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.

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

Status Report 100nl

I am now well into my shot at 100nl and things have gone pretty well. The transition to 100nl is a pretty tough one due to the regs just being that much better. They are applying a lot of pressure on you and you have to be on top of your game so much more than is necessary at 50nl. I felt I could play my C game at 50nl and still grind out a decent day. If I try it at 100nl though if I'm not on my B game or better I'm losing or breaking even at best. Its certainly a bit of a culture shock. I'm not sure that I have had my A game for a full session yet, I seem to play well and then let me game slip. It's more mentally taxing too so I think I will make the adjustment and make my sessions a little shorter and now put in three sessions a day rather than the two per day that I used to put in.

Im going to put in a full 100k+ hands at 100nl in November before I decide whether to make the switch permanent, but I'm committed to it throughout November for sure. I will also post my graph at the end to show the progress so far.

I've been doing a bunch of coaching lately and have added a couple more regs from the 2+2 FTP regs thread to my student list and I'm really excited to work with them. I like working with students that are motivated to move up and succeed and all of the new guys seem to fit the mold. I seem to get more satisfaction from coaching than I do playing these days so the more students the merrier. I still want my coaching to be affordable to the micro guys that are building their rolls so even if I do make 100nl stick I will keep my prices the same. No point targeting micro guys and then trying to charge them $50 - $60, because they just cant afford it.

Also the radio show with the Itsawinner.co.uk guys is going great. We have now gotten 50 episodes in the can and thats amazing. I love working with Mal and Gareth and hopefully I'm able to keep them on poker topics but thats tougher than you would think. We have also hooked up with Fluxstables.com as a sponsor to the show so we are now on our way to being big time. I think its still a long road to that though.

Update for the month to follow soon, the rest of the day I'm focused on baseball... Lets go Rangers !!!!