November Monthly Review

Well November was a monster month for me. I finally managed to grind some volume and that resulted in a monthly best from all things poker related. Of course, binking a tournament and having another deep run makes hitting monthly bests easier but my cash game results have also been very good.





The only downside is that the cash game improvement is likely to stall a little as I will be spending two weeks of December up in Atlantic City at the WSOP circuit event with the rest of the Flux guys. Hopefully, I will be able to add a live MTT win to my resume. If not at least its a chance to learn and improve with some of the best players around.

Good luck at the tables.

MTT Luckbox

With an eye on the WSOP in the summer and the need to put in some MTTs so that I am attractive to potential stakers, I am starting to play a few more tournaments in preparation for that. I figure that I need a couple of wins and a handful of final tables, coupled with my cash graph to be able to get a good markup deal which will enable me to play a full WSOP schedule, which I hope to be between 10 - 12 tournaments.

With that being said, I have been playing the $10 deep stack tournament on Full Tilt. Its a great tournament starting with 5,000 chips, 12 minute levels and a super slow blind structure. After the first hour you are still playing 40/80 blinds which as you can imagine allows you to play a super solid game. As I am playing cash at the same time it doesnt really matter how long it takes as it forces me to grind my bread and butter games at the same time keeping me at the tables for longer if I make a deep run.

Last week I ended up making a deep run and was amongst the chip leaders throughout the tournament and was a mainstay in the top 10 nearing the final table. I played a questionable hand with TT in a 3bet pot where I called down three super milky weak leads on Kxxxx and was shown QK. That loss dropped me down to 250k and one of the short stacks entering the final table. I manage to pick my spots well and with the final table being super soft when we started talking a deal 5 handed, I was feeling kind of bullish about my chances and tried to negotiate a deal very one sided to myself. With my equity at $2200, I asked for $3000. It didn't happen and we were back at the tables. We again at 3 handed tried to make a deal and with my equity at $2900, I asked for $3000 but the big stack had an inflated view of his chip lead and would not budge. After he blew up and was knocked out, I entered heads up with $1.8million chips vs the chip leaders $9.5million. In the beginning there was no talk of a deal but after an hour of grinding him down without too many showdowns he clicked the make a deal button and despite having a chip deficit of $4.5million to $6.3million, I managed to get $3768 to his $3800.



I took my next shot at the same tournament on Saturday and managed to have another deep run and another final table. I ended up getting coolered with KK < AA and finished 6th for $740, without that slice of misfortune I certainly would of been looking at another 4 figure score and possibly another win.

Either way I can complain as these results will only help me at WSOP time.

Away from the tables, I had some back issues this week but finally a trip to the doctors and a steroid shot and some Vicodin and I am feeling 100% better. Had a bunch of things to tie up today, so I will finally be able to log a session once I publish this. I've got to fly in Atlantic City on Thursday to head up the Flux team at the WSOP circuit event for 12 days so online will suffer in December but hopefully I will be able to win some live dollars and all will be fine.

Updates for the month to follow in two days.

Updates Needed

Well I have finally remembered what its like to log volume again. After three months of putting in no volume I am only slightly behind pace to put in 100k hands this month and finally not lose $150 to the 100k hand prop bet pool on 2+2. 100k hands used to be so easy then I became lazy and forgot what it was like to grind. This month I am more focused and certainly grinding more.

As for the results, its been a mixed bag. I'm absolutely crushing the 50pl and 100pl games but am struggling a little at the 100nl games. Part of it is that I am running a little badly and part of it is that I have yet to make the correct adjustments with regards to the level. I am playing a little timid and it is costing me in spots. Ive worked some with Damnringer and Zachvac and I am hoping that I will be able to see improvement in the coming weeks. My series with Rask and Verneer is out on Cardrunners today and it is scary to see the player I was only like three months ago. There has been so much change in my game that I don't recognize the player at times in the video. The opportunity to work with those guys for free was something that I just couldnt pass up. Pure gold.

The coaching offer that I put forward in my last post has just blown up and I have taken on a bunch of students because of it. Sure it sucks to work for a little cheaper hourly but I just love coaching and seeing people improve their game.

The weight loss and nutrisystem are now in full swing and I have gone from my starting weight of 325lbs down to 311lbs in about four weeks. Nothing mind blowing yet but day by day I am completely getting hooked and as I add more exercise I can see me really making a run at 290lbs by Christmas. That would put me behind pace to reach my goal of 220lbs by June 1st but certainly within striking distance.

The radio show is going from strength to strength and I have some great interview guests of 2+2 fame lined up. Ive got CR coach Damnringer, database reviewing legend Mpethybridge and finally Vizer02 giving his opinions on the impact of PTR. Cant wait for those to go out and hopefully they are all recorded and aired by mid-Decemeber.

Good luck at the tables,
Gary

Coaching Offer

Ive talked a lot about my desire to do more and more coaching lately and after taking on more students, I want to push on further. I feel that the majority of my students, if they are willing to put in work, are going to improve substantially and seeing that improvement really makes me feel good and I get a great feeling of satisfaction from it. For those that dont know my results they can be found on PTR by searching El Nino 1 on FT.

Ok so on to the point of the post. I want to offer a limited time introductory offer for lessons. I currently charge $20 an hour for $10nl or lower and $35 an hour for $25nl and higher. The reason for the different charges is due to the fact that I want to make my coaching affordable for everyones bankrolls. No point bankrupting the $10nl player by charging them $35 when it is over 3 buyins at their current level. If your a new student looking for coaching and mention this blog post, I will be charging the reduced rate for the first four lessons of $15 per lesson for $10nl or lower and $25 per lesson for $25nl or higher.

Feel free to contact me by email at Elnino1stake@hotmail.com or more preferably on Skype or AIM at Gary100681