It has been almost a week since my last update so I felt it was necessary to update my blog. I am running a lot better from when the doomswitch hit me on pokerstars. Downswings are the absolute worst they making you question everything about your game. I was thinking about how maybe it was a bad shove here or misplayed hand there but it was just natural variance. The downswing had some effect on my life too. I mean I wasn't out there slappin chicks and being grumpy but I could tell that I was not my normal self. Oh well that is all in the past and now I am actually up on the month. Its funny because even with my large downswing I have still made more this month than I did when I was playing the single table tournaments.
This weekend was busy but not so busy. On Friday I decided to stay in and grind online. Even though I didn't think I would be able to, it looks like I will be able to hit SilverStar before the end of this month so that is also good. On Saturday I ended up going to a MMA Fighting event. It wasn't pro or anything but there were a total of 13 fights on the card from various skills and various types of fighting. The mixed in some MMA, kickboxing, and regular boxing. All in all it was a good time and got to see some people get choked/knocked out. Big ups to Javon Curtis for winning his fight, I know he is not reading this but he still deserves his props.
The rest of the week I will be trying to reach SilverStar while actually going to the gym. I worked out 2x last week and thought that it was a decent start even though I only went twice. On a side note only 6 more days until I am 24 years old. Yikes but at least I am not dead or in jail like the majority of blacks in America :-(. I just want to make it to 25 so I won't be a statistic. Till next time!
wbmustang
Monday, August 25, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Running Terrible
Right now I am running the opposite of Usain Bolt. If you don't know who that is that is the Jamaican that won the 100m in the Olympics. This guy slowed down at the end of the race and actually broke the world record. Anyways, I need to figure out what is going on with my game. My initial reaction is telling me variance because I am down around like 60 bi's. It seemed like I was coming over the hump a little but I still lost. I will probably get a coaching session, look over hands, and have some people sweat me to make sure that my game is not falling off. Oh well, this has been one of the main reasons why I have not posted because I have not been running too great and its kinda frustrating. At first when I was going through the downswing I knew it was bad but not that bad until I looked at sharkscope. I am sure I can get over this hump and not really tripping but I can see that it does start to affect you a little. Oh well at least I get to sit in this cube for 8 hrs sigh. Till next time!
wbmustang
wbmustang
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Vegas Trip + Life + Finances + Madden 09 = Long Post
First of all, I would like to give a shout out to my boys O, Pat, J B, T Rob, and Spur for actually reading my blog. Apparently they had sent a little e-mail with my site address on there and then proceeded to try to clown me. It was pretty funny to me but I know they wish me a lot of success.
Las Vegas was a real good time and I hope to go back before the end of the year. Its a totally different experience that I will never forget. The whole trip I accomplished what I wanted to in the terms of drinking and playing poker. However, while I was accomplishing this I realized that I could never ever EVER live in Las Vegas. The whole trip I though I was under a rock because I was trying to grind out the cash games. It was real funny but kind of sad because of the way I was hearing news. Before I left, I got a call and found out that Bernie Mac died which is kind of messed up. The next day I was playing poker and someone was saying that Isaac Hayes had died I was like no way WTF. As a black man I think I would know things but Las Vegas had jacked me up so much that I didn't know what was going on outside of the casino.
I didn't run the greatest out in Las Vegas but it was always good to see where my game is at. I really see that cash games are so much of a different beast than tournaments and had to pay for that kind of bad a couple of times. There were probably three bad calls I feel I made over the trip playing which is fine by me seeing as I think I played around 24 hrs over the whole trip. I think the estimate was right because you get like $1/hr on the players card and had enough to get two $7 sandwiches comped then had like $10 left. One of these times is when I had QQ and the pot was raised by someone I re-raised and the guy called to put himself all in. The funny thing about it is how long the guy took to call and he showed KK. I was like how are you ever folding in that spot. At the same time I feel that since he was an unknown that I was never folding this hand. Another time I ended going broke again QQ but it was later on in the evening where the games were a lot better. UTG I raise it up to $10 w/QQ, guess I should of made it a lot more and got 7 yes 7 callers. The flop came up with A high with two diamonds. I ended up checking and then it gets to this Dubai'n cat that bet like 75% of the pot. Everyone folded and it gets back to me and I try to get a live tell. Initially I was going to fold but the way the guy really couldn't look me in the eye I really though I had the best had. I reshipped on him and he shows AT. I was kind of mad the way I played that hand and he said that if I would have open shoved or made the shove quicker he would have folded. Later on, I was talking to him and he said he knew I was a good player and that a I would never check and A with two diamonds on the board in that position. I was like wow that is a good point. After that hand I ended up getting lucky against a Swedish guy who opened up $6 UTG everyone folded I call with ATo. The flop came out T59 rainbow. He leads out I call. The turn is an A giving me two pair he leads out again and I insta ship on him. Thank goodness the T fell on the river because he said that he got a set on the flop so I got lucky there. My last hand I got extremely lucky is when I flopped bottom set and did not go broke. I ended up limping w/ 66 and other people limped to make it a 4 way pot. The flop comes out K69 with two clubs on there. I lead out a little under the pot the guy calls. The turn is a black so I lead out again and this time the guy raises me and I was like this is a great situation but then something clicked with me I was like something doesn't feel right for some reason. The river comes a Jh and I check to him partially because I was a little confused I felt like something was up. The guy bets and I just call it down not re raising me. He shows 99 and he proceeds to compliment me on how I don't go busto in that situation. Needless to say I got lucky I didn't stack off right there but something in me told me to hold on. I know I really need to work on my poker stories and telling them with all the action but its kind of funny with me. I got so in the heat of the moment that it gets hard for me to remember specifics. I mean sure I remember specifics during the session but often times than not I forget about hands after the session. Early on that morning though I was playing with an absolute clown. This guy was always making remarks because I was wearing some plaid shorts. He kept saying "Plaid is in?" and I guess it was an inside joke he said with his buddies which was ok. I let it go on for a little bit but then my blackness kicked in and I couldn't take it anymore. I proceeded to roast him for like 5 minutes. I called the guy Mr. Oppie, was cracking on his Yankees camo hat when I told him to take his GI Joe hat off, and then some other guy joined in and was saying "Camo is in?" I then proceeded to let him know that camo has not been in since those No Limit Master P videos. It was a funny time and even funnier when I flopped a set of Kings and stacked his garbage playing self.
Tournament wise I only played the Planet Hollywood one once. It was an $80 buy in and you could rebuy for the first hour if you got busted. The tournament structure was good but the field was very small. Around like 20 people and it was my fault because I was going to play the night before but I got too drunk and passed out more on that later. Basically I was just cruising until the blinds hit the 200/400 level. It was right after break and I was still getting my massage at $2 minute and she threw in 5 minutes for free. Basically it was like $20 fur 15 minutes which didn't seem too bad to me. Anyways, the guy in late position ended up limping and I had around 13bb w/99 obviously I ship he calls with AQ I lose the flip gg me. I guess the massage helped me not take the beat that bad but obv I knew I just lost a flip. I wish I could have played more tournies but all in all it was fun when I played that one.
Now on to some life realizations and about my finances. I felt like I did a terrible job of managing my bank roll in Las Vegas. I initially pulled out money that I was going to spend the whole time I was in Vegas. Well that definitely didn't go according to plan the night were I said I got drunk and passed out. I was pretty pissed and ended up pulling out $200 from the ATM because I was kind of pissed but still wanted to play. First of all I don't like playing when I am drunk and I was drinking all day. Secondly I was mad at myself for taking the $200 out because I am usually good with my finances and level headed but on this occasion I let Las Vegas get to my head. I mean by no means am I broke and can't got w/o eating but it was just very undisciplined. The whole trip I really didn't see my friends that much unless we were eating or drinking up in the room. This is because they love to play the pit games and I am not that big of a fan of them @ all. I felt like my trip in poker I was either break even or up a little which I can complain about. But, I can complain about blowing away my money on those other stupid games. Playing craps or Blackjack is such a leak imo and I won't be playing these games that much ever again. I definitely realized how much I hated these games when I proceeded to lose $160 in Blackjack in the wee hours of Tuesday morning like @ 3am. I was thinking to myself how much I hated the game and was watching the house just rape me and take my money. This is when I realized that I hate all gambling besides poker and an occasional sports bet. Then I started to think about why people have the negative perception of gamblers and it was me at that moment of time. I can only imagine how people who have problems and don't know how to stop just sit there and blow there lives away at the BJ table or rolling craps. But hey, this is how life is. After I ended up losing the money I ended up eating the cheapo steak dinner at like 4am in the morning at Excalibur. It was a good chance to talk to my buddy JP and catch up with him. Even though he was drinking the whole day and I was kind of faded too it was a good conversation. I was just trying to get some perspective on how other people save their money and from what he was telling me he has done a great job. So, I have vowed to make a change in my life and handle my finances more. I need to be saving a lot more than what I am right now but thats alright. Especially to avoid situations like this weekend. I should be separating my savings from my spending instead of the current way I am doing it. Right now I have a savings account that takes out money every week but I should be saving more. I always thought I was real good about must managing my money in my checking account but I am going to have to switch up my style to make sure that I see in my bank account that there is a reason that I am waking up M-F going to this cubicle and working for a reason.
When I got back to Seattle, the first thing I did was call my boy O up and he was talking about the new Madden 09 on the Xbox 360 and I just had to go grab it. It might of been another financially dumb move but hey it was well worth it. I really like the way the game plays, looks, just everything about the game. I proceeded to play him online to rack up my first win on him which was pretty cool. I grabbed one of the interns and we played some more games and I ended up winning some more games. My record so far in total competition 5-3 so not a bad start. Even though I have the new Madden, I need to focus on accomplishing my poker goals and making sure that I put my volume in online instead of playing a game that doesn't pay. I mean Madden is fun and all but I often times fall off my goals when a new video game comes out.
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the super long post. I had a lot to write about and don't know how long it has taken but I think that I have said everything I have wanted to. I may have been too lazy to include some more stories but by that time this post would be WAAAAAAY to long seeing as this one is too long. I hope to get back playing online and being profitable. When I get bored I will be mixing in some $0.05/$0.10 FR NLHE to keep my game on point. To all my buddies having problems with life, poker, and ladies let that stuff go. You only live once so you guys need to start making yourself happy. Of course its easy for me to say these things because I am not going through anything but always remember MOB (Money Over Bitches) :-D!
Las Vegas was a real good time and I hope to go back before the end of the year. Its a totally different experience that I will never forget. The whole trip I accomplished what I wanted to in the terms of drinking and playing poker. However, while I was accomplishing this I realized that I could never ever EVER live in Las Vegas. The whole trip I though I was under a rock because I was trying to grind out the cash games. It was real funny but kind of sad because of the way I was hearing news. Before I left, I got a call and found out that Bernie Mac died which is kind of messed up. The next day I was playing poker and someone was saying that Isaac Hayes had died I was like no way WTF. As a black man I think I would know things but Las Vegas had jacked me up so much that I didn't know what was going on outside of the casino.
I didn't run the greatest out in Las Vegas but it was always good to see where my game is at. I really see that cash games are so much of a different beast than tournaments and had to pay for that kind of bad a couple of times. There were probably three bad calls I feel I made over the trip playing which is fine by me seeing as I think I played around 24 hrs over the whole trip. I think the estimate was right because you get like $1/hr on the players card and had enough to get two $7 sandwiches comped then had like $10 left. One of these times is when I had QQ and the pot was raised by someone I re-raised and the guy called to put himself all in. The funny thing about it is how long the guy took to call and he showed KK. I was like how are you ever folding in that spot. At the same time I feel that since he was an unknown that I was never folding this hand. Another time I ended going broke again QQ but it was later on in the evening where the games were a lot better. UTG I raise it up to $10 w/QQ, guess I should of made it a lot more and got 7 yes 7 callers. The flop came up with A high with two diamonds. I ended up checking and then it gets to this Dubai'n cat that bet like 75% of the pot. Everyone folded and it gets back to me and I try to get a live tell. Initially I was going to fold but the way the guy really couldn't look me in the eye I really though I had the best had. I reshipped on him and he shows AT. I was kind of mad the way I played that hand and he said that if I would have open shoved or made the shove quicker he would have folded. Later on, I was talking to him and he said he knew I was a good player and that a I would never check and A with two diamonds on the board in that position. I was like wow that is a good point. After that hand I ended up getting lucky against a Swedish guy who opened up $6 UTG everyone folded I call with ATo. The flop came out T59 rainbow. He leads out I call. The turn is an A giving me two pair he leads out again and I insta ship on him. Thank goodness the T fell on the river because he said that he got a set on the flop so I got lucky there. My last hand I got extremely lucky is when I flopped bottom set and did not go broke. I ended up limping w/ 66 and other people limped to make it a 4 way pot. The flop comes out K69 with two clubs on there. I lead out a little under the pot the guy calls. The turn is a black so I lead out again and this time the guy raises me and I was like this is a great situation but then something clicked with me I was like something doesn't feel right for some reason. The river comes a Jh and I check to him partially because I was a little confused I felt like something was up. The guy bets and I just call it down not re raising me. He shows 99 and he proceeds to compliment me on how I don't go busto in that situation. Needless to say I got lucky I didn't stack off right there but something in me told me to hold on. I know I really need to work on my poker stories and telling them with all the action but its kind of funny with me. I got so in the heat of the moment that it gets hard for me to remember specifics. I mean sure I remember specifics during the session but often times than not I forget about hands after the session. Early on that morning though I was playing with an absolute clown. This guy was always making remarks because I was wearing some plaid shorts. He kept saying "Plaid is in?" and I guess it was an inside joke he said with his buddies which was ok. I let it go on for a little bit but then my blackness kicked in and I couldn't take it anymore. I proceeded to roast him for like 5 minutes. I called the guy Mr. Oppie, was cracking on his Yankees camo hat when I told him to take his GI Joe hat off, and then some other guy joined in and was saying "Camo is in?" I then proceeded to let him know that camo has not been in since those No Limit Master P videos. It was a funny time and even funnier when I flopped a set of Kings and stacked his garbage playing self.
Tournament wise I only played the Planet Hollywood one once. It was an $80 buy in and you could rebuy for the first hour if you got busted. The tournament structure was good but the field was very small. Around like 20 people and it was my fault because I was going to play the night before but I got too drunk and passed out more on that later. Basically I was just cruising until the blinds hit the 200/400 level. It was right after break and I was still getting my massage at $2 minute and she threw in 5 minutes for free. Basically it was like $20 fur 15 minutes which didn't seem too bad to me. Anyways, the guy in late position ended up limping and I had around 13bb w/99 obviously I ship he calls with AQ I lose the flip gg me. I guess the massage helped me not take the beat that bad but obv I knew I just lost a flip. I wish I could have played more tournies but all in all it was fun when I played that one.
Now on to some life realizations and about my finances. I felt like I did a terrible job of managing my bank roll in Las Vegas. I initially pulled out money that I was going to spend the whole time I was in Vegas. Well that definitely didn't go according to plan the night were I said I got drunk and passed out. I was pretty pissed and ended up pulling out $200 from the ATM because I was kind of pissed but still wanted to play. First of all I don't like playing when I am drunk and I was drinking all day. Secondly I was mad at myself for taking the $200 out because I am usually good with my finances and level headed but on this occasion I let Las Vegas get to my head. I mean by no means am I broke and can't got w/o eating but it was just very undisciplined. The whole trip I really didn't see my friends that much unless we were eating or drinking up in the room. This is because they love to play the pit games and I am not that big of a fan of them @ all. I felt like my trip in poker I was either break even or up a little which I can complain about. But, I can complain about blowing away my money on those other stupid games. Playing craps or Blackjack is such a leak imo and I won't be playing these games that much ever again. I definitely realized how much I hated these games when I proceeded to lose $160 in Blackjack in the wee hours of Tuesday morning like @ 3am. I was thinking to myself how much I hated the game and was watching the house just rape me and take my money. This is when I realized that I hate all gambling besides poker and an occasional sports bet. Then I started to think about why people have the negative perception of gamblers and it was me at that moment of time. I can only imagine how people who have problems and don't know how to stop just sit there and blow there lives away at the BJ table or rolling craps. But hey, this is how life is. After I ended up losing the money I ended up eating the cheapo steak dinner at like 4am in the morning at Excalibur. It was a good chance to talk to my buddy JP and catch up with him. Even though he was drinking the whole day and I was kind of faded too it was a good conversation. I was just trying to get some perspective on how other people save their money and from what he was telling me he has done a great job. So, I have vowed to make a change in my life and handle my finances more. I need to be saving a lot more than what I am right now but thats alright. Especially to avoid situations like this weekend. I should be separating my savings from my spending instead of the current way I am doing it. Right now I have a savings account that takes out money every week but I should be saving more. I always thought I was real good about must managing my money in my checking account but I am going to have to switch up my style to make sure that I see in my bank account that there is a reason that I am waking up M-F going to this cubicle and working for a reason.
When I got back to Seattle, the first thing I did was call my boy O up and he was talking about the new Madden 09 on the Xbox 360 and I just had to go grab it. It might of been another financially dumb move but hey it was well worth it. I really like the way the game plays, looks, just everything about the game. I proceeded to play him online to rack up my first win on him which was pretty cool. I grabbed one of the interns and we played some more games and I ended up winning some more games. My record so far in total competition 5-3 so not a bad start. Even though I have the new Madden, I need to focus on accomplishing my poker goals and making sure that I put my volume in online instead of playing a game that doesn't pay. I mean Madden is fun and all but I often times fall off my goals when a new video game comes out.
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the super long post. I had a lot to write about and don't know how long it has taken but I think that I have said everything I have wanted to. I may have been too lazy to include some more stories but by that time this post would be WAAAAAAY to long seeing as this one is too long. I hope to get back playing online and being profitable. When I get bored I will be mixing in some $0.05/$0.10 FR NLHE to keep my game on point. To all my buddies having problems with life, poker, and ladies let that stuff go. You only live once so you guys need to start making yourself happy. Of course its easy for me to say these things because I am not going through anything but always remember MOB (Money Over Bitches) :-D!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Running Terrible & Vegas
Well, I am not gonna lie and tell you I am on a heater but I have been running kind of bad. Even though it is a small sample I am definitely down in the month of August. I played a lot yesterday to try to get back on track to get SilverStar and was getting destroyed. Sometimes it was due to me making stupid calls for my chip stacks so I gotta be really focused and need to tighten up my game. I definitely found out the hard way about calling on the bubble with 44 :-s. There were a couple of times I was at the final table and didn't finish as high as I wanted to. I think I might only have like one 45 man win this month but could be exaggerating really bad. Hopefully it won't take me long to clear the turbulence and get back to crushing. I think I might go over some hands and study when I get back to make sure I am back on track.
On a side note I am really excited to go to Las Vegas this weekend. I plan on playing the tournament at Planet Hollywood @ least twice because it is the most bang for my buck. I will dibble and dabble in some $1/$2 so that should be good as well. I am just ready to get out of Seattle but specifically this cubicle for a couple of days. I really miss college because you have your own schedule and you do what you want during the day. Now I am relegated to work for "The Man" for 40 hrs a week but oh well. I will post some stuff with results and fun stories when I get back. Wish me luck!
wbmustang
On a side note I am really excited to go to Las Vegas this weekend. I plan on playing the tournament at Planet Hollywood @ least twice because it is the most bang for my buck. I will dibble and dabble in some $1/$2 so that should be good as well. I am just ready to get out of Seattle but specifically this cubicle for a couple of days. I really miss college because you have your own schedule and you do what you want during the day. Now I am relegated to work for "The Man" for 40 hrs a week but oh well. I will post some stuff with results and fun stories when I get back. Wish me luck!
wbmustang
Friday, August 1, 2008
Ship The 1k Month
Well I actually was able to secure my first every 1k month of playing poker. I was hoping I would actually significantly crack the 1k mark but I didn't run the greatest the past couple of days and had to settle for $1,001.37. Although I am mildly complaining, I will take it seeing that it is my most profitable month of playing poker. I really hope that this mark doesn't spoil me and maybe I just ran insanely good but honestly I fell like I can do even better next month. The first session I played yesterday was for like 3 hrs and really couldn't get anything going probably down a little or break even. Then I pulled up my pokertracker and saw that I was short of 1k so I played untill I got it just above it. One hand that really made me kind of mad was at the final table when I finished 8th. A bigger stack that had me covered went all in and I called with AKs and he had J3o. I lost to a straight on the river so that would have put me up closer to 1.1k because I would have had a lot of chips and think I would have won the tournament. It also didn't help that my friend Byron, who I have known since 3rd grade, was in town so I didn't want to be rude and play poker while he was here.
Man its kind of crazy to think about how long we have known each other. He was basically the first person I met when I moved to Denver, CO in the 3rd grade. It's always funny that I say 3rd grade and never remember the actual year that I moved into Denver,CO. Oh well, we were just playing xbox 360, watching movies, and clowning about old times. When we were talking about stuff when we were growing up it was kind of funny because it lets you know how long you have known each other for. It's always good to see Byron and we have a blast whenever we get together.
Below are the graphs for the month of July. The low volume on some tournaments is because I accidentally registered for them and decided to play them out. Earlier in the month I was also trying the $3/18 but didn't like them all that much. I would also accidentally load regular speed $5/45 man and those are terrible because they take so long to complete but oh well.
I have also figured out my goals for this upcoming month. I plan on reaching SilverStar VIP status for the month of August. Normally this wouldn't be this hard but, I will be going to Vegas for like 3 days so that might hurt me a little bit. With working full time, I have to play whenever I get free time so that I can reach this goal. Beside that, I plan on making at least $1k next month. Hopefully next month I will be talking about how I made 2k and that is my biggest month. Till then be easy!
wbmustang
Man its kind of crazy to think about how long we have known each other. He was basically the first person I met when I moved to Denver, CO in the 3rd grade. It's always funny that I say 3rd grade and never remember the actual year that I moved into Denver,CO. Oh well, we were just playing xbox 360, watching movies, and clowning about old times. When we were talking about stuff when we were growing up it was kind of funny because it lets you know how long you have known each other for. It's always good to see Byron and we have a blast whenever we get together.
Below are the graphs for the month of July. The low volume on some tournaments is because I accidentally registered for them and decided to play them out. Earlier in the month I was also trying the $3/18 but didn't like them all that much. I would also accidentally load regular speed $5/45 man and those are terrible because they take so long to complete but oh well.
I have also figured out my goals for this upcoming month. I plan on reaching SilverStar VIP status for the month of August. Normally this wouldn't be this hard but, I will be going to Vegas for like 3 days so that might hurt me a little bit. With working full time, I have to play whenever I get free time so that I can reach this goal. Beside that, I plan on making at least $1k next month. Hopefully next month I will be talking about how I made 2k and that is my biggest month. Till then be easy!wbmustang
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