Cancel stake offer...just read over everyone's difficulty cashing out. Online poker is dead to me at the moment. :(

I have not updated since the morning of black friday so here we go.

Aside from losing my online bankroll I also purchased a 2007 Chrysler Pacifica for my girlfriend. Long story short but she got smashed by some nearly blind old guy after only having the car 22 hours (I purchased the car May 5th.) The old guy's insurance company has been in no rush to get the car fixed and they still owe me $1,500 I paid for her a rental car and $500 in medical bills. My lawyer is going to try and get all of that back plus money for deprication in value of vehicle and pain and suffering for her. The car was really close to being totaled and will cost $8,200 to fix. It has only taken the old guy's insurance company 40 days to get the ball rolling on getting the car fixed. I met with the auto repair guy today to sign some paperwork and he said it is going to be another 25-30 days before the car will be completed!!!! Needless to say this has all been extremely frustrating.

We moved into a new place about a month ago and my cost of living has dropped down by $500 per month!!

Still no luck on getting a full time teaching position but I just found out it is going to cost me about $2,000 this Fall in online classes to keep my certification (which expires after 5 years if you don't meet professional development requirments.)

I have played live poker a few times and I am up like $500 but I hate the drive and really miss the convinence of online poker. Really really miss online poker :(

I have found myself trapped in the 2+2 world. I have avoided there forums for the past few years because it is filled with so much garbage. Unfortunately after black friday I have found a lot more time to troll amonst the NVGtards.

I am losing hope that we are going to get our money back from FTP. I think the NVGtards have sucked the hope out of me.

I ran super hot the past few days. I feel that I am playing really well at the moment. The downturn in my redline was due to me playing tooooo aggressive in spots and trying to force the action. I needed to be reminded that I can't win every pot even if I check raise bluff the river. I am back on track and I am hoping to complete this challenge by June. I really hope I can complete this challenge with a breakeven redline.

The challenge is going well so far. I am up 36 buy ins over 24,447 hands. I am a little disappointed with my overall play the last 5k hands or so. Part of my "bad run" was due to variance (nut flush into Str8 flush stung a little) and another big part of it was due to me trying to force to many spots. I was trying to win pots regardless of villains range or my perceived range. The sharp downturn in my redline was due to me being to aggro while "running bad." Some days we are going to lose money no matter how hard we try. Our only goal should be to minimize those loses.

I took a step back from things today and spent about one hour reviewing my holdem manager over this 25k hand stretch and found a few big leaks. I am planning on spending another hour or two Monday looking for leaks.

I spent some time with the girlfriend today and didn't get much volume in. I am hoping to get in atleast 1k hands tonight. Tomorrow we are headed to my buddies apartment to spend some time around the pool and BBQ while we watch the final round of The Masters.

Good luck at the tables!

I have finished teaching high school for this year. It is time for me to get my resume together and start hunting for a full time teaching job for next year. I had a great time at SFHS and I hope that I inspired some of our youth along the way. The principal and head of the Social Studies department at SFHS told me I did an excellent job and would be more than happy to right me a recomendation letter for future employement. Unfortunately due to big budget cuts in education my chances of getting a job locally are looking slim. I will continue to subsitute teach, bartend, and play poker until I can find a full time position.

I have been itching to get back at the tables much more often. I am not very happy with my play so far this year. I am crushing 100nl but I am also running hotter than the sun. I feel that I have been leaking money here and there despite having excellent results over small sample size (15k hands).

If any 100nl or 200nl players want to discuss strategy or hands just shoot me a PM with your skype name. I am really motivated to improve my game rapidly right now and would love to bounce around some ideas.

Mini-Nicolak challenge is still going well. I am dreading the 30k breakeven stretch that is going to balance this out. Until then I am going to ride the wave and enjoy.

http://delb.opt.fimserve.com/lnk/?ek=AHW4hi7sQvz3JtcvZJ7ymQd_DM_3HUQQ3lWpDNV15JOFX9JRwXwIi9-28f8e63kehHyC0TcZ5N6qaupHmkCTA0dlX0RRldUY1I_rPlIbroGoi77axiOPJ-k5_Ie5Nc5YVnV3R3NXglxv2wo9tkEUEhxsKgevLPj0bDVGg1tn68Q9Qk0q48N-jcGvX-rHowKOQU5x51fILySVieT7WIsKabTPK1ovgLGynV2BbzmOc2or410Vfb90RZW6oCvVZQ_YXbhCzPa8IPzJuar-jnY9ic2E5iI-v2n6bsjUix9gxzAPhref=http://tracking.wperformance.com/aff_c?offer_id=15&aff_id=26&aff_sub=us" target="_blank">

I am still running super hot in this race to 100 buyins. It is nice to be running this well but I have this constant fear that a downswing is around the corner. I guess I should just enjoy the wave while I can.

I have been thinking about poker a lot in my free time away from the tables and school. I could not sleep last night because I had some wonderful ideas about improving my game. Not going to go into much detail until I discuss a few topics with some players I respect. I cannot wait to get back to the tables more often. This break away from the tables has really done wonders for my game. I think I needed some time to be honest with myself, analyze my motives for playing, and to have a better understanding of what drives me to play this game.



Link:

Felt that I should update my Nicolak challenge because he did. Probably 1k hands HU and the rest are at 6max. I'm running super hot right now and there is no way to keep this up. I played a wild session this Sunday where I got my money in bad a lot but came out clean on the other side to win 5 buy in. Its nice to suck out w/ small flush draw vs. nut flush draw and win AK>KK and win 99>TT all in the same hour.

Outside of poker school is killing me. I just gave mid terms and have been grading test for the past 4 hours. Getting used to the time change has SUCKED. Aside from that life is pretty good. Hopefully I can get at least 2k hands in this weekend.

Haseeb wrote a blog a few weeks ago titled "The Two Things About Poker." He asked for comments and recieved a generous amount of feedback from the community. I decided to compile my own little top 10 from his two and others. My plan is to print out a copy of this top ten and read it before every session. If anyone thinks that I missed something really important please leave a comment.

1. Every action narrows down to handranges.

2. People are bad at being random.

3. Tilt control.

4. Survival will only exist for those who adapt the best.

5. Think and evaluate before every action.

6. Apply pressure and people will make mistakes.

7. "A" game all the time.

8. Reciprocality says when you and your opponents would do the same thing in a given situation, no money moves, and when you do something different it does. http://tommyangelo.com/articles/reciprocality/

9. You are not as good as you think you are.

10. Someday you will run worse than you ever thought possible.


On a side note: No school today or tomorrow because of Mardi Gras. I love the south...we do not get out for Presidents Day but we get out to party lol.

Well at 1/10 the buy-in :p
His challenge sounded like a great idea for myself to strive for. I am going to play 100nl 6max/9max/HU until I make 100 buy ins on FTP. My secondary goal will be to have a + red line.

Hopefully I can complete this challenge in a 6 month period. So far this year I have only played 2,616 hands of 100nl. It's hard to get in volume while I am teaching full time.

Nicolak if you are interested in a friendly prop bet let me know. Maybe we can bet on who reaches 100 buy-ins in the least amount of hands.

I have not played much poker this year. The sessions that I have had a chance to play have usually been short and sporadic. I am also only playing 2-4 tables which is helping me to work on my game. A few things I have noticed about myself during this period.

1) When I play more than 4 tables I suck. Easy fix right. The reason that I suck is because I lose what I am good at. I am good at reading my opponents! I am not good at reading my opponents HUD stats. I rely on reads to win money and I am not capable of making those reads while playing more than 4 tables.

2) I am not a good fundamental ABC player. Which is another reason I cannot play more than 4 tables. I need to take notes and own souls to make up for my lack of optimal play in "standard" spots. Basically I don't spend enough time away from the table to improve my fundamentals. My off the table work ethic comes and goes with the tide.

3) TILT....we all tilt for multiple reasons. My tilt fuse is lit whenever I feel that I have made a big -EV play. The worse part about this is that the play could have been +EV but because I lost the hand I feel like it was -EV at the moment. This causes me to spew in future spots that I am 100% certain are -EV.
Example from tonight- This hand tilted me and I don't really feel like it should have. I don't particularly like my play in this hand for a few reasons but I don't think it was a horrible hand and therefore should not have tilted me at all.
Full Tilt Poker Game #28735538270: Table Telltale (6 max) - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:08:05 CT - 2011/03/04 [21:08:05 ET - 2011/03/04]
Seat 1: puilla ($69.30)
Seat 2: Needbankroll ($321.05)
Seat 3: eastern motors ($199.10)
Seat 4: sn_bone ($100)
Seat 6: unprovoked ($203.90)
unprovoked posts the small blind of $0.50
puilla posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Needbankroll [As Qc]
Needbankroll raises to $3.50
eastern motors folds
sn_bone calls $3.50
unprovoked folds
puilla calls $2.50
*** FLOP *** [4h Tc Js] (pot $8)
puilla checks
Needbankroll bets $6.50
sn_bone calls $6.50
puilla folds
*** TURN *** [4h Tc Js] [7s] (pot $21)
Needbankroll has 15 seconds left to act
Needbankroll bets $14 (my turn sizing sucks!)
sn_bone has 15 seconds left to act
sn_bone calls $14
*** RIVER *** [4h Tc Js 7s] [6s] (pot $49)
Needbankroll has 15 seconds left to act
Needbankroll bets $76
sn_bone calls $76, and is all in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Needbankroll shows [As Qc] Ace Queen high
sn_bone shows [Ts Td] three of a kind, Tens
sn_bone wins the pot ($201) with three of a kind, Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $204 | Rake $3
Board: [4h Tc Js 7s 6s]
Seat 1: puilla (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: Needbankroll showed [As Qc] and lost with Ace Queen high
Seat 3: eastern motors didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: sn_bone (button) showed [Ts Td] and won ($201) with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 6: unprovoked (small blind) folded before the Flop


All and all I fell like I am making progress. I have been playing without a HUD lately to retrain my brain to concentrate on events that happen on the felt and not some random numbers that I don't even have a large enough sample size to use. Also, I may not even know how to use those #'s properly so WTF am I doing any damn way lol.

Some broad non poker related info
-All and all life is good.
-Teaching is rewarding but physically and psychologically draining.
-I am curently finding some balance in my life.
-My future is looking bright and I have a really positive outlook on what lies ahead for me.

WARNING: This is not a poker update....just a life rant! Particularly about teaching high school.

I love teaching!! Overall my students are great. I am currently teaching 9th grade World History, 10th grade U.S. History Honors, and 11th/12th grade Psychology. Some of my students need remedial help with things like reading and writing while some of my students are more intelligent than I. One moment I am preparing a student for college and at another moment I am preparing a student basic life skills to function in society. In one package I am a disciplinarian, a surrogate parent, an evaluator, a conveyor of information, a manager, a mentor, and a role-model just to name a few.

I currently teach at one of the top public schools in my state.

10 disturbing things I have learned so far

1) Many students would rather socialize with their peers on Facebook than socialize with them in person.
2) Reading comprehension levels are low.
3) Writing levels are much lower. (I know that my grammar sucks too!)
4) Students want instant gratification and lose attention quickly without instant stimulation.
5) Public display of affection is happening at high levels amongst just 14 year old students.
6) Cell phones are everywhere...which would be fine if 15 year old students were not using them to arrange blow jobs in the bathroom during class. Or if they were not on Facebook during class. Or attempting to use them to cheat with each other. Or playing video games on them during class. Or having them ring during class which causes me to lose 5 minutes in that class. Or...you can add your own from here.
7) Inclusion has placed some extremely high need students in regular ed. classrooms. I'm sorry to all of those parents out there with special needs children. I understand that you want your child to have a "normal" childhood. When you place a child with special needs into a classroom with 30 other students...I don't have enough time to devote to the special needs child. In the process of trying to do so I do not provide enough attention to my other 30 students. Everyone loses! Inclusion could work great in a class of 20 students but it destroys a classroom above that. Due to the current budget for education there are simple not enough teachers in the classroom. FYI I currently have a freshmen class that had 7 out of 37 students with special needs. Fortunately the principal realized this and was able to transfer some of those students out because I would of had a meltdown. I have quickly jumped on the anti No Child Left Behind bandwagon. As some teachers call it "No Child Gets Ahead."
7) The food in the cafeteria is disgusting!
8) Emphasis on sports over academics is absurd! Why? Sports bring in the money! Granted my school has won the Baseball and Football state championship in there division in the past year so it may be a little extreme here.
9) The lack of parental involvement in their child's education is sad. I understand that we live in a society where both parents work. I promise you the bottom line is this...Parental involvement is a direct reflection on a child's academic progress!
10) If school is a reflection of our future society...I am scared. Most of my students are very weak minded. They give up so easily in the face of adversity. They are deceived about the future. Many are misled about what they are capable of.

On a side note: Teachers do not get paid enough!!!!!!!!! 30k a year is a joke

The hours I invest each week are insane (about 65-70 hours). It's the little things that add up.
Examples:
-Spending 30 minutes on the phone after school with a parent about how to teach their child how to study.
-Random faculty meetings before and after school.
-The mountain of emails we have to answer daily.
-Make up test are insane...my students can only make up test before school or after school which is a daily event with almost 100 students and the flu going around.
-My planning block (the time I am supposed to have to do things like enter grades into our STI program) does not exist because a floating teacher has to use my room during this time.
-We are constantly asked to "volunteer" for help at extracurricular events (collecting tickets at baseball games, score keeping, setting up for graduation, cleaning up after graduation, helping with fundraisers, school dances, clubs, etc..)
-The number of students per class has increased but the number of copies we are given has stayed the same (meaning I am paying $$$ for my own copies and I have only been there since Jan. 3)
-Grading papers takes a lot of time. Grading writing assignments takes forever!!!! Which is why so many teachers do not assign enough writing assignments.
-As a new teacher I spend 3-5 hours each night fine tuning my lessons for the next day.
-Constant meetings with parents about why there child is either failing or has a B.
??Parental contact with students who have an A, C, or D is lacking. Think about that one for a minute.
Why are parents whose child have an A not concerned that their child is not being challenged enough?

Children naturally do the least of what they are expected...which might explain all of the C's and D's.

This post is already too long.

All in all life is good. I am happy and healthy. I miss poker and feel way behind already.

Shout out to all of the grinders out there that I don't have time to chat with anymore.