I have no idea if anyone will see this blog post since I havent posted in three years, but since I am about to launch a new Chinese Open Face Poker app for the iPhone, I thought I might throw a new post out there.  I am really excited about this as the development team has really done an excellent job with this app.  Luckily, my IT and recruiting background helped land some of the best app developers in all the land.  You can check out some of the screen shots at www.chineseopenfacepoker.com.  The app should be submitted to the Apple store tomorrow and available as soon as they approve it.  The estimated time is 5 to 7 days.  Let me know what you think.

Plugging along

I havent had much time for online poker due to the holidays. This time of year is always busy with family and traveling and such. So, tonight is the first time in over a week I have played any poker online. My little break seems to have been good for my luck.

I sat up and played on Stars with my dad for a while. He refuses to follow any guidelines for bankroll management, and gets frustrated with me for not buying into tournaments where you can win "real money". Luckily, I now have much more discipline in that area. It makes it easier to stay disciplined when you see someone else who has none. I really want him to be more disciplined, but he cant seem to get the same rush from the smaller buy in tournaments. He actually did very well tonight, but because he took his winnings from the smaller buy in tournaments and bought into bigger ones, he only increased his bankroll by $6. He had two 2nd place finishes and a 3rd.

I, on the other hand had one 1st place and a couple small cashes and have increased mine by $160, and I am chip leader in my last tournament with 8 players left (money at 7th place). We really had about the same success tonight playing, buy my results show in my bankroll and his do not.

This is such a great illustration of why so many poker players fail. They always chase the big win, while the real winners at poker just go steady and slow. The good news is, he started to see the difference as we got to the end of the night. Although he wont stay within good bankroll parameters, I think he will do better than he has been online.

Happy New Year!

On the Rebound

If you have been reading along the last few weeks, you know I have had a terrible run. Finally, I have made a bit of a comeback. I amended my bankroll strategy for the Sunday million double shootout satellite tournaments. It is $11.70 to enter, and there are two seats guaranteed. Late at night and early in the week, these only get about 3o players. So, you are getting a good overlay as well as only having to beat 1 or 2 players to get into the second table. I played four of these tonight and won two of them.

In case you dont know, you can win these and then unregister and get the credit in tournament dollars. My bankroll is back over $500 and I am feeling good about the direction my luck is moving online. I will play a few more of these over the next few days and then covert the tournament dollars to cash in the 45 man sit n go's again.

Took a break from Online...

After my terrible run, I decided to take a few days off from playing online. It was far too discouraging to continue in that state of mind. I have been playing more live poker this week with a great deal of success, so I am hoping that will crossover back into my online play this week. I plan on playing quite a bit more and try to begin the rebuild of my bankroll. I will update after my next session.

The slide continues

Wow. I cant tell you how frustrating and discouraging this bad run has been. I have bubbled at least 8 times in the last 20 tournaments. I consisently get my money in good and get sucked out on. I know everyone experiences this, but I have literally cashed 5 times in my last 80 tournaments. This is a great test of my discipline by staying within my bankroll and rebuilding. During this slide, I have gone from a peak of $1350 all the way down to my current position at $248. I am going to mix in some 16 man turbos with my 45 man turbos and see if that helps turn around the luck. Since I have dropped so much, I am back to $6.50 tournaments, so if any of you are on pokerstars, look for me in those. Username is Strumey.

I thought I would update this post with my continued terrible luck. I played 10 tournaments with 2 bubbles and in the $2 multi I played, I cashed for $4.50. I had KK vs Ace, rag end 3 of my tournaments. I am now below $200 and dangerously close to moving back to $3 tournaments. I could use some dumb luck right about now.

Back up Gulf Coast and an Update on my Progress

Sorry for the delay since my last post. I was waiting until I got back up Gulf Coast before I posted anymore updates. It seems silly to post when you know you arent getting any readers.

Anyway, I have had a rollercoaster of a ride the last two weeks. I peaked out at $1350 before I got sucked into the Sunday Million where they added an extra million. I managed to qualify, but I spent money I didnt have earmarked for that. So, I did break my rules a little due to the hype of the extra cash in the prize pool. I managed to make it fairly deep but still a couple thousand out of the money. I think karma has a way of punishing you when you stray from your guidelines and goals. Since that time, I have gone on a major cold streak. Running bad coupled with a couple drunken nights of playing $57 heads up SNGs has knocked me back down to just under $500. So, now I am restricted to $12 multi table SNGs until I get back up to $1296 and can move back up to $27 tournaments.

I am grinding on a couple of those right now, so hopefully I can cash and get back on track.

I havent been able to figure out how to paste an excel sheet on here, so I will have to wait until I figure that out to show you the chart.

I have still been limited in the amount of time I have had for poker this weekend, so I havent made a lot of progress. Actually, I have gone backward a little. I tried playing some heads up tournaments, and had extremely bad luck. I went 1 for 4 and decided that I would stay away from those. I am currently in my first large multi table tournament since I started this challenge. It is the $11 $15K guaranteed on Stars. Luckily, I have had some good cards that held up, so I am in the top 10% and very close to the money.

I have a lot of work to do tonight, so I dont know how much more I will be able to play, but I would like to get in at least four 45 man tourneys. With a good showing, I could be above $1k for the first time.

My Formula and a Progress Update

I havent been able to play very much the last couple of days, but the little I have played has been good. I am currently to $954 and playing in one $12 45 man turbo on Stars. I think this would be a good time to tell you a little about my strategy for this quest.

I am focusing on mostly 45 man turbos to grow my bankroll. I have had a lot of success with these, and I really like the format. Most are over in less than 90 minutes, and I can play 4 at a time without any performance dropoff. I have also set up a formula for my bankroll on what levels I can play. Basically, I make sure I have enough for 40 buy ins for any given level. In order to move up to the next level, I have to reach 48 buy ins. I then allow a 16 buy in window at that level before I have to move back down. Until last week, my longest streak without cashing was 16. It is now 20, but my wins also seem to go in streaks. So my current bankroll is 954, so I am playing $12 tournaments until I get to $1296 (40 tournaments* $27 = 1080, Plus 8 tournaments *27 = 216)

I hope that makes sense. I will do my next post from my other computer which has the spreadsheet, so it will probably be easier to see.

Well, I just busted out of the tournament I was playing. AQ vs 77. 7 0n the flop. I will update again tomorrow.

I'm Back to Document the $10K Challenge

Hello everyone,
Sorry for my long absense from blogging. I had a long period there where I lost a lot of interest in poker. The whole scene and lifestyle started to wear on me, so talking about poker was the last thing I wanted to do. Blogging took even more effort, and so my heart just wasnt in it.

However, my passion for the game has been renewed by a good friend and one of the best tournament players I know (yes, I taught him everything he knows. HA!). My friend Travis is an avid student of the game and mentioned the famous $0 to $10K challenge that Chris Ferguson made famous on Full Tilt. This challenge sparked my interest because it is all about bankroll management, which most players dont have the discipline to to maintain. After talking with Travis, I decided I would do a similar challenge, but enforce my own bankroll management rules and see where it goes. Travis was already underway starting with $100 and trying to get to $10K. He shipped me $40 to start and I quickly grew that to $150 and shipped the original $40 back to him.

I know we are not starting at $0, but freerolling for weeks at times that are inconvenient to play are not worth my time. Instead I thought it would be good to show that you can make a small deposit and grow it slowly and steadily into something meaningful. My target is also $10K, however, once I reach $10K, I plan on cashing out any amount above $10K on a weekly basis and have the original $10K as my base bankroll.

I have been going for three weeks and am currently up to $800. I plan on keeping a semi-daily log of my progress here, as well as continue to explain my theory on Tournament bankroll management, as well as posting my self inflicted rules. So far, I have done a decent job of sticking to them, but have wavered a few tilty drunky nights. Luckily, I have not wavered enough to destroy my bankroll.

Til Tomorrow!

Working a regular job on the side makes for better poker

I know most poker players dream of playing poker for a living. We tend to view the regular working stiff as a hamster running on a wheel and getting nowhere. For most of us, the 9-5 M-F life is just too boring and predictible. After struggling through several months of making a living only through poker, I finally took a part time consulting job. I now have a supplemental income that pretty much covers all my bills. I have discovered that poker is a lot more fun when it is supplemental. The bad beats hurt less and seem to happen much less often. It is amazing how much better you can play when you are not in a must win situation. So my advise for all of you thinking about "going pro", is to make sure you either have plenty in the bank and a huge bankroll to start with, or have something part time or on the side to help with the bills. You will be much more successful and have a much better time.

Good luck!

Why are people so stupid?

Ok, before I get into stupid people, I got knocked out of the tournament from my previous post by a stupid person.

Now, on to stupid people. Stupid people are unaware that A9, even if it is suited, is not a good hand. Not only that, they dont realize that it is not a good hand to call off all your chips preflop. Stupid people think that hand is great and they are idiots. I hate them and they should not be allowed to win at poker, even if they hit their 3 outer, or flop two 9s, suck out a four card straight. If you play A9 and happen to get super lucky because you are a moron, you should actually have to forfeit your hand and give the pot to the guy who actually knows what he is doing. Dont be a stupid person.

Til next time

I'm Back?

Well, I am not sure that I am back, but at least I am going to get a post in once every six months or so. Seriously, I am going to make an effort to post more regularly. Poker hasnt been kind the last six months, so it has been hard to motivate myself to post here. Also, I have started playing online again, so it is easier to post while playing, which is what I am doing now. Actually, I am playing live and online at the same time. Talk about multi-tabling.

Regarding my online play, I am focusing on my specialty, multi-table tournaments. I typcially play the 45 man turbos on Stars, although I am currently in the $70K guaranteed ($11 rebuy). I have only had to buy in once so far, so hopefully I can make this a cheap overall investment. I will post again later with my results (it could be several months from now, but eventually I will do it). If you would like to see how I am doing, my username is Strumey. I currently still hold my shark status at sharkscope, but have been on a bad run lately, so it might be in jeopardy.

A couple more things for this post...I may have a friend named Travis help me with this blog. He is an excellent poker player who has really dedicating himself to becoming an expert. He has read almost every major book on poker, and plays regularly both live and online. Although he is a tournament specialist, he can hold his own in cash games as well. I look forward to having his help in reviving this blog. Also, be sure and check out Bill's blog regarding his bachelor party in Vegas. It is some very funny and inspiring reading.

Update on my bill paying

Well, it has been a rough run for me since I am in a must win position. I had a terrible run in February, and made a slight recovery in March. The big problem is that I havent gained any ground and the bills keep coming. I have had some staking, so that has helped a little, but the big wins get cut in half, and that hurts when the pressure is on.

Tournament play has been solid, but the cash games have been dragging. I am actually typing this while I play today and am up about $700 in a crazy $5/$5 game. There is at least $25K on the table. Wish me luck

I also started working in the sports memorbilia business, so I have had less time for poker. I really love the business so far, and plan to be in this for a long time. So, if any of you want any cool autographed sports stuff, just give me a call and I will get you a good deal.

Back to paying bills with poker

Well, I am officially playing poker "professionally" again. I am only doing it part time as I do have other means of earning income, but due to some unfortunate business conditions, I am back in a must win situation.

I really dont like the pressure of a must win, but I have built up the bankroll a little to support something like this. My record keeping is good, but the pressure to make the bank each day does make it harder to stil to my rules of 2 buy ins per session. I have a couple of tournaments this week, including a $500 buy in that should be a big payout if I can money. I was thinking about posting my earning needs on here and track it with yall. Is that something that would be interesting to follow? Let me know.

Good luck!

Sticking to your rules

As many of you know, I started tracking my results starting in January. I have started to track results many times, but always lost interest and eventually quit. I am now a month an a half in, and I am still keeping track despite having a terrible start to February. I have made up some ground this week, but it was tough to write down several big losses in a row.

Today I want to talk about avoiding those big loss days. When I started this tracking process this year, I set a couple of rules for my game to prevent the huge swings I have taken in the past. The rules were simple and they are below.

1. Maximum of 2 buy ins per day. NO EXCEPTIONS!
2. No more than 2 drinks per session.
   If it is a drinking session for fun. Max is one buy in.

I have failed miserably with rule number one in February and it has cost me. I went 7 buy ins deep on one day and they were increasing buy ins, so it got really nasty. A couple other days, I got 4 buy ins deep. It is so hard to get up and quit when you are stuck, but I had a huge eye opener after going through my results. If I took all the days I had more than two buy ins and just quit after those two, I would have $4600 more in my bankroll right now. Wow! I had no idea it was that big of a difference! That includes a session that I made a nice comeback as well.

So, I am now sticking to that rule and it is out here for all to see. That always seems to make it easier to hold myself accountable.

Quick side note: I won the weekly Tuesday touranment again this week, so I have a commanding lead in the points standings which will net me a $1500 WSOP buy in.

January in the books!

Well, I closed out January and it was a good month in cash games and a loss in tournaments, even with a 2nd place finish. I am excited to continue accurate tracking of my play. So far, I am up more than I would have guessed. I am also doing a better job of managing my bankroll.

February started on a big down note with a two big loss days, but I made just about all of it back yesterday. I am a little tired from playing, so I will be taking a few days off. My next blog I will post a couple of key hands for everyone to evaluate.

Travel and Poker

Look at me! Less than a month between posts!!

The last 3 weeks have been crazy with poker. I went on two annual poker trips with some buddies and it was a blast. Dead Money in New Orleans is always one of my favorite weekends of the year, at least what I can remember of it.

Last week I was in Vegas on business, but I did manage to get a little time in on the tables. I won about $600 in cash games, but crapped out in tournaments. I think my record keeping may help steer me away from tournament play for a while. I started out with a nice win early in the month, but now I am down for the month in my tournament play. I have two tournaments this week to try and turn that around, but my cash game play is carrying me this month.

I really like that I am sticking to my record keeping. I made a really nice spreadsheet with graphs and such. It is fun to enter data after each session and check out all the graphs. If any of you would like a copy of my creation, let me know. If you have some other good poker tracking tools, I would love to hear about them as well.

That is it for now. Hopefully I will be motivated to update tomorrow after I win the tournament tonight!

New Year, New Me

Once again, I apologize for taking so long to update this blog. I think my new strategy it going to be short and sweet and more often. For some reason I have felt the need to write large posts with lots of content, and that pressure keeps me from updating as often. So, I am going to try this new approach this year and see where it goes.

For the first time in my life, I actually decided to do some New Year's Resolutions. I never did them before because I saw so many people around me make the "promises" to themselves, but they were rarely kept. I didn't really see the significance of that date to make a change in your life. If you need to make a change, just make it. The time frame doesn't really matter. Maybe it was just that the stars aligned in such a way that I needed to make several changes in my life right at the New Year, or I just needed an excuse to hold myself to them. Either way, here they are for all to see. Hopefully, I will not fail in following through with these this year, and 15 days in, I am still going strong.

1. Keep complete and accurate records of my poker play: In the past, I have started and stopped so many times I cant even count them. I generally have stopped when the cards are running bad and picked up again when the cards are running good. HA! This year I plan on keeping it simple and just tracking net profit/loss on cash games and tournaments. So far I have stuck to it and will push through the rough rides to see my true winnings for the year.

2. Keep myself in better physical condition: I know that everyone's NYR is to get into the gym and workout. I joined my gym back in October and have been fairly consistent, but not to the degree I would like. So far I am keeping with the schedule, except for the fact that I have been sick the last three days. Once I kick this cold, it is back to the gym.

3. Don't drink while playing cards: This has been an on and off problem for me. I really enjoy drinking and I really enjoy cards. Put the two together and I have a fantastic time losing all my money. My plan is not to deny this beautiful Reces Peanut Butter Cup all together, but limit my buy in when drinking and playing. I wont say my limit here, but it is definitely a hard and fast limit. So all of you can stop salivating when you see me a little tipsy at the table.

Well, that is it for today. I guess I still made this a little long. ;)

On a Roll....

I have been through quite a bit since my last post. I seem to have had a life changing moment and it has had a very positive effect on my poker play. For a long time now, I have had the wrong attitude toward poker and how I conduct my life in general. I didn't realize it until this weekend after I finished 12th in the $2K event #10 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

After playing some satellites and freerolling into the event, I left Caesars feeling happy about the $4700 cash, but upset about the fact that I once again missed the big prize ($126K) once again. I have won my share of small buy in tournaments battling fields of 100 or less to take first prize, but always seem to fall short when the big money is on the line. I didn't realize it before, but I was very bitter about it. I believe that I am a very good player. I know the math. I read people well. I make money at this game. I DESERVE to win one of these big ones! Why is it not happening for me.

I took this horrible attitude to the blackjack table and managed to blow quite a bit of my winnings. After being up over $5K to be up $3K, I felt like I was down. I was angry at the casino, myself, and the mystery of why I cant seem to hit the big one. Then something unlikely and unexpected happened. I read a feel good email from my sister-in-law. The email is below.


Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we`re here we should dance!

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.
The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words " United States of America"
"No, not that; read further."
"One cent?" "No, keep reading."
"In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?"
"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message.

It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient..

There was some of the typical, "pass this along to 7 people" at the end. I am not one who normally takes the time to read these emails, and certainly don't pass them along to 7 people. Well, maybe this time I did, assuming at least 7 people read this. Anyway, something in this story really struck a chord with me. I realized that I have been such an ass about the way I have approached everything lately. I developed this sense of entitlement. I deserve this. I deserve that. I had to think back and just laugh at myself.

I woke up the next morning and decided that I just needed to be thankful that I get to play poker, that I get to go to places like Las Vegas, that I am still up for the trip, that I have good friends and family, that I am healthy. I immediately felt a huge burden lifted off of me. I suddenly didn't feel all the pressure I was putting on myself, not only in poker, but in business and my personal life. I decided to head over to the Bellagio to play a little 2/5 NL before the $540 daily tournament at 2pm. I played well and won $500 in about an hour and a half. I never got upset about a bad beat or missing a big draw. I was just happy to be there. At 2:10pm I bought into the tournament and managed to build a huge stack and chopped that tournament at 4 people. I was 2nd in chips at the time and made more than 2nd place money. Again, I was just thankful to have the opportunity to play. I decided to take a good friend out for steaks at Ruth Chris to celebrate, and was thankful that I could buy. Finally, I spent my last 30 minutes before leaving for the airport playing 2/5 where I lost $300. Again, I was just happy to have the opportunity to play.

I love this game, but I got my priorities way out of whack. I still hope that someday I can take home a big prize, like a WPT main event, or a WSOP bracelet, but I will be thankful for the opportunity just to play.

PS. Last night I won our weekly Tuesday tournament as well. Lucky me. :)

Back in the Saddle

I feel bad for having two blogs in a row apologizing for not keeping up my blog weekly. I am not going to promise to keep it up weekly in this post as I failed to live up to that promise after the last one. I do intend to post more entries in the coming weeks as I have a lot going on in my poker world. Thank you to those who have continued to check back and then remind me that I have been a slacker!

Some highlights from my recent poker play.

I have final tables at least four tournaments the past month. All have been relatively small (30-50 people and $100 buy ins), but it feels good to have my tournament game getting back into shape. Until recently, I think I was letting bad beats interfere with my patience in tournament play. I am playing in another one of these tonight, and hope to break the 3 way tie on the leaderboard for this particular tournament series.

I have been playing cash games about twice a week as well. I am up and down in these, but overall, I am slightly up. I have fallen victim to the cantgetupwhenahead disease! With the exception of one session in the last 45 days, I have been ahead by at least double my buy in, but couldn't pull myself off of the table. I think it is more difficult for me to be ahead $900 at one point and leave when I bleed back down to only being up $100, than to drop $900 out of the gate and leave. There is nothing more frustrating to me than to give up a big stack after being ahead. I am working on a cure for this disease, so if any of you have a remedy, please let me know. :)

I plan on playing at least 5 tournaments a month leading up to Tunica in January. If you haven't been to the WPO at the Gold Strike in Tunica, you are missing my favorite tournament series of the year. If you want to get in a great cash game or tournament with me, plan on spending January in Mississippi. I wont miss it!