This made me laugh.. so true.. http://www.funlol.com/15926/Mature_people_truths.html




Anyways the start of 2011 pokerwise hasn't been good, really frustrating but there's a ton of time to make up for it. I was looking at my last 2 years daily results and it seemed like I had a lot more poker stamina 2 years ago. I could grind like 20 days in a row without a day off no big deal. Now I grind 3 days and on the third I'm like "fk poker, I'm not playing tomorrow".. This probably has something to do with running way better in 2009 than 2010 and wanting to play more when winning.. I probably played 40 more days in 2009 than 2010.

I'm going to a Lakers game tonight with my girlfriend. She got the tix for me for xmas. Surprisingly this is my first NBA game. Got a little bet on it so hope they cover 6. Gonna have a busy non poker weekend basically partying and having a friend I met in Argentina visiting the city.

After that I'm off to spend some time in Vegas so if anyone is out there let me know.

-Cyrus

Wow 2010 is over. It was a long year but overall a very good one.

I'll begin with the poker. This was the first year I didn't have better results than the previous year which was tough to deal with, especially given the fact that I was a much different player in 2010 than I was in 2009. At the beginning of 2009 I had been playing at the 2/4 and 3/6 HU limits for a month and was doing really well so made the transition to 5/10. After a shaky start and moving back down to regain confidence I was able to move back up there and crush. I first played 10/20 in November and ran insanely hot. By the time 2010 started, I was a very confident player with huge overall wins at 5/10 and 10/20 (small sample). January started off well with a 50k bang then the next 3 months that number dropped sequentially. This didn't make sense to me given that I was such a better player than the previous year. Things turned around in June with a huge month but July I ran sick bad at 10/20. Aug was meh and September was phenomenal but the rest of they year was mediocre. Although the overall result wasn't as good as 2009, it was still pretty amazing.

There were several improvements to my game fundamentally and I tweaked a lot of things I was doing on autopilot ie. cbetting/not cbetting certain boards or my lines in 3b pots etc. The aspect I have worked hardest on is tilt. If there is anything that can bring out the tilt in someone it's HU poker. I without question made huge strides here but have a long way to go. This is more important to me than improving as a player because it will not only help me play my "A" game longer, but it will help with my overall health. If I am going to continue playing poker professionally, I need to master this aspect of it.

Outside of poker things were great. I met an awesome girl that I have been dating for almost 11 months now. Although there are lots of ups and downs (during a relationship in general), overall I am very happy with her. I also moved to San Francisco in March and after being here since March I don't see myself living anywhere else for a long time. Out of all the cities I've visited in my life this ranks up there as one of the best. I also took several trips to Tahoe, Vegas, Laguna Beach, one to Hawaii and one to Napa this year. I am really lucky and thankful to have the opportunity to do these things in my life. I feel very fortunate.

So anyways ya, its New Years Eve and I've got a ton of friends visiting up here. We are going to Sea of Dreams where Thievary Corporation is headlining. I've been to this party before and it's pretty silly/weird/ravy but it's a lot of fun. Really happy to be able to spend this weekend with so many good friends though.

My goals in 2011 are pretty much travel related. I want to do at least 2-3 more snowboarding trips to Tahoe. I also want to spend a weekend in Monterey with my girlfriend (this is her hometown). I need to go camping in Big Sur so add that to the list. I still need to visit Alcatrez and Coit tower. Oh, I also plan on learning to cook at least 5 new recipes. I pretty much only cook the same 3 or 4 things and eat out the rest of the time. Finally, I want to try 25 new restaraunts and write something the experience. Maybe I'll put it in the blog here. As far as poker goes, I just want to milk it while it lasts. I'm gonna end this here bc I'm getting hungry haha..

Best wishes in 2011 people!

-Cyrus

He was a former student and friend (although not irl). Here is the thread.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/58/heads-up-nl/warning-travis-tate-cookeville-tn-scammer-939081/

Sup people? Heading to Tahoe tomorrow early and will spend a couple days snowboarding up there. Pretty pumped to get out of the city and be up in the mountains with some good friends. It's been pretty stormy here in the city so there should be some snow up there. I plan on taking several trips up there this season..




I have played a ton of poker over the last 10 days or so without taking a break. I'm pretty happy with my results and hope to continue this through the end of the year. I still have had a bad habit of complaining about results when things don't go well so I want to work on this.

Check out this hand played between Sauce and Urnot at NL 100/200: https://www.pokertableratings.com/replayer/index.php?site=fulltilt&id=26240136105

I can't see Sauce having anything other than J9 here but god damn, he had the right read..

We have all heard the gossip about possible legalization of poker. Given the circumstances it would be quite bittersweet. If the legislation passed, it would be all over the news and hundreds of thousands of fish would decide to play online again. The 15 month blackout would be pretty brutal though. The opportunity cost of that would be very expensive, to the point where I might not think playing professionally would be worth it (but who really knows). Even with the 15 month blackout, I still think it would be worth it to have Americans be able to deposit easy. It would also be much safer and we wouldn't have to deal with bounced checks etc. This could be a pretty historical moment for online poker, hopefully it works out.

I dont have many hands at HU PLO. I have tried playing it on and off and even put in work away from the felt but seriously, FUCK YOU PLO! I was really determined to get good at this game and although there are lots of things I'm seeing and figuring out, I think I've lost interest.. The only reason I wanted to get good at PLO is there is so much action there and from what I hear, bad players at higher games.. I'm glad I decided to learn at small stakes and not take a worse beating but this is a lot of Buy ins.. Anyways, I've lost interest in PLO and won't put anything into it. There's already too much I can't control with NL.

On another note, I got footage of some NL 200HU and will be making a 4 part series. Actually I'm almost done with the series and it should turn out pretty good. I'm pretty happy with how I played for the most part despite a few suspect plays. It's been a long time since I"ve made a video for Cardrunners (that wasn't a leakfinder at least)..

Here is the PLO graph..

Spent Halloween in San Francisco. We had some ppl over for a bit to pregame before going to this spot called Yoshis. Overall it was pretty fun but the downer was that they way overbooked the place (you had to buy tix to get in). No way the fire marshal would have approved how many ppl were crammed into that spot lol. Because of how crowded it was, there wasn't really a dance floor and I felt bad for ppl who bought table service bc ppl would just walk through their table area because of where they were set up.. One cool thing is that there was an open bar. We all expected that they would just be serving shitty well drinks but surprisingly they were serving Belvedere and Don Julio which was cool too.. I grew a beard for my costume and had this wig and gold chain.. We concluded that my costume was of a guy who ran a chicken fighting ring in Tijuana..

From left: Ferg (caviat_emptor), me, my gf, her two friends from college, and Fergs chick (can't really see)

Here is another



Also, I was pretty shocked to hear about the death of Pro surfer Andy Irons. I was always a huge fan of both Andy and Bruce Irons. He apparently died from Dengue fever (its a virus from the tropics that can be deadly if not treated) after a layover in Dallas on his way home to see his wife who is 7 months pregnant. It trips me out how a healthy professional athlete can get sick and die like he did.. Anyways RIP Andy and here is a cool tribute video on him:
Just click on it and it will direct you to where you can play it.. http://vimeo.com/5949112

Andy from RUNAMUKVISUALS.COM on Vimeo.

Wow its been a while since a blog. I'll begin with the poker. Right after my last blog, I was doomswitched with one of my worst downswings and definitely one of the most frustrating.. The first week of September was ok but then things were great for the most part the rest of the month. September was the least varaice/smoothest month I have had. I just didn't ever have any big losses. This resulted in a very good month. I had some really great 5/10 games vs some fish and capitalized and also capitalized playing some pretty good regs there. I really love the dynamic of playing good players there. There are so many more spots you can bluff and level. Its so fun.

Ironically after such a smooth month, I decided to hire Jared Tendler (mental coach) and do a package with him. I hear very good things and really want to work on the mental and emotional aspects of professional poker. I'm starting sessions in a week and a half and will update on how things go.. I really really want to be as zen and indifferent as humanly possible with poker results/variance..

Oh, I just started a twitter account. If you want to follow me I am cpar1 there and if you have a twitter account let me know what it is so I can follow. Maybe this means I'll have to start playing some more tournaments haha. I'm considering NAPT in LA this November. I need to brush up on my tournament game but hate how long they take..

Looking forward to this weekend. A buddy of mine is getting married and his bachelor party will be here in SF. It's gonna be good to have a bunch of High School friends up here to party. I can't think of anything else..

I'm having a very nice month so far, particularly at 10/20. Ironically, I started playing some 1/2 and am going to use the winnings for live tournies ie. wsop etc. At least this way I'll feel more freerolled or something even tho it doesn't make much sense. I'm getting crushed there in 4k hands this month lol but I'll take the doomswitch there any day.. There is a fkn world of difference between 1/2 and 2/4+.. I have no idea what ppl are doing and why but 1/2 is a gold mine so I'll dabble in it when I'm bored.. I last played Friday and had one of my best cash days which is nice.. Sorry about no dollar signs on graph but you get the idea..

Saturday I rolled up to wine country with my gf and it was pretty amazing. Obv lots of wine tasting and good weather. If you ever decide to go to napa, you should consider heading further North to Calistoga. It's more up there in the cuts and less commercialized with some really good wineries. The scenery up there is so sick!! One winery that stood out was a new one that is a castle. I forgot what it was called but the guy that built it spent 40MM$ on it. Damn, you really gotta love your wine to do something like that. Tomorrow I fly to Vegas and will spend some time there before visiting family in Laguna..

If you aren't playing me, I hope you are crushing :)

-Cyrus

I remember I used to blog like every 2 days.. Lol.. Twice a month is still pretty consistent tho.. Well, July was def a forgettable month. I can't really complain bc I made money but it was pretty frustrating overall (ended up better than May so not my worst month). Did have some great games mixed in with some slow days.. The EV was def not on my side but for some reason when I see that it doesn't bother me as much as when I am losing and not -EV$... Maybe bc I don't lose as much confidence or feel as though I played well or some other brain fail of a reason..

Speaking of Brain Fail. I just started Jimmylegg's series and it is phenomenal. If you haven't seen it put it in the que. I am only like 2.5vids into it but plan on finishing it within a week. It's more or less an educational on how the brain works and tendencies the brain has that relates to poker (and tilt obv). The last 4 days I decided not to pay attention to my results or look at the cashier and was actually pretty clueless as to where I stood. I gotta admit this is very difficult. I booked my month and plan on trying this for another week. It's a big goal of mine to gain more control over my emotions or reactions when things don't go well in poker. I have been improving a bit over the last 2 months but have a long way to go.. I feel that this is more important than improving my game for a variety of reasons, none bigger than my own well being away from the tables.

Anyways, I've had a bunch of ppl ask about coaching recently. I am currently coaching at 300/hr or 10hrs for 270/hr.. Coaching will be up to NL 600 HU.. Also a lot of ppl ask if they could send me hands outside of the sessions. I am ok with this but don't be offended if I don't answer right away, it's probably bc I'm in a session or busy away etc..

Outside of poker things are good. SF has been awesome despite the summer weather (foggy and cold as fuck!!). I'm going to Outside Lands music festival in a couple weeks and have some friends visiting. I also might start looking at some real estate and buy a house. I doubt the market will change soon but I want to take advantage of the buyers market. I am in a really good position to get a loan bc I literally have no debt (after selling my car) and have multiple years paying poker taxes. I'm not in a huge rush but will probably look to see if there are any good deals.. I had planned on racing in a half marathon but decided I'm just gonna train and do a few 10ks first. I was in terrible shape but after a couple weeks of running/working out I feel exponentially stronger endurance wise.. If you are a professional poker player, I can't preach how important it is to get into good physical shape or at least work towards it. This (in correlation with eating well) is probably the healthiest thing you can do to help balance out a life away from the tables..

I logged onto cardrunners and read a few blogs so decided to give a shout out myself. Actually I notice that every time I log onto CR its to see who has written a blog. It's pretty rare for me to watch videos these days although I probably should especially PLO.. Maybe it's because I've been here long enough to get to know a decent amount of ppl in the community and it's some sort of social form of entertainment or interest..

Anyways, I spent June in vegas and left just before the main event. Although I have nothing to show for in wsops, I crushed in cash games and had my best month of the year which was nice for a variety of reasons; the biggest being my regained confidence. All in all Vegas was fkn great. It was cool chillin with the roomies and other poker friends. I also met a ton of poker ppl from Cardrunners through their social events. I was disappointed by having to miss the Main Event party but that's what happens when you got a girlfriend who wants to see you. And ya, I missed the Main Event but no way in Hell I'm letting that happen next year. Oh, I want to give a shout out to Tay and Wiggins for the instructor dinner. Super generous on their part and it was cool meeting some new peeps there.. I wont go into detail naming names of ppl I met bc I don't want to forget anyone, but if you are reading this, HELLO From CPAR :)

I spent the 4th in San Diego with the lady and it was pretty wild. My take on San Diego is that it is a decent city but San Francisco blows it out of the water (with the exception of 11 months of winter). It kind of reminds me of long beach, a city with some buildings but no hustle and bustle and not that much character. Still, not a bad spot at all..

I'm in SF now and look forward to Napa in a couple weeks, Outside lands in August, and I'm gonna check out Azis Ansari doing stand up at the Filmore. I'm finally healthy and in drinking shape so I'm gonna check out 1 new bar or restaurant per week. I'm also gonna try and get a medical card in the next few weeks which will make things a bit more convenient..

Just checking in,

Cpar