Hi all. Sorry I haven't blogged in a few days, but I haven't really had anything to talk about. I'm still waiting on information about a lot of apartments in the AC area so there is nothing new to report there. I only put in a small session at 25NL of FTP and had a small $10 win. I played a few tourneys the .10 rebuy, $1 rebuy and the $1 Ferguson which I played last night. I did well in all of them while only cashing in the Ferguson. I did a great job of picking spots to be aggressive and getting max value on my big hands. I final tabled this tourney, made a big mistake PF and ended up having to win a race to stay alive which didn't work out. I finished 5th and took home $58.

This has given me tons of confidence and I am looking forward to booking a couple big cash wins.

Talk to you soon.

Today was my first session at 25NL and I was mixed about my results. I sat for 5 minutes short of 2 hours and played 146 hands(1 tabling). But before I go into my play I want to talk about some of the things I have noticed in my game during this downswing I have been having. The first is I am winning a lot of small pots when I am flopping HUGE nut type hands. I have to attribute this to my lack of aggression pre-flop as well as just making some minor mistakes, like weather I should lead or or c/r in certain situations and trying to figure out which is the most profitable. When I 4 table, I am not able to think long or hard enough to figure out which of many options would be my best so I decided it would be best for me to 1 table until I am more comfortable with my decision making online. I also am making large mistakes in big pots too often to be profitable. That is not something I need to work on, that is something that needs to stop right now. I know I play much better than my opposition, but I haven't been recently. I know the only reason I broke even last month was because my opponents play so bad. That isn't going to fly this month. I am not dedicated to breaking even or winning money or moving up like I was in the past; I am dedicated to making the correct decision, thinking and planning my hands, and lastly improving my game. 4 tabling was taking away from me improving my game because I was not able to think long or hard enough about what was the right thing to do. I also was lacking in my post game analysis of my session, that is going to change as well (this blog will certainly help).

As for the session, it started of sloooow. I basically didn't pick up anything worth playing until at least 20-30 mins in. I had a lot of raising in front of me or just no cards worth raising in position to try and take pots down. I also was unable to pick up any pots post flop in position because one player was leading out on almost every flop and I had nothing to call or raise him with really. I had no real reads on this player until later in the session.

Here was my first mistake (minor one, but I think I could have gotten some more value possibly):

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 9 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $17.75
Hero (BB): $25.35
UTG: $17.15
UTG+1: $23.45
MP1: $13.85
MP2: $26.70
MP3: $87.70
CO: $12.90
BTN: $24.05

Preflop: Hero is dealt 2 5 (9 Players)
5 folds , CO raises to $0.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.25

probably a really questionable call OOP, but I was looking to flop a big hand for really cheap and the stacks were pretty deep.

Flop: ($1.10) T 5 A (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50

Now I don't this this was a mistake at all. If the villan has an A I have a significant amount of outs here in my mind because I consider 9 hearts as outs. I can rep a flush on a turned heart in this spot and take it down often because the avg uNL player will not be betting their FD's. I also consider my 3 2's and 2 5's as outs which gives me 14 to win the pot. 14x4= 56 so I am a slight favorite in theory to win this pot. So this is why I elected to call on an A high board in a raised pot.

Turn: ($2.10) 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $0.75, Hero raises to $4.35 CO folds...

This is where i think my mistake was (after discussing it over with a friend of mine, thanks Dr. Foulk). This is a perfect spot to lead on both the turn and the river. I am way ahead against the villan's range here and I can either get him to raise me on the turn or call me on both the turn and the river with an A here which is his most likely holding (I figured him for something like Axsuited). C/Ring the turn here gives away how strong my hand is here while a lead also does it can be more profitable in the long run winning me probably a $1 or 2 more. Granted this is a small pot but I think these were the things I wasn't doing during my downswing that I need to do in order to break out of it.

Then this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 9 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

Villan is 29/8.67/6.8 through 150 hands. He has show me that he is super aggressive post flop basically stupidly aggressive in a lot of spots.

SB: $26.65
Hero (BB): $25.00
UTG: $24.05
UTG+1: $18.25
MP1: $15.65
MP2: $26.50
MP3: $85.95
CO: $26.45
BTN: $24.50

Preflop: Hero is dealt 5 A (9 Players)
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.25, 4 folds, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.60) 2 6 5 (2 Players)
Hero bets $0.35, MP2 calls $0.35

Turn: ($1.30) 6 (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00

This is a spot where I thought my hand was good against my opponents betting range. Yes he could be betting with a 6 but based on his stupid aggression that he has been showing me most of the session I figured I had positive equity at this point. I also knew I wasn't committed to the hand either so I chose to keep the pot small and hope a club doesn't come off and I get to see a showdown.

River: ($3.30) T (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP2 bets $2.00, Hero calls $2.00

If I called on the turn with a solid read thinking my hand was good then I don't see how I can fold here. He did bet out rather quickly which I really read as strength, but I still felt my read was solid.

Pot Size: $7.30 ($0.35 Rake)

MP2 had T A (two pair, Tens and Sixes) and WON (+$3.35)
Hero had 5 A (two pair, Sixes and Fives) and LOST (-$3.60)

And well, it was...until the river of course. I could have folded the hand on the river, but I think if I fold in this spot I am probably folding to too many river bets as I did show weakness on the turn. Now i wish a club did come off...river prob goes check check and I take down the pot. This pot upset me a bit, but things like this are part of the game.

I lost a few more pots (one with a dumb misclick) and found myself down $20.5 when this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker - No Limit Hold'em Cash Game - $0.10/$0.25 Blinds - 9 Players - (LegoPoker Hand History Converter)

SB: $38.20
BB: $84.95
UTG: $25.15
UTG+1: $18.90
MP1: $14.65
Hero (MP2): $25.20
MP3: $33.30
CO: $21.70
BTN: $19.10

Preflop: Hero is dealt J 8 (9 Players)
UTG calls $0.25, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB checks

Flop: ($1.50) 6 7 9 (6 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, MP1 bets $1.00, Hero calls $1.00, 4 folds

Turn: ($3.50) 5 (2 Players)
MP1 bets $1.50, Hero calls $1.50

River: ($6.50) 3 (2 Players)
MP1 bets $2.50, Hero raises to $14.00, MP1 calls all-in for $9.40

My friend didn't like my river shove there. He said he would min-raise in that spot, I assumed it was because of the likelihood that we would be splitting the pot. I was not on tilt, but I clearly was looking to make some of the money back that I had lost throughout the session so I was dedicated to taking this punk to valuetown and luckily he had a strong enough hand for me to do so.

villan showed AA

Well, its late and I am beat. Overall I am very happy with my play. The session was filled with bad cards and a tough beat/situation or two, but overall I though that was some of the better poker I have played recently. I ended up -3.7 on the day which I am OK with considering the events that occurred during the session (such as a $10 misclick)Thanks for reading everyone, goodnight and good luck at the tables.

P.S. None of the landlords and I was hoping to hear from today called me. One I think is clearly standing me up and the other I assume they are in the process of checking out all my info and I do really expect a call back with in the next day or so. I also have another property in the works, but she is unsure if she wants to rent to a person my age because of a bad experience. So she wants to meet me. I told her I would let her know when I can come down, but today I thought why do I need to go 2 hours out of my way to prove to her that I am a good person? If I am in the area I'll let her know I will be around, but I am not going out of my way to talk to her for what maybe 20 minutes where shes not going to know if I am a good person or not. I hope to have good news in this area in the next blog or two.

So I am back again from another trip from the Atlantic City area. It was a productive trip, but it did not go the way I had wanted it to. First, there was tons of traffic on the Parkway so it took a lot longer than expected to get down to the first house. Because of the delay, the landlord was not able to meet with me which means I have to take another 2 hour trip down sometime next week I assume to meet with him if he approves of my (and my co-signers) application/credit report. I don't see why he wouldn't, but still keep those fingers crossed. I did get to see the area of the first apartment as well as the outside of the place. It is a Victorian home that is split into 4 separate apartments. Mine is on the bottom floor which I am not too excited about, but what are you gonna do? The area was a bit hicky and note developed the way I would like, but again I am taking what I can get right now. I am looking forward to seeing the inside of the place because it looks like its a fairly large 1 bedroom 1 bath compared to all the other places I have been looking.

After that, we make our way to the next apartment calling the landlord on the way. He doesn't answer and never returned any of my calls which really upsets me. This is the place that I had a really great feeling about. It is a much much smaller place, but its also a lot closer to A.C. and its one block from the beach. It clearly had its positives, but I don't know about the size it looks really small. I wish I could have seen the inside, but it seems to me that the landlord may not want to sell to me or something. I also think he gave me his work number by accident, which why would he been in the office on a Saturday. I am nervously waiting for a call possibly Monday from him when he goes to work and gets my message.

So basically I have nothing new to report. Well I do have one thing, if one of these places don't work all my plans of the past year are going to fall apart. I have set myself up with a backup plan just incase everything falls apart. The next few days are going to change my life one way or another. I may be living in a completely new place on my own for the first time or I may be stuck at home like a little immature jobless baby. If I don't get down there and in dealers school by the end of the month I will not have gained the experience needed to earn myself a cash dealing job by the time the spring rolls around. If that does not happen I will not be able to afford grad school and may be forced to take out another loan.

Within the next few days I would love to get all this stress out of the way and begin to start posting some hands and some of the learning and mistakes that I am going through. It has been a long few months and everything is coming down to right now. I can't play under this kind of stress. I have a hard enough time taking beats as it is right now (I am on a horrible downswing/horrible play time) so playing now will enhance those emotions even more. I have been snapping at people all week, I am usually a very passive person, but this whole situation is consuming me. Cross those fingers guys.

Hi again guys, I am back from Atlantic City this morning as I took a quick one night trip down. I didn't play unfortunately, but I was able to get some answers to a lot of questions that I have been having about where to live when I move down and also about potential jobs after I finish dealing school.

We will first start with the living situation. I found a really cheap apartment complex in Atlantic City online and I called them on the phone two days ago to confirm that I can come down and take a look at the place. I drive about 1/2 a mile past the last casino on the boardwalk, the Showboat. All of a sudden I am in the Ghetto. People have told me don't live in A.C., look for places outside of Atlantic City. Now that I know why people were telling me that I will never look there again.

So, I started off the day with a few drinks in the room then I watched my friend play some table games and then we went out for his 22nd birthday at a sports bar on the pier across from Caesars. It had amazing food and a decent price for beers at $4. It's not a great price, but certainly manageable for me. We got wasted had a great time, watched the football game and then left. We went back to Caesars and my friends played some more table games and I went to bed. The only reason I went down was to do a little celebrating my friends 22nd and to rule out the A.C. apartments that I was looking to rent. The big party for him is tonight and I am going back to the Atlantic City area tomorrow to visit rental house properties all over.

Since I have been home 11am Eastern Time I have been calling properties all over the place and I am running into the same problem a lot. I just graduated college which in turn means I have no credit. I am moving to the area to get a job (I don't have one yet) and also togo back to school to become a teacher. So many of the places I am calling want me to give a credit report as well as show them pay stubs or even have a monthly income of 3x 1-months rent. I am sorry, but I can't do that! So I then move to the next most logical question, if I get my parents to co-sign with me can their credit and payroll count towards mine? My parents have agreed for the first time in 8 years (all the years I have had some sort of income) to help me out if I couldn't pay the rent. Most places will let me have a co-signer for the credit report, but they won't for my Income check. I am still waiting on about 4 people to call me back, but one place is looking really great. They seem to be cool with my parents co-signing its only $700 a month which is one of the cheapest I have seen and the landlord is willing to meet me on short notice tomorrow. Cross your fingers.

As for dealing, its going to be a struggle. Since we stayed at Caesars and the fact that its one of my top choices I decided to stop by the poker room and talk to a floorman. He was incredibly nice and helpful. I will end dealers school towards the end of Oct. He told me to then sign up for the WSOP Circuit event in November. From there they will be having a big tournament (I believe a Circuit event also) and then try for the Borgata Winter Poker Open. Now, I'm not moving down to be a tournament dealer as they are not payed very well, but like most jobs hiring people want experience. Tournaments are how I am going to get that experience so I am going to be a nomad for a while before I start making the big bucks dealing cash games. Again, cross your fingers guys.

Hey guys, since this is my first blog we will have to start out with a little background information. I love poker, I have been playing it since the day Robert Varkoni won the WSOP and it was aired on ESPN. I saw a commercial for Partypoker.com and found my way to a number of play money sng's and I was hooked. I enjoyed the game a lot, but the whole play money thing got pretty boring. Fast forward to Spring Break '04, the poker boom is beginning, and I am playing varsity baseball for a small college in P.A. Every year all the college baseball teams across the country take spring break trips to warmer climates to start their season, mine was Florida. We got like $25 per day for food, but I didn't eat much on the trip because I was playing No Limit in the hotel room every night for the whole trip (this probably hurt me because I was a freshman and the senior captain ahead of me just got hurt so I needed all the energy that I could get). I lost every night because I didn't have a clue what I was doing. In comes my competitive nature and I find myself at Barnes and Noble buying Supersystem 2. This gave me an understanding of how to play my cards and somewhat how to bet my hands and stuff. I started beating my home games in college and in my hometown pretty badly.

Summer '04: I make my first deposit of many on FTP (before rakeback or I probably just didn't know what it was, such a bad beat!).

Spring '07: I decide to make my last deposit from my back to an online poker site ever. I deposited $100 on FTP, Subscribed to Live at the Bike, started reading 2+2 (or lurking). I medium stacked 10NL ($5 Buy-ins) for about a month until I reached a $200 bankroll. I quickly reached a $360 bankroll and then hit a rut. The rake, variance, emotions, poor play on my part, and many other factors started to catch up to me. I currently sit on a bankroll of $301. I now have a good friend who is willing to save me from the rake and back me in the 25NL games. I have to put up $15 he puts up $10 (we have all the rest worked out). So I technically now have 20 Buy-ins at 25NL. It will be a few days until I blog/play again since I will be moving to Atlantic City, NJ to become a poker dealer and to get my teaching certification.

Now, in the future this blog should consist of a little more than the average blog. I intend to blog on this mistakes and learning experiences that I will be having throughout my ups and downs. I am sure I will put in a few interesting hands from my dealing job and I also make videos of myself playing online so you will get those here also. I would like this to be a journal of all the mistakes a "new" player (I have so much to learn) will make throughout his growth both as a player and as a person. Poker molds people. It brings out the best and the most horrible traits right to the front so everyone especially yourself can see them. Poker is a game that has enabled me to see flaws in myself I would have never noticed before. I hope my blog will do the same for you.



XXrod17XX