Shortstacking Vegas Pt. III

This is the finale' of Shortstacking Vegas Pt. I and Shortstacking Vegas Pt. II. It's been on my procrastination list forever, so enjoy it more than you usually would.

Decker's first four-of-a-kind of the night

With spirits high (and flowing), and Decker just having turned his $20 into $550, the crew was ready for the night ahead. Although we had just eaten hours earlier, the five of us figured we'd uphold our obligations to ditch the Nugget and join some family over at the Mirage's buffet since 1)we didn't have to pay for it and 2)we were going to be down on the Strip for the rest of the night anyways.

We met up, nibbled on a few things so as not to be rude, and the 21crowd ordered a slew of drinks to keep us entertained as we chatted with family and friends for the birthday celebration. A short while later Brando called and said he was parking and would be in soon. We downed the rest of our drinks, said goodbye to the family, and we were off to enjoy the night.

Brando was waiting for us outside the cafe, and the first order of business was obviously...DRINKS! Mitch, him, and I headed to a bar in the Mirage while the rest of the guys went to find some video poker machines. Brando took care of the tab (thanks again man) and without an open table we took back to the casino floor.

We found Decker (the apparent video poker kind of the weekend) pluggin away at a quarter video poker machine with a fist full of twenties in one hand, a drink in the other, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Mitch and I both watched as Brando peeled a hundo out of his pocket and sat next to Decker.

At this point, being the last night in this Vegas go-around, Mitch and I had obviously run out of money. We decided to head to the ATM (one time!) and we hit gold on the 100% no-risk machine as a few hundos poured out for the each of us. When we returned to the video machines Decker and Brando were about to negotiate a deal for a race to the next 4-of-a-kind. An amount was agreed upon and they were off.

Decker, hot off of his $500+ hit at the quarter VP machines at the Nugget was nonchalantly randomizing his betting amounts and draw times, while Brando took the more aggressive, more optimal approach by max betting every draw and doing so as fastly as possible. Obviously with more credits returned on the big hands and more hands/hr than Decker, Brando looked like the favorite to win.

On this night, however, optimal play would not come into consideration in Brando's play. After ripping out a second hundo and continuing his timely play, he couldn't capitalize. A few minutes later Decker raised his hands in victory as four sixes came drawing to a halt in front of Brando's face. Defeated and distraught, Brando paid his debt and, visibly shaken ;), collected his remaining funds from the machine. This wouldn't be Decker's last quads of the night...

We decided to roam the Mirage for a bit and Mitch and I ended up watching Brando go on a short craps heater before he gave it back to even (or a small profit...I don't remember). After that we found ourselves a nice little single-deck blackjack table, which I managed to pick up $300 to start closing myself in on even for the trip.

I made a dangerous move when I stopped by the craps table before I even cashed in my winnings, and ended up escaping with a minimal $100 loss after a few minutes of play. I exchanged my chips at the cage, and on the way out Brando obviously had to hit up a few more slots. He tried a random one first and then a Harley Davidson one, both of which treated him like slime. It was time to go somewhere else.

After we milled around for a few more minutes, we decided to head over to the Venetian. The other guys had headed over a while earlier, and we were on our own to scout them out...but not before Brando found another slot machine once we got inside. This time it was a Wheel of Fortune slot.

After multiple spins and multiple failures, I came up with the idea of the Triple Thread Slot Pull. It's a move that requires two players, and uses a combination shot of hitting the Max Bet button, the Spin button, and the lever. With one player using one hand for either button, and one offset player on the right-hand side pulling the lever, it's sure to confuse any slot machine and it's caretakers. In my mind it was an unconsidered move that guaranteed a win. In reality, it was useless. But it still looked badass, and I have strong feelings that this move will work wonders on a single pull one day...

In this example, Brando was the main man while Mitch helped alongside.


After we were carded twice, I jumped on the phone and Decker had said he was at the bar. Of course with Vegas bars come Vegas video poker machines. Imagine my surprise when we turned around to find Decker occupying another seat, steadily staring down at the machine with cash and drink in hand. We all ordered drinks and started intently watching Decker try for his third four-of-a-kind on the day. Brando popped in another bill as he ordered a drink, while Decker gave both Mitch and myself cash to play beside him.

About 20 minutes after I sat down, I ended up pulling four Aces on Decker's dime. We all shouted in celebration. I was completely speechless at the fact that in a matter of six hours, we'd managed to hit three four-of-a-kinds, while my only previous time playing video poker in Vegas had me hitting a royal flush on the first and only draw I'd take during that trip.

Decker scurried off to the bathroom to relieve himself of his day's current drinking tally, while Brando, Mitch, and myself stayed seated to keep plugging away at the video poker machines. As I was facing Brando and talking, Mitch began to tap on my shoulder repeatedly. I looked over at his machine (again, on Decker's dollars) and saw an unbelievable sight: another four-of-a-kind, this time it was 7's. We waited for Decker to come back before we all laughed hysterically at the ultimate luck held within our monies, and cashed out after ordering another round.

Brando and I headed to the Venetian's poker room to see if we could cause some drunken havoc at a $2-4 game, but the lowest game going was $4-8 and it just didn't have the inviting feel that a lower game would have at that point. Even though we'd been drinking the day through, I was not even buzzed and felt very disappointed. I hadn't slept the previous night, so I assume that my body trying to keep itself awake was doing a big part to keep me un-drunk, but it was disheartening nonetheless. I wanted to be drunk, but I hoped to get there by sitting at the lowest limit poker table possible and drinking round after round while wildly flinging chips. This wasn't the game for it though, so we did what any sensible gamblers would do, we hit the blackjack tables again.

We took up Mitch and Decker as we scoured the casino floor while looking for a fun looking table. We found one and Mitch took the seat. He went through what little money he had withdrawn, and Decker handed him a bit from his victory stash. I ended up grabbing a seat next to Mitch after about a shoe and a half, and after a few more shoes I found myself up another $200 on the night after giving Mitch $100 to stay in the game with me. I was almost even!

We got up and strolled the Venetian until we came across our other two very drunk friends making fools of themselves in front of a couple attractive Vegas nighties. Jason had managed to acquire an electro-shock massage pad at a gift shop somewhere, and had decided that the middle of the Venetian was a good place to use it. They had attached it to his chest, and with a drunken 21-year-old on the controller's end, Jason was in for quite a ride. He was shocked pretty hard for quite a while as the rest of us were on the floor laughing hysterically. The entertainment lasted for a few minutes and then Brando took off for the night.

The five of us then decided to head down to the MGM. On our long walk, we managed to lose Jason to the cops twice, ran into two cute weed-selling modern day hippie chicks, and low and behold we ran into a group of chicks that we knew from back home. If there's anything more disappointing about a Vegas trip, it's randomly running into a group of chicks that you already know during a random drunken walk down the strip. Add to this the fact that I had yet to BECOME drunk, and I was in a bit of a bitter mood. The girls wanted to go to McDonald's....so we left them there and took off back on our marry way.

Before we hit the MGM we came upon a wondrous sight, the Paris. The lights had attracted us and in we went. We looked for an open bar, but there was none. We all ended up in the walkway to Bally's before Jason got pulled in by the temptation of loud club music and cute promoter chicks that were standing outside. He drunkenly, laughingly tried to resist the moans and puppy-dog faces of the half-naked girls, but they pulled him in and the four of us followed suit to make sure he didn't get into any trouble.

Once inside the drinking continued, and after I bought a round of Kamikazes for the guys, and three shots of the same for myself, I felt drunk for the first time during the trip. I had accomplished my goal! We decided to carry on and keep trying to make it to the MGM Grand, but we hadn't gotten half that far before we found ourselves on the bridge of the New York New York having a loud drunken conversation.

I ended up fielding a phone call that lead me inside, and when I was finished I saw that the rest of the crew had followed me in to locate me and get me off of the phone. I ended up finding another single-deck blackjack shoe, and having lost to NYNY every time I've been to Vegas, I pulled out $300 to make sure it wouldn't happen again. Since I had yet to come even on the trip, the alcohol obviously played a big role in this blackjack round, but as drunk as I was I was still determined.

I played through a few shoes while I slurringly tried to explain to the group of friends that stopped by to play how to play correct strategy. Of course when they hit their 16's and 14's and busted, and doubled down their 11's against the dealer's 5 and they lost, they ended up getting hard headed with me and playing horribly on their own and losing anyways. As for me, I saw that I was up another $300 and, making a point to have a theme of winning for the night, decided to call it quits sensing that I was too gone to play well for any longer.

We all wandered around NYNY for a little bit longer before realizing that it was early the next morning and that after an entire night of drinking, gambling, walking, and all around fun, it was time to retire. We hailed a cab to take us back to the Nugget, and Mitch and I decided to take off to avoid the Sunday leaving-Las Vegas traffic. I passed out after another 48-hour sleepless stretch and Mitch drove home.

We had both taken to Vegas with no cash and only intention of appeasing Casey and his birthday well-wishes, and we both ended up having a blast. I broke even after spending $200 and giving $100 for gambling friends, Mitch only lost a little bit, and I was even able to kick down a little bit along with Decker to make sure everyone had a great time.

I can only hope that next time I go back, I'll have the same fun. And if we don't get a Bonedoneskis game goin with Brando soon, my head's gonna explode.

Until next time.

Same Ole' Same Ole'

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. ~William James

If I told you that Shortstacking Vegas Pt. III would be up today, would you believe me?

One Time

Shortstacking Vegas Pt III will be up on Friday

For right now, it's 11:57 PM and I'm eating chocolate cake and running updates to the work database via my laptop. I'm tired, so I'll pass out soon and I really don't feel like finishing up Pt III right now.

I'm planning on throwing in a video of Mitch and Brando' s triple thread slot pull once I load it onto my Photobucket. It'll be amazing.

Until next time.

The Switch: It Is On

Last Thursday something happened out of nowhere that had me tripping hard. As I was dealing with the daily boredom of work, I was taking one of my many internet-browsing breaks and I saw that I had received a message from an old friend:


Ok so I'm kinda flippin out right now because I was totally just talking about you tonight and I randomly clicked on XXX's page who was my old roommate and I found your page! I miss you! We should be friends again and talk online all the time like we used to!! Um I hope you remember me and I'm not just blabbing on like a crazy person!

stephanie

This girl is a friend of an old ex-girlfriend of mine from my sophomore year of high school, and from the time I met her I've always had a huge thing for her. When I was with my ex at the time(it was a short, worthless relationship), I'd always look forward to hanging out with this Stephanie more than my actual girlfriend.

That may sound mean, in fact it probably sounds pretty messed up from any girl's point of view. But the fact is that my relationship with the other girl was purely physical. She was an overdramatic valleygirl who lived in Ventura, whose parents took care of her 110%, and who had no life ambition. She had blonde hair, but could never get it blonde enough, even with all the dying and bleaching she seemed to do on a weekly basis. All she wanted to do was have sex, I despised her attitude, and for the most part found her personality to be unbearable most of the time.

Steph was different. She was always spunky, she always had a huge beautiful smile on her face, she was always laughing and enjoying things, and when things got her down she rarely let them get to her. To top it off, she was as gorgeous as anyone I've ever seen. She hated drama, she just wanted to enjoy life and have a good time.

Since I had broken up with my ex, I haven't talked to anyone from that group. One thing I'd always missed, though, was Stephanie. We talked quite a bit during my relationship with the blonde, and for a tiny while afterwards online. Unfortunately the talking stopped one day.

From that point on I often wondered what she doing and how she was, remembering just how much a breath of fresh air she always was. She was cute and had a personality that could lift you off the ground if you ever felt tackled by life. There were quite a few days over the five years that I was pissed that I had let her out of my life completely because of that fact.

A few months ago I had run across herSpace but ended up not sending her a message. I was hesitant to approach her again, as it had been so long and I didn't really know quite how to go about it. On Thursday, I ended up getting the above message and was completely shocked.

I instantly messaged her back, and we talked back and forth through messages and IM's until early Friday morning (I know, technology...). I had told her how I felt about her back in the day, and she said that she had mirrored feelings, although I would have never known about it because when "one of my friends was dating someone," she said, "I turn the switch off."

That phrase made me laugh, and I was actually quite giddy at the fact that she had been interested all those years ago. We talked for a bit more the next morning before I decided to go see her that Friday night.

She let me know that her and "the girls" would be hanging out at a certain nightspot, so I headed out to Ventura to hang out with Mitch and Brando (Ventura Brando) for a little bit before I headed out. I was a bit nervous, as I'd know some of the people there but only as my ex-gf's friends, most of whom presumably would rather not see me after the extremely over-emotional (on her side ONLY) breakup. Not only that, but it was my first time being old enough to drink on Main St. in Ventura since I left after high school.

I eventually took off for downtown, found the place, and saw her standing with a few people on the back patio. I walked out and was greeted with a wide-eyed, freaked out stare from Steph, as well as a completely what-the-hell-do-I-do stutter from my ex.

"Uuuhhh....hi. What...are you...doing here?" She looked more dumbfounded than confused.

I shot a glance over at Stephanie again and she still had the same deer-in-the-headlights confusion in her eyes. "Just hangin' out. How you guys doin?"

"Good....so like. Uuuhhh....wow. So strange to see you here. Didn't you move?"

"Yeah I'm up in Santa Barbara now."

"So like, who are you here with?"

I paused for a second, laughing in my head at the idea that Steph had clearly "forgot" to mention anything to my ex, and was definitely not ready to deal with any questions at this point. I was about to find a really retarded and nonsensical response until the deer spoke up.

"Heeeeee's...with us!"

My ex snapped her head to the side towards Stephanie. "What?"

"I invited him..."

At that point it was clear that I needed to leave for a second. "I'm gonna head to the bar, I'll be right back."

I ordered a shot and a drink, pondering what was about to happen if I went back outside. I quickly downed my shot and briefly thought about going to hang back out with the guys before I finally took a breath and went outside to deal with the drama that was about to ensue. When I made it back outside, they had found a table and I took a seat next to Steph, abandoning the empty one next to my ex.

Throughout the rest of the night, things actually became less and less awkward. A few people recognized me and were taken back at first, but only for a few seconds. My ex seemed a bit frustrated at my interaction with my new found flirting partner, but I couldn't have cared less. A few people met me for the first time, and it ended up being a pretty fun time.

That night I ended up staying with Stephanie, and we ended up spending the night with each other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. The weekend has given us a lot of time to get to know each other, yet the weird part is after five years we're even more comfortable with each other than we were before, and we're obviously much closer than ever. I asked her, and the switch from before was definitely turned on.

Even though it's only been a few days since we've been talking again, I couldn't be happier than when she's around. I'll never say that her eyes are "pretty", mainly because that means nothing nowadays, but when I look in her eyes there's more happening than I can describe. Her personality is as beautiful as she is on the outside, and that speaks volumes for a person, especially in the superficial world we live in.

On top of that, even though I have a pretty good life and a good family, I've always felt I was missing something, and even in past relationships I knew I was being naive when I said I felt whole. I didn't know what "whole" meant back then. Over the years I've dealt with being single, depression, work, giving up on school and all emotion involved with that, and overcoming my past in order to be happy with the now. Lately I've been doing great emotionally, and have felt happy with myself. But there's no doubt that since I've matured, I've still been missing that something. She makes me feel like I've found it.

If this seems a bit mushy towards the end, it's cuz what I'm feeling now IS mushy. But after quite some time of not knowing what I was looking for, I found it anyways thanks to the most unlikely situation.

I was gonna update Shortstacking Vegas Pt. III this weekend, but due to the described events, I didn't get around to it. I'm HOPING to have it up by tomorrow.

Also, over the past week and a half I've tripled my online "bankroll" by playing $1-2, and taking a couple shots at $2-4 and $3-6. If anything exciting happens with that, I might post about it, although it might be a while before I find anything poker worthy to write about.

Until next time.

Stuck in a Post-Apocolyptic Hell

There's a fire burning behind the mountains of Santa Barbara a few miles away, and for the past three weeks or so we've had on and off ash downpours. Usually it's a slight sprinkly over night, and you can't really notice it until you go to your car in the morning and there's a very fine layer of ash on your vehicle.

About two weeks ago it was literally raining a heavy downpour of ash when the wind shifted direction for a day and blew the flame and smoke directly into town. There was a brief health warning issued for the city a while ago, but again, as wind changed direction it was just as quickly dismissed.

For the past couple days there's been a slightly noticeable increase in ash coverage, and it didn't look like it was going to stop coming into the end of the week. This morning I awoke to a pretty awesome sight.

Usually in the morning the sunlight peeks through the bottom six inches of my barely pulled blinds, and I can see the light coming in around the edges of my bedroom's doorframe from the hallway. This morning was different. I didn't catch that slice of light under my blinds, nor did I see the small glow around my door. There was no birds chirping outside as usual, and it felt like it was the middle of the night.

I went through my morning routine and got ready to head out the door to work before I even noticed anything about the sky. When I opened the front door, however, I was blasted full body by a blanket of red atmosphere. The entire sky seemed like it was on fire, though it was just the color of the fire bouncing off of the mixture of smoke and morning grog.

I already had my sunglasses on so it wasn't too much of an extreme situation, but it couldn't have been healthy to look directly upwards today. It resembled the setting put out by all the movies ever done about travels to Mars, with a reddish/orange tint all over everything in the range of visible sunlight.

Once I got into the office, my eyes seemed to be overcorrecting my vision, as I was quickly eyewashed with a room full of blueish tint. I closed all the blinds in the office, yet the orange/red light was visible from pretty much any open crease for the majority of the day. By the end of the work day the warm-colored overhead seemed to dissipate a bit, and I was able to come home to a bit of regularity.

Hopefully when I awake tomorrow I'll be able to move freely and breathe without hassle. The fire department is saying that September 7th is the expected full containment date. If I have to live in this post-nuclear wasteland for much longer, I will be pissed. Trust me.

Until next time.

Drinking, Gambling...Living

This weekend was another one filled with drinking and gambling, and of course the now weekly Sunday Taco Bell trip. None of these things are good or healthy for me but they're the only things I'd ever want to do. Luckily, there are friends around me who feel the same way.

I started Thursday with an e-mail from an online betting site that they'd give me $10 for free just to log in, since they've been pestering me to make a deposit and I've yet to do so. I checked it out and it seemed legit, and sure enough as soon as I signed in I got $10 for free no strings attached. I had to put it in play, and just as soon as I got it I bet it on a preseason NFL game, which is about as much of a senseless gamble as anyone could ever think of.

Of course I won it, and put it back on another game the next day and promptly lost, albeit to a small margin. I'm thinking about taking some time off from casino gambling, but maybe betting the NFL football season. I probably shouldn't do either, but like I said...oh well.

On Thursday Darsky had invited me down to L.A. to go barhopping after work on Friday. I had some stuff to take care of and a lot to clean up around the apartment since I wasn't going to be home for the majority of Saturday, and although I went all day Friday telling myself I was going to go anyways, I ended up staying in Santa Barbara. Chores are chores and they gotta get done! Sorry Darsk.

I didn't want to stay inside all night though, so I called Mitch and told him to make his way out at around 11. I finished up most of the stuff I needed to and as I finished up a little web surfing Mitch, Carlos, and John all showed up. We headed to Dargan's and quickly got to drinking, considering we only had 2 hours left before last call.

My efforts to save money have been cut short this week, solely from going downtown and drinking with people. My generosity in the matter has taken its toll before, however on Friday night it was Carlos that was gonna take the gold medal for bar tab offerings. I took up $50 for our first round of shots and beers, while Carlos covered $150 for the rest of the night after that. If you can do the math, you'll figure out how much we had to drink.

A while later, after sobering up quite a bit, we took a drive to Chumash where we lost money and got aggravated at our previously fearless alcohol provider for playing blackjack like an idiot. Again, my money-saving efforts were cut short by my problematic love for gambling. I lost a little bit, got pissed that I was even there, and told the guys that we were goin home.

We all eventually crash at around 7:30AM, and we chalked up another successful night of fun time livin.

I woke up on Saturday at about 10AM for a little bit, and then again at about 11:30. I drudged my way over to the couch, and made a little bit playin small stakes on Full Tilt for about an hour before I took a shower and got ready to head out to the valley for lunch with my dad and Paul's game.

Mitch was up for the game and met us out there. Kirk had driven into town from 29 Palms, and although he was gonna be there this time to have our old crew together, Darsky would not be staying to play. He did end up dropping by, but had previous plans for the night.

This was a huge deal, as Darsky and I have been friendly vying for the top spot in points in our home game's leaderboard. Thanks to a soft start to the year, I fell into the middle of the pack fast. However, with a rally over the last two months I've been able to close in on Dar.

Two games ago I was able to come to within one point of the bastard. Last game I was absent and he widened his lead to four points. This time around, he was the one not attending and I had a chance to hopefully overtake him. By the end of the night, I was to have at least closed into one point of him, if not overtake him, or else I would be one sad dude.

As I walked in and stared at the point board, I admired his name atop the list but knew it wouldn't last long! I geared up, taking a 3rd and a 6th, bringing in 4 points and a tie game. It wasn't a total overtake, but a tie was okay with me at the end of the night.

As of today, with a level ground, we have $100 bet on who finishes the year with the most points. As of right now, IT'S ON.

Today was a weird Sunday. I didn't really do much except for laundry, but it's been a melancholy afternoon for the most part. Usually on Sundays, the thought of Monday at the office doesn't bother me. In the past Vegas, LA, drinking over long weekends, etc have never made me feel like going back to work would be a drudge, but for some reason I'm really dreading going back tomorrow.

I'm sure I'll be alright, but dammit work is starting to get super uncomfortable...

Until next time.

Coming Soon: Shortstacking Vegas Pt. III

Stay tuned

Camera phone from car on Tropicana Blvd

Lounging

For the past couple days work's been pretty mentally busy, and I've been doing a lot of lounging. Last week I ordered a slew of cheap yet wanted DVDs off of Amazon, which included:
-Swingers
-Boiler Room
-The Princess Bride (yessss)
-Three Kings (random, I know).

I spent a couple days hangin out at the apartment and just watching the DVDs and a few recorded movies on DVR. Last weekend I went to see the Bourne Ultimatum, and hopefully I'll get out to see the Simpson's Movie, for good or for bad.

I also ordered Mortal Kombat III and Street Fighter II for my Sega Genesis, and dammit it's sweet. The thing's been sitting in my closet since I moved in, but it was cool to break it out and play some oldies since I don't play video games much any more.

In my opinion some of the graphics and sounds that came from the games back in the SNES and Genesis era were some of the best produced today. Although there's been quite a few versions of the Mortal Kombat series released for modern systems, the MKII and MKIII really can't be beat.

I also ordered the book Comp City, which I've been taking care of a few pages at a time. I've got a couple books on the to-read list, and I'm hopin to get around to those this weekend. Although I spent some time in front of movies/TV last week, I've been trying not to spend too much time on my laptop lately, especially with the beautiful weather/girls/alcohol that's gracing downtown Santa Barbara lately.

There's actually been a fire burning a few miles away over the hill, and for the most part on Friday the sky was raining ash over the entire city. But besides that one day, the weather out here has been amazing and I'm trying to take advantage of it. Don't worry, I'm still pretty pastey white and that might never change, but I'm trying to get out and about as much as I can.

This weekend is Paullywood Park, where I can hopefully take over Darsky's point lead. I probably won't be doing much this weekend, but will try to hit up some more DVD shopping which will hopefully include the "300" DVD.

Shortstacking Vegas Pt. III will be posted soon, and as soon as I feel like staying inside I'll be writing up much more.

Until next time.

ESPN X-Games 13

Oh

My

God

Shortstacking Vegas Pt. II

It was 6:00 A.M. and Casey, the birthday boy, was dead tired. After his first full night of legal drinking in Vegas, he looked like he was about to pass out. Mitch and I went to put our stuff in the room and tried to rally the falling troops, as we had just arrived two hours earlier and wanted to get our money in play.

It looked like we were gonna be on our own, but we ended up getting Decker and Jason to come downstairs with us. Casey said he was gonna take a shower and meet us down on the floor. Yeah, whatever.

Although both 21 (recently), neither Decker nor J had yet to play in Vegas. Luckily we were in $5, and, being one of the more upkept downtown casinos, the Nugget had its fair share of cheap tables open. Among the three other L.V. newbies on this trip, Mitch and I were seen as the consummate Vegas "professionals", although we haven't really experienced anything above a lowroller time in Vegas to date. But as such, we were determined to at least teach the guys how to play blackjack as close to basic strategy as possible.

Coming into this weekend, Mitch brought only brought $100 (I picked him up last second, aware that he had no money) and I only had $300. Every time previous to this trip, the main focus was poker. I brought enough to grind and when it went bad I was able to grab a stake.

This time I was sick of poker. I hadn't been winning for months, and when I left Santa Barbara I knew that the small amount I brought was going straight to the house games. I wanted to have fun and forget about life for the weekend. I had yet to play any house games in Vegas besides blackjack, and was for sure gonna splash around as much as my little bankroll would allow for the weekend.

We headed to the bar for some drinks and quickly found one of many open $5 blackjack tables. Operating on a nonexistent bankroll put us in a must-win situation right off the bat, and Casey sweated us as he tried to learn the ropes. We played through one break-even shoe before our happy-go-lucky dealer got rudely exited by some asshole dealer who ended up being the least fun person I have ever met at a casino, anywhere.

He busted us quickly, made fun of us when we lost a hand, and basically made short work of our small cash. Decker had sat out, but Jason bought in and played with us. Of course, as we tried to teach him the game we made him do basic moves (doubling 11 against a 5, splitting 7's against a 6), and as it goes when you're trying to teach someone a gambling game, he lost most of his hands and convinced himself that he wasn't going to listen to us anymore.

Mitch was already done for the weekend, but we weren't concerned. Mitch wouldn't be able to go for more than five hours in Vegas without cash, he'd find a way to get some. The L.V.A. (Las Vegas Amateurs) ended up going upstairs to pass out while Mitch and I wondered around, soaking in the lights from the previous night that we missed.

I ended up at a roulette wheel with $20 that I had promised to play for someone back home. I played minimum bet on red five times straight and hit it every single time. I switched to playing a full min-bet on a single spot, hoping for the big hit and cashout. I played 23 every time while Mitch was talking in my ear.

"Play 10."

"No."

13

"Play 10."

"No."

25

"Play 10."

"...No."

7

"Play 10."

"No."

10

"...See I told you idiot."

I ran through the rest of the redbirds I ran up at the table and as we were walking away Decker appeared out of nowhere, apparently too enthralled to sleep. He wanted to take a shot at blackjack and I was willing to go dump another hundo to get this kid in the game.

It turned out that he, being recently unemployed, was actually playing on free money by a member of the birthday party just so he could go on the trip. It would make for fun times later in the trip.

I ended up busting my second buyin and he picked up after playing the dealer heads up for a bit. We headed back to the room, and I realized that it was still only 7:30 A.M. We had only been in Vegas for four hours, and despite having not slept for 24 hours at that point, I was sure as hell not wanting to sleep. Adding on to the fact that five of us were sharing a free two-bed standard room, I made up my mind that I was headin down to the Strip.

John was workin his first down of the morning at 10A.M. at Planet Hollywood, so I figured I'd jump in a $1-2NL game and wait it out. I parked at Caesar's and headed inside to see if there was any action going on, since there's usually quite a lot of $1-2 goin on. The room was dead aside from a $2-5NL and a $10-20NL, both of which I obviously couldn't jump in.

I took a look across across the street, and decided to just walk across to PH. I thought it would be an alright stroll at 7:30 A.M., but it was Hades outside and my heel was killing me from a drunken night the weekend before. The sidewalk was already packed with people who think waking up before 5:00 P.M. in Vegas is a good idea, and after weaving my way through the masses I finally made it.

There was only one game going, and coincidentally it was a $1-2NL game. I sat it and played dead for a couple hours till John showed up. As it turned out, PH's morning $60 tournament was starting the same time, and John was dealing it. I bought in and ended up playing for a couple hours before bubbling my KK to an A4.

I booked it back to the Nugget, eager to see what everyone else was doing. They were supposed to have gotten up to go to a planned breakfast at 10, but I knew that wasn't gonna happen. I walked in and found the other guys passed out on the beds and floor exactly where they were when I left. Everyone but Broke Mitch woke up and cleaned up and we were off to the buffet.

We took the escalator upstairs and quickly found that our "waitress" was planning to kill someone before the day's end. We had some fun, ate some cheap food, and started drinking. The company I was in the presence of this trip out had me crackin up the whole time. I've known these guys for a long time now and, due to my living situation, I don't get to hang out with them much anymore. Needless to say, the time spent gambling and drinking with these guys was awesomely hilarious.

After the buffet Decker and I headed to the bar for video poker and free booze. We made quick friends with the bartender. I threw a $20 in and played quarters while Decker did the same with his free money. As I was recounting the story of my royal flush on the previous trip at Caesar's sportsbook bar, I found myself watching as Decker pulled quad Aces for $500.

All of a sudden he'd turned his free money into even more free money, and it was about to turn the whole night around. He quickly threw me money to keep pluggin away, as well as givin the bartender $20. The $4 Red Bulls turned into free Red Bull and vodkas, and our drinks were instantly ten times stronger than they were for the past half an hour.

We called down the other three amigos and Decker tossed them all cash to play as well. Our two quiet seats turned into a five-machine row of drinking and hollerin and hootin. We all played for a bit before cashin out to go meet up with another group at the Mirage. It was about to be the funnest night I'd had in Vegas yet.

Interlude

I have been neglecting this blog as of late, and even after repeated promises and attempts to hammer away at this thing, I still haven't caught up. I've been getting more hits by the day from referrals and links. Hell, I even made it on to Dr. Pauly's link list (I still don't know how this got pulled off), yet I can't even come close to just keeping this thing alive for more than a week at a time.

Part of the reason that it hasn't been awoken recently is that right when I was gearing up to start writing again I took a vacation to New York. After that I was lazy for a week and then I was off to Vegas, where I spent another three days wide awake and rushing on the sounds of slots and chips and the buzz of alcohol, gambling, and all-you-can-eat tit-glistening.

Since I've been back to reality I've been mindlessly plugging away at the office, dreaming of the leisure time I had in N.Y. and the dazed days I spent in Sin City. Writing hasn't really been on my mind...but then again nothing really has.

I'm coming out of my mindfuck right now, though, and thanks to the number of experiences I've had over the past few weeks I have a lot of material worth writing about. I'll try to keep it entertaining, just stick around and leave a comment from time to time to let me know what you guys think.

GG CNN

"Remember folks, the market moves both ways." -CNN financial consultant, referring to the stock market on 07/30/07.

Thanks, Tim.


And I will update before the day is done. I've been getting a lot of hits and referrals, so I feel bad that I haven't been writing. Shortstacking Vegas Pt.II will be up by tonight. No more fuckin around.

Shortstacking Vegas Pt. I

This weekend was the funnest time I've had in Vegas since I've been legal to go, and coincidentally it was with the smallest amount of cash I've yet to go with. I wasn't even planning on going on this trip because, despite not paying for food or alcohol on the entire trip to New York, I still managed to spend over $1,000 on the entire 10 days.

Originally when the idea of this Vegas trip had been introduced six months ago, Casey had called and told me that he was having his birthday in Vegas and that there were going to be a bunch of people and that I needed to go to celebrate his 21st. I was obviously instantly in for another trip to the city that never sleeps, and that was that. Fast forward to recent days, where that same city has taken me for thousands while I sit here getting fat and grinding out a meager living from behind a desk, and all of a sudden spending more money in Vegas seems like a nightmare.

Of course that thought never lingers long in my mind no matter what amount of money I have, so on Friday night I took off to Vegas with $400 in my pocket. Previously I've lost too much and spent too much in a day to think anything other than that going to Vegas for a weekend with $400 was stupid.

On my previous visits, I had it in my mind that I would just player poker and nothing else. Just win at poker, build a roll, live like a legend, and come home with grandiose stories of $1,000 dinners and amazing suites, sharing the extremities given only to the highrollers and superstars.

Yeah right.

For the past trips this year I've lost and won and poker, I've defected to the blackjack table after every session, and I've gotten smoked for every dime I've had every time I've gone. Grinding the tables and living the high life is what I've come to love and respect, yet I don't know why since I haven't been able to experience anything close to it yet. This weekend was about more than that, though.

After returning from New York, I was almost positive that I wouldn't make it out for this vacation a week later. I had spent too much too recently and was extremely sour at gambling for the dirty ride it's given me since my own birthday in December. Adding in the fact that I'm on such a strict financial plan right now, it was looking like a definite no-go.

But on Friday morning I found out that pretty much everyone bailed at the last second. Casey's been my best friend since I was three years old, and I knew I couldn't let him go with no friends by his side. I rallied Mitch (the ultimate Vegas friend), and although he couldn't get any cash together at the last second, we took off to Vegas Friday night.

Our good friend Decker was there when we showed up, and another friend had flown in last second as well. With five guys and a horribly small amount of gambling money, it was gonna be difficult to survive the weekend, but we were determined to make it happen.

We arrived at about 2PM and immediately hit up Buffalo Wild Wings. For some reason, despite all the amazing places to eat in Vegas, I've made it a personal mission to eat at BWW every time I'm there. I've given up on the Rainforest Cafe thing, so I guess this will forever take it's place. I love nothing more than a great meal, whether I'm paying $100 or cooking it myself, but for no reason at all I just have to eat crappy and/or junky food on a semi-regular basis. If anyone knows why I do this, let me know cuz I'd like to stop being retarded.

Anyways...after BWW we got back to the hotel room at the Nugget and decided that if we had any chance at staying alive for the rest of the weekend, we'd need to grind our pennies into dollars at the $5 tables downtown. What was about to take place in the next two days was the funnest time I've had yet in Vegas. Stay tuned tomorrow for a more exciting Pt. II.

Until next time.

Please to Be a Placeholder

Photo courtesy of Declan McCullagh Photography

Writing Vegas TR, it will be up later today so make sure to check back. I'm back baby!

The Good, The Bad, and the Lazy Blogger

The bad news is I haven't updated my blog all week, even though I promised I would and I have about a year's worth of writing material locked away in this noggin of mine.

The good news is I'm headin out to Vegas for a SMMMALLLL trip for a friend's birthday.

The bad news is I'll be missing Paul's game and a chance to overtake Darsky on the points leaderboard.

The good news is I might turn $100 into $100million this weekend (or at least $1,000...I've done it before).

The bad news is I don't feel like driving.

Hopefully when I get home I'll be able to update this thing. There should be some decent reading coming from my way when I get back on my writing feet.

Until next time.

PS - The lazy blogger is me.

Back to the Daily Grind

After a 10-day vacation from the office and a trip to New York, I'm back to the daily grind. Unfortunately this grind is of the office variety, not the poker table. Good news was I had money waiting for me when I came back, which is needed and welcomed, and I have much to tell coming up in this little blog of mine.

For right now I'm getting back into the daily doldrums of living the 9-5 life, but that's not always a bad thing. The more and more I work, the more and more I appreciate it. That'll change in the future I'm sure of it, but for right now I'll take comfort in security.

I won't get a chance to write today, but stay tuned tomorrow and for a while to come. I have stories and pictures and fun times ahead, so make sure to keep an eye on Sitting the Apple. There may even be some poker involved.......weird, I know.......

Until tomorrow.

A Sunday Post?

I was going to try to write last Sunday but this is as far as I got:
"Since I woke up early today (noon) and since I haven't posted since Monday, I figured today would be a good day to post. We'll see how well my Sunday writing fingers work."


Being as how I neglect this blog enough, it's time I put forth some effort and update! I neglected to follow through last Sunday, so today will be a day of redemption.

Rejecting my desire to hit up the Warped Tour while it was in town yesterday, I found myself driving out to Simi to hit up Paullywood Park, our regular tournament held every three weeks. Our usual night at Paullywood Park consists of two $30 tournaments, each with anywhere from 22-28 players. Every third meetup we switch to one $20 rebuy+addon tournament, which is usually filled with the same amount of players but which turns out almost three times the prize pool.

This year we started with a point leaderboard for our gang, with points being awarded for a designated amount of top finishers determined by the number of entrants per tourney. Our 18 tournament series culminates with a $50 buy-in finale' extravaganza, where every point will be worth an extra amount of chips added to the person's respective starting stack. The final tournament will also be juiced by an additional fund that we pay towards for every tournament.

Overall it's a fun atmosphere with friends and family that we all know, and who all try to play the game. They're bad, but they try (for the most part). The only thing that I don't enjoy all the way about Paullywood Park is that I have to deal full time while I'm playing. I love dealing as much as I do playing, but doing both is a great pain in the ass and not something that I look forward to. With that being said, it's still a fun game.

Going into last night Darsky was atop the leaderboard and ahead of me (tied for second place) by six points. He wasn't going to be attending this weekend, which meant it was my chance to catch up to him. However, this weekend was the $20R+A, which meant there was only one tournament and only five points available to capture, which was first place. If I could get that first place prize, I'd get one of the more juiced up prize pools and I could close to within one point of Darsky.

I was fully expecting the regular 22-28 player turnout for this tournament, but when I showed up I got news that there would only be about 16 players. I wasn't too sure of why there was such a small attendance this time around, but whatever the case was it only meant one thing to me: fewer people to get in my way to chase Darsky's points!

I started off playing my usual aggressive game, and was quickly ahead of the field. I picked up all the dead pots from the weak players, and by the end of the rebuy period I was chipleader having only used my original buyin. I opted to buy the add-on to keep my advantage as big as possible, considering that I had to deal full time while playing, which tends to keep me off my %100 game.

I ended up playing chip leader for most of the tournament, although the structure starts to get pretty fast after the 300-600 level since Paul wrote his structure to skip the 400-800 and jump straight to 500-1000, 1000-2000, 1500-3000, etc. Some casino tournies skip these levels, but with only a 2000 starting stack it can start to hurt your stack in a hurry.

I was able to keep afloat as a bare chipleader with around 16,000, while my friend Mitch was second in chips with 13,000 when this hand came up.

Blinds: 300-600
Mitch has 13,000 in chips
Hero has 16,000 in chips
Hero is on the Button

Hero is dealt [6s 7s]
This is one of my favorite hands to play, and I fully intend to play it from the Button as the chipleader if there's no crazy action before it gets to me.
Mitch calls 600
MP2 calls 600
MP3 calls 600
Hero calls 600
I opted to limp the Button here, as one of the limpers and both blinds had around 5,000 in chips. I was completely okay with seeing a flop against five players with this kind of hand, but I really didn't want to have to pump another 4,400+ into this pot heads up preflop because of the escalating blind levels.
SB folds
BB checks

FLOP: [2d 6h 7h]
BB checks
Mitch checks
MP2 checks
MP3 checks
Hero bets 2,200
BB folds
Mitch raises 2,800 to 5,000
MP2 folds
MP3 folds
Sometimes this smells like a set, but Mitch is pretty new to the game and tends to underplay his hands preflop and overplay his hand postflop. I really don't think he's on a flush or straight draw because knowing Mitch he'd usually just call. If I push here he'll probably stack off with an overpair.
Hero raises 10,400 to 16,000 and is all-in
Mitch calls 7,400 and is all-in
3000 is returned to Hero

Mitch shows [Qc Qd]
Hero shows [6s 7s]

TURN: [2d 6h 7h][9s]

RIVER: [2d 6h 7h][9s][Ad]

Mitch has a pair of Queens
Hero has two pair, sixes and sevens and wins the pot (28,100)



That put me out to the largest chiplead of the tournament as I watched the shortstacks battle it out. I ended up taking out two more and I ended up HU after the now second place in chips took out two more. We started heads up with me having about a 2:1 chiplead. We tangled in a few pots until I doubled him up with TP+OESD against his flopped straight.

Five minutes later I doubled him up again on an A-10-3 flop with me holding 10-3 against his A-10. I ended up getting the chiplead back three times before he ended up hitting quads against my straight. As I tried to battle back against his increasing chiplead I ended up getting all the money in with an A-high FD+OESD against his flopped straight once again. I blank blanked and took a disappointing second.

I was really semi-tilted from taking second place after having such a big chiplead and dominating pretty much the whole tournament. I picked at his stack and won quite a few pots thanks to aggression. Unfortunately I kept getting good HU hands against his monsters, and just couldn't come back after losing the chiplead twice.

I took $225 for second, but more importantly I closed the gap on Darsky's point lead. After taking second, I have now cashed/pointed five times in five tourney weekends, so I guess I can always count on being able to at least beat the game at Paullywood Park. As for beating the games that count, well, that'll be something I have to start working on again.

Until next time.

Decisions of the Day

The rest of this week will present me with many decisions. Should I do my laundry or continue to wear week-old wrinkled shirts to work? Should I switch up my favorite "Wednesday Special" sandwich for lunch from the deli? To drink on Thursday, or not to drink on Thursday? Is wearing shorts and flip flops to this job acceptable or should I stick to the casual dress style just because, even though no one is around? Should I go to the Warped Tour at Seaside Park on Saturday or should I head over to Paullywood Park?

That last one there is one (probably the only one) that I actually have to make a decision on. I was going to go to the Warped Tour with a friend and a bunch of her friends, but she is no longer going, and rather than trying to find some friends to go with last second I'd rather hit up Paullywood Park and deal. This weekend is the $20 rebuy tourney, which has been great for the few times we've run it so far this year.

I'm kinda bummed since I've been wanting to go to Warped for a while now after hearing the gnarly line up of bands that are gonna be there, but there's good and bad about going. The good is obviously a bunch of good bands, good music, beer. The bad is running into a bunch of people I'd rather not see, paying a ton on overpriced tickets, food, and beer, and also the fact that tiny Seaside Park will be jam packed and there will barely be room to move by the end.

If I choose Paul's game, I'll have to deal and play at the same time, which I have come to despise since it's been my assigned "duty" by Paul himself. I don't mind dealing, and in fact I actually enjoy it. What I don't enjoy is not being able to concentrate on playing, and then not getting tipped for dealing for seven hours and not making cash in the tournaments.

I continue to deal and play for three reasons: 1) it's a fun, soft game that doesn't require explicit attention, 2) I've actually cashed 1st-3rd for like 3 out of the last four tournaments, and 3) we have a point system in place, with extra chips for every point for the end-of-the-year tournament that has a juiced prize pool; currently I'm tied for second in points behind a first place Darsky.

Things are under way for our New York trip, however certain details cannot be discussed at this time! Anyways, things are still movin along at work in the right direction as I continue to hear good news every day about my position in the company. I laugh as I write about my continual success here, AS I'm writing in from work. If I had to work in an office anywhere, here is where I'd want to be. Ya just can't get down about life when you live in Santa Barbara...

From outside my apartment last night (I know the resolution is shitty, deal with it)

A Daily Confessional

A work of art brought to you by MSPaint and the author of Sitting The Apple




It represents the past couple years of my life, my willingness to take risks, my love for gambling. It represents the change that basically the entire nation has undergone the past three years, and what people have come to love because of the media. It represents passion.




And the duality of man.

Can't Beat Poo-Fling Mania

After taking down a 3-table $11 SnG on Full Tilt and turning my $25 at the 25NL to $6o, I decided to play a little HU $2-4. I ran my $100 to $300, and then this happened when I decided to play a guy I was watching at the $3-6 HU tables.

Full Tilt Poker Game #2734682302: Table Hopi (heads up) - $3/$6 - Limit Hold'em - 0:55:53 ET - 2007/06/22
Seat 1: lowzy ($149)
Seat 2: Hero ($96.50)
lowzy posts the small blind of $1.50
Hero posts the big blind of $3
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [4h 5d]
lowzy calls $1.50
Hero checks
*** FLOP *** [2h 3s 6h]
Hero bets $3
lowzy raises to $6
Hero calls $3
*** TURN *** [2h 3s 6h] [6s]
Hero checks
lowzy bets $6
Hero raises to $12
lowzy raises to $18
Hero raises to $24
lowzy calls $6
*** RIVER *** [2h 3s 6h 6s] [3h]
Hero bets $6
lowzy calls $6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero shows [4h 5d] a straight, Six high
lowzy shows [9h 5h] a flush, Nine high
lowzy wins the pot ($77.50) with a flush, Nine high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $78 | Rake $0.50
Board: [2h 3s 6h 6s 3h]
Seat 1: lowzy (small blind) showed [9h 5h] and won ($77.50) with a flush, Nine high
Seat 2: Hero (big blind) showed [4h 5d] and lost with a straight, Six high



Full Tilt Poker Game #2734691521: Table Hopi (heads up) - $3/$6 - Limit Hold'em - 0:56:57 ET - 2007/06/22
Seat 1: lowzy ($207.50)
Seat 2: Hero ($137)
Hero posts the small blind of $1.50
lowzy posts the big blind of $3
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [6d 7d]
Hero raises to $6
lowzy raises to $9
Hero raises to $12
lowzy calls $3
*** FLOP *** [7s 7c 3h]
lowzy bets $3
Hero calls $3
*** TURN *** [7s 7c 3h] [Tc]
lowzy bets $6
Hero raises to $12
lowzy raises to $18
Hero raises to $24
lowzy calls $6
*** RIVER *** [7s 7c 3h Tc] [2c]
lowzy bets $6
Hero raises to $12
lowzy raises to $18
Hero calls $6
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lowzy shows [Kc 4c] a flush, King high
Hero mucks
lowzy wins the pot ($113.50) with a flush, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $114 | Rake $0.50
Board: [7s 7c 3h Tc 2c]
Seat 1: lowzy (big blind) showed [Kc 4c] and won ($113.50) with a flush, King high
Seat 2: Hero (small blind) mucked [6d 7d] - three of a kind, Sevens



Now I have $15 in my FT account cuz I'm an idiot who can't help but chase after the bad players in games above the stakes that I should be playing with my $100 deposits online. Discuss my retardation while I go sit and stare at the ceiling wondering why I always do this.

I think it's time to go reread this again:
I've read your blog quite a bit and you seem like a really good guy with your heart in the right place, but you honestly don't know what you are doing with poker. Noone has as big of an edge as you seem to believe you can gain, and unless you have a very large bankroll you can't possibly survive the inevitable variance that comes to even the best players. I know because I have played that much, and I built up a sizeable bankroll from free scraps online. I've never been busto or even down for the simple reason that I grinded my way from barely any roll over the course of about 150,000 online hands. It took well over a year, countless hours, and more study than you could imagine. I experienced tons of devastating losing streaks, much worse in BB or bb terms than what you are describing, but have also experienced much better long term success rates. I understand the underlying math that is part of the game, and while I think you do as well, you are denying it when you right posts like above.

Even if you could afford to buy into the WSOP this year, your lack of experience in poker, tournament poker, live poker, and just in general would not give you an edge over the field. Understanding that, and the fact that you need to get very lucky even if you have a tremendous edge in order to cash or win those tournaments, you could not base any results either good or bad on their outcome.

I firmly believe what you need to do is set asid a very small amount of money (like $300) and go back to grinding small limits online for at least a year. Get a rakeback deal, and make sure to take advantage of some signup bonuses, because right now you probably don't have an edge or the tilt control to be a long term winner at the small limits. I would start at $25 NL cash and $10 SNGs until you have worked yourself up to a $1000 roll. Then you can consider moving up. You need to take advantage of PokerTracker, a HUD, and learn how to take notes. Also learn how to multi table by adding one table at a time, since you will be able to see up to 4x as many hands this way to gain experience.

Once you have a bankroll around $5,000 you can consider taking out $200 or less to play live, but understand that if you experience any rough patches you need to scale back your play and practice very disiplined bankroll management. DO NOT TRY TO MOVE UP TO RECOVER LOSSES! People playing at NL100 right now are probably much better on average than you are. It is actually a fairly tough game to beat online, but if you can beat it then live poker should come easier.

If you are playing tournaments then you need to play a ton of SNGs and see how your ROI is after a LOT. If you are winning you can consider moving up, and taking shot at some big MTT. The same bankroll management rules apply. Slowly grind your way up and don't take shots to recover losses. This is the only way to know that you are a long term winner and good at the game, and not just experiencing short term variance.

Also you need to buy and read and study every significant poker book on the market. including: NLHTAP by sklansky and miller, HOH 1 and 2, Theory of Poker by sklansky, Super System 2, Mathematics of Poker by Bill Chen, and if you are going to play limit then you need to study HPFAP by sklansky, SSH by Miller, Winning in Tough HE by Stox. There are lots of other good books on other games, but if you are focusing on Hold'em that list is a start. These books should be read, and reread, and reread until they are falling apart. Read them at work during your lunch break. Read them while taking a shit. Read them in between hands online. Take notes. Reread sections you don't understand.

Then you should start posting hands on 2p2 and listening to the advice and suggestions you get. Also read and respond to as many hands as you can. Read all of the stickied articles that have great advice on how to play that game.

and finally just play play play play. It doesn't matter if it is 25NL online, play for pride. Play because until you learn to grind that $300 into a real roll you aren't even close to a good player. Until you learn how to survive crippling downswings via tough play, game selection, and bankroll management you can't be a winner. Until you move up solely because you have been beating the game for 30,000+ hands at a good clip you don't really know whether you are ready.

this is how you can learn how to be a winner at this game. It takes a ton of time. A lot of patience. A strong work ethic. and a desire to prove that you are winner and not a luckbox. It also takes a lot of heart when you are going throught he downswings, and even more discipline to understand that you aren't ready to move up. Finally it takes humility to move down and rebuild before taking another shot and to avoid going busto.

Over the long run any intelligent and driven person (like yourself) can accomplish this, but if you continue to think of and approach the game they way you are you will always experience the rush and depression of short term variance, but never know the satisfaction of actually becoming a winner at the game. With your current approach you will never see long term success.

I have thought these things for a long time, but avoided responding to your blog because I didn't want to dishearten or come across as a jerk. But I think reading the above and taking it to heart can do your poker game a world of good.

Now that you have your job prospects settled, and you seem content and happy with your personal life it is time to redirect the approach to this hobby if you want to take it seriously. Otherwise just keep it as a game on the side like blackjack, and don't let the losing bother you. If you aren't going to take a serious approach you shouldn't build yourself up with false hope that you are going to make your mark someday. Make your mark in your own life by proving that you can be a winner.

I hope the above helps in some way. It was meant in the most sincere and kind way by a person who understands where you are coming from and has surprisingly similar view points on many subjects. Good luck on the journey, it will be long and tough, but you can make it.

This is definitely something I should do, cuz I'm tired of being on a six-month losing "streak". Anyone wanna help me out? Apparently I can use some more coaching than I'd like to admit.