Purpose of blog

I am not sure why I keep this blog any longer. As a matter of fact, I may go dark.

After some good run on the virtural felt, I have regressed to the mean in Rush Poker. The mistake I have made repeatedly is calling with poor draws, mainly drawing to straights or calling with two pair. I have to stop calling with these as I do not have the proper odds. I really should be working on my game as I am just over a month from vegas. So, I am going to try to watch 2 video's per week and play a bit less.

From a fitness standpoint. I have to get to bed a bit earlier so I can wake up and workout before work.

Hey folks, guess what. I played crap poker last night and lost a bunch of money. In doing so, I overslept and did not make it to the gym this morning. I know, what a surprise.

My lizzard brain has taken over completely.

I will work harder today.

On Monday I went out to lunch instead of going to the gym. I can't believe what I ate. I huge fried fish sandwich and french fries. No wonder I am fat. I am actually finding it hard to get motivated to train right now. Really I am finding it hard to get motivated to do anything right now. Maybe motivated isn't the right word, I am motivated, but I just can't push myself to act. I had my week off and then I went skiing, so basically I had two weeks off. I think I got too used to being a sloth in that time. I am even having a hard time following NROL. I don't know why, I just don't feel like it. I did make it to the gym last night, but I slept in this morning (no doubt a result of drinking coffee before the gym and not being able to get to sleep). I am watching my food again on Livestrong. Hopefully I can shake myself out of this funk.

A little home poker

I had a really good night on Saturday. I bought in for 40 and cashed out for 310, for a nice 270 win. I played relatively tight, and I did play agressive. I did not make too many mistakes. I really stayed away from Billy, Chris and Rick (the regulars) and just went after the newer players, and that is where I made my money.

Here are the steps I took to win:
I did not drink very much
I played position
I folded to resistence

I played a bit on FT last night working on my $50 goal. I already broke one rule, I played 2 games (NLHE and PLO). It did not work out for me too well. I lost money in the PLO game. I did however, make more in NLHE than I lost in PLO, so I am still on track. I must,however, correct my actions. I cannot be a consistent winner multi-tableling. Tonight I will only play one game at a time.

I played my last game of Rush Poker PLO. I lost $30, and that was most of my FT bankroll. I had planned in a previous post not to play it anymore, but last night, I did. This demonstrates that I do not think like a winner. I will change that now.

My new goal for FT will be to raise my bank roll to $50 by year end. I will start by playing .01/.02 and I will move up when my BR gets to 300 BB's for the next level. I can take all year to get to $50. The rules for the challenge are as follows.

Full Tilt from 3 to 50 Challenge
I will only play NLHE ring games.
I will start at .01/.02
I will move up to the next level when I have 300 big blinds for that level
I will only play one game at a time.
I will not play Rush Poker until I have a bank roll of $10.00

I won a money-line bet on the Superbowl. I really like the money line instead of the point-spread, as it is more odds based.

I am supposed to take the week off from the gym. So I have complied. But I think I will try to get there Wed, Thur and Friday. I will ride the bike tonight, just to get some excercise.

On the budget front, I have slacked a bit.

I started watching the +EVolution of a poker player on DC. So far so go, but I have only watched 1/2 hour. Hopefully the combination of that video and Poker Winners Are Different, I can really step up my game. This combo should enable me to really turn a corner in my game. I have 10 weeks until Vegas, but I also have some tax work to do before then so my play will be a bit limited. Still I should watch 2 videos per week and have one HH review system per week. The key here is to ACT ON my desire to win.

Well, I got smacked in the face with a deck of cards again last night while playing Rush Poker. That game has wicked variance, for sure. I am sure I got my money in good twice, and I think I got it in bad the other two, but I lost four buy-ins in any account. This brings me to several conclusions.
A. I am under-bankrolled for this game
B. I am not skilled enough to play PLO

This should not really surprise me, as I have been playing with only five buy-ins AND I have never really studied the game. My early success blinded me to these problems, but my latest failures have only highlighted them.

Reading Poker Winners have really driven home the point that I am playing like a loser. A winner would not make the mistakes that I have as listed above. I am commited to being a poker winner, so I must stop acting like a loser. I will no longer play Rush PLO until I play at least 10 hours at regular plo (.01/.02) and read my PLO book AND the PLO section of Super System.

On the workout front, I am a bit drained. I just finished NROL FL1 and am set for a 1 week break. I don't really want to take a whole week off, but I don't want to lift weights either. I am probably going to do a few workouts from Coach Dos just to keep moving.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

I fucked up again last night. I played Rush Poker last night and lost what little I had left on Full Tilt. I made the same mistakes that I normally make. I am operating in the opposite fashion of what I am reading about in Poker Winners Are Different. I will take a few days off and then reload and refocus.

I blew up on the poker table this weekend. I played Rush Poker and lost all of my bankroll and had to redeposit. If I am going to get real with myself, I have to realize that maybe I am not that good. One thing is for sure, I have been playing 2 games at once, and that has to stop. I have made my February goals and they include some poker-related actions that will help my game for sure.

Looking at my poker game, it like looking at my life. I often know the actions I should take, I just don't take them. In the end, I am not a winner, even though I pretend to be. I will start taking the steps I need to to be a winner in life, like in poker.

I rode the trainer again last night after skiing. I know stead-state cardio is not the ticket to fitness, but it is better than nothing. Next week I will work to get to the gym for some cardio strength training.

I did manage to drag myself out of bed this morning for he gym. I was difficult as I stayed up too late playing cards. As a result, I am tired. I am so tired as a matter of fact, my eyes are dry. Given how tired I am, my workout was surprisingly good.

On the cards front, I played some Rush Poker last night. I got down to $2.5 out of my buy-in of $10 and managed to finish with about $51. I was up a good bit, but then I made a move that was most likely bad (I will pull my hand history and review to be sure), but basically I flopped top set, I knew I had one opponent with a str8 and there was another player whose holdings I was unsure of but I was putting in 33% of the money so I think I had the odds. I did not get there and lost a big pot.

The key to Rush Poker seems to be to raise first in, play agressive and push made hands.

I rode the trainer last night and I made it to the gym this morning, so I am on a roll. I need to watch my diet a bit closer though as my body fat has inched up a bit. We have had too many carbs for dinner, and I have been eating cookies at work. If I work out as planned for the rest of the week, I should be ok.

A beating

I took a terrible beating last night at the o/8 table. I lost 40. The problem is that I played 36% of my hands and I was playing rush poker at the same time. So, I was too loose AND I was multi-tabling while I was at a higher limit than I usually play. This is just a receipe for the kind of disaster that I ran into last night. Really there is no one to blame except for myself.

This leaves me wondering if I really want to win. I mean, I know what I have to do to win, but I do not do it.

I will take a few days off and watch one Dueces Cracked video before I play again on Thursday.

Fun weekend skiing, but I spent too much money. I am certainly off budget. With a trip to Snowshoe coming up, I must strive to save.

On the workout front, I have been slacking there too. I have not foam rolled, and I have slept in. This week should be OK. I have lots of time, so I will be consistent.
I will go to TKD Tues Wed Fri and Sat and I will do gym all 5 days this week. My diet wasn't terrible last week, but it wasn't great either. I have to clean that up.

On the debt side, things did not go as planned. I incurred some credit card debt with the purchase of ATX and my new skis. I will Loan myself 800 to be paid from my CPA practice to cover these costs.

I love Rush Poker. I am not too good at PLO, but am kicking butt in NLHE. As this game is so far +EV, I will keep playing.

Rush Poker

I have been playing Rush Poker on Full Tilt lately. I have to say, it is fun. It has also been profitable. It is not poker as usual though. My stategy has been, play pairs, suited broadways, and connectors late. If I get a set or better, I push all in. So far the strategy has worked.

Long-term, I don't think it will help my game as it forces you to focus only on Level One thinking (only about your hand) as you can't really develop reads on other players. In the short term, it can help my bankroll. I think I should seek some balance. I will play it a bit, just to make some quick money, but I should concentrate on playing full-ring to work on my game.

My weight is down close to 145, but my body fat is up a bit. I don't know what is up with that, but that will self-correct once I dial in my nutrition and fitness.

I have not been able to wake up early. I must go to bed earlier. Tonight, I will try to be in bed by 10. This means no poker.

Yesterday, I registered for Pokertableratings. It confirmed what I already knew. I am too passive. I need to up my agression. This is something that I have known for a while, but now that I am serious about making improvement in my game, I must make this change.

The Shiller PE is still around 20, so I do not need to make any portfolio changes.

Mountaineer trip report

A group of 4 went to Mountaineer on Saturday for some poker. When we got to the hotel, I went straight to the poker room after dropping my bags in the room. The other three went for lunch. I figured I would see them later. I was seated pretty quick in a 1/2 NL game. It was a pretty tough game with moslty people that knew what they were doing. It was a typical live game. Lots of limpers not much raising. There were a few fish. Mark joined my table around 7'ish. I kept my hand selection to pairs and connectors. I lost a bit of money on a hand where I flopped a straight with 2 diamonds on the board. I lead with a pot-sized bet and the player to my right called, he was an agressive and good player, I put him on a flush draw I was called by one other bad player which surprised me. The turn brought a non-diamond J, that only completed a gut-shot straight so I bet. I was called and then RAISED by the not good player. I just knew this guy caught his draw. He did not have the odds needed to call the flop bet, but he did and he got there. I smartly folded. I lost money here, but my read was on.

After that table broke around 2, we moved to another table and I took advantage of a drunk guy that was exposing his cards to get back to even for the night.

On Sunday morning we played. I got down early when I flopped a set, but was against an obvious straight. There was one player between me and the str8 and he was calling, so I figured I had odds. ( I will verify later). I never got there, so I dropped some here. I did make a full house where I stacked another player so I ended up over 100 for the day.

There was a recurring mistake that I made. Not betting on the river when I had the winner. I have to correct his mistake. This cost me. I have to correct this. Bet the river when I have what I think is the winner.

I folded at least once when I was ahead, but that wasn't too bad of a mistake. I also made a few bluffs that didn't work, but I don't think that was a mistake. Twice I failed to bet the River when I was ahead.

I have done some soul-searching over the first two weeks of 2010 and I know what I have to do. I have to get my finances in order as I am working on my fitness. Basically I need to earn more and spend less. I have my plan comitted to writing, but it entails concentrating on my CPA Practice, Poker and my current career. I will need to increase income, no doubt. I will reveiw it every week and I will make progress. I also need to stick to a budget.

Ok Willie, you have it figured out, you have it planned out, now you just have to execute it. This is where your strength is. You have accomplished everything you have planned in this manner. This time will be no different.


1-2-3-go

My fat monitor arrived yesterday. I took some measurements and my body fat is about 16% So, at a wieght of 150, I have 24 pounds of fat, but I am right in the middle of normal, so that is a good sign.

I did not wake up early to run this morning. I will try to get back on track next week.

here are some composition pictures though.

NROL

I am loving the workouts in the New Rules of Lifting. I am seeing some positive changes in my physique. It has only been a short time, but so far it seems to be working. I will post some before and after pictures to better track my progress. Truthfully, I guess I will just post some before pictures tonight. After pictures will occur at the end of my progression. My plan right now is to work through the 3 fat-loss programs and then do the strength programs.

I played some poker last night, but I did not play it well. I had quad sevens with a guy betting into me, and I still ended the session down. The reason is that I played too loose and too passive. The biggest mistake was in this hand: I was in the CO with A5s and I raised 3x (not a bad play here). SB and BB called. Flop came AdJd8h. Check Check, so I bet 75% of pot. Thinking here is that I have top pair and I wanted to cut of draws. SB called and BB folded. At this point I figured SB for either a flush draw, a J or an Ace. The turn bricked, and I bet the pot. SB raised. Here is my mistake. I should have checked the turn as I was either way ahead, or way behind. When SB raised, I should have known he had me beat and folded. Instead, I re-raised and he showed AT, two pair and I was drawing dead. My mistake was falling in love with my hand and not keeping the pot small with a small hand. I will work on this on Wednedsay when I play again.

I skied this weekend, and I really enjoyed it. I had gotten bored with it a bit, but this weekend was really fun. I do want new skis though as mine are very old. I found a place on Craigslist, the might be just my ticket. I emailed the guy, hopefully he can hook me up.

I also passed my TKD test, but just barely. I did not do very well on my form. We will start going back through forms that I learned previously, so I should do better on them.

The first week of January has passed and my fitness is a bit off track as I have slept too much and played too much poker. My diet has also been off. Beginning Monday, I will use Livestrong to track my food, plus, I have bought a body-fat monitor. I have not been very productive either. I will start to change that on Monday too.

2010 Resolutions

I did a pull up test this morning and scored 7. Not bad, but not the 10 I hoped for. So in addition to my weight goals, I will add 10 pull up goals.

So for 2010, I resolve to:
Be a patient and compasionate husband
Cut my debt to 10K
Read 10 non-poker books
Weigh 145 by March 15, 2010 (for the race I will get down to 140)
Foam Roll and work on flexibility 4X's per week
Do 10 pull-ups
Increase my CFT lifts by the amounts posted on 1/3/2010
Win $1,000 in poker
Test each quarter to see if I am on track.

Crossfit total

I did my strength test today and I scored a 595, broken down as follows
Deadlift 275
Press 115
Squat 205

At my weight of 150 pounds, this equates to a 3.96 bw

Looking back at my numbers from 2007, I had highter numbers, but I can't believe I scored that high. My form was likely poor.

Any way, I am pretty close to were I would like to be strength-wise. I would like 40 pounds on Dead Lifts, 20 Pounds on Squats and 20 pounds on shoulder press. Tomorrow I will do a pull-up test