I’ve been playing poker in a serious manner for several years. I ate, drank, slept poker. And I can truly look back and say that poker has changed my life.

And so all things must come to an end. Though poker will forever be embedded in my life (most importantly in the way I approach situations and my thought process behind my actions), I did not want to do it anymore as a living. Burnt out, sick of it, fatigued, call it what you will. I couldn’t do it. And though poker is insanely lucrative when you’re passionate and hungry, it’s a demon when you’re sick of it. Sure, you can maintain a huge hourly and make insane amounts of money from the comfort of your couch. But when the fire is gone and you just go into grind robot mode, and your money goes. You don’t get reprimanded by your boss or have clients bitch at you, you just lose your money. People putting their hand in your bank account and grabbing cash on the way out.

Being out of poker the last several months, it’s been different. I’ve tried looking for jobs, with no avail. And so here I am, a college graduate with a useless ass degree and only the skills of a scum bag hustler poker player.

My friend linked me this video a while back. I laughed about it and I actually think it might be true. It’s a scene from Superfly, a story about a cocaine dealer trying to get out of the life.

You know – you got this fantasy in your head of gettin’ out of the life and settin’ that other world on it’s head. What the fuck are you gonna do except hustle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwtsRUii8h4

Maybe it’s what I’ll do for the rest of my life. I have no idea. I find that clip amusing, though, because some of my friends really will try to ride poker out as long as they can. And after, when the money is gone and the fish have expired, what happens then?

So, here we are. Last week, I played poker for the first time in a long while. And even though I was bored at times, even though I was rusty, and even though I didn’t play my A-game through and through, I felt alive. God, it’s hilarious writing this, because I am reminded by Mike McD all those years ago when watching Rounders. I even went through the trouble of finding the clip on the internet to refresh yourselves-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85DIbBYs86o&feature=related#t=3m52s

I didn’t win much. But the sheer sensation of playing poker again, it felt good. I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t play(ed) poker to understand this post in the least. But to go back and find a former passion and act on it- it was exhilarating.

I’m going to still try to find a job this coming year. I’ll also consider playing more live.

Peace

There weren’t many people at the casino, sadly enough. I played 1/3NL. Hands:

First hand I observe: Old guy open limps and then bets $45 into a $12 pot. I chuckle as everyone folds and thank Jesus for putting me to his left. Third hand in, I pick up 44 and overlimp after a few. Stacks range all over the place and everyone looks to be pretty idiotic. Flop 4 J 3r I bet and get two calls, including the old guy. Turn 2x, I bet semi decent since I know the old guy is peeling everything and both fold.

I overlimp a few more hands and generally just fold them or don’t do much.

A5 I overlimp otb after a billion limp in front. Flop 5 4 2. Checked to MP, who bets 1/4th pot. Ohio state fan (actually one of the better players at the table) Raises to $20, I cold call $20. MP thinks and the dealer makes a mistake and turns the card (6). MP spazes out and floor is called, eventually leading to MP folding in a hysterical fashion. Dealer does the new turn (T) and Ohio State c/f-s to my bet.

———————————————————————
I observe some funny hands after that. Old guy from initial hand limps J2o and calls all three streets (pot/pot/shove from a semi shorty redneck to my left) on a JxxxA board and loses to AJ. Redneck is like 300 pounds with a camo hat and a Cabelas shirt and mutters “God, I thought I was beat”.

Old guy then limp/calls a raise preflop from SB. Flop J 2 5. Old guy flats pot bet in position. Turn T and insta flats a big bet again. River bricks and the SB insta checks in a dejected fashion. Old guy checks back Q4 and the SB shows KK, saying “I thought you had me”.
———————————————————————-
I pick up my first semi playable hand all night long with KJ and raise a limper in EP. This is probably a preflop mistake but I was getting bored. Got several callers.

Flop: Q J 2 , I bet like 2/3rds pot and get called in 2 spots. One guy was a middle aged asian who loved to play a bunch of pots. The other was a pretty nitty older guy who I’ll call Steelers (for his hat) who showed signs of retardation (would go to war by l/c-ing 63 and then overvaluing his draws on a 45Tx board).

Turn : 2x. I thought about betting again but both players were both semi short and didn’t want to get shoved on. Steelers checks to me, I check, and asian checks as well.

River: Qx. Steelers insta checks, I check, hoping to bluff catch, azn obliges by betting $60 into a $110ish pot. Steelers insta folds and I call pretty quickly. Azn mucks and I win. Other old moron says “wow, GREAT call!” and i mutter “yeah, the river was really tough!!”

———————————————————

Old guy eventually busts. He went through $400 or so in the quickest manner possible. I took his super short stack one hand where I raised AT and beat his A2 on a 348 board.

There weren’t really any other hands to note. I won several other pots preflop or by c-betting the flop. I stole some straddled pots. There was one hand where UTG opened to $15 and I look down at KK. I get my chips ready for a reraise and everyone is throwing their hands in the middle. I hear it’s a misdeal and mutter “ah, had Kings” and throw them to the dealer. UTG says “You’re killing me dealer” and shows Aces. Probably just dodged one there.

The table really died down overall after the old guy left. Everyone was playing insanely passive and super nitty overall. I found myself making some idiotic mistakes out of boredom, namely raising some poor hands and making stupid bluffs that failed miserably. I decided to call it a day and went to go watch my friend play for 2 hands.

He was up about $200 and then lost all of it by flatting a 3-bet with AK and going broke on a 3 4 Q board, losing all of his profit. I bought us some chicken fried steaks (one true joy at the casino) and walked away with a marginal profit (like $140 or something). ]]> http://www.orange87.com/2012/01/live-trip-report-1112/feed/ 0 http://www.orange87.com/2011/05/where-were-im-at-now-poker/ http://www.orange87.com/2011/05/where-were-im-at-now-poker/#comments Sun, 08 May 2011 04:58:42 +0000 orange http://www.orange87.com/?p=771 It’s been a few weeks since Black Friday and the overall poker landscape hasn’t changed much. UB/AP is still shady as hell, and the money on those sites are being sold for $.30 on the dollar. Some crazy risk takers are buying up all the UB money and might make a ridiculous profit if UB actually checks out and stays open/gives $ out.

Since the breakdowns, Poker Stars and UB have had their Costa Rica offices raided. Stars has released money to Americans but FTP has yet to follow suit. I feel confident that my money on FTP will be returned; the only question is when.

The end of poker in the U.S. (for the most part) is such a strange feeling for many of us. We ate, drank, and slept thinking about poker for the past 3-5 years. Poker is not only a central monetary significance in our lives, but also a part of our identity- while our friends were getting drunk partying, we were sitting in our dorms grinding our asses off. Or while our friends were bitching about a $15 parking ticket, we were trading pots for thousands of dollars.

There was a thread on 2+2 asking what the significance of 2+2 has had in your life. Other than my family and friends, 2+2 (and poker) has arguably been one of the largest influence in my life. For the past 4 years, I’ve thought of myself not as a student or an aspiring teacher or whatever, but a poker player. While I knew that this was never going to be a lifelong career, I didn’t think it’d end like this. I wanted to leave when I was ready,  on my own terms. While I haven’t played a ton of hands the last few years (or ever I guess), the hope for a rejuvenation of my poker career was always there.

I’m like so many other poker players right now- living in the tail end of a strange fantasy life, where we can wake up at 2pm, have zero responsibility or schedule, the ability to make hundreds (or thousands) an hour, all at the comfort of our own computer and home. While this isn’t necessarily gone forever, the poker economy in the U.S. is temporarily diminished. I have a few friends moving out of the country to play for a few years longer, delaying adulthood like a group of Lost Boys and living the dream.

This will be a new stage for many of us. I wrote a post a few weeks ago on the future of poker players…how strange that that post is now more relevant to myself, just a short time later. The jobs I listed are still there. Overall, there is no time table on poker regulation in the U.S., if ever.

I don’t want to make this a ‘goodbye to poker’ post- I’ll continue to play. One day that post will come; however. I’m already getting a bit too emo for my liking in this post, so I’ll end it here. Maybe I’ll add more later, we’ll see.

HERE

Was a fun time.

HERE

Also, the Department of Justice has allowed Full Tilt and PokerStars to release U.S. money. The report is here

So we’ll all be getting our money. The time table is up in the air and we aren’t sure when we’re going to get our money.

Will be interesting to see the poker landscape a year from now.