Before I continue with my live tournament adventures, adding onto my "How I got into Poker (blogs)," I'm going to address the amputation questions that many people have asked, especially after my last entry when I didn't go into detail.

Well, here we go.

I was born with an issue called clubbed feet, and amniotic banding. Amniotic banding result = I have 7 fingers. Not a big deal at all. However, clubbed feet manages to haunt me, still today. It didn't affect my left leg nearly as bad as it affected my right leg. When I was 1, I was adopted to the Junglen family from South Korea. It ended up being one of the best things to ever happen to me. I was adopted to a very loving family, and the doctors in the US were much better than the doctors in Korea. If I were still in Korea, there's a good chance I wouldn't be walking at all.

I could talk about this subject for quite awhile, but I'll try to give you guys a good summary, without taking it too far.

From ages 1 - 16 I had around 17 surgeries correcting my right foot, along with minor ear and finger surgeries. Totaling around 20 surgeries at age 16.

When I was 17 I was told that amputation was the best route to take. While contemplating this life changing decision, I'll never forget what my doctor said. Dr. Ian Alexander looked at me in the face confidently and told me "Adam, you'll be running track in 6 weeks." It sounded great. I'd be able to walk without wearing awkward orthopedic shoes, and wouldn't need my "yearly leg tune-up surgery." He also told me I was very young so I'd recover very quickly....Well....F**K that guy. Seriously.

I went through with the surgery and it was awful. Mentally and physically I was an absolute wreck. It didn't take 6 weeks for me to recover like my doctor suggested. It took 6 f**king month's.

6 Months of being tortured on crutches, hobbling my way through Stow High School
There was no way I could make it to dances or other high school festivities on crutches.
Every week I'd goto my doctor to see if my limb was healed to the point where I could get a prosthetic leg.

Again, this processes DID NOT take 6 weeks as said by my doctor. The healing took 6 of the worst month's of my life. You can only imagine what was going through my mind during this time.

Alright, so he finally tells me I'm healed and can learn to walk again. This was during the time I was interning at Alltel. I was walking, but with incredible pain. It was just awful. Eventually I had an X-Ray done at the doctor's....

Yea...

There were bone chips floating around my limb. I needed to have another surgery.

F**k my doctor. What a joke. Seriously, I have absolutely no idea how I didn't sue him.

Ok, enough of that. The 2nd surgery (which took up my senior year) ended up being "successful."

I can walk, but it's still painful...just not as painful as it used to be. I can get around and have traveled on my leg, but it's still painful. After sitting for 9-12hrs in big live events for example, I'm in extreme pain. On breaks, I quickly walk to my room just so I can take off my leg and relax for a few minutes. I'm far too insecure to take my leg off at the table. it's just something I gotta deal with.

I'm desperately hoping they can come up with some sort of cure. Last I heard they might do something with my nerves so I wouldn't feel the pain. I don't know, I really feel like it's practically ruined my life. People jokingly tell me all the time "Oh I'd give you my leg if I could," well, I know they're just trying to be nice, but I almost take that as an insult.

Nobody deserves the pain that I had to go through.

Sorry for getting off-track. My next blog I'll write up my memories of my first live major events in January of 07.

I'll close this blog with this simple statement that should get the point across.




I would give my net worth for 2 legs in a heartbeat.


Sorry if this ended up being a rant, just a major part of my life I thought I'd include. It was just too big to ignore.

Thanks for reading.

-Adam Junglen

During May of 2006 there was an MTT competition on 2+2. It was based on the TLB formula on PokerStars. At the time I had mostly posted in the SNG forum and wasn't too well known in the MTT community. I basically decided I was going to take the competition very seriously, and that by the end of the month, everyone would know who I was.

I ended up having multiple 1-3k scores while playing $5 to $50 MTT's. I was very involved in the competition and by the end of the month I had made a lot of new friends. I got to know some friends on the forums including Exitonly, gobbo, Rizen, and more.

I was (still) on crutches as my High School years winded down, recovering from my amputation fix. I missed all of the notable HS events, like Senior Banquet, Prom, even missed graduation. Come to think of it, I still don't physically possess my diploma. *shrug* I ended up going to Turning Stone during the last week of class. It was my first poker trip, I roomed with Exitonly (Ray Coburn), and met a lot of new friends that I'd met online. I had a great time, despite not cashing in any of the tournaments.

After High School ended most of my friends either moved or were too busy with class/working to hang out or play poker. I decided not to attend college based on several factors:

- I was still recovering from my recent leg amputation
- I had zero motivation to attend school
- I was denied the funding for school that was seemingly a lock-in (considering my condition)
- Poker

At this point it was Fall and was the first time in my life I wasn't going to school. Instead I was busy discussing poker theory and really focusing on my game. Part of me thought I'd end up attending college in the winter, once I was fully recovered, but I really thought I could make it as a poker player. Either way, I really needed time off from school and wasn't motivated to get into a career after interning at Alltel.

In October/November I flew to Ray's house in New Jersey. It was the first time I had been on a plane since I was adopted as a child. Heh, I don't think I expected to be around airports as much as I have been then. I flew to NJ to meet up with Ray, because he won an EPT Dublin Package. At that point I didn't have the resources to play in the event, so I just went to have fun. It was my first time in Europe, and I had a good time. I met ActionJeff, Kush, Carl Olson and more talented players. I remember discussing poker and life with Jeff and Carl, and they really changed the way I thought about the game. I flew back to NJ with Ray, equipped with new poker knowledge and a hell of a lot of motivation.

I only stayed in NJ for a few more days, but not before I took care of some business. I was very motivated after talking poker with my new friends in Dublin. The last Sunday before I flew home to Ohio I had my first 5-figure cash, taking 4th in the PokerStars 2nd Chance for around $13.5k. It was a huge confidence boost, as well as a nice pad to my bankroll.

It's hard to believe that my first 5 figure cash was about a year ago at the time of this writing. So much has happened since.

Later in December I went back to Turning Stone for another tournament series. I ended up making my first decent sized live final table, chopping a $200 event, 4-handed for $7,500 each. I was starting to feel more and more comfortable at the table and was beginning to get more respect. While at TS I met Aaron Been, Shaun Deeb, mlagoo, and many more new friends. Jeff and Ray were also there, it was a great trip.

At that point in time I intended on playing the PCA in January, but after talking with Aaron Been, who had won a seat to the Aussie Millions, both gobboboy and I decided to join him. I had a travel agent look into flights from Cleveland to Nassau to Melbourne, back home. I ended up spending around $2.5k on that flight....and to think it was only a month ago that I was on my first plane ride since I came to America.

To end the year I took 6th in the FTP Monthly $535 for $23k. It was a very devastating experience for me, as I felt in control most of the tournament and entered the final table as the chipleader. It really felt like a loss. When I look back at that tournament I view it as a major learning experience. It was the first time I was close to a six figure cash, and I knew it would not be my last. As corny as it sounds, I "wasn't ready" for a 100k+ score at that point in my career.


Next up would be my first major events. The WPT PCA and Aussie Millions in January of 2007.


Hope you guys are enjoying this,

-Adam Junglen

I guess I'll continue where I left off when I started writing about how I first got into poker.

After I won the tournament at AJ's I went to Border's Books to find some reading material on my newest hobby. I started playing homegames every weekend with friends and had a decent amount of success. It was a lot of fun, every weekend we'd play a tournament or two, usually 2 tables with a buy-in between $10-$15. I ended up making a lot of great friends, and actually quit my job at Gametrader partly due to the money I was making at homegame tournaments. It really wasn't too difficult to make more in those games than $5.50/hr at Gametrader.

Eventually I took my game online. I would have my friend transfer me $50 or $100 at a time on Party. I was underage at the time, so I couldn't deposit myself. For quite awhile I just broke even or lost at the $5 and $10 SNG levels. Poker wasn't my #1 priority at the time, I was interning at Alltel Data Center, and worked for my HS helping teachers with computers, and maintaining the network infrastructure.

Eventually I decided that the computer world just wasn't for me. I didn't like working with the people I was around, and the idea of maintaining computers as a career was very unappealing. Meanwhile I was getting better at SNG's after reading some guides on 2+2. I moved to PokerStars and moved up from the $6.50's to $105+9's during my Junior-Senior year, when I was 18.

Eventually I got bored of SNG's and decided to take on MTT's.


And that's where this entry ends. More to come soon.


-Adam

This entry will have two distinct subjects. My newest business project, and then I’m going to respond to some user feedback and answer how I got into poker. First, the newest project I’ll be apart of.

About a month ago I was contacted by my agent, (who also works with Negreanu). He told me about Daniel’s new project, a poker instructional site called PokerVT (Poker Virtual Training). Negreanu picked out a few pro’s (so far others signed include Paul Wasicka, Boosted J, JC Alverado, with ActionJeff and Annette_15 pending) and he asked me to join. After about a month of reviewing the contract, consideration, negotiation, and phone calls with Daniel I decided to accept his proposal and join the team.

The site’s target release is in February next year, and it really sounds like a great training site, as well as a great opportunity. I’m very confident that Daniel will do a great job and that the PokerVT will be one of the premier training sites out there. Daniel’s assembled some of the best poker players in the world - both online and live, and it’s a massive compliment for him to ask me to be a part of it. I'm sure you'll hear more from me as I begin working on the project and as the launch date approaches.

————–

Next up, I’ll go ahead and respond to some of the feedback I’ve been getting. One specific question I’ve gotten for the last few months is, “Adam, how did you get into poker.”

I could sit here and type it all out, but it’d take a few hours and be a very long read. Instead I’ll just split it up into a series. I have no clue how long this’ll take, but since I’m not doing much traveling anytime soon this’ll give me something to write about. I’m also unsure of how much detail I’ll go into, but I guess we’ll just see as it progresses.

I played my very first No-Limit Hold’em tournament when I was 15, a sophomore at Stow-Munroe Fals High School. When I was 13-14 I had played a lot of Magic: The Gathering at Gametrader in Cuyahoga Falls. I took the game fairly seriously, but I never went on the Pro Tour or anything. I’m guessing I managed to profit a few thousand, which is obviously a lot of money to a young teenager.

I quit playing when I was around 15 and started working at the game store - my first job. Looking back, I’d have to say it was one of the better jobs someone my age could’ve had. The customers were my friends, and my bosses were flexible and let me watch movies during downtime. The only bad part was the pay - $5.50/hr.

Anyways, back then I was also pretty good with computers. My friend AJ had me over to install a drive in his PC. Afterwards, he had some friends over to play poker, and instead of leaving I stayed and decided I’d play. Poker was growing in our school and I heard people talk about games a lot, so I wanted to see what it was all about. After quitting Magic I was getting bored of working on computers all day, and was anxious to find another hobby to take up seriously.

I somehow managed to win the tournament at AJ’s. It was just a single table tournament and about 8-9 people played. I knew the rank of hands, but that’s about it. I really don’t remember anything specific about it, except I played really tight. I forget if it was a $5 or $10 buy-in, but I ended up winning around $40 and was immediately hooked.


That's it for now. In the future the segments will be longer, but I took up a lot of time talking about the PokerVT.

Thanks for reading,


-Adam

I honestly don't remember the last time I made a post regarding online poker results. As most of you know by now, I only play online when I'm in the mood and feeling good. Well, I guess I was just in the mood to play some poker.

I didn't enter too many, just the Bodog 100k (I had the exact buyin in my account, so I figured I'd blow through it and never play there again because the software is so bad), PS Million, PS 2nd Chance, UB 200k, and FTP 750k.

I was promptly coolered with 22 < 88 on the 842 flop in the FTP major, and out of the money'd the UB 200k, but managed to go fairly deep and make the money in the rest of the tournaments.

It's always exciting to make the money in the Sunday Million, but unfortunately I didn't make it that far. Took 624th of 6398 for about $400. I did go fairly deep in the Bodog 100k, and Sunday 2nd Chance, but it simply wasn't my night. I built up a huge stack in the PS 2nd Chance, then proceeded to lose 2 huge races and then a 40/60 to go from a top stack to busto in 36th for $800. The Bodog tournament was slightly less frustrating, simply because the tournament isn't as big as the other Sunday tournaments, but it still sucked to lose AT < Q9 for a decent stack with 38 left.


Soooo, that's pretty much it. It had been so long since I'd played a round of Sunday's I forgot how incredibly frustrating they are. Oh well.

By the way, I just started editing my previous posts in order to fill in the category information, and keywords. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it'd mess up the chronological order in which they're posted on my home page (http://www.tworags.com/home/A_Junglen). Fortunately, my complete blog link (http://www.tworags.com/blog/A_Junglen) maintains all of the entries in chronological order. And of course, as always, my latest updates will continue to be posted on the tworags homepage.

(Edit: I just realized they're still in chronological order for visitors, just not my homepage. You can basically ignore this entire paragraph)

I'm proud to say that this community has grown on me, and I'm more than happy to cross-post my blog here.

I really appreciate the feedback, thanks guys.

I've only been home for a few days now, but as usual I've been pretty busy.

About 3 days ago my agent called me about a poker radio show that wanted me to guest star. Although I'll have to wake up pretty early, I'm still gonna do it. It's called the Poker Power Hour, I'm told it airs in St Louis, and you'll also be able to download it online.

Besides that, I bought all the DVD sets of "The Office" and have been enjoying them. I'm starting an apartment search around the area, still busy with various business things, have a new bed to setup, some doctor appointments...yup, keepin busy.

Just droppin a quick note to let everyone know that I’ve made it home safe. Happy to report that I didn’t almost die on the drive home, as I did on the way there.

I started driving around midnight. I prefer driving at night as there is less traffic, less sunlight, less stress. No, I don’t have anything against the sun, but it can be annoying when it’s in your eyes for hours. Anyways, I was having some difficulties finding my way out of Canada. I eventually found my way out at the border, but then got slightly lost again on my way to I-90, which is the main road I needed to get on. I asked a gas station attendant for directions, but I still had problems. I had already wasted around 45min driving in circles, so I pulled out my iPhone, which is really what I should’ve done from the start. I looked at the closest street sign.

“Delton Rd”

So I opened the Google Maps function on my iPhone and typed in “Delton Rd NY” and then my home address. I kid you not, 10 seconds later it loaded with the correct directions, distance, and estimated travel time. The distance/travel time are standard, but I was very surprised to get exact directions after giving such a vague description. All I knew was the closest street sign, the state I was in, and where I needed to go. Didn’t need the city or zip code, and it still gave perfect directions in a timely fashion.

I feel like I just did an Apple commercial.

Good luck to Jeff Garza and Jon Little, who are both friends of mine and still in WPT Niagara. There are 2 tables left (18 players), and they will play down to the TV table (Final 6) on the 1st. Jon’s on a really sick run in WPT events - he already final tabled one last season, won one this season, took 7th in another this season, and he is the chip leader in Niagara. So sick. This is Jeff’s first cash in a major event, despite that he’s definitely one of the best players left int he tournament and I really hope he wins.

That’s all for now, it’s great to be home. Good luck guys.

Well, my WPT Niagara run just ended.

I started the day with 33,100 with 30min left in the 300/600/100 level, so I had plenty of room to play. My table draw was pretty great, I didn't have any notable players at my table, and the 2 people that had me covered were either to my right, or across the table.

I believe it was the 400/800/100 level when I was bluffed out of a decent sized pot. I opened to 2,200 with about 30k from MP, got 2 callers behind me, and then the BB called, so I was out of position vs 2 of the 3 opponents. Flop came KK5 with 2 diamonds, I had 7 7. BB checked, I checked, player behind me checked to the button who bet out 4,500. The button was a decent aggressive player and also the big stack at the table. The BB folded, I called, and the player behind me folded. The turn was a black 3. I checked, button bet 16k of my 24k stack. I folded and he showed like 6 high or something. I really considered just sticking it in, but I hadn't played with him long enough to commit that much of my stack. I think calling the flop was marginal and possibly a mistake. I did end up getting a wealth of information when he showed the bluff though.

Just a few hands after I was bluffed out I opened the pot from MP+2 with TT to my standard raise of 2,200. It's safe to assume my opponents will think I'm opening wider here, so I was willing to 4-bet AIPF if someone 3-bet me. I was called in 2 spots, then an older man in the small blind shoves for about 20k total. Online this is a much easier re-shove, but there are a lot of things to think about. My table image was loose and my opponents probably thought I was steaming, but the SB hadn't played too many pots. If you know anything about poker stereotypes, then you know that people over 55 or so "always have it." This was also basically for all of my chips, so I took 2-3 minutes to make my decision. After thinking it through I decided that my opponent was aware of the table dynamic and was squeezing with a wide range. Not to mention there was around 30k in the middle and I had to call another 20k, so I was getting a nice overlay if he had AK.

Well, he had 53o and I doubled up to about 50k. There was a lot to think about with my table image (which always ends up being a puzzle of multiple level thinking for me), the money in the pot, my opponents image/range, etc.

Anyways I was floating around 45k when the next notable hand came up. Blinds were 500/1,000 with a 200 ante. With 3,300 in the pot preflop, and a fairly solid table image (I had folded for awhile after the TT hand), I opened the pot UTG with Q 9 to 2,700. It folded to the button, who was the player who bluffed me earlier. He called, the blinds folded and we went to the flop heads up.

It came down T86 with 2 diamonds, giving me a double gutshot straight draw. I bet out 4,500 into the pot of 12,000. Button minraises me to 9,000, I call. Turn came the Ah. I checked and the button bet 15,000. I decided he was bluffing again, making a bet that made it look like he was committed to the hand. I basically check-minraised allin, shoving for 35k total, 20k more. He folded. Definitely one of the sickest hands I've ever played, but I was very confident he was bluffing again. I mucked and that pot increased my stack to around 80k.

Then, I proceeded to run horrible and never won another pot. I opened a few times, was 3-bet and folded, and with the blinds and ante's costing 3,300 a round it was easy to fold down to around 65-70k.

The next hand I played was when LP opened for 3,300 at 500/1000/200 and I called from the SB with K T and the BB (who had around 40k) called as well. The flop was 7 6 3, giving me 2 overcards and the 2nd nut flush draw. I checked, the BB lead for 6,500 and the CO called. I made my first check-raise of the entire day to 22,000 - effectively committing my opponents. SB called (with 18k behind lol), CO folded. Turn came a red 6. I was obviously putting the rest of my opponents stack in (18k into the pot of 50k+) and he called. I showed my overcards and flush draw....he showed Q6o.....wtf. River blanked, and I lose a near 6 figure pot.

Then, out of nowhere a player who was new to the table started berating my play. He was at least twice my age. I just kind of ignored him, but it did bother me a little bit. If you can't tell by now, poor poker etiquette really pisses me off. I had just lost the biggest pot I'd played in the tournament, in an absolutely ridiculous fashion nonetheless, and I gotta hear some clown tell me I played my hand poorly. I just let him talk, because it's apparent he doesn't know math. Most people that read this will know, but for those that don't know, 2 overcards and flush draw are a favorite over his pair on the flop (when most of the money went in).

I was was left 20k and knocked out shortly after. I opened 2 hands later with KK to 2,700 and the button called. Flop came 763 with 2 diamonds. Ended up getting it in vs. 98, 5 on the turn, and I'm busto.

After the hand, the man who berated me earlier says something to the effect of "that's what you get." Without raising my voice I just looked at him and said "What's your problem." He just looked down at the felt and shut his mouth. I'm sure many others would've gone further and maybe gotten into a bigger argument or something, but I learned a long time ago that dealing with people like that just isn't worth it. I shook everyone else's hand with a smile and wished them good luck. As I was leaving the tournament room I could overhear people saying how I was half his age and had twice as much class as he'll ever have.

Poor poker etiquette really gets under my skin. This man was like 40 years old and acted like a 14 year old. Just sitting there with like 10bbs's and had nothing better to do but give me a hard time. Grow up dude. Seriously.


At any rate, I'm very satisfied with how I played. This was my 3rd consecutive Day 2, and I've (at least) 4x'd my starting stack in every single major event I've played. This one was extremely frustrating to lose because of how it went down. Building a big stack then losing two huge pots where I was the favorite on the flop is really annoying. This one stung a bit more because I was feeling really great and was having fun playing. Guess it just wasn't my tournament, w/e.

Well I better stop now before my rant gets too long.

Sigh

Not exactly in the blogging mood, but feel obligated to let everyone know how I’m doing here in Niagara.

I made my 3rd straight Day 2, ending up with 33,100 at the end of the day. The starting stacks were 20,000 and blinds started at 25/50 with 90min levels. We played from noon - 12:30am or so, it was a very long day. Day 1C was today, so I had the day off. Tomorrow is Day 2 and blinds will start at 300/600/100, so I still have a playable stack.

The rest of the tournament runs on 9 hour days (including breaks) 12pm - 9pm. As I said during WSOPE, I really love shorter days. I end up getting a bit tired near the end of a 12 hour day. It’s extremely difficult to play great and stay focused for 12 hours, but 9 hours isn’t so bad.

One gripe I do have about this venue is that they don’t allow the use of mp3 players during play. Although I don’t always listen to music while I play, I still use an iPod around half the time. They can definitely be useful. Listening to music helps cure inevitable boredom while playing, helps to maintain focus, and they’re very useful when you run into annoying players that don’t know when to shut up.

That’s basically it for now, here’s to hoping Day 2 goes better than Day 1.

Well, I'm just about to goto sleep, but I'm going to give a quick update before I play tomorrow.

I really didn't do much of anything today - which is very standard for me. I usually just have a nice dinner and relax the day before big events. I ended up going out to dinner with some friends, but that's about it. As usual I'll be getting a good night's rest tonight. I feel really great going into this event, as opposed to WSOPE, where I felt like crap, but still managed to play well and make it fairly deep.

Tworags recently started a new voicemail service. I can call in and leave a message and it will be posted to the site. Well, imagine how useful this will be for live updates during big events. I'm not sure how much or if I'll be using it, but I might give it a test run during this WPT event.

Before I end this post I wanted to say that CardPlayer (not pokernews) will be doing the best coverage for this event.


And....I'm off to sleep,

Later