So I received a lot of requests for free coaching. I really wasn't sure how many I'd receive but due to time constraints I knew I wouldn't be able to spend too much time coaching. After all I needed to grind some poker to make up for the last 2-3 months. Plus w/ family obligations and running a coaching site I was probably biting off more than I could chew. Nonetheless I ended up giving out more free lessons than originally planned. For those of you that were not selected, I'm sorry. I went back and forth on how many people I'd take on, and believe it or not I almost decided to take on everybody that applied but then I figured out that wasn't realistic due to time constraints.

As for poker, I am back on the grind again. I dabbled a couple of times at nl200 and nl400 online and did ok. I've played more live because I've been hanging out w/ poker friends and we've been playing on the same tables making poker fun (nothing like owning friends in poker...it's ok because these guys crush).

A couple of nights ago a friend and I were at Caesar's Palace checking out the WSOP circuit scene and cash games. Turns out the biggest game was $2/$5nl but it was uncapped and I decided to buy in for $1500 (since I only had $3k on me, so 2 bullets). Well there was a guy that had $12k in front of him....bb equivalent = 2400bbs. He was pretty splashy but not crazy where he'd risk a lot of money running insane bluffs or calling big bets down lightly. Anyway he was good for the game.

Anyway very 1st hand I sit down, utg opr to $20, 2 calls, and I look down at J4s. Utg just sat down and it was his 1st hand as well. Well I recognized him as he was a live Vegas pro. We also had a little bit of history at bigger stakes including $5/$10 and $10/$20 around town. I never saw him playing $2/$5 before so I figured he might try to control the table since it was smaller than I had seen him playing. Well w/ me being there I was not going to let that go down.

Anyway I decided to 3bet him to $130 because I wanted to show him I meant business (and the fact that we were 300bbs deep and it was live poker meant for a slightly bigger 3bet than normal). When I 3bet him I almost felt the 4bet coming, and sure enough it did, to the tune of $360.



Sure he could've had a hand, but more likely it was basically him saying "well I know who you are and I'm not going to let you 3bet me tonight and I'm going to control the table therefore here's a 4bet to get you to fold your trash"....or maybe he did have KK or AA.

Or maybe not, so I decided to 5bet...the question was how much? I wasn't sure 5betting to $700 or so was that great because he might decide to shove TT-QQ and I'd probably call (given the pot odds). Finally I just decided to put in the last aggressive action and shoved for $1500 total (and possibly fold those 3 pps).....



and he snap folded. It's pretty mandatory that you have to show at least one bad card when you pull off something like this so I did show the table the 4.



So was this suicidal? No, because his 4bet range was wide and I get to put in the last action. Also he may call w/ AK and I'm only a 3-2 dog vs. that hand and about 4-1 dog vs rest of his calling range of QQ+. Yes the odds aren't great but w/ the fe it was close. I thought it became +ev when I included the other variables of the situation. I get to set a tone to the table and him that I was here to gamble and wasn't afraid to go broke in any spot (less bluffs aimed at me so less tough situations). After all, I just sat down...imagine how the others would be licking their chops (esp. the guy w/ $12k) if they saw me go broke for 300bbs w/ J4s preflop (and sometimes I may win!). I am pretty good at adjusting my game based on others' perceptions of me so I felt like others would make mistakes the rest of the session based off this 1st hand. I do think I would've been able to regain the slight equity I gave up in that 1st hand w/ future hands (after all I just sat down and I'm sure everybody were going to play for awhile trying to win money off the middle aged Asian dude who stuck in 300bbs w/ J4s preflop 1st hand!)

Anyway I ended up winning a few hundred in the session (took a beat w/ AQ on a A63AK board when opponent held KK) but nothing matched the fun of the 1st hand. Live poker's been going well and I've been really enjoying it so I may play a little more live than online for now (that may change anytime though). If you guys want to follow along w/ other cool hands and adventures around town (really just the grind of a Vegas pro, but I'm cool!) feel free to follow me on twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/nicolakpoker.

Oh and I did an interview recently for Pokernews w/ Kristy Arnett just talking about the mindset of being a professional poker player along w/ a few other things. You can check it out here... PokernewsInterview .