I must start off by apologizing for the delay in making this post. About 3 days ago I started coming down with a cold and it has been kicking my ass ever since. This cold, coupled with some general laziness, has meant that, other than playing poker, nothing productive has really been accomplished the last few days.
As I was wallowing in my misery this evening I looked out the open patio door and noticed that the sun was going down over the bay and that it was a beautiful evening. I don't know if my reaction to this beautiful moment was typical but in any case, it made me realize that I need to stop being such a bitch and get some shit done. So here I am.
Since I have been sick I have been playing more online the past few days. The backer wants me to clear 1k games at the current level with a 40% ROI before I can move up so I have been trying to knock those out ASAP. I also had one short, but fruitful, session at The Borgata yesterday. The table was great and I would have loved to have stayed but was just a stopped up, coughing mess and thought it best that I not infect everyone at the casino with this bug.
Aside from neglecting my own blog, I have also been neglecting my responsibilities as a mod on the flux stables forums. I am going to be posting some of my more interesting HU hands on the HU SNG thread and talking on some general topics. If you're looking for a little more strat and gossip head over to fluxstables.com .
Glgl.
whiteyslacks
Friday, September 24, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Atlantic City
I get to Atlantic City only to only find out I can't register for any tournaments. I'm trying to get the problem resolved and will discuss it in more detail once it is resolved but for now I'll just have to talk about the cash games I've been playing.
My registration issues may actually be a blessing in disguise. I wasn't exactly looking forward to three straight weeks of 14 hour tournament days. If I can get everything worked out and play the last week and a half I will be perfectly happy.
I don't mind missing some of these tournaments because the cash games at the Borgata are so full of value. My backer is dragging his feet on clearing me for $2/$5 but just playing $1/$2 I am up 1.1k over three days of play.
The other horse that came with me has yet to cash but is a proven tournament player and will undoubtedly have a couple good scores before we leave. Our backer came in last night and instantly found success by shipping a SNG for about 2.5k. Coupled with my cash contributions we are now up on the trip and plan on staying in the black for the remainder of our time in AC.
If any readers are or are going to be in AC over the next few weeks be sure to come find me. I'll be in the Borgata poker room all day, 6 days a week. I'll be the guy with the shaved head and the big stack! Glgl.
whiteyslacks
My registration issues may actually be a blessing in disguise. I wasn't exactly looking forward to three straight weeks of 14 hour tournament days. If I can get everything worked out and play the last week and a half I will be perfectly happy.
I don't mind missing some of these tournaments because the cash games at the Borgata are so full of value. My backer is dragging his feet on clearing me for $2/$5 but just playing $1/$2 I am up 1.1k over three days of play.
The other horse that came with me has yet to cash but is a proven tournament player and will undoubtedly have a couple good scores before we leave. Our backer came in last night and instantly found success by shipping a SNG for about 2.5k. Coupled with my cash contributions we are now up on the trip and plan on staying in the black for the remainder of our time in AC.
If any readers are or are going to be in AC over the next few weeks be sure to come find me. I'll be in the Borgata poker room all day, 6 days a week. I'll be the guy with the shaved head and the big stack! Glgl.
whiteyslacks
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Last Day in NYC
The last few days in New York I have been trying to learn a new game. My backer was briefly a turbo HU SNG (heads-up sit-n-go) professional and under his tutelage I have been attempting to learn the game. It's a very interesting form of poker. These turbo SNGs force a player to understand proper play at multiple stack depths while at the same time utilizing their understanding of game flow and meta game.
My foray into HU SNGs started out beautifully. I was crushing at what was apparently an unsustainable winrate. Since the first full day of play it seems a statistical correction has occurred. I am now only slightly profitable in the 150 or so games I've played. I am quite sure I am running very badly over the last 60 games but am also sure that I am doing things which are exacerbating my swings.
A hundred and fifty games is a small sample size, even for HU, so I'm not too concerned but I am really looking forward to getting to Atlantic City tonight and playing people older than me (for once) that are going to be perpetually "waiting for better spots." There's no better variance limiter than playing retirees that believe patience is key and aces will come. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
I'm not sure exactly when I'm leaving New York but I do know I'll be heading out sometime tonight. In the meantime I'm going to work on plugging some HU leaks and trying to get my mind right for the Borgata tournaments. If anyone has any particularly effective methods of maintaining a proper mindset during downswings please feel free to leave a comment. Glgl.
whiteyslacks
My foray into HU SNGs started out beautifully. I was crushing at what was apparently an unsustainable winrate. Since the first full day of play it seems a statistical correction has occurred. I am now only slightly profitable in the 150 or so games I've played. I am quite sure I am running very badly over the last 60 games but am also sure that I am doing things which are exacerbating my swings.
A hundred and fifty games is a small sample size, even for HU, so I'm not too concerned but I am really looking forward to getting to Atlantic City tonight and playing people older than me (for once) that are going to be perpetually "waiting for better spots." There's no better variance limiter than playing retirees that believe patience is key and aces will come. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
I'm not sure exactly when I'm leaving New York but I do know I'll be heading out sometime tonight. In the meantime I'm going to work on plugging some HU leaks and trying to get my mind right for the Borgata tournaments. If anyone has any particularly effective methods of maintaining a proper mindset during downswings please feel free to leave a comment. Glgl.
whiteyslacks
Friday, September 3, 2010
Variance, I Hope
I thought I could play poker, apparently I was wrong. Played some 100NL on gr88, got crushed. Moved back down to 50, got crushed. Went deep in a $22 $12.5k guaranteed on Stars and got crushed by J7o with 18 left. Right now I'm adding to my makeup with a veracity that has not been seen at small stakes in quite some time.
With all that said though, I'm having a good time with the backer and his lady friend in NYC. I'm here for about 6 more days and I'm not really looking forward to leaving. Right now I'm grinding on a very nice set up during the day and either going out or playing some cash in the evenings. Things could be worse.
The upcoming Borgata trip should also offer a nice respite from soul-crushing internet play. I plan on shipping the first tournament I play and immediately getting out of makeup. Until then the online MTT grind will have to do. If anyone feels like witnessing anymore soul-crushing tournament defeats feel free to search for whiteyslacks on PokerStars the next few days.
With all that said though, I'm having a good time with the backer and his lady friend in NYC. I'm here for about 6 more days and I'm not really looking forward to leaving. Right now I'm grinding on a very nice set up during the day and either going out or playing some cash in the evenings. Things could be worse.
The upcoming Borgata trip should also offer a nice respite from soul-crushing internet play. I plan on shipping the first tournament I play and immediately getting out of makeup. Until then the online MTT grind will have to do. If anyone feels like witnessing anymore soul-crushing tournament defeats feel free to search for whiteyslacks on PokerStars the next few days.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
NYC and AC
It's official, I am paying rent on a place which is no longer my home. I'll be heading back eventually but it seems my plans have changed once again. Instead of going to Chicago and then Atlantic City, I am now going first to New York, Manhattan specifically, to visit my backer and put in some time on a proper computer set up.
From New York I'll be flying to Atlantic City to play some events at Borgata. After I run over the competition in AC I don't really know if I even want to go back to Dallas. If my dog wasn't there I may have already given my roommate the 60 days notice.
If Vegas didn't seem like a soul-sucking dream pit I would move there in a second. This will be my first trip to Atlantic City. Maybe it won't be as awful of a city as I've heard and it will become my next semi-permanent destination. An apartment in Jersey has to be cheap, right?
As one can easily tell, I really don't have any idea where I'm going to be 6 months from now. Maybe by the time I get back to Dallas I will have decided what do with myself in addition to just playing online poker. Maybe I'll just fly around until my backer gets tired of sending me places, I don't know. Glgl.
From New York I'll be flying to Atlantic City to play some events at Borgata. After I run over the competition in AC I don't really know if I even want to go back to Dallas. If my dog wasn't there I may have already given my roommate the 60 days notice.
If Vegas didn't seem like a soul-sucking dream pit I would move there in a second. This will be my first trip to Atlantic City. Maybe it won't be as awful of a city as I've heard and it will become my next semi-permanent destination. An apartment in Jersey has to be cheap, right?
As one can easily tell, I really don't have any idea where I'm going to be 6 months from now. Maybe by the time I get back to Dallas I will have decided what do with myself in addition to just playing online poker. Maybe I'll just fly around until my backer gets tired of sending me places, I don't know. Glgl.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Turbos
This has been a frustrating week. I'm in Minneapolis visiting family and friends and don't have a proper poker computer set up. I'm working with a 6 year old PPC based Mac which can only acquire the PokerStars client. The cash games on Stars have the least value of any site, in my humble opinion, so I will only be playing various forms of tournament poker this week.
There is nothing inherently wrong with playing tournaments on Stars. That is, mind you, how I got my start in professional poker. My current problem is one that I've been dealing with off and on for the last few months. The problem can only be described as game-selection purgatory.
I don't have the financial cushion I had previous to my staking transition so I am trying to mitigate the variance in my schedule as much as possible. Since I'm not playing cash this week that means high-volume turbo sessions. I am beginning to understand why the turbos are popular but I'm stuck in tiny, tiny stakes until I have posted positive results over 1,000 games (the number my backer set as reasonable sample size).
My problems are further compounded by the fact that I can't transfer Holdem Manager or Table Ninja to this ancient Mac. Without these programs it's fairly difficult to put in the volume needed to negate the variance of any one turbo tournament. Futile endeavors are kind of my thing so I guess I'm just going to keep 12-tabling turbos.
Now that the $11 and $22 non-turbos 180-mans aren't running I just don't know what do with myself. I don't know, maybe I'll move to Korea and start working on my StarCraft skills. Glgl.
There is nothing inherently wrong with playing tournaments on Stars. That is, mind you, how I got my start in professional poker. My current problem is one that I've been dealing with off and on for the last few months. The problem can only be described as game-selection purgatory.
I don't have the financial cushion I had previous to my staking transition so I am trying to mitigate the variance in my schedule as much as possible. Since I'm not playing cash this week that means high-volume turbo sessions. I am beginning to understand why the turbos are popular but I'm stuck in tiny, tiny stakes until I have posted positive results over 1,000 games (the number my backer set as reasonable sample size).
My problems are further compounded by the fact that I can't transfer Holdem Manager or Table Ninja to this ancient Mac. Without these programs it's fairly difficult to put in the volume needed to negate the variance of any one turbo tournament. Futile endeavors are kind of my thing so I guess I'm just going to keep 12-tabling turbos.
Now that the $11 and $22 non-turbos 180-mans aren't running I just don't know what do with myself. I don't know, maybe I'll move to Korea and start working on my StarCraft skills. Glgl.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Turning Stone
About a month ago my new backer asked me if I wanted to play some events at Turning Stone Casino outside of Syracuse, NY. I said absolutely and immediately went back to doing whatever I was doing, thinking that the chances of the trip coming to fruition were very low.
A month later I was playing in the Empire State Poker Championships. My tournament results were not what I was hoping for, to say the least, but the trip as a whole was a great experience. The five Flux team members that attended the events ( the 2 gentlemen that run things and 3 horses) got along fantastically but couldn't be from more different upbringings.
With that said, I'll take this opportunity to describe our team to the best of my abilities. These descriptions will only be brief intros but will give you an idea of how contrasting the personalities were.
In the aforementioned group of five we had: an ex-Starcraft nerd (you're still my boy, Dino), a talented bowling coach from Bermuda, a man who I call my friend but is simply indescribable, a hard-dancing Canadian, and me. I'm completely normal, obviously.
I think I speak for everyone when I say it was good times all around. Our results weren't as mind-blowingly good as we had hoped but I think we learned a ton and are all encouraged moving forward. Furthermore, our backers were treating this trip somewhat like a promotional trip for Flux so none of the buy-ins would have gone to makeup anyway. It would be kind of hard to complain about a freeroll...
I'm re-learning turbos this week so interesting post-flop situations will be tough to come by. But I do plan on posting some interesting spots as they come up and talking a bit more about Turning Stone and my upcoming poker trips. Glgl.
A month later I was playing in the Empire State Poker Championships. My tournament results were not what I was hoping for, to say the least, but the trip as a whole was a great experience. The five Flux team members that attended the events ( the 2 gentlemen that run things and 3 horses) got along fantastically but couldn't be from more different upbringings.
With that said, I'll take this opportunity to describe our team to the best of my abilities. These descriptions will only be brief intros but will give you an idea of how contrasting the personalities were.
In the aforementioned group of five we had: an ex-Starcraft nerd (you're still my boy, Dino), a talented bowling coach from Bermuda, a man who I call my friend but is simply indescribable, a hard-dancing Canadian, and me. I'm completely normal, obviously.
I think I speak for everyone when I say it was good times all around. Our results weren't as mind-blowingly good as we had hoped but I think we learned a ton and are all encouraged moving forward. Furthermore, our backers were treating this trip somewhat like a promotional trip for Flux so none of the buy-ins would have gone to makeup anyway. It would be kind of hard to complain about a freeroll...
I'm re-learning turbos this week so interesting post-flop situations will be tough to come by. But I do plan on posting some interesting spots as they come up and talking a bit more about Turning Stone and my upcoming poker trips. Glgl.
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