Man, I have been running like total shit lately and my bankroll has suffered as a result. I really haven't played that much lately because 1: Getting back into the school grind is terrible and 2: My power cord on my laptop junked out and I had to get a new one overnighted. The power cord itself was $50 and the shipping was $30, which kills me but I need my laptop for school and can't go over a week without it. I've recently funded a new account on full tilt which was kind of a crappy process. I withdrew $600 from my other account and deposited $500 on the new one and put the other $100 in my bank account. I don't want to touch the other grand in my full tilt account because epassporte is gonna rape me for another $60 or so if I wanted it all in one spot. I've opted to wait til my 90 day deposit history clears and just direct transfer it. I've got a $500 bonus to clear + rakeback, so I'm more than set to grind 50NL for a little while.

Full Tilt BR: $1620.45

I had a good poker day today. Took it easy and grinded 4 tables. Also played a couple tourneys. I maxed at around 2100 today but started to play bad at the end of the session so I stopped.

Full Tilt BR: $1881.36

Had a full day of watching NCAA ball today. Watched mmy Wildcats go down in flames to West Virginia. Arizona played all fairly well, but the lack of depth + West Virginia running hot in the last 5 minutes crushed them. Even if they did win I couldn't see them moving past Duke in the 2nd round.

I played a little 100NL today because I decided to take a shot when I hit 1500. Things have been going well so far and I'm hoping I can just keep it rolling until I hit 2000 so I feel a little more comfortable.

Full Tilt Bankroll: $1648.61

I think I found the reason why Brian Townsend runs like an absolute god, but more on that later.

I left Tucson Sunday morning and made it to Palm Springs and more importantly Morongo. I played Sunday night at 1/3 with a $100 max (which is terrible) and ended up losing 2 buy ins. I just couldn't get anything going on and the loose/passive style was hard for me to adjust to. Today, my girlfriend had a spa day and I decided to hit the tables again while she got a body massage. I sat 1/3 again and despite being up a buy in, cashed out at $141. I played much better today because I was prepared for the shit that happens live. The play is really really bad and super profitable if you can be patient enough to wait for a strong hand pre-flop. Its harder than it sounds though because live play is soooo boring. Thank god for online poker.

Santa Barbara is probably one of the best small cities I've been too. We got a hotel right on the beach front and checked out all the St. Patty's Day debauchery on State St. The city in general just has a really pleasant vibe to it, I feel better just by being here. I can't wait to hit the beaches tommorow and get a little sun going on.

Santa Barbara is, I'm convinced, some sort of good luck charm for poker players. I just got done with a 2 hour session and I ran like an absolute goddd. I played just under 1k hands and managed about 9 buy ins? Probably one of the best days I've had at the tables. So pretty much I have determined that this is the reason for Brian Townsend's success, Santa Barbara.

Full tilt BR: $1505.36

Well, it's finally here. I'm leaving for Cali tommorow. First stop will be at Morongo so wish me luck.

I've had a reality check recently. After shooting up to around 1200 I can't seem to get over the hump. I'm currently down a little from where I was. Things will turn around soon, I'm sure of it.

Full Tilt Bankroll: $1021.86

After like 3 days I finally got my omey off of Cake and actually have it in my tilt account. My balance to start was around $963. After I got my money on it was exciting to see my bankroll up to at least a decent ammount. That really motivated me to play and I hit the tables hard. I've only played 500 hands today so far but I'm absolutley killing it and am up 4 buy ins. It's soooo sick to be motivated and running well. I'm really hoping to be up to 100NL by the end of spring break or at most by the end of the month.

On a side note, I read gambler2k4's blog and I have to say I disagree with a lot of the comments he made about grinding for a living. He makes it sound as though when you play for a living, the only activity you take part in is playing poker. The part he is missing is that you are free to pursue other activities in your free time, which you will definately have more of if you chose to be a professional. Another thing that I can think of that is great is that you are your own boss. Dealing with the asshole managment can some times be quite the stress inducer depending on your job (Some people actually do have good relationships with their boss so I don't speak for everyone.). A third point that adds in to this is that poker is a portable job. I can play poker, live and online, practically anywhere in the world. Few jobs can give you that opportunity. Honestly, I would love to be able to make living grinding the games from 5/10 and up and afford myself time to take part in other activities/hobbies that intrest me.

Outside of poker, my last major exam is tonight at 8. It seems like a fucking eternitey since I had some time off from school. I also managed to include poker in my travel plans. I'm actually going to start my vacation by spending a day playing at Morongo with the hopes of raising enough money in that one day to pay for the expenses of the rest of the trip (I have enough money already, but why not get a little more when you can.) From there, my girlfriend and I are going to head to LA and then up to Santa Barbara to visit a few friends of mine that don't go to school in AZ anymore. Maybe I'll hit up Townsend for a HU match, who knows.

Full Tilt BR: $1177.11

I've had an amazing day at the tables today. I was playing well and hit everything in site. I also have bumped up to 50NL because I decided to consolidate what money I had left on every poker site I play on and it worked out to around 1000. I haven't actually got the funds on my account, but within the next 2 days it will be there. I set a 5 buy in stop loss. If I hit 750 I will drop back down to 25NL. So for the forseeable future I should be playing 50NL. I am dead tired and have a physics exam tommorow. Once this is done, I am done for a week. It's gonna be sooooo fucking good.

Full Tilt BR: $600.50

Booked a small win today. I started playing my sesh right after taking a nap and I definately wasn't playing optimally. I had a bad case of the post nap daze and I definately won't be doing that again. I listened to the 2 + 2 pokercast while I was at work today (which is something I usually do because I have a boring data entry type job). Brad Booth was the guest and he claimed to have played poker for 16 hours a day for the better part of a decade, and he lived at the Bellagio doing this for a year and a half. Holy shit, how could this guy not get mega burned out from all that. The most I have ever played straight up is like 5 or 6 hours and by the end of it I couldn't even see straight. 3 more days until Spring Break!!!

Full Tilt BR: $492.70

Man, spring break can't get here fast enough. I am so mentally burned out its not even funny. I had 3 major exams last week and I still have one more to come on Thursday. I got the results back from my last microbiology exam and it did not go as well as I expected. I got a D on the test and put 3 times the ammount of effort in to studying than I did on the first one which I got a B on. Maybe studying too much is like messing with my natural instincts when taking these huge lecture, multiple choice type tests. I just king of roughly beat my way through the first one but I was second guessing myself all over the place on this one. I think I get to drop a test though so I am hoping that it was just a fluke anyway and things will turn around because the class seriously isn't that difficult.

I see all the news about CR being the official training site for Full tilt. I'm curious to see what is to come of this. I am hoping that members who play on tilt might get some nice hook-ups (100% rakeback : p) but that probably won't happen. I also have mixed feelings about how it will affect the low stake games I play in. I'm sure CR is hoping to get some new members out of this due to more exposure. Tilt already has some tough games and they will just get tougher with more CR members floating around. But I guess the tougher competition will prepare me better for higher stakes games and make me a gangsta when I play live in Cali + Vegas.

Poker was wild today I exchanged like 5 buy ins in a matter of 90 hands today. Went up a buy in, then dropped it. Then I went up a buy in and dropped 2. At one point I was down 4 buy ins from where I started but I managed to win a lil back.

"When luck shuts the door, you gotta come in through the window."

Full Tilt BR: $452.75

I played about 2k hands today and was able to put together a little scratch even with a late session downswing. I'm really hoping I can get back into 50nl by the end of the week. I know that I can win just as well at that level so I think I will take a small shot once I hit 750. From then on out I will stick to a 20 buy in rule because I haven't spent too much time up at 100nl so I don't know what to expect. When I was up there I noticed it was pretty much TAG-infested so I'll have to start diving into some videos and learn some tricks to get a little money out of these guys.

Sunday is pretty much my least favorite day. I save most of my weekly projects for the weekend so I usually end up spending 5+ hours between my organic chemistry lab and my weekley physics homework. I wish I could say there was an end to it all in sight, but II'm probably looking at another 4 years before I can finish this school grind and start making some real money.

Full Tilt BR: $469.70