Hope you guys are enjoying the story. As I'm typing, all t he feelings I had while it was happening are coming back to me. It seems like so long ago but it really hasn't been that long. Today, I'm going to talk about how Goodfella and I started our own game. I'll probably add a 4th installment describing our 2 year run as sole partners describing our ups, downs, and and eventual end.

Part 3, Here is how we took the game...

After several heated discussions about renegotiating percentages, our relationship with the original owners changed dramatically. We saw one another daily and there was always tension. One of them, who hadn't lifted a fukking finger in over a year, became impossible to deal with. He felt entitled to his cut of the game but refused to be there on a schedule. He wanted to come and go as he pleased. Needless to say, Goodfella and I were not having it. The other owner, although just as greedy and selfish as the other, was manageable. So, we basically put pressure on manageable owner and made it clear that would never allow ourselves to be used. The interesting thing about that was the fact that in one years time, Goodfella and I had effectively controlled every aspect of the game. The players were loyal to us because they knew how committed we were about running a comfortable, fair, and safe environment. We routinely socialized with regulars outside of the club. We golfed with them, went boozing with them, and even had a few of them over to our condo for special occasions. Eskal, who was a cousin of a friend that we used to play with, became a good very close friend. I'm actually living at his condo now for my stay in Toronto. The owners knew that player loyalty lied with Goodfella and I. It scared them but they were still hell bent on reaping the benefits of our hard work.

The strained business relationship continued for several more months. Goodfella and I were becoming more and more outraged at our partners' attempts to use our skills and hard work for their benefit. Finally, we made it clear that the worse of the partners had to go. The other original partner realized that in order to keep his game going, he would have to get rid of his partner. Like I said, Goodfella and I had the loyalty of the players and in this business, it doesn't matter that you've been in business the longest. If they players will not follow you, you have no game! So in a desperate move, the original partner that we were still dealing with gave the other partner some kind of deal to step down. The bum ended up getting some stupid office job I guess.

For another year, we dealt with the one remaining partner. Although at times our relationship was good, there were times when we knew he was looking for a way to fukk us. Then came time when the lease on the space was up. We had talked about moving to a bigger space. Our game had grown and we were starting to run 3 table freezout tourneys. Regularly, we had a wait list of 20 people. The key to running a good cash game is to run good tourneys. They get people in the door and eventually, those players end up wanting to try out the cash game. That's how you breed sickos! We figured that with more space, we could run a 5-6 table tourney which would only support our already successful cash games. We were running 1/2 and 5/5 NL games. Usually 2-3 a night.

One day, the partner called us and said that he had found the perfect location for our big move. Also, that the place required no lease! Goodfella and I talked and decided that we were not going to remain in business with the partner and that we needed to figure out how we were going to start our own game. We knew tons of players and definitely had the knowledge to run start our own club. It was just a matter of how we would sever ties. The partner asked us to go check the place out. We wanted everything to appear normal on the surface until we actually acquired our own place. So, we went to check this place out just for the hell of it. Once we were there, our partner introduced us to a Realtor who had discovered the place. The Realtor was one of his best friends! We got a tour of the place and I asked one question to which the answer confirmed our suspicions. I asked, "What about the lease? What are we doing about that?" The landlord looked at the partner and said "Well, you're already on it..." The partner's face changed instantly. I knew right then what was going on. The partner had already secured the place under his name. He was planning on not telling us that. Instead, he told us that there was no lease. He wanted leverage if we ever decided to sever ties. Once the game had officially moved to the new location, it would be that much harder for us to lure players away. We said nothing at the time. I said that I think we should go ahead with the move. The partner, although confused as to why we didn't make a big deal about the lease issue, agreed. We picked a date for the last game at the old place.

Immediately, upon returning home, Goodfella and I started looking for a new industrial space. I got in contact with an associate of mine back home in the states. He knew someone in Toronto that owned several industrial properties. Within the week, we had met and secured a lease at a nearby warehouse. We purchased new equipment (chips, tables, chairs, cameras, a fridge, a microwave, a deep freezer, etc..) There were two weeks remaining before we would hold the last game at the old place. Discretely, Goodfella and I started to talk with our most loyal players. We informed them of what was going on and that in two weeks time, we would hold our new game at our new place. We also spoke with the dealers and they supported us 100%. They were excited for us and assured that they would keep quiet about it. Finally, the night of the last game came around. We had a good night that night as players wanted to be a part of the last game in the old place. For some, it had been a home away from home for 3 years! Once the game broke, players started to leave and one player came into our office. He was always a big mouth with NO common sense. God bless him though, he was one of our most loyal customers. He came into the office and said to Goodfella, "So, our we up and running at the new place on Monday?" Still I'm not sure whether he did this on purpose for fun or whether he is just a retard. The look on the partner's face was indescribable. He knew what had happened. Once the player left, there was awkward silence. Goodfella and I packed the last of our personal belongings and took off. There was no talk about what had happened or any future plans. That was the last time we saw our partner.

The following Monday, we opened our doors at 7pm. We had hijacked the game. The turn out was incredible! Everyone was excited for us. All night, we wore smiles ear to ear. There were two remaining partners. Goodfella and I....

Every city contains a city deep beyond what most people see on the surface. I grew up in a Mississippi slum, lived in Victoria, British Columbia and Toronto, Ontario and consider The Dalles, a tiny town in Oregon, as my hometown. All of these places, as drastically different from one another as they are, have a society that plays by a set of completely different rules and regulations. Since my early teenage days, I have been a part of that world. It is as a result of those experiences that I decided to become a high school teacher. But that's for another blog. Back to the Underground. These societies contain businesses and characters who play necessary roles, just like their mainstream counterparts. Our current mainstream society, for all its unique cultures, characteristics, and levels of bureaucracy, is driven by one thing.....Money! In the Underground world, it is only more visible because transactions and net worth is dealt in cold hard Cash Money. In Toronto, it is no different.

Goodfella and I became regulars in Toronto's underground poker scene. Although we played mostly at the same club (something that I regret now), we were known and welcomed at all major poker clubs in the city. Our friend Az ended up in business with other characters and ran a pretty big game. As time went by, somehow, I allowed my ego to slowly sabotage my poker game. I was one year into poker and I thought I would always win. When Goodfella brought it to my attention and told me that I needed to get back to basics, I didn't listen. Once on a cab ride home after a loosing session, I told him that "you have your game, I have mine". This went on for quite a while. I abandoned studying and preparation away from the table and paid for it dearly for it. When sitting at a table, I knew exactly how I should be playing but something in me made me do the opposite. Its embarrassing actually, to say it out loud. However reckless and counterproductive those days were, I truly believe that the process of coming out of that losing mentality made me understand aspects of the game that have little to do with the actual playing of the game. Just makes me sick to think of the thousands of dollars I donated to fish during those days. Gross.

Anyway, as time went by, we became close with the owners of the club we played at regularly. Their game was held in an industrial unit. There were legitimate businesses that ran daily both left and right of the unit. Back in those days (5 years ago) things were relatively safe considering it was an illegal business. There was a single lock on the front door. That changed not too long after. Eventually, when it came time for the owners to pursue some other business ventures, they offered us a piece of the game if we agreed to run the game nightly as well as play in in it. For us, it made all the sense in the world at the time. We already played there so why not make some guaranteed money in the process. Things were fine at first. Players respected us. We each had skills that complimented the other. We were a well oiled machine. We worked day and night to promote the game, manage it, and play in it. We didn't sleep. We gave our lives to that game. We gave up all aspects of a young twenty something life. We didn't go out with other friends and family. We didn't do the things that young social people do. We didn't have the time. We only cared about the success of the club.

It wasn't long before we started questioning the majority owners of the club. We had been given a small piece of the game to manage it and play in it. However, we were having to go far beyond that in order to keep it successful. We thought that we should be appropriately compensated. They disagreed. During one conversation, I heard "you guys are hired help!". At that moment. I knew that Goodfella and I would take the club!
[Note: "certain people", if somehow they read this, would not be happy that I'm talking about it. If that's the case, "come see me you mutherfukkers"! ] I hope this is not too brash or offensive to you guys the readers or CR. I'm not some punk shooting off at the lips. Just want to tell my story as accurately as possible. It is what it is.

With that, I think I'm going to actually break this in 3 parts... I don't want my blogs to be so long that you guys get bored. Plus its almost 4am and I just ran QQ into AA pretty deep in my last mtt for the night and would love to get some sleep. Sundays are pretty grueling for us mtt junkies. Next time, I'll talk about Goodfella and I taking over and running our own club. Night.

2

I'm stoked to be back in Toronto! I've travelled a bit over the years but Toronto remains my favorite city ever. And yes, I've been to NYC. Its awesome but it's no TO! I would love to see some official stats but I'm convinced that this is the most multicultural city on the planet. There's so much to do, so many things to see, and so many people to meet. If you love to eat, this is the place to be. The night life is amazing as well. But most of all, I love this city so much because my poker career started here, in a tiny dorm, with a future business partner and a lifelong friend (Goodfella_84). I met so many friends through poker but a few of them will remain friends forever. On the adjacent couch playing HU PLO on Tilt, is another of of those friends, Eskal. Clearly he hasn't slept from last night's session. I'll be putting up a link to his blog as well.

I've decided to break this blog into 2 parts. In my first blog, I briefly mentioned that I ran an underground poker club and in my first comment, from willofd (thanks again), he suggested that I should do a write up about it. In order to do so, I have to give you some background about my introduction to poker because it's all intertwined somehow. I apologize if this runs too long but I thought it would be good to give you some background about how I got to this point in my life and poker career. You can quit me at anytime!

During junior year, I left the west coast and moved to Toronto. I enrolled at York University in the Political Science Department. I met Goodfella on moving day at the dorms. One night, while I was studying, he came home and said that he had played poker with his older brother and his friends and that he had killed it! The following day, I saw him on pokerroom.com in a play money tournament. Right then and there, although we didn't know it, our poker careers began. My previous experience with poker consisted of 2 retarded drunk sessions in high school when I didn't even know what the WSOP was. That changed quickly. Goodfella and I started playing HU tourneys in my dorm room. We played for hours at a time with "Rounders" on repeat in the background. We'd play until we couldn't keep our eyes open or til I was tired of loosing. He was good from the start. That mutherfukker!

We eventually started playing with some other students in one of the cafeterias during after hours. One day, after reading a posting online about a poker tournament in the city, we took a bus, the subway, and a cab to a tournament held at a basement bar. There, we met someone that we were instantly taken back by. We were in awe when we saw the way he handled his chips and the way he bet. He also had a funny English accent which somehow, further legitimized his entire demeanor. Az took Goodfella to a 1/2 NL game at an underground club. After a month or so, I started going as well. We literally became pieces of furniture there. We started games and ended games. I'd go to class and study on the subway on the way to the game every evening.
Sometimes, I'd show up to class the next morning straight from that session, smelling like shit, wearing the same clothes. At all levels of school, no matter what kind of trouble I got myself into, I managed to keep my grades way up. Needless to say, my poker routine smashed my grades during junior year. But, the extra cash in my pocket was awesome. Other kids in the dorm got wasted on cheap beer before going out to the campus bar on Friday nights. The occasional time we weren't playing and decided to go to go out, we sat at the bar and ordered like kings. In our delusional minds , we were ballers!

My next blog will talk about my involvement in the underground poker scene in Toronto, both as a player and as a club owner. Hope you guys will enjoy. I'm way new to this so please leave comments and suggestions. I'd appreicate it alot.

GL on your sessions,
2

I think that a good blog has to be written by someone doing something cool. I've always wanted to blog but felt like I didn't meet the criteria to write an enjoyable blog that people wanted to read. Not to say that I think I'm boring. I've lived quite the eventful 27 year life. Trust me! Just to give you an example, in 2008 I left Toronto after running one of the most successful underground poker clubs in the city for 5 years and returned home to Oregon so I could attend grad school. I became a high school teacher and then decided that I would put off teaching and get back to playing poker professionally. After living and playing poker full time (mostly live casino cash games) for a year, I am now back in Toronto with a brand new mission!

It all started when my girlfriend decided to conspire with my boy from Toronto and send me to his brother's stag (a fundraiser for a groom) as a surprise. Her and I were scheduled to head up to Toronto for the wedding in March so I figured there's no way I could swing a quick weekend just a month earlier. Anyway, while I was here, two of my boys (who also play poker professionally) and I started talking about some new poker plans. It's now been two weeks since I got here and I have decided to live here for the next year or so.... Wish me luck!