One in $5 Million

Sadly when I double checked my PokerStars cashier this morning the $1.6 million first prize from the Sunday Million hadn't magically appeared in my account. I was one of the 59k people that ponied up $215 for a shot at a huge first prize and a sweet ride. Sadly I only made it into the second hour, losing with top two vs. the NFD in a 3bet pot. The only issue that I had with the late stages of the tournament was that considering they are playing for such a huge amount of money, there was no play involved. Everyone was so shallow and whilst I understand that every tournament must end, it just seems that it was nothing more than a lottery.

On other poker fronts, the month of February was pretty much one to forget. I didn't play the first ten days of the month due to being in Vegas with the Flux guys and then when I came back, things just didn't seem to be clicking and I seemed to be playing horribly. This tends to happen every now and then and its just a factor of going on auto pilot and not focusing on my decisions. It doesn't help that I am trying to multi task when I am playing and that can only lead to bad situations.

March has started a lot better, I am working hard on my game and really looking to progress. I played a very solid +4BI session of $100nl at the weekend and whilst I made a couple of mistakes calling off in some bad spots, I didn't let it get to me and ended with a solid day.

I've started to get ready for the WSOP and have looked to make a schedule so that I can get a thread started on 2+2 looking to get some of my action sold off. I would love to play the $10k Main Event this year and am going to do my best to make it happen. Its still early but I feel that it would be such a good experience that I need to do all that I can to be in that field.

Done for now, but more updates to follow.
Good luck at the tables.

Breaking out of a Funk

I currently find myself in my usual post live poker online funk. The two games are just so different that I always find myself struggling to get back into the swing of things after spending some time playing live. Things are different this time though, normally I brush it off and move on and find myself slipping back into my winning ways and going on with my game as normal. However, this time I have decided that I really want to improve.

As many of you know, I haven't really made the progress online that most people have expected me to make. Its really a function of the fact that I haven't wished to progress through the limits and have settled into $50nl and $100pl like it is a cosy home. This needs to change. I don't want to look back in the future and have regrets about my poker career. I need to know that I did everything possible to be the best player I can be. I do not possess the natural talents for the game as some of my friends do, so it will require a decent amount of work but I would like to be able to give the higher games a shot. If I fail, I fail, its not like I can't just fit back into the lower games and make a solid amount of money. My modest goal then will be being established at $200nl by the end of the year.

For the first time in a long while I am going to use a coach to help me. I have settled for the time being on RobSainter. He is something of a legend in the online world and is certainly someone I am excited to be working with. My first session is tonight so hopefully after our session I will be further motivated to succeed.

Going to focus on my volume for the next couple of weeks so I am going to posts graphs to motivate me to concentrate on my A game.

Good luck at the tables.

Flux Vegas Review

Flux decided to take on Vegas the first 10 days of February during the Venetian Deep Stack. We took out a total of six cash guys including myself and we played a range of cash games from 1/2 to 5/10. Whilst I won't mention individual results of people on the trip, it is safe to say that we are noticing there is a huge difference between online and live poker. It is a work in progress and getting good in the live environment is something that over time we will all excel at but in the short term we have hit some bumps in the road.

On a personal standpoint, I played exclusively 2/5 with one short sitting at 5/10. I have notoriously struggled at live poker due to being unable to adjust to the slower pace of the live game. However, this trip proved to be a turning point in my live career. I posted 7 winning days out of 8 and found myself feeling really comfortable in the games. Some of the days were only small wins but on those days I really think that the changes I have made in my game came to the forefront. On some of those days, I would of just thrown in the towel and posted a $500 or $600 loss for the day but I managed to battle throughout and grind out a positive result.

The 5/10 game I sat in was probably the softest of all the games I played in Vegas. I didnt get the chance to play many pots, but surprisingly I felt very comfortable sitting in the game even when double barreling for $180 on the turn. Its amazing how small of a bet $180 is in a 5/10 game. People snap it off like I just threw in a $5 chip.

With the WSOP looming on the horizon this trip is really going to make a huge difference on my summer if I can take what I learned over these 10 days back to the felt in June and July.

Aside from the live grind, we hung out at the Flux house with some of the 180 man guys we have living there and it was pretty much a blast. I rediscovered my love for pool and quickly got back in the groove. I think over the next few months I will continue to get back into the game and by the summer be ready to play a lot again. Certainly need to make a trip to the store to get myself a cue. Also figured out that FIFA 11 on the Xbox is a big hit. I love the game being from England but didnt realize how much others loved it too. In the beginning I couldnt be beat but as they got more practice, Mr Gambino in particular began to give me a great game each time and after all was said and done we are about even. Going to have to work on my formations for the summer.

Nothing is planned on the travelling front for February so I will be hitting the online felt hard for the next month or so. The next time I will be travelling will be my trip to the NCAA Tournament in Cleveland. I owe Steve a special shout out for the help planning the trip. He really is a great friend and I appreciate it all.

Starting to be an essay now so I am going to close...

Good luck at the tables.

January and WSOP Choctaw

I cant believe that we have almost made it through January and I haven't been able to scramble the time together to put a blog post down. My life in the first 25 days of the month has been a whirlwind of 18 hour days with little or no time to sleep.

Flux at the minute is pretty much consuming all of my time. We are taking on new players every day and working hard to establish ourselves as the premium staking company for online grinders. As our stable grows and word gets around the poker community, I am 100% sure that we will be just that but for now its a lot of work and its time consuming. We have our next live trip coming up the first 10 days of February when we are taking the team to the Venetian Deep Stack. It will provide me with the opportunity to check out the fully completed Flux house and I am pretty excited about that.

Away from Flux, my time at the tables has been spent playing live at the WSOP Circuit event in Durant, Oklahoma. I sold a package for 5 events (only managed to play 4 due to sickness) of the Series and was really happy with the way I played throughout. Yes, I bageled and went 0 for 4 but my play was good and I felt that I made the correct decisions throughout. The first event I lost a flip with AK v QQ after the dinner break and then followed it up by rebuilding to 12bbs before getting it in preflop with QQ v KK v TT. First example of live poker being rigged! Next event, the poker gods thought they would laugh at me further as I managed to get all of my chips in with JJ v 88 in a 4bet pot only for the magical 8 ball to appear on the river. The following week I was back at it again but this one was pretty uneventful. We had a guy trying to win the tournament by level 5 and he was making it impossible to get into pots without the goods. The good finally arrived in the way of JJ but despite getting my chips in good against AT on Txx, it wasn't to be and I was hitting the rail again after a nasty turn.

The main event, a $1600 buyin, was the one I was really looking forward to. We had 20,000 starting stacks and 40 minute levels with a great structure. The deck decided to smack me in the face for the first couple of levels and I had grown my stack from 20k to 32k at the first break. I came back feeling good and then the trouble started, I got into a 4bet pot preflop with AA that I was forced to fold postflop when then board ran out T9Q6K followed swiftly by having to fold QK as the pfr on K62Q. I was right with the fold fwiw but it killed all momentum. After that I played a few small pots where I'd raise pre and have to fold at some point post flop. I managed to get the last of my chips in with TT v AQ and couldn't hold, which led to be frustratingly leaving the room thinking about what could have been with a better run of cards/situations. The series however did make me want to play in more Circuit events and over the coming months I intend to make this happen.

The online felt has taken a backseat to live this month but I will be putting in a solid week before I head to Vegas for the Venetian event.

More updates to come. Good luck at the tables.

2010 Year in Review

Well its time for the post where I deem 2010 a success or a failure. Luckily for me, 2010 was a big success and I hope will form the platform for me to make an even bigger splash in 2011. Rather than make this a brag post of sorts, I am just going to list the highs and lows of the year with a brief commentary on them.

Highs:
1) Watching my friend KurtSF wreck shop and make a WSOP final table. Something that can never be taken away from him and such an amazing achievement.
2) Making a deep run in the $1k event at the WSOP before finally finishing 29th. Disappointing for sure but AK < K4 aipf will do that to you.
3) Joining Fluxstables and being involved with all the guys over there. 2010 was a solid start but I think 2011 will really blow that away.
4) Had a career year to date in cash games online. Soured a little with the move up progress but for the most part it was a personal decision.
5) Living for two months with the guys in the Micro Grind House. Clearly was a great experience and cant wait to be back there in 2011
6) Getting to do more and more coaching and seeing the progress that my students have made. So much more rewarding than playing myself.

Lows:
1) Busting out of the WSOP event so early on day 3. Its a tough thing to get over when you are so close to a possible $600k and lady luck doesnt smile on you.
2) Live cash games. This really just encompasses all live stuff. I really struggle with the boredom factor but its something I must address before Vegas in the summer.
3) Lack of online progression. Sure I had a great year at 50nl and 100pl but I really need to embrace moving up levels rather than being scared of failing.

It seems by the lows that I really should be disappointed in my year, but in truth I am very happy with it providing I use it as a springboard for 2011.

My goals for 2011 will be posted shortly.
Best of luck to all at the tables in 2011.

Merry Christmas to All

Wanted to pass on the best Christmas wishes to everyone that reads the blog. I hope that everyone has a safe and rewarding time with their families.

For anyone that hasnt played at the tables during the festive period before really needs to give it a shot, the games are amazing.

With that said I am heading back to the tables

Thanks to everyone that reads this blog and inspires me to continue to chart my progress in the poker world

Flux Takes On Atlantic City

I haven't been playing online at all through the first three weeks of December due to commitments with Flux Stables in Atlantic City. We decided to take 8 of our players to the WSOP circuit event at Harrahs and let them play games ranging from MTT's to cash games.

Getting the opportunity to meet some of the guys first hand and interact with them was priceless. Its surprising to say, considering we put 8 randoms into a house for 12 days, but everyone got on tremendously well and really had a great time. We had two guys playing the early MTTs while the rest of us dove into the cash games.

When you put 5 very good online cash game players into a casino full of fish you expect them to crush it and crush it relentlessly. Sadly, at the beginning of our trip we were the ones getting crushed. We ran horribly, flopping top set in 3bet pots and having to fold on rivers, bricking 17 out super draws against TPGK and not being able to flop a set for love or money. (I personally flopped 3 sets during my time there in what must have been about 65pps). Despite the early setbacks, the attitude of everyone was superb.

Before I get too far into the trip report, I need to let you guys know about the house we were staying in. It is a three story house that includes an elevator, a pool table, the most amazing walk in showers and a toilet that makes every other toilet ive seen look like a hole in the ground. Nothing is better when you need to hit the restroom than a warm toilet seat greeting your cold ass. Top it off with a hot tub outside that could fit the entire offensive line of the Dallas Cowboys and we were in heaven. The only downside to the hot tub is the run from the hot tub to the house in what feels like sub zero temperatures.

Joe, one of our MTT players, managed to bring some success to the trip when he made not one but two final tables. First, he final tabled the $570 event and was in contention for the $40k first prize up until the point he got unlucky with AQ v A9 aipf. Sadly we couldn't fade the 9 and despite Joe making a couple of hero calls to split pots to stay afloat, he finally got it in with 66 v KJs only for the other guy to flop the nut flush. Ez game. Only a few days later he was back at the final table of the $230 event. He went into the final table as one of the chip leaders but due to the structure being a little quick, Joe was forced to flip regularly and after going 0 for 3 in flips, he hit the rail in 8th place. Nevertheless, the achievement was impressive and he has certainly given his reputation a boost with his strong showing.

With Mao and Zachvac playing the 5/10 and 10/20 games we made a solid recovery towards the end of the trip and the knowledge that we learned from each other can only stand us in good stead at our regular online tables. The experience was certainly a good one and I really cant wait to either take part in the Oklahoma or Vegas trips scheduled for early 2011.

Outside of live poker, I managed to make day 2 of the 2 day $216 miniFTOPS event. However, after losing with AK v AQ v J6s on the last hand of day 1, it was never going to happen for me and I made my exit about 2 hours into day 2. I need to really put in a lot of hands this week so from tomorrow onwards I will be grinding like crazy. Hopefully I will be able to end 2010 on a positive note.