Wow, apologies for taking so long in between posts. I thought I had written something last week.

I barely played any FTOPS events. I couldn't quite raise enough money, and I turned out to be too busy away from the tables-- I couldn't even make it out to Fresno. In short, my niece came to visit me about a week and a half ago; last week I went home to visit my family and have my permanent replacement teeth installed; and Saturday was my birthday. Between all of those things, it's left little time for poker.

I've started to feel better about my game, though. I'd been pressuring myself too hard to make money until recently, and it was affecting my play. I really relaxed and loosened up and I think it helped a lot. For example, I bubbled the Sunday Million this week, and on a pretty aggressive / questionable play, but I had also made a bunch of other aggressive plays that had worked and helped me build a big stack (in fact, before I busted, I lost a flip that would have put me top-3 in chips on the bubble).

I've been moving back to heads-up NL cash, as well, where I feel my edge is even more pronounced when I'm playing well. It fits my lifestyle better, too; tournament poker is a time commitment and very psychologically draining. Heads-up cash is easier to play in short sessions, which fits me because I value having flexible time. It's also more consistent than tournament poker (well, what isn't?), and since I'm spending less time on the road, I'm more interested in making my monthly nut than in a big score. I'll still play tournaments from time to time, when it's worth my while (the WCOOP I'll be selling action to, for sure), but I'm just not as interested in the grind these days. I'd rather hone my skills at a game that allows me to make what I need without too much work, and leaves me the free time to live the rest of my life how I want to live it.

Like an NFL team who bought a couple of expensive free agents to make a Super Bowl run and now finds themselves well over the cap, I'm in rebuilding mode.

I took some time off after Las Vegas to recharge my batteries, and now, reassessing the situation, my expenses there plus a downswing online have put me into rebuilding mode. So I'm pulling up stakes and planning to grind lower limits for the month. Low variance, low stress, good edge. Without any significant travel expenses upcoming, I'll be able to do so without worry that I "need" to make money. I can focus on playing my A game and just watching my bankroll grow. I'll probably mostly play HU NL cash and Stud/8, two games where I feel my edge is relatively large / my variance is relatively low.

I may travel to Club One for the tournament series there in a week, but that'll be a short stay and not a major expense if I do go. Beyond that, I'll also be selling action to the upcoming FTOPS and WCOOP; I certainly can't afford them right now, but it's worth the shot to try to make some extra money-- my tournament A-game is as good as it's ever been, and I've gotten better at playing it more consistently, for longer periods of time.

Well, I've been home for a week now, just unwinding. Very little playing poker-- I tried for a couple days, but I still needed to decompress before I can play well.

However, I've got a few things up-and-coming there. I'm going to transition more to cash games; my goal from here on forward is to identify whereever my biggest edge is, and take it. That could be in any game; I've got to be properly rolled for the game and prepared to play it well.

I've also begun coaching MTTs. I've received some interest since I've been back, so I'm looking to take on a few more students and see how it goes. I feel good about the sessions I've run so far; I find it pretty easy to talk about the game while it's going on, and about what I would be doing and why, how I think about tournaments.

I don't have any specific plans to play tournaments until the FTOPS; I'll be selling action for that (and the WCOOP as well). While the FTOPS is going on, I'm going to hit the tournaments at Club One for a weekend in August. The weekend after that is my birthday, so I plan to be home and celebrate that appropriately.

One more thing: Since I'm often not playing too much poker, I don't feel I have much poker-related to write about. I've been working on a couple longer entries that are more than strictly just blog entries; more essays about things I think and how I approach things, in specific and broad senses. However, to my reading audience, I ask: Would you care to read about anything in my non-poker life? I feel like I've done a few things and could share a few stories, and they're probably good reading, even if they aren't about poker I want to gauge interest before I start putting up content about anything besides poker.

Not very interesting. I raised ATo and won the blinds and antes; I raised A7o on the button and folded to a shove (he showed AQo); I shoved AKo over a raise, got called by TT, and lost.

My goal for the day was not to make any mistakes, and I didn't.

I'm leaving Vegas soon-- not much other reason for me to be here. After some time to decompress, I'll be back to finding a way to make that money... I have a few new ideas I'm working on. Oh, speaking of ideas, I have a couple good ones for blog posts, that I hope to finish soon and post (I'll find motivation one way or another).

I have 38,700 chips. It was a rocky day for me, and I had something to do with that, with my impatience and attempts to make things happen when I didn't need to.

Tomorrow's goal is to stay relaxed and mistake-free. Making the money would also be nice.