Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, been sort of lazy about it I guess. Nothing much has been happening since my last entry. I've been grinding live 2-5 NL for awhile and its going pretty well, but have not cashed in any MTT for some time now. Hopefully I'll get a big score in a MTT soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Otherwise just got back from Las Vegas for a five day trip, but nothing eventful happened out there. The games were horrible, probably b/c everyone is at Foxwoods now. Only reason I went was b/c my buddy got a room comped at MGM Grand so hotel + flight cost me only $200. It was nice to be around warm weather as it is starting become bitter here in AC and did see the Cirque Du Soleil show "O" at Bellagio which was much better than Cirque Du Soleil KA at MGM (saw that over the summer during the roadtrip). The point of this entry is that I am going to discuss 3 areas of my life that I am going to focus on. I feel if I write this, I'll have to stick to my lofty ambitions:)

Poker

This is the obvious one as it is how I am make a living. I think many poker players out there learn a lot when they first start playing. Poker is such a complex game that there is so much information to absorb at the beginning, that the learning curve is steep. As you become a competent player, the learning curve for poker starts to plateau. These players can beat low/middle limit games, but day in and day out there not really learning much about the game. I feel this is where I am at in my poker learning curve. This is the point where to become a great/elite player, one must push themselves towards excellence and this is where the real learning begins. In an attempt to reach a new level in my poker game, I am going to explore various learning tools. I recently joined Cardrunners to be able to get into the minds of the best online players out there. From the handful videos I've watched already, the MTT videos are OK, but the 6 max cash game videos are ridiculous. Some of these guys are just thinking on another level in cash games. I have also started to read the vast amount of poker literature out there. The books on poker now are abundant and cover many areas of the games besides the fundamentals ie. psychology, tells, bankroll management etc. I am really going try to beef up my online play as I see opportunities in this area. I think online MTT have great value and am plan on playing MTT, SNGs, and 6 max NL cash to build my online bankroll. I will also need to familarize myself with all the software out there like Pokertracker and the many others that are available. The only learning tool I lack right now is another strong poker player to discuss strategy with. As I move up in games, I am confident I will find a so called "poker buddy". Poker wlil be consuming much of my life, but to be the best you must put in the work and effort.

Health Kick

One of the detriments in playing poker all the time is the health consequences. Most poker players get very little exercise and they are constantly eating out. From my personal experience, when I play a lot of poker I lose my appettite, b/c I am not expending any energy while playing. I refuse to be another out of shape poker pro which I see all the time. I have been going to the gym about 3 times/week. I plan on start taking yoga classes in the near future. I am trying to put together a healthy diet too. My good friend is going to school to become a hollistic doctor, so he is sending me recipes on vegetable smoothies that I can blend together. I am going to eat more grains and fruits for snacks and limit my meat consumption. Most Americans have meat in every meal that is just not neccessary. I will have to learn how to cook to prepare the foods that I want to consume into my body. The only setback I see here is that I really have no appettite for eating while playing so I will have to figure a way to increase through other means. From a spiritual standpoint, my father is a Buddhist and I want to explore more about Buddhism and meditation.

Women

This is probably the most surprising/interesting area I want to focus on. I feel that many people out there who will find it hard to admit that they have trouble with the opposite sex. I am going to admit that I have never been a ladies man. The only way to correct this problem is to work on it. I need to start practicing approaching strange women on the street and start talking to them. At first, I will probably look/say stupid things in my interactions, but I'll learn from my mistakes and try to make them better. Its something thats not going to happen overnight, but with time and effort, I feel I can become good at this. I firmly believe that women do not look for money, looks, or social status in men. All these things can help men attract women, but ultimately women are attracted to a man's personality. What this means is that any man despite has age/looks has a chance of obtaining any woman. I really want to get into the whole PUA lifestyle (google PUA if you don't know what it means).

I have set the bar pretty high for myself and I am OK with this. To me life is no fun if there are not challenges to overcome. There are many other things I want to learn/accomplish but the mentioned subjects will be my main focus in the near future. If I am able to follow through on the things I said I would do, I feel I will come out as happier and more fulfilled human being.

Throughout my life, I have been seen by other people as somewhat of a "realist".My thoughts about the world and life in general has been described as negative or pessimistic, though these so called negative opinions are based from actual experiences. I have made a considerable effort recently to become more positive and try to look at the brighter side of things. Unfortuantely, I have put myself in a horrible situation and I feel I must share it so others can learn from the error of my ways.

Since my short sucess in poker, I have been extremely generous with my winnings. I have helped out a couple friends in need and also assisted my parents into a more comfortable lifestyle. I feel obligated to do these things as I have been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to play a "game" as my source of income while many other people I know are working countless hours a week at jobs that they just plain out HATE just to make ends meet. Well I've overextended my genorosity and it has cost me big time.

The Story

The point of this story is not single out a so called friend who has become my achillles heel, but to learn a valuable lesson about trust in the gambling world. I am going to use the fake name "Ted" to conceal the true indentity of the person whom I'm speaking about. I met Ted a couple years ago as we were playing in the same Philly area card clubs. We would soon be driving together to these clubs and I saw Ted as a nice guy to have around to discuss poker strategy and further both our games. About a year ago, we discussed moving to Atlantic City so we both could take a legitimate "shot" at making it in the poker world. It took us an entire year to finally make the move to AC as I was lazy about the entire process and Ted was working trying to build up a poker bankroll. After my two scores at Borgata, I was finally serious about moving to AC this past Sept. and having Ted around I thought would help me immensely in this transition. We could evaluate eachother's game, share living expenses, and it would give me a friend in an unknown place. The only problem was that Ted never built a bankroll during the past year when we were contemplating the move to Atlantic City. Ted just kept making all these mistakes that was stunting himself from building a true bankroll. First, it was sportsbetting and getting over his head with his bookie. Then, he had planned to come down for the Summer Borgata Open to play some prelim events. He ended up going on "life tilt" and blew nearly his entire poker bankroll for the trip on blackjack. So when it was time to move to AC, Ted didn't have the upfront moving expenses. Me being naive and believing in Ted's good faith, I decided to front all the money for our new apartment. To further assist him, I staked Ted in NL cash games where somehow he ran worst than Mike Matusow. The final blow came when I had some cash on hand in our apt (I know not a good idea) and Ted claims that people who he owed money from his past came to our apt. so Ted panicked and gave them the money I had in our apt. So now between the money I've loaned him, staking, and this lastest fiasco half my bankroll has been destroyed due to this relationship.

There are many other details that are missing, but I think all of you get the gist of the story. I wish I have never met Ted and gotten so deeply involved like I have. I have made so many mistakes in this relationship it grosses me out just thinking about it. There were also so many warning signs that gave away that Ted would not be a reliable friend/roomate and I am sick about it everyday that I did not open my eyes until it was too late. Whenever money is involved, you must be extremely cautious to who you associate yourself with. If you decide to play poker for a living, you will run into many seedy characters in the gambling world who are trying to take a shot at you. I know these types of stories in the poker world are a dime a dozen, but I thought I would be smarter than that and now it has happend to me and I must deal with it. This fiasco has set me back significantly, but I feel more determined to be successful in not just poker, but everything I decide to pursue in my life. If just one person learns from my mistakes, then this entry will be well worth writing.

Its 6 in the morning, I can't sleep so I'm posting this entry to answer a question I've been asking myself for the past few weeks. Are live SNGs worth it? I've been playing many of these recently at Borgata, but have not been doing all too well in them, though this could be due to short term variance. The structure of these things are decent in my opinion:

Starting chips 3K for $270 and 4K for $530
20 min. rounds
Blinds
25-50
50-100
100-200 25 ante
200-400 50 ante
300-600 75 ante
400-800 100 ante
600-1200 200 ante
800-1600 300 ante

Payouts for $270 1500-600-400 and for $530 3500-1000-500

Pros

The most obvious benefit of live SNGs is the incredibly weak competition. A large part of of these SNGs are made up of people just busted out of MTT who are steaming and people who see a big first prize they can claim for only a couple hrs. of play. You always get 2-3 people knocked out in the first two rounds and many players are playing too tight and passive in the end game keeping the same starting hand requirements as a full ring game. By the time they realize they need to open up their starting range, they have been blinded off and their puny stack is now worthless. These people also call off their chips way too much (something I hate to do in SNGs) and don't realize the importance of fold equity. Another benefit in these SNGs is the low rake the house takes. Borgata charges $20 on a $250 SNG and only $30 on a $500 SNG. Anytime the rake is less then 10% for a tournament, that is huge plus in my book. I also expect a greater ROI in these SNGs than online ones. In online SNGs, I feel the best SNG players expect a 8% to 12% ROI. I feel that I can make a 20% to 25% ROI in live SNGs, but I'm making this number up as I do not have a large enough sample size to validate this. For example, If I played only $500 SNGs which I would average 2hrs. of play in apiece, I should expect my hourly rate to be in the $50 to $60 range.

Cons

Even though the field in these live SNGs are weak, these inexperienced players are sometimes painful to play with. They sometimes take way too much times for routine decisions (for ex. whether are not to call PF in the 50-100 level can be a 2 min. chore). These guys are taking too long to count out bet sizes and sometimes an unexperienced dealer does not help the situation. Online, these decisions are all automatic so you don't have to worry about these mistakes happening. Another con is that with a low rake this is canceled out with the fact you have to tip the dealer. I am all for toking the dealers, but in the long run it will hurt your ROI. These live SNGs can also be very time consuming. If your lucky enough to make it to the end, it can be a 3 hour ordeal. On top of that fact, there is no guarantee you can jump into another SNG right away, the wait times between SNGs can be 20-60 mins. easy. This will obviously hurt your hourly rate as you can't maximize your play in one session. The payout structures of these things are also a joke. Whoever made up the payout structure for the $500 SNG at the Borgata, I would personally like to know what they were smoking. 3rd place actually loses money and 70% of the prize pool is for first. They might as well make these SNGs winner takes all affairs! Due to the top heavy payout structure, deals are usually made. Dealing with live poker players can be a pain in the ass sometimes and just adds more stress to your poker playing experience (like there aren't enough concerns for a regular poker player already). Though I mentioned a possible $50 to $60 hourly rate, I feel that a live 5-10NL cash player can make a potentially higher hourly rate at anywhere between $50-$100 depending on the caliber of player.

Overall, I am still on the fence if these live SNGs are worth it. I think for now that I will still play them occasionally when the action at 5-10 NL stinks or as a change of pace from grinding these cash games. I would love input from other people on their opinions of live SNGs and if they have any pros and cons that I missed. Really looking for some feedback on this one!

PS
One benefit I forgot about the live SNGs at Borgata is the chance to play with Montel Williams. He has been a regular in the $250 and $500 SNGs at Borgata for the past couple months and he was extremely pleasant to play with as I got him to buy me some peanut MM's one time. Huge score for me :)

Well, I just wrapped up a grueling 2 weeks at the Borgata. I was playing everyday averaging over 10 hour sessions. Unfortunately, it was not a profitable WPT as I'm stuck a few grand for the duration of the event. Here is a recap of the WPT:

SNGs

I played a total of 22 SNGs (mostly $500, a few $250, and one 1K for a seat to the ME). There was always at least a couple guys in each SNG who I considered dead money, but ran badly at the end of these SNGs to show a 2k loss for them overall. The payout structure for the $500 SNG was 3500-1000-500. With the structure skewed heavily towards first place, most SNGs were chopped. The big mistake regarding the SNGs were the deals I was making. People were always talking chop when down to 3-4 players, and too many times I caved in on bad deals for myself. I felt that I should of demanded more in the deals as I was always the most aggressive in the end game and I could capitalize on the fears of the other players. This is a lesson that I have learned and will be better prepared in the future to deal with chopping issues.

Cash Games

I put in 32 total hours for a profit of 2K. I was playing 5-10NL the entire time and the Borgata poker room was averaging 5-8 tables at 5-10NL during the WPT. The problem is that I could never get into a rhythm in the cash games as I focused much of my efforts on the live SNGs. I regret this decision as I did not fare well in the SNGs and the games were decent the entire WPT especially the weekend before the 10K event started.

MTT

I played 7 tournaments with buy-ins of $500 or $750 and did not cash in a single one. I know this could just be due to tournament variance, but I would always play decent in these tourneys and then make a crucial mistake to cripple myself. It is so difficult to make it to the end of these huge fields that every decision is heavily emphasized as your tournament life depends on your every move. The play in these live tourneys were incredibly weak and I still see great value in them for the future.

Random stuff

This was the first time that I had the opportunity to play with TV pros and overall I was not very impressed. I am not going to criticize anyone in particular (it's not my style), but I've read online about how live pros are weak and my limited experience with them only confirms these findings.

This is a hand that I want to mention for pure amusement. My roommate and and an acquaintance I know name Charles happen to be playing in the same $250 SNG. They know each other through me and it seemed like a good idea to stay out of each other's way in the early part of the SNG. I have to mention thay Charles is a complete novice to poker when the following situation came up. The blinds were 100-200 w/ 25 ante when Charles limped UTG and my roomate pushed AI for 1500 in the SB w/ Q3off. The BB called and then Charles called. As Charles calls, he looks over at my roomate, gives him a smile and a thumbs up:) This was the last thing my roomate wanted as he wanted the pot to go HU to give him the greatest chance to win a showdown. The flop comes QJ2 and it goes check-check. The turn is an 8 and Charles moves AI. The BB folds and then Charles tries to muck his cards, b/c he doesn't want to knock my roomate out of the SNG. The dealer will not allow it and the players are confused about Charles' action. Charles finally tables T9 for the NUTS and it really looks like collusion. My roomate bails out Charles by explaining to the table that Charles is new to poker and he did not want to knock out his buddy out of the SNG. It is one thing to stay out of pots w/ a friend at the poker table, but this was absolutely ridiculous.

As for everything else, I love my new place and look forward to playing tons of poker. I just joined Cardrunners to improve my online game to compensate when the games in AC are slow. The only concern I have right now is that I may have a difficult time meeting people as all my time is spent in a casino. I feel most people make up their social circle through school or the workplace. Since I don't have either in my life, I will have to make more of an effort to make friends down here. For some reason, I'm not eagerly trying to hang out with all the middle-aged men that I compete against everyday at Borgata.

I know its been forever since you heard from me, but I’ve been busy making the move to Atlantic City. I now live in a completely furnished apt. in a beach town called Ventnor and am one block away from the border of AC. I feel great that I finally moved as I started to think about doing this for about a year now. I still remember when my current roommate and I would drive to card clubs in the Philly area. During the drive, we would talk about how great it would be if we moved to AC and now it is a reality!! I will post pics of my new place when I can as my digital camera was sent back to the manufacturer for repairs.

As for poker, I was on a downswing ever since being in Las Vegas for the roadtrip, but that all changed the weekend before Labor Day. I chopped the weekly Borgata $280 for 19K that weekend. I have only played this tourney 7 times ever and have chopped for first twice now in a tourney that averages over 400 players. I’ve had a sick run in this tourney thus far. I ran super hot in this tourney though as I got it AI PF twice against QQ w/ 2 undercards and won both times. Once I had the big stack, I used my chips as a battering ram opening many pots PF. On the bubble, I took down 14 of 20 pots uncontested. With 27 players left, I had one-sixth of the chips in play. I was really happy with my end game and felt satisfied that I closed out the deal once again. There are very few opportunities when you get to the end of large field tourneys and you have to make the most of these chances when you get them.

Right now I have been playing at Borgata everyday as the WPT is in town. I am loving the action, but have no time to get settled into my new place. I have been grinding $250 and $500 SNGs and played in three NL WPT preliminary events thus far. At the end of the WPT, I will let you guys know how I made out for the duration of the events. In the first tourney of the WPT which was a $500 NLHE event, I started to chat with this kid across from me. He tells me that he’d been grinding MTT for a couple years now, but just had a big score in the Poker Stars Million. I asked him if he was familiar with the tworags website and he responded yes and then I realized I was playing mlagoo!! This just shows how small the poker community is. Anyways mlagoo got knocked out on one of the worst tournament plays I’ve ever seen. The blinds were 75-150 and mlagoo was in the BB with about 3000 in chips. There were 4 limpers and went it came to mlagoo he popped it up to 750 to go. One of the limpers in MP was short stacked so he called AI to mlagoo’s raise and then the SB also called the PF raise. The flop came T52 rainbow, SB checked, and mlagoo went AI for about 2K. The SB instant called with T5o and mlagoo was felted. After the hand, the SB mentioned how he thought mlagoo was stealing from the BB and that’s why he called even though the pot was contested. This play just shows how soft live MTT are!! I feel for you mlagoo and sorry if I took away your thunder for your next blog.

I’m heading out to get some rest for the remainder of the WPT events, but I will make a big effort to keep you guys updated as often as possible!