is to control yourself. Once you control yourself, you can control your game, and therefore be a consistent winner.

Well, the World Championship of Online Poker is underway and it’s on its way to record setting prize pools. I’ve tried a few satellites without much luck. Hopefully, I’ll be able to win one and get to play an event.

Playing REALLY BAD POKER!!

I've been playing really bad poker the past few weeks and as a result have gone through one of the my worst stretches. The last two weeks have been brutal, and it hasn't been playing strong players. Most of the mistakes have been self doing. I've been chasing hopeless draws and calling second best when I know I'm beat. Tilt has been a big issue during this bad run. I get so angry when bad players outdraw me that I tend to blow my money off...I just need to settle down and go back to how I was playing the past 3 months before this run...

I'm trying to get back to the fundementals and hopefully my results will be better.

Nice Cash at Orleans Open

It’s a been a while since I had a chance to put something in my blog and a lot has happened.

First of all, I played the $330 Omaha Hi Lo event At the Orleans Open and survived through day 1 and managed to be a part of a 17-way chop!!! Yeah you read it right. There were 17 of us left and we were just tired of playing. IT wasn’t easy, we had Marsha Wagggoner who wouldn’t budge and another pro whose name escapes constantly bickering over a few hundred bucks! At one point, Waggoner wouldn’t deal unless she got 5K, which was funny because she wasn’t even the chip leader. Then she mad a comment about just playing it out cause she can take it down anyway…whatever!! Just because you’ve been on TV does not mean jack to me!! I was very impressed with Vince Burgio, who was one of the remaining 17 players…He never said a word the entire time, seems like a very class guy. During the entire discussion, I rarely said a word, but after a while I had a enough and finally told them, “How you can guys be so greedy over 100-200 bucks!!! Anyway, we finally agreed that everyone got $3,000 and chopped the rest by chip count. I ended up with $3400!! Not bad!

The Omaha Cash was a catalyst of a very good run I’ve had online…I’m up around $1,000 since then and really feeling confident in my game. I’m hoping it’ll continue. AS long as I don’t tilt I feel I can consistently beat the Pokers Stars Omaha games

That’s it for now..

Nice Cash at Orleans Open

It’s a been a while since I had a chance to put something in my blog and a lot has happened.

First of all, I played the $330 Omaha Hi Lo event At the Orleans Open and survived through day 1 and managed to be a part of a 17-way chop!!! Yeah you read it right. There were 17 of us left and we were just tired of playing. IT wasn’t easy, we had Marsha Wagggoner who wouldn’t budge and another pro whose name escapes constantly bickering over a few hundred bucks! At one point, Waggoner wouldn’t deal unless she got 5K, which was funny because she wasn’t even the chip leader. Then she mad a comment about just playing it out cause she can take it down anyway…whatever!! Just because you’ve been on TV does not mean jack to me!! I was very impressed with Vince Burgio, who was one of the remaining 17 players…He never said a word the entire time, seems like a very class guy. During the entire discussion, I rarely said a word, but after a while I had a enough and finally told them, “How you can guys be so greedy over 100-200 bucks!!! Anyway, we finally agreed that everyone got $3,000 and chopped the rest by chip count. I ended up with $3400!! Not bad!

The Omaha Cash was a catalyst of a very good run I’ve had online…I’m up around $1,000 since then and really feeling confident in my game. I’m hoping it’ll continue. AS long as I don’t tilt I feel I can consistently beat the Pokers Stars Omaha games

That’s it for now..

Bay Area and a visit to their cardrooms

The Bay Area, CA is one of my favorite places to visit, mainly because of the weather. When you live in a city as hot as Las Vegas and go to the Bay Area, its going from one extreme to another. When we left Vegas it was a record-setting 115 degrees, but the Bay Area stayed around 70 the entire time.

My brother live Hayward which is about 15 minutes away from SF. So it was nice seeing my nephews and niece. My brother took my finance and I to a small little cardroom called Casino San Pablo located outside of Oakland. I've been to bad cardrooms before, but this has the rank as the worst one of all. First of all it's in a bad location so the clientel was very "shady" I felt I was going to get robbed at any moment. The games sucked as they raked 4 bucks no matter what was in the pot, so it wasn't even worth it to play 3-6 limit, and the dealers were surly and rude. None of them ever said Thank you when you tipped them. After 20 minutes and 20 bucks later, I didn't want to play anymore. It was just an absolutely unpleasant experience.

The night before we left my finance and I visited Bay 101...Although we didn't get a chance to play ( the waiting list was ridicoulously long), it was fun watching how this room jumps. It seemed very well run and organized. I definately have to put this cardroom as a place to play on my next visit.

On the poker front, haven't played since I came back. I put in a 3 hrs session on Stars 1-2 Omaha Hi Lo and after a rough start I managed to squeeze out a small profit. The Orleans Open is about to begin tommorrow. I plan on getting in on a few events.

Omaha Madness

I love Omaha Hi Lo. It's become my absolute favorite cash game. I play it exclusively on Pokerstars and a few Vegas Casinos that spread them. It's a game with so many hand combinations that'll drive you insane, and of course it's a frustrated game where you can have the best hand/draw going to the river only to be counterfiited. With that said I believe it's a very beatable game because not to many people know how to play it correctly. As an example, here in Vegas there are a few players who play it regularly, but still have no clue what they're doing which makes it very lucritive. The typical 4-8 game at Red Rock is easier than the typical 1-2 on Stars.

I've also cashed in quite a few Omaha tourneys, both Pot Limit and Limit. In all cashes I've put myself in a position to win the tournament, but I seemed to always get a tough beat at the wrong time. Hopefully things with turn around and I could win those coin flips

I'm heading to San Francisco this Wednesday to visit my brother. Hopefully, I can find time to visit one of my favorite cardrooms, BAY 101 in San Jose.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog about my life and my road to become a professional poker player. I will be blunt with my worlds and geninue about my passion. I hope you enjoy my blog and come along in my journey..