Ramblings

Last week, I played live for the first time in a long time. This was also the first time that I’ve played poker in months. Since the government ban on poker and the overall poker world, I’ve been hesitant to play. The problem was two fold- for one, I was scared for my money. The poker world is the definition of unstable at the moment, with sites going under, the government shutting things down, new legislation each day, etc. The second was that my heart simply wasn’t in it.

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

Live Trip Report 1/1/12

orange — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:22:21 +0000

So my friend really wanted to go play live poker at the Horseshoe and I decided to join.

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.

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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”.
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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!!”

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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).

Workout Log December 4-11th

orange — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:39:49 +0000

Did straight cardio from Monday to Saturday, taking one day off (can’t recall the day). I did a mix of bike, running, and swimming. I usually did a mix of each (maybe 2 of each for each day). I’m trying to improve my overall cardio and with the shitty weather, it’s a bit harder than usual. I briefly flirted with the idea of training for a triathlon but I doubt I’ll do it.

My swimming has improved greatly over the past few weeks. I’d like to get to the point where I can do 1/2-1 mile swimming fairly easily. Not quite there yet though.

This saturday I was able to return to climbing. I’ve taken about 3 weeks + off from any serious climbing session in hopes to heal my hand. My finger is still screwed up and I’m fairly sure it’s a tendon problem. I’ve heard varying reports of other finger injuries from climbing friends, and these injuries generally take months to heal. One friend said it took him 9 months to get back to full strength.

I think mine will probably take another 2 or so months. It’s getting better and I’m happy that it’s improving. The amount of enjoyment I get out of climbing is unparalleled and I’m so happy I can start climbing again.

It’s crazy how much one thing has changed my life. I can genuinely say that rock climbing has changed my life in many ways. I’ll probably write a blog post on the subject later this week if I’m not lazy.

Nutrition: Not really the best this week. With the holidays here, I have been eating alot more sweets than usual. Portion sizing has been awful as well and I haven’t really controlled it much. With college football ending here, I should be able to get my diet under control a little bit though.