The Good Doctor


It's an honor to have been bestowed a link on Dr Pauly's poker blog! Now there's an actual chance others may read this drivel.

Playing a lot of NL100 Rush Poker on FTP...after an initial boost, it's been a slow, rollercoaster of a grind. Win $300, lose $250...lose $200, win $175. It wears on the mind, especially when work is sucking the proverbial fat one and all I can think about is "I wish I could play poker for a living, but how will that ever happen if my online bankroll hardly grows?"

I take beats, I play bad, I think about having to go to work the next day, and I get real mad/depressed. Reading the Elements of Performance section of Tommy Angelo's book has been helpful; I feel so calm & relaxed after reading those pages. Breathing is the best cure for tilt, and for avoiding tilt. I must make it part of my routine to read/breathe before every session.

Time to go play some more Rush, then the For Anna benefit tourney on Full Tilt at 10.

Also, if anyone wants to trade blog links, just leave me yours in the comments...thanks!

I Mean It This Time!

New Year's Resolution season is here! First let me take a look at my 2009 list of goals:

- Lose 30 pounds by June 1st...didn't make the 30, but I am down about 20 pounds from my high in January...I'm proud of my progress.
- Become a winning player at $5/10NL by December 31st...yeah, not so much! Still at $.50/1NL, but running at about 3BB/100 over my last 4,500 hands or so...more work to be done here.
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November...this one didn't happen, but I did cash in a $300 buy-in tourney at Mohegan Sun last month.
- Post at least once per week...lol...but it looks like I didn't post any less this year, either.
- Improve my position at work (or find a new job) by June 1st...10% unemployment rates didn't help me here, but I'm always looking around, keeping my ears open at work, etc.

And now for the 2010 goal checklist:

- Weigh 220 lbs or less by our next trip to Vegas (sometime this summer)
- Become a winning player at $5/$10NL by December 31st (not giving up on this one)
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November (...or this one!)
- Grow our monthly live tournaments at the Lounge (we're averaging around 12-15 entries, I'd like to see this up to at least 20 by year-end)
- Plan three major vacations (Las Vegas, Ocean City (MD), and To Be Determined)

What I'm already doing to accomplish these goals:

- Reducing my carb intake by eating less bread, pasta, potatoes, sweets, etc.
- Reading poker books, blogs, and articles (already 75 pages into Elements of Poker, which I got from my brother-in-law Steve for Christmas...thanks!)
- Reviewing prior poker sessions, talking over hands with Todd, sweat sessions, etc.
- Collecting cell phone numbers & e-mail addresses from new players, and sending out messages reminding everyone of the next tournament.

What else I need to do to accomplish these goals:

- Get back on the low-carb horse after New Year's...I behaved during Thanksgiving, but there was just too much good, starchy, sugar-laden food around me these last couple weeks for me to pass up!
- Get back to the gym...it's at the end of our driveway...c'mon man!
- Buy and read Treat Your Poker Like a Business...and then another poker book, and then another.
- Look into buying a membership to a poker training site...I've got tons of FPP's on Full Tilt I can use to pay for one.
- Play more "main event" qualifiers...Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, maybe even the EPT stop in my dad's birthplace of Dortmund, Germany.
- Send out e-mail recaps of the Lounge tournaments...I used to do this for the private tournaments we ran online, and I think it kept everyone interested...numbers went down when I stopped the recaps.
- Don't waste my sick/vacation days on so many Mental Health Days...plan days off & use them to play in live tournaments and for vacations.

OK now, let me hear a big 'Whoa Bundy' on three!

Let's Put Some Positive Comments Into This Here Blog

Making a bit of progress with the poker...I'm probably down $25 or so this week playing cash games, but I did win a small MTT qualifier to tomorrow night's $80k Guarantee on Full Tilt. I may play it, or I may just bank the T$ for another time and hang out with my brother & neice instead.

Also started talking hands through with my friend at work, and he told me about the week of free videos on Deuces Cracked. Watched one so far, and now starting the Road to Robusto series by TubaSteve. Might not make it through the entire series, but at least I'll pick up some good fundamental training on things like table/seat selection, opening hand ranges, etc. Once the free week is over, I still have a handful of videos I downloaded from Poker Savvy before my membership ran out.

A group of us met with the new exec heading up our department at work (who also was my "big boss" when I first started this job back in 2007). It was refreshing to hear from someone who has a clue. When he first ran our area, we had something like 14 consecutive quarters of sales growth; his successors felt that many changes were needed, basically ignoring the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mantra. Of course they ended up breaking up lots of relationships we had with other departments we rely on, cut our comp plan, and did everything else short of re-naming our area The Titanic. This recent recession/depression didn't help matters, either. Hopefully the new (old) leaders will make things right again, make it easier for us to do what we do, and pay us fairly for our accomplishments.

And I've managed to drop a couple more pounds...nothing dramatic, but progress nonetheless.

Grinding Out of a Hole/Resolutions Update

It feels like I've been just spinning my wheels with my online and live casino play. I'll book some small wins on Full Tilt, then go into a huge slump, then grind my way back to my last high point...only to repeat the process. Thank goodness for rakeback or else my account would never go up!

I didn't qualify for Mohegan's big tourney...I played the final $280 qualifier the night before day 1A, big mistake as there were plenty of solid players looking to win an entry on the cheap. Again, I made the mistake of dueling with the most aggressive player at the table, only to have him catch his top pair on the turn and snap call my hesitating river shove (worst play I've made in a long time). Then I just played in a $150 Act II super satellite at Foxwoods on Saturday. Built my stack from 4k to 8k pretty quickly, only to have Ms. Weak-Tight run down my flopped two pair and river her straight...I was back down to 4k with blinds at 200/400/50 and struggled from that point on, lost K-9 vs A-8 for most of my chips, and ran a blind shove from the SB for my last 900 into kings...I woke up with 7-2, haha me.

The '09 resolutions aren't any more promising:

- Lose 30 pounds by June 1st: I'd be lucky if I haven't gained weight
- Become a winning player at $5/10NL by December 31st: just one decimal place away!
- Qualify to play in a major live tournament, no later than the WPT at Foxwoods in November: hope to give the April WPT at Foxwoods one more shot
- Post at least once per week: how about once per month?
- Improve my position at work (or find a new job) by June 1st: business is very slow, and everyone's holding their breath waiting for the new bonus plan to be announced...early rumors are that most of us will be eating Ramen Noodles and Mac & Cheese for quite a while.

Well I've gotta get back on the dieting bandwagon, that's for sure. Warmer weather will bring more opportunities for some outside activities (walks, golf, etc.). Spend more time reading poker books/strategy sites, maybe get a coach if not too expensive? Keep plugging away at the live tourney qualifiers; the odds say I should make it through one of them sometime!

Insert Title Here

Not much new and/or exciting to report. Getting re-motivated at work. Live poker trips scheduled to Mohegan Sun & Atlantic City over the next couple weeks. Working off my year-end Iron Man bonus on FullTilt. Monthly poker tournament at the Lounge is set for next Saturday. First weigh-in for Biggest Loser contest on Thursday. It'd be nice if at least half of these things lead to some positive results.

Since the weigh-in isn't for a few more days, Jen & I are braving the snow to cash in gift cards at TGIFridays...yay food!

Saturday Tilt

In chronological order:
- lost power for two hours
- laptop acted up, had to reinstall AOL & other programs
- had chiplead at final table of Saturdays with Dr Pauly, finished fourth
- guys' night out for UFC PPV cancelled due to stupid tropical storm
- on FullTilt NL $100 table, I raised w/KK, get re-raised to $12, I raised to $37, he called...got it all in on Q-x-x flop...you know what he had (QQ)
- on another FT NL $100 table, I raised w/77 & flopped a set in a multi-way pot...I bet & got a caller, turn was an A, I made weak-looking 1/2 pot bet, guy shoved all in for TWO DOLLARS MORE, I mis-clicked & FOLDED.

There, now I feel a little better...go Patriots.

And Then, This Happens...

Full Tilt Poker Game #7418357007: Table Monterey - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:00:29 ET - 2008/07/28
Seat 1: YKNOW1 ($122.65)
Seat 2: DieUnglaubliche ($25.70)
Seat 3: greatstar00 ($50.20)
Seat 4: lenabru ($198)
Seat 5: AlwaysLimp ($202)
Seat 6: ChkRazed ($200)
Seat 7: gocards2142 ($1,301.15)
Seat 8: Brick_man_17 ($63.05)
Seat 9: ME ($372.15)
gocards2142 posts the small blind of $1
Brick_man_17 posts the big blind of $2
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to ME [Ac As]
I raise to $7
YKNOW1 folds
DieUnglaubliche folds
greatstar00 folds
lenabru folds
AlwaysLimp folds
ChkRazed folds
gocards2142 calls $6
Brick_man_17 has 15 seconds left to act
Brick_man_17 is sitting out
Brick_man_17 folds
*** FLOP *** [7c 2h 5d]
gocards2142 checks
I bet $10
gocards2142 calls $10
*** TURN *** [7c 2h 5d] [9h]
gocards2142 checks
I check
*** RIVER *** [7c 2h 5d 9h] [Ad]
gocards2142 bets $20
Brick_man_17 has returned
I raise to $70
gocards2142 has 15 seconds left to act
gocards2142 raises to $180 (oh good, he flopped a set, just like the last time he cracked my Aces!)
I raise to $355.15, and is all in
gocards2142 calls $175.15
*** SHOW DOWN ***
I show [Ac As] three of a kind, Aces
gocards2142 shows [6h 8h] a straight, Nine high
gocards2142 wins the pot ($743.30) with a straight, Nine high
I am sitting out, whining in my blog
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $746.30 | Rake $3
Board: [7c 2h 5d 9h Ad]
Seat 1: YKNOW1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: DieUnglaubliche didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: greatstar00 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: lenabru didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: AlwaysLimp didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: ChkRazed (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: gocards2142 (small blind) showed [6h 8h] and won ($743.30) with a straight, Nine high
Seat 8: Brick_man_17 (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 9: I showed [Ac As] and lost with three of a kind, Aces

Yak.