CARDRUNNERS
What's Your Edge
David Benefield : Poker Blog
Last night I laid down to sleep at like 9pm. I ended up reading for a couple hours, but still passed out easily before midnight. The last few nights before that I hadn’t gotten much sleep, so it felt really good. I woke up and went to class feeling refreshed and full of energy for the first time in a week.
After class I came back to 6 fresh inches of snow. My walk to school from my house takes about 15 minutes, and it is one of the better parts of my day. It always has me feeling slightly more awake and refreshed early in the morning. I get to walk along a trail, get some fresh air, and romp around in the snow a little bit. Anyways, there was a bunch of new snow so the going was a little bit slower, and I realized there was no chance my car would get down the driveway.
I normally box twice a week, Wednesday being one of the days, but had to forego that today. I went in the garage to swing some kettlebells around, then came back in to test out my new C2 Rower. I did 3 5 minute rounds for a total of 3800m. It was really hard. Rowing is no joke. I will try to do that 3 times a week and improve my form and hopefully see some results there. I enjoyed it to be sure. I have always been big on variety of workouts, and this just gives me one more option.
Anyways, after workout, PostflopAction was sitting at 1-2 plo, so I asked if he wanted to play some HA. We ended up playing 200-400 HA for about 2 hours, and I had my best day ever, making a little over 440k. I am no Hastings or anything, I can’t pull out 4m in a night like its nothing. I felt I ran pretty well (obv), but I also felt like my game was top notch. I haven’t played NL much in a long time, but I felt very comfortable there. My bluffs were working, my sizing was good, and I was getting max value from hands.
PLO I felt I did well in also. I don’t generally play deep stacked PLO unless the game is extremely good, and even more rarely HU. I played fairly nitty and tried to keep pots small oop and didn’t mind getting a little bit in pf if I was in position. He was playing super aggressive so I just min raised every button and was happy calling off 6x pf to play with 300x stacks in position every time. Occasionally I would 4 bet to random sizes when I had hands that could stomach a 5 bet.
After an hour he asked if I would stop min raising (he wanted me to 3x in PLO instead of min raise, in NL I was 3xing every time), and I said I was just going to play my game. He asked twice more, and finally quit after I said no the third time. I dno, but I think it is strange for a regular to start making demands like that. Next someone will ask me not to check raise (ok maybe not but still). How I play preflop is up to me. I will limp and min raise to my hearts content, as it is part of how I play the game. If I got stuck making it 3x and calling off 9x for reraises every hand, I would be out of my comfort zone doing something I am not used to doing. This is unacceptable to me.
There are certainly arguments to be made about doing it to keep the game going etc, but again, I am comfortable playing my style of poker that allows for various raise sizings before the flop, small bets on occasion, min raising, all sorts of fun stuff. If I start obliging requests like that, I won’t be playing my game anymore and could be put in spots I am not used to seeing, which could result in a big loss for me.
Anyways, I wasn’t too sad that he quit, being the nit that I am I was happy to lock in my biggest win ever. After finishing, I studied Euclid propositions, filled out an hour or so worth of paperwork while skyping with Lisa (we want to get a puppy, and the best breeders want to make sure their animals go to the right place I guess. This is a good thing imo, so I didn’t mind), and am about to go finish Phaedrus. It is an interesting life I am leading right now, but it seems to be working out fairly well.
-David Benefield
Feb 4, 10 02:39:26
congrats! And ya nice to hear you balance your life so well between poker, still going to school with that amount of money you are making and your gf. All the best :) I'm in skype with my gf right now aswell and she wants a puppy for the longest time hehe
Feb 4, 10 02:40:18
The luckiest dog breed by far is the Pembroke Welsh Corgi.
Also, (and I feel I can rant since your blogs are often rants) I was annoyed hearing you talk for two paragraphs justifying why you shouldn't/don't have to oblige some absolutely ridiculous request. (WTF LOL no! is what I expected I guess.) I think I would've said something like "I 3x lots of hands and 2x some hands, and wouldn't you know, I just keep getting dealt 2x hands."
Way to take half his Aussie Millions money though!
Feb 4, 10 02:50:35
I strongly recommend rescuing a dog. There are 3-4 million dogs euthanized every year. You could save one. It's an experience all in it's own.
I have three dogs, all rescues in their own way. The one I got directly from animal control is easily the best dog I've ever had. He had been there for a few months, wasn't neutered, and he's a pit bull mix. So as you can probably guess, his time was very limited. It really freaks me out to think that he could have easily been put down had he stayed there just another week or two. Seriously. BEST DOG I'VE EVER HAD. Just think how many more there are that just don't have a chance. Give it some thought.
Congrats on the big win. I'm loving the frequent blogs and the fact that you're back in the game with some consistency.
Feb 4, 10 21:34:53
nice run :)
try a 2K row sometime - hardest workout ever if you go 100% all out
this site has some cool rowing stuff and log book
http://www.concept2.com/us/training/default.asp
Feb 4, 10 21:48:01
Congrats on the score, keep it up! May I ask why you do not like playing deep stacked in PLO?
Feb 5, 10 00:12:01
mênin aeide thea Pêlêïadeô Achilêos
oulomenên, hê muri' Achaiois alge ethêke,
pollas d' iphthimous psuchas Aïdi proïapsen
hêrôôn, autous de helôria teuche kunessin
oiônoisi te pasi, Dios d' eteleieto boulê,
ex hou dê ta prôta diastêtên erisante
Atreïdês te anax andrôn kai dios Achilleus.
Feb 5, 10 08:56:58
congrats David, I never did get that in some of the high stakes matches players agree they have to raise or fold every button sometimes, i think this was the case with isildur1.
btw, there are actually some card rooms where your not allowed to check raise, no joke.
Feb 5, 10 09:52:17
Always been a big fan, since you joined the CR team. Glad to see you back and doing so well in poker. Have to agree with the crowd that says there is no need to defend your actions. Sounds like he was tilted. Looking forward to your next video.Congrats.
Feb 5, 10 14:31:44
Great contrast to your last post. Keep up the good work...And the button minraises.
Feb 5, 10 15:29:58
sick win, glad your back to blogging more often def enjoy your blog.. keep it up man, kope all is well
Feb 5, 10 15:30:01
sick win, glad your back to blogging more often def enjoy your blog.. keep it up man, kope all is well
Feb 6, 10 02:57:27
im shoked that this is your biggest win ever in a session since you play those crazy stakes.
Is it fair to say that you did lose more the 440k in 1 session before?
Like ivey said, people quit too early when they win , too late when there losing
peace
Feb 8, 10 09:31:46
congrats David. really glad you seem to be finding a good mix of poker, life, school, and the rest. keep it up.
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Has it really been two weeks since I wrote my last blog? Hrm… Well, I got back into the swing of things with school. Knocked out Thucydides in the last 2 weeks, as well as some rando other stuff. That book was miserable, and our discussions in class sucked. The only good part was Pericles giving speeches. We are back to Plato again for a couple weeks, getting through Phaedrus and Symposium. Nothing like 2 weeks of reading about little boy love. Right now I am back at home in On the poker side of things, since my lost blog, things have gone awesome for me. I lied about playing small. I am up ~300k playing mostly 1-2 cap PLO, with some random other stuff in between. Games have been pretty good, and I have been playing/running quite well. I would probably put more emphasis on running well, but I always thought my cap game was pretty solid. So yea, it is good news that I may not have completely forgotten how to make money. Yay! Workout wise, I was all gung ho about starting to box more regularly, working out at a local gym and having a lot of solid, experienced people to spar all the time. I had a change of heart last week and decided to not get too involved. I have mentioned before in some of my blogs my issues with my shoulder. I got it checked out, mri, blah blah, and I have a torn labrum in 2 places or something. Surgerizing will be necessary if I want it to be fixed. I have known what is wrong with my shoulder for probably 5 years now, but I have been putting off getting surgery because I am an epic bitch. The idea of a 6-8 month recovery honestly terrifies me. The fear that something could go wrong and I could never throw a ball again scares me to death. Yes yes, this is a common surgery, people get it all the time, great, I get that. Still worried about it. What does this have to do with boxing? Well, I decided to go ahead and get the surgery as soon as the semester is over. If I start getting more involved in boxing, I will want to compete. I will want to see how much I am really improving. If I train super hard for 3.5 months, I will want to see some result. Unfortunately, that result is 6 months of getting out of shape. Ok maybe after the first month I can start riding an exercise bike or something, but solid conditioning seems like a long way off. What will I do now? Well, I don’t want to sit around and be a fatass, this much I know. I am still boxing twice a week with the club at school, but am looking at it less seriously than I was a couple weeks ago. I am trying to get a prop bet together on me and Hac dunking a basketball. I can focus on that I suppose. But damn, I can’t get this shoulder thing out of my head, I don’t know why I am so worried about it. I guess I will have to nut up a bit. What else can I ramble about.. oh! I have no idea whatsoever what I want to do with my life. I could probably write a book about this, but I will try to keep it short for now. WTF am I going to do with a liberal arts degree? The reason I went back to college was to learn how to write better and read/understand a lot of good books. I was also bored playing poker, wasn’t particularly happy with where I saw myself in 10 years, and decided to make a change. Now, I have no idea where I see myself. I am in a pretty serious relationship, maybe I will be married and have kids. 33 seems to be a reasonable age for that. Maybe my shoulder will be fixed and I will work out super hard and play minor league baseball. I think that would be fun, but probably unlikely. Maybe I will coach baseball. I think in the last couple years, that has made me the happiest. It was a lot of work, and sometimes fairly annoying with the lack of freedom and what not, but I enjoyed it more than anything I have done for a really long time. Something in that vein seems likely, but at the same time I will have to worry about money at some point. Things that tend to make one the happiest also don’t provide monetary return. Steve Jobs had a fun quote, "The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." Steve Jobs is a billionaire. Maybe he is doing something right. Finding something to be passionate about seems to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of life. In middle/high school, baseball was my life. Every day after school I would practice for hours, condition endlessly, work out as often as possible, and try to improve my skills in any way I could. Weekends I would travel all over the place playing often 3 games a day. When I first started playing poker, I couldn’t get enough. I devoted 100% of my effort to improving my game. Nothing else mattered except getting better, moving up in limits, and conquering my opponents. Getting inside their heads. Figuring out what worked best, then figuring out why. I feel like being extremely successful at anything requires this sort of mindset. I haven’t had this mindset about anything else since poker, and I lost that consuming desire years ago (thankfully). But I miss it. I miss having that something to wake up for in the morning and be extremely excited about doing. I wake up in the morning and feel happy to be sure. My life is good, I am enjoying it, I love the people in it, the things I am doing, and most of the ways I spend my hours. Yet.. I don’t have that passion for anything anymore. That overwhelming desire to succeed at something. A large part of me hoped I would find this going back to school, but deep down I knew it wouldn’t be what I was looking for. I work hard, I get all my work done, but it isn’t the same. You know what I’m talking about. So if you had that and lost it, how did you get it back? How did you find the next thing to focus 100% of your effort on? Maybe none of you are like this. Maybe this is a strange eccentricity of mine. Maybe some people don’t need that feeling. I think I thrive on it. To throw a curveball, for any of you that read fantasy, I have mentioned George Martin before and his Song of Ice and Fire series. Awesome obv. I haven’t mentioned Patrick Rothfuss and The Name of the Wind yet though. Great book, I read it twice a few months ago. Right now I am reading Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy. If you are in to fantasy and have read and liked Rothfuss, I think you should check this out. I am halfway through the third book, Assassin’s Quest, and have really been enjoying the series thus far. I spend most of my day reading stuff for school, but at night I get to knock out a good hour of fantasy before bed, and it always sets me up well for dream mode. Hope everyone is doing well. -David Benefield
Feb 1, 10 00:27:25
Great post David, I can totally relate with you, although for now poker still does it for me, at least some of the time...
Feb 1, 10 00:53:33
raptor u should consider not taking up boxing professionally... look @ mickey rourke and what boxing did to his face. dont think u want that to happen
Feb 1, 10 01:47:09
I have had a similar problem. I haven't had a true passion for something in a while. I don't know. Maybe it's just something that happens to us as we get older.
Even when it comes to girls I never experience the same emotions I did up until the age of 22 or 23 (I'm 26 now).
Maybe that's part of what getting old is. The highs aren't as high, the lows aren't as low and the drive fades. But who knows.
Feb 1, 10 03:27:29
Glad you're back to blogging, always a decent read. Don't go all Mickey Rourke on us.
Feb 1, 10 07:37:54
haha, no chance i would ever consider being a pro boxer. it is just fun, I like the challenge, and am seeing constant improvements. I have no intention of ever doing a fight for pay. I like my face, and my brain.
Feb 1, 10 08:38:05
Maybe if you had a fucked up mind like durrrr or isildur you would be the best of the best.
But u are just to pussy for that.
Go and make that surgery.
U are too attached to your body and to attached to the idea of losing money. Try to be some religious freak and u will be in the right way.
Feb 1, 10 09:41:10
Good luck on your journey. My brother is a Johnnie and he's still on his 18 years after graduation. I think the school attracts seekers.
I would get used to the fact that there will always be some dissatisfaction in your life and a question of what else is out there for you. As long as that spurs you on to seek out new experiences, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Feb 1, 10 10:42:13
I had a torn labrum in my hip.. put off sugery for 2 years before finally doing it in September. Best decision I've ever made! It feels 100% better and you will be surprised how not being in chronic pain changes your life.
Just my 2 cents
Feb 1, 10 12:59:58
Don't be scared of the surgery. I had my ACL/MCL repaired in Sept and its progessing fine. You'll feel so much better when its done and strengthened back up.
Feb 1, 10 15:44:51
David. I'd say just stick with school, live life, and have fun. Something new will come along. Don't look for it, don't force it, just let it come. I've found that when you just go with the flow, things end up working out. That's how I got into poker.
Feb 1, 10 17:11:13
A Song of Ice and Fire is fantastic.
Be prepared to be disappointed with Farseer Trilogy. Hobb writes books well, but fiishes them horribly.
Feb 1, 10 19:08:33
Spot on post I def could relate to that...I have the same problem since I was in my teens...I would pick up a new hobby and go all out with it...It would consume me till the next one...Eventually with poker, money was involved. And then started to play for the money and not the other things..
Feb 1, 10 19:28:00
What you're going through is common. I'm 52 and was looking for my next passion when poker hit me on the head 3 years ago. Just relax and try to stay in the present. It will happen when you least expect it.
Feb 1, 10 19:46:07
As far as fantasy reading goes, pick up Neil Gaiman "Neverwhere", or any of his books for that matter, all fantastic.
Feb 1, 10 21:36:48
Passion is the hardest thing to harness and understand. I have no idea what I want to do on a daily basis...I'm 25 and ask myself the exact same questions everyday..I've started 10million dollar companies, I've traveled around the world playing games, and nothing keeps my attention. I really buy into what Steve Jobs says, but I still haven't found it. I ask anyone I know that is more intelligent then me this question weekly, and they never seem to have an answer that doesn't involve complacency and contentedness. I don't buy into the whole "wait and see routine". I think you have to be insanely proactive or you can fall into the same category that so many "settlers" do. Only get so many days man...have to usem.
Feb 2, 10 03:27:55
So few people truly know what they want in the end. Most who say they know, are delusional. My philosophy is start from what you know you don't want, and go from there. If you're not sure of what you don't want, ha then I'd say you're screwed
Feb 2, 10 14:12:14
You phrase your question in terms of recapturing passion, but what I get the feeling youre struggling with is a desire to recapture your innocence (cliche i know but cmon indulge for 2 seconds). Adult life consists of compromise and imperfect solutions.
You could enjoy poker when college was in the future, and yourself pigeonholed as "a poker player" in 10 years down the road was avoidable. But like you said, WTF do you do with a liberal arts degree? Become a lawyer? A therapist? A professor of something? All imperfect solutions, and it overlooks the most obvious answer.
Somehow, you have the ability to play a game that makes you famous, cubicle-free, and set for life financially. And to top that off, you even enjoy it occasionally. The best decision you could make is to transform poker into a career; treat it like a job, and embrace other hobbies you can be (fleetingly) passionate about. "PM barry greenstein". Volunteer, involve yourself in charities, maybe even ::ahem:: get a bright and extremely motivated protege. People find these things to be very fulfilling.
Passion is fulfilling, and has its place, but it might not be such an integral piece of a career. Now a career that gives you the freedom to embrace your passions, thats pretty much the life nuts.
Feb 2, 10 21:13:44
I felt the same, and still do. I already dropped out of college once because I just couldn't find the motivation or focus.
This time around I have more motivation and will graduate later this year but I still haven't gotten rid of that nagging feeling of... is this really the direction I want to go?
It's a very frustrating feeling to have, and even moreso to get rid of.
GL
Oh, and I ALWAYS confuse your name with benyamine. So frustrating.
Feb 3, 10 03:58:43
I can relate to you also. First soccer was the thing i did 100% till age of 18teen. Then came some injuries, motivation problems and 9months military service. After i got out there i focused poker very seriously and it was the coolest thing ever. Now 2 years later, im in school but my motivation sucks, i still play poker but it doesn´t give me much cool feelings and it´s pretty boring most of the times and i still play soccer but just for hobby and not training so seriously anymore. ive been consider starting do mixed martial arts or some marathons or playing soccer more seriously, something to get back in the shape i was in before. I really miss the feeling to be in good shape and and always happy to go training. Also been considering coaching youth soccer. I would also like to find some school subject that interestes and get education and smarten myself. I think this thing you talked about is very common for poker players.
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Well I played some more poker today. Woke up pretty late, around 1, and called up my boy Mario who I haven’t seen in forever. He came over and watched me play for a little bit. It was pretty much straight down at first, but I started fighting back. I was mostly playing 3-6, 5-10, and 10-20 cap, but then some good 25-50 games broke out and I couldn’t resist. Somehow, I managed to run 11k under EV playing mostly small stakes. I killed it once again at 3-6 cap HU, but didn’t do so well at higher stakes. I guess at higher stakes they play better. http://www.pokerhand.org/?5084424 This was the biggest pot I played. It sucks losing the 7500 ones when I have that much online. Perhaps I should wait to play 25-50 until I have a little bit more to work with. Nahhhhhh, the only way to run up a roll is to take shots! I am going to keep updating with my account balances and maybe I will do a super run good and be back in the bigger games without having to deposit. On stars I have like 3700, ftp 6500 for a total working BR of 10.2k. I think this is sufficient for the monkeys at 3-6 and 5-10 cap HU assuming I play mostly fish. I also don’t have a problem sitting for 1/3 my bankroll in a game primarily because I don’t have a problem quitting after I lose a buyin, and the upside is huge if I run good or just slightly not awful. Anyways, here is today’s graph. http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/6357/cantevenbeatlowstakes.jpg I am grindmoding pretty hard, but my volume will go down a bunch once school starts back up on Monday. I have to read the first half of Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War, as well as do a good 6-8 hours of Greek translations before Monday, so that will probably eat up a decent chunk of my time. I also need to start getting back in shape, as I have been super lazy over the break doing a lot of travelling and fine dining. I better get going, I have to pack still, then leave for the airport in 6 hours. Later. -David Benefield
Jan 15, 10 14:10:15
I currently have a larger bankroll than Raptor. This is a proud day for me. GL at the tables.
Jan 16, 10 13:10:00
stay in school. dont play single hand till school year is over. so is the grass greener for you yet?
Jan 17, 10 09:37:04
hhahaha this is sick he updated his blog and is probably a bigger degen than me
Jan 17, 10 18:01:55
David, may I ask why you prefer to grind back PLO over NL when you came back?
Jan 19, 10 17:17:41
david, just grind it up on the rush tables cause i want to know how you'd play them lol.
Jan 25, 10 07:30:15
Hey david,
it would be really awesome if you decide to come back for making some videos again aswell! I love your NL videos, so what about some PLO content? :)
thanks, really appreciate it. (only if u get the time besides school of course ;)
Jan 25, 10 07:30:23
Hey david,
it would be really awesome if you decide to come back for making some videos again aswell! I love your NL videos, so what about some PLO content? :)
thanks, really appreciate it. (only if u get the time besides school of course ;)
Jan 28, 10 21:37:20
david i always read your blog and see the way u think and ur blog reminds me a ton of joe rogans i think u would enjoy
http://blog.joerogan.net/
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So in an effort to torture myself, I decided to try to run up the 2k that was left in my account. I started off at 2-4 buying in for 80, and ran my account up to 8k moving up in stakes. I took a shot at 10-20 and 5-10, but lost money there. Absolutely crushed some HU cap plo, so that helped a lot. I find that I do rather well there, maybe I will just sit HU cap plo all day and you guys can come challenge me. It felt good winning, but I find that when I do this I automatically run like god. By do this I mean, have a crappy day at higher stakes, then try to refocus much smaller. It is kinda neat how it happens, but I guess it makes me feel a lot better that I am not a complete scrub at this game. Well, maybe I am, who knows. In other news, I went to the doctor today to get an MRI for my shoulder. I ripped it out of socket senior year of high school causing me to quit playing baseball, but never got surgery. Why I didn’t get that surgery is beyond me, as it will be a much bigger hassle at this point in my life. I think I was just depressed I couldn’t finish off the season and was just pushing all ideas away, even good ones. Over the last couple years I have been more active, and it has been giving me problems, sublexing easily if my arm gets in certain positions. Quite problematic if I want to throw a baseball, do some jiu jitsu, or even try to do a pullup. Anyways, I am paying for that now. I went in expecting to just go through the tube for 20 minutes or whatever, but I got in and had to fill out 45 minutes worth of paperwork. Then I went back and the nurse started talking to me about injecting fluid in my arm blah blah and I’m like whoah, I thought this was a glorified photo shoot. Turns out it wasn’t. 2 hours later I am told I have to rest my arm for 3 days and can’t pick up groceries. It doesn’t feel pleasant. Tomorrow I have a nice lazy day. I am going to get some stuff in order, run some errands, and get ready to head back to school and Some of you may know that I took up boxing when I started school. I have really been enjoying it, and am going to start taking it a little more seriously. During the fall I would have boxing club practice twice a week, and I would swing kettlebells around or play random intramural sports the rest of the time. I am planning on signing up at a boxing gym and adding in a few workouts there per week. It is a great workout and I love the competition. At the end of the semester we had an exhibition. In total the club has around 25 or 30 members, and 16 people turned out for 8 fights, including 2 girls. It was a lot of fun, and I had a reason for once to focus on my training. I get lazy sometimes when there is little goal in sight other than just staying in shape. This time I was trying to prevent getting my ass kicked in front of a bunch of people. Luckily, we got it on video. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZIzBdQTG6s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSJAmzMHTzA&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEmedyVE8ig&feature=related -David Benefield
Jan 14, 10 03:33:43
hey david,
have you read the gorgias? if not you should it right away, there is a monologue from callicles which i thought was very interesting.
Anyhow, like you i went back to school this fall in order to study philosophy and im still wondering what s the best way to live my life is.
Read it and blog more about philosophy !
Jan 14, 10 03:43:24
I have read Gorgias :) We did I think.. 7ish of the dialogues in the first semester, Gorgias included. As far as the best way to live your life, if you figure it out let me know. Finding what makes you and others around you happy, and doing it, seems to be a good start imo.
Jan 14, 10 04:11:38
wow 7ish of plato dialogue in one semester, how is philosophia taught in the usa? im from france and ive around 25 hours per week with latin and ancient greek.
We mostly studied the presocratics ,plato, aristotle, descartes, and hobbes this semester
Jan 14, 10 04:25:39
You look alot stronger/bigger in your boxing vid while at the same time staying heaps lean as you usually are. Are you still lifitng many weights and how is your diet these days? I Know people used to complain about it but I enjoyed reading about that stuff.
Jan 14, 10 12:11:24
Good stuff David, watched the match, I am impressed. Glad to see you back blogging and playing poker as well.
Jan 14, 10 12:20:26
david, you are fighting a kid that is on a ooooodles of noooooodles diet...
Jan 14, 10 13:07:59
Im the fat kid.
As far as how philosophy is taught in the US, I have no idea about other schools. At my school we do it chronologically, and are still in ancient greece atm.
I have just been working out a lot, mostly with kettlebells, some squats thrown in once or twice a week. Diet is generally good, but I go out a decent bit and just kinda eat whatever at restaurants. I will post up some workout routines on occasion for those that are interested.
Jan 14, 10 18:29:01
You should be jabbing more because of your reach. Glad to see you blogging again
Jan 14, 10 19:13:52
when will you make a plo hu capvideo? I am curious how to win in those. Btw: good that you are back. Its fun to play with you.
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So. I haven’t done a blog in a really long time. For those that don’t know, I went back to school. I am at Since most of you probably want to know about poker, I suppose I can move on to that. I didn’t play for about 3 months or so, which, since 2004, has been my longest poker break. It felt really good, but I started itching to get back in it. Over the last few days, I have been running up a bankroll from 10k. I managed to get it to 63k at peak, playing mostly PLO. Today, I blew it up, and another 60k that I borrowed, playing 25-50 and 50-1 PLO. Games seemed really good, and I figured I would take a shot. It didn’t go so well. http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/3731/welcomebackf... I feel like I am playing some awesome poker, but just didn’t get the results today. While grinding up my roll this year (lol 2 weeks) I was winning pretty consistently at smaller stakes, and was moving up steadily until running into a brick wall today. More accurately I ran into the brick wall, causing it to collapse, covering me in bricks. It hurt. What surprises me the most is that, immediately after quitting the games, I was really unhappy, but not in the way I remember being unhappy when I would have a losing day pre-school transition. I am not sure how to explain it, but I just sort of felt sad. I knew I played well, so I wasn’t upset at myself, but still, there was some form of unhappiness present that was different from what I have experienced in the past. Perhaps it was the same feeling I used to experience, only coupled with a new disappointment feeling that I used to not associate with a poker loss. Why I felt that, I am not sure. Was it disappointment in myself? Was it disappointment in the poker gods? Was I upset with myself for jumping into bigger stakes games too soon before I built back up an adequate online bankroll? Perhaps it was a combination of these things, and others. Perhaps it was because I had Del Friscos tonight and was having a good evening, and let poker interfere with that. I am over poker interfering with my life, so something will need to change. What that is yet, I am not sure. Money wise, I am doing fine, but I have never really had to deposit money onto a poker site before, aside from the initial 50 bucks way back in the day, so it is sort of depressing. Mentally, I have generally separated my ‘poker’ money and my ‘real life’ money, and now that I have to wire some on, it feels a little strange. I don’t really want to keep a ton of money online though, and sort of like the challenge of running up a bankroll, so maybe I will play really small Townsend style and set some move up limitations on myself. Maybe I will put in 10k and start at 2-4 or something and move up only if I get a certain number of buyins. Who knows, that could be fun. There is time to get into that later. Switching topics because I do that, I bought a house in I spent Christmas with my family in After NYC we had a 6:50am flight to Turks and Caicos for a little sun. It was awesome getting to transition from a -2 wind-chill in Anyways, hope everyone had a great holiday season. Talk to you soon. Love, -David Benefield
I have a lot more to write about, but am getting pretty tired so I am going to cut it off here. Likely, I will be blogging much more regularly since I am back playing some poker again, but I don’t think it will be daily. I do enjoy keeping a blog though, having a place to express my jumbled thoughts is great, and if I can entertain others in the process, all the better.
Jan 13, 10 05:02:13
welcome back, better luck at the tables next time. Your blog and video's are great. Thank you for everything you put into this site
Jan 13, 10 09:15:42
if you're planning on grinding small-mid stakes for a while, we'd love to see a HU NL video at those stakes.
ps. welcome back.
Jan 13, 10 09:41:49
the best blog ever is back :)
thanks David, your blog-posts actually mean a lot to me. :)
Jan 14, 10 00:46:44
Nice to see you back. Love reading your blog. Hope you continue to feel happy
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So, for me at least, WSOP 2009 has come to an end. Perhaps more than that has come to an end. It is the end of my brief career as a full time poker professional. It was a wonderful run, and a fantastic experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. I took a little bit of a different path that most, but I think it worked out all right in the end.
In less than 6 weeks I start school. Wow. I don’t really know what to say about this other than that I am excited/nervous. I really have no idea what to expect, but I think it is going to be a great experience, no matter what happens. What I do know is that I am going to give it a full year before deciding what to do. No matter what happens, no matter how much I love/hate it, I am going to finish the first year. In all likelihood I will love it and continue on, but you never really know for sure.
This summer I played 7 wsop events. I cashed in a 5k for 14th place, and bubbled a couple others. I busted out of the main event with AK to A2 all in on an AAT flop, 2 rolled off on the turn. It was cool though, I really didn’t even mind. It didn’t bother me in the least. I smiled, packed up my stuff, and headed home, with my mind on returning to school and entering a new lifestyle, something different.
I have been playing online a bit more over the last few weeks with pretty strong success, up around 250 or so. I haven’t really played anything big, most of it has been at 25-50 HUNL and 25-50 PLO on the ante tables. I have been getting quite a bit of 25-50 NL action, which is pretty cool, most people seem to think I’m a fish or something (which may be true). It has gone pretty well for the most part though, so maybe I’m not as bad as these guys think. Guess I still got it a little bit.
Yesterday coragyps lost like 100k at 25-50 PLO HU and was tilt sitting at 300-600, so I sat with him for 30k. First hand he raises I reraise AKQJ he calls. Flop A63r, I bet he pots I get it in, and he tables J652 and bangs it off then instaquits. The best part of this though, was I didn’t care at ALL. Like, a year ago, even 6 months ago, this would have tilted me to no end. I just sat there, smiled, said nice hand, and waited for him to come back or leave. This is something I have never really been able to do before. I didn’t get mad, I didn’t get upset, I didn’t complain to the world about my terrible luck. I just sat there without anger, without emotion.
Now, I find it funny that for the last 5 years, I have searched for this ability to not feel pain while playing poker. This was the first time I truly experienced painlessness at the tables, and it felt really good. The funny part is that I am no longer going to be playing poker, at least for the first year I am in school. I searched so long, worked so hard to acquire this ability, and now that I seem to have it, I am moving on to something else. Perhaps this is the point where I grow bored with most things, when I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do. I may not have won a big tourney, or beat Phil Ivey over 100k hands, but I conquered the most fearsome opponent of all, myself.
So what now for me? Well, I am not going to quit poker QUITE yet. I don’t start school for 6 weeks, so will probably be playing a bit until then, so don’t count me out of the game completely. Once school starts though I am going to not play a single hand until Christmas break, and then re-evaluate. If things have been going well, I will continue it for the rest of the year. Next summer I will come out to Vegas and play some series events, maybe grind a bit online, etc, but it won’t be the most important part of my life anymore.
I am leaving Las Vegas to head back to Texas on Sunday. I am staying to go to UFC100, then headed home. I will likely hang out in Fort Worth for a week or so, then I am renting a place in Austin for a month. My gf is doing summer school, and I have a bunch of friends in that area that I want to hang out with. I also have really enjoyed my previous trips to Austin, and want to spend some time getting a feel for the city. I also want to start reading a couple hours a day to work that into a routine so it won’t be a huge change once I start school.
I don’t know what the future of poker looks like. There is a lot of legislation stuff going on that could potentially be really great for all of us. If online poker becomes regulated in the US, it will open the floodgates for people to start playing, and new life will be given to the games. I don’t know what the future holds for me either. What I do know is that poker gave me something truly wonderful, the luxury of choice, and I fully intend to take advantage of it.
-David Benefield
Jul 11, 09 05:50:39
I just signed up for an account just to tell you that you will hate school.
Hope Bruno was the worst movie you've ever seen in your life. Have a nice day.
Jul 11, 09 06:11:31
Nice post. I always enjoyed reading your blog. Might be interesting if you continue blogging about your "new life" as student. Hope you enjoy school. Cheers.
Jul 11, 09 11:17:55
I would like to start off and Thank you for all the great videos you have put out they have really added things to my game that have brought it to the next level and without you or cardrunners that never would of happened. Thank you again for everything and Great gl in school Im sure you will try as hard as you did at poker when you first started
Gl
Jul 11, 09 11:38:45
David, I wish you nothing but the best of luck in all that life brings you over the next year. I have no doubt that you're going to love school. Your outlook on poker/life and self reflection has been really inspirational. Please continue blogging.
Jul 11, 09 12:30:02
? I have been doing the Wall Street things for 7 years, but if I had your NLHE skills I don't think I'd be here. You seem as if you have a really good head on your shoulders--keep it up and best of luck.
Jul 11, 09 12:36:51
No, u gotta make poker instructional videos for CR.
Good luck at school.
Jul 11, 09 12:45:58
ditto ditto. starting at Reed august w/out poker. seems pretty amazing so far. read Infinite Jest if you have time and want to wrench ur brain around a bit before school. good luck.
Ben
Jul 11, 09 12:59:51
The Value of Cardrunners just dropped in half. You will be missed.
GL with life school and beyond.
Jul 11, 09 14:07:00
you should realize that the rason you didnt care, is probably because you knew youre going to quit poker soon and its not the main thing in your life anymore, and not because you managed to acquire this ability (i dont even know if its a good ability to acquire anyway).
gl in school.
Jul 11, 09 14:23:13
lol, the hitnrun would piss me off to no end...
going to school seems prudent, but why quit poker?
Jul 11, 09 15:03:24
I just wanted to say something that I told my dad yesterday:
(on T.V.)"Yeah thats David Benefield. He's made several million dollars playing cash games online. He made millions and just recently decided that he wants to go back to school to get a degree ..to have something to fall back on. THAT is how smart he is."
You are setting an example for guys like me. I am 23 ,without a degree and a mini BR. I think that you should be proud of the positive influence you have on me (and on others possibly). If/when I decide to go back to school...you will surely have had an effect on this decision. I mean this.
Jul 11, 09 15:08:46
proud to have you as my friend. maybe ill come drop in on your college sometime?
Jul 11, 09 15:56:35
David, I was just wondering what school are you going to, and what type of jobs are you thinking about when you graduate.
I would have thought that the money and lifestyle that poker has brought you would be somewhat addicting. Do you think that you could could work a regular 9 to 5 job making 50-75k a year? At some point, do you think you might be tempted back into the pokerworld where you could probably make hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on your own time and schedule?
Thanks alot for all of your contributions to cardrunners David, and I hope you continue to blog about your life in college as a non-poker playing student.
Jul 11, 09 22:13:02
You made some great videos and are truly gifted. Congrats on looking at the big picture and best of luck at school.
Jul 12, 09 18:30:19
gl man. Always followed your blog and happy to hear you have the courage to do what makes you happy despite what others might feel
Jul 12, 09 18:30:37
gl man. Always followed your blog and happy to hear you have the courage to do what makes you happy despite what others might feel
Jul 12, 09 18:30:37
gl man. Always followed your blog and happy to hear you have the courage to do what makes you happy despite what others might feel
Jul 13, 09 00:02:50
going to school seems prudent, but why quit poker? just play less...
Jul 13, 09 02:05:53
Gl dude. I was just thinking, maybe its because you have decided to stop playing that its easier to take a beat? You dont have the same pressure any more.
Jul 15, 09 21:47:11
Gl I think your making the right decision, Just keep blogging your blog has always been the best.
Jul 21, 09 00:14:18
GG Raptor!
You've been a classy guy since the STT Forum back in the day!
Jul 21, 09 13:30:09
Good luck with your new challenge that lays ahead of you David. But can I just say something; everything that you have achieved in life, from travelling, vacations at different places, driving new sports cars, becoming a self made millionaire was through 'poker'. You are one of my favourite poker players and I used to love watching and learning from your videos. You are so unique as a player, that makes you different from other players.
I once had a chance to play professional rugby but was unable to make a career of it due to injuries. I had no chance but to quit the game I loved.
I know you feel a new challenge awaits you, however just think about the game that made you.
Jul 22, 09 10:29:06
Congrats and GL.
F the haters obviously.
Go get Sunday brunch at Fonda San Miguel in Austin - you're welcome....
Jul 22, 09 13:18:05
You were/are a sick poker player and your videos have helped me think about the game in new ways. Good luck in school.
Aug 18, 09 16:14:02
Gl with school, and i live in Austin Texas so if u want to hit some college parties up let me know!
Oct 10, 09 00:41:37
i cant beleive ur doing this u have worked so hard too quit? weak if u ask me
Nov 26, 09 11:42:16
So you could not hold your hands away until christmas :) I see you are playing PLO 25\$/50\$ ATM. Good luck nice to see you back.
Nov 28, 09 18:42:46
Ya, I think the reason you didn't care so much about the hit & run is because poker isn't important to you at the moment. Having said that, I REALLY wish I could get to this level. That would be something to not even care at all about dropping 30k in one hand and then having the guy instaquit you.
Becareful on the break thing, you can lose a lot of your edge and lose touch with the games if you take long breaks from poker. If it was me I'd just play like an hour a day or something to make some coin and keep sharp.
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I find that any time at a social gathering religion, politics, or nutrition is brought up, nothing good ever comes of it. I have been in countless arguments at parties with people about religion. This is the big one. The thing is.. everyone is pretty closed minded in their views on this. Most people have it ingrained in their brains from an early age what is ‘right’ for them to believe in. It is a product of your environment kind of thing. Some people take the initiative to explore the concepts on their own, but the average person doesn’t bother, and just follows along with what their parents tell them to believe in. Trying to have a conversation with someone like this seems to be a complete waste of time.
On politics, I certainly don’t know enough to have any kind of argument with someone about public policy, economics, whatever. It just isn’t something I know enough about to feel a need to comment on. However, there are tons of other people that have a similar level of knowledge and go around spouting off about how conservative they are, or how much they love liberal policy and blah blah. If you say ANYTHING against their beliefs, they get extremely defensive and start to argue with you and the hate seems to build immediately. It is uncanny.
However, the BIGGEST one I find is nutrition. What we know about nutrition is learned from our parents, or from our educators in school. Most of this is rubbish, what we call the ‘american diet’. Now, I don’t know a ton about nutrition, but I do know that eating fried food, tons of processed shit, and a bunch of added sugar in everything doesn’t lead to longevity of life. This isn’t an issue ever really, and most people agree with this assessment. Something interesting seems to happen though when you go on a non ‘mainstream’ diet.
I am now on day 9 of eating a vegan diet, and I am enjoying it very much. Don’t get me wrong, I would really like to crush a giant steak, a crabcake soaked in buttery lobster sauce, and a giant piece of chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. I am doing this as a discipline thing to get myself back on eating healthy track before the series. Playing tournaments for 12-14 hours a day can be quite grueling, and if I am bogged down with processed junk in my diet, I tend to lose focus much easier than if I eat super clean.
However.. sometimes people seem to get offended when you say you are eating a vegan diet. It is an inexplicable experience. It is almost as if by consuming said diet, you are personally attacking someone else that consistently eats meat. You are essentially saying they are wrong without ever saying anything. Some people take offense to the mere fact that you don’t want to consume animal products, and are greatly put off by it. They even get defensive and try to tell you that it is unhealthy, and that eating animals is much more conducive to long term health.
Regardless of whether or not this is true, I find it amusing that some people can get ridiculously worked up about this. I mean really, why the fuck does it matter what I eat? I am not doing this for other people. I am doing it for my personal health and well being, and am not trying to prove something to anyone other than myself and exercise a little discipline. In the last week or so, there have been probably 10 instances where people try to tell me that I will wither away and die, I won’t get enough protein, that eating animals is way healthier than ‘sitting around eating grass’.
Well, this is debatable, but I don’t really want to get into that right now. I can see great arguments for eating a super clean diet without any processed foods, but adding in high quality fish, hormone free beef, etc. I honestly have no idea what is ‘optimal’ for long term health and fitness, but that isn’t really the point right now. The point is, why do people get super defensive and offended whenever someone disagrees with their eating habits? I try hard not to impress my nutritional views on others, but if someone asks I will gladly talk about why I am doing what I am doing. I have never at any point said ‘this is way better than what you are doing and you should do it too, this is the best diet ever you will live forever.’
It seems as though it is even more extreme than religious conversations. God forbid you go to a Christian school in the south and mention the fact that you are atheist (god forbid, get it?). You will likely get maliciously attacked, told you are wrong, stupid, going to hell, etc. Well, with nutrition, a very similar thing occurs. You won’t get enough protein, you will die of b12 deficiency, animals are HEALTHY to eat, we were MADE to be hunters, to kill and eat our food, and on and on.
The thing is.. it is all but IMPOSSIBLE to change anyone’s mind about these topics. Everyone seems VERY set in their views, and there is nothing wrong with that! I could care less what you believe in. It doesn’t affect my life in any way. It seems silly to constantly try to impress your views on others. I think it is great when people can have constructive arguments about these topics, but in my limited experiences it just isn’t possible. From now on I will try to avoid talking about politics, religion, and nutrition in any way unless the person is genuinely interested in learning or hearing a different point of view. I certainly have my ideas about what I believe in as far as these things, but I am always open to hearing other sides of the story. Many seem to not share this feeling.
Anyways, sorry for the minirant, just something I wanted to get off my chest. The 40k is in a couple days and I can’t wait. Tomorrow I am going shopping to pick up a new suit, some nice dressy clothes, etc. I like to dress up, and haven’t gone shopping for that kinda stuff in a while. I will probably stop by the Rio and try to reg during my shopping spree. I wonder how many people there will be.. I am hoping there are around 300, but that seems rather ambitious. In any case, it should be a lot of fun and a good way to start off the series.
-David
May 27, 09 03:40:17
I don't care one way or another what diet you choose to be on....it does tilt me a little bit that you now have to exclude Naked Fish from your diet :(
May 27, 09 03:41:50
No offense, but seriously Dave, it's not healthy to eat vegan food. Eating animals is MUCH better for your longterm health. If you just eat grass you will not get the protein that you need.
just to inform.
May 27, 09 04:09:59
Yep, political views and religion are a big part of peoples personality, of who they are, and if you express differing views on those matters, people get defensive. Its stupid really and I really hate it. Especially since many people talk about politics and public policy with little or no real knowledge of facts. Many people get an impression based on what have heard here or there and dont have the self criticism to realize that the matters they are expressing their opinions on may be a bit more complex than what they think. I like to discuss politics and such with people whether they share my views or not, in fact its more interesting when they are of a different opinion. And I dont really care if people have a limited knowledge of the matter being discussed as long as they realize this and are openminded. I dont know everything about everything either but I try to act accordingly when discussing various topics. What really tilts me is people who mouth off their very strong views on things based on very little knowledge and when they dont really want to have a real discussion on the matters.
To take an example, I work in public administration in Finland and much of my work has to do with the European Union. The EU is at its basis an economical union with a lot of legislation in various fields. As an international organization its kind of distant to the ordinary citizen. The effects of its action come mainly through the implementation of the legislation by member states and through the EU's weight in foreign trade negociations etc. Its wide range of activities are admittedly difficult for the ordinary citizen to fully understand. All the polls show that the common citizen in the different member states have close to zero knowledge of the funtionning and activities of the EU. This unfortunately doesnt stop people from speaking their mind about it. People are quick to blame the EU for any kind of economic problems and any piece of legislation they dont like as well as for bureaucratic inefficiency which they see in its activities but forget all the positive effects that are harder to see (increased trade within EU, inrease of EUs wieght in international trade negociations, free movement of people within the EU where you can travel without a passport and work and study in different member states, more economic stability due to a common currency, etc.). People very easily adopt a hostile attitude toward an international organization such as the EU and aggressively defend this view which is based more on a fear of loss of national independence/identity than on facts. Again, I like to talk about these topics with people and try to explain my view on them but what really tilts me is that people tend to stubbornly stick to their views even with no real knowledge of the matter. And yes, if you disagree with certain people they get very aggressive about it. The EU is often seen by some parts of the society as a bureaucrats' idea and thing and people love to hate it. Its one of those things that people in certain social groups seem to think that the only view they are supposed to have is a negative one, its almost like part of their identity, just like despising politicians and public authorities in general seems to sometimes be. I dont know if im making any sense to you...
As for debates on diets, everybody has always been ok with my mainly steak based diet so dunno, lol. Yeah, I think if you talk about vegan diet people easily think like does this guy think hes better than me, all health diet and moral values and so. Its obviously silly but I think thats what it is about, although people may not even realize it themself. <BR><BR>Im sorry about my rant too.
May 27, 09 05:27:35
I guess the moral of the story is most people are ignorant yet arrogant. That's why we make money at poker. :)
May 27, 09 09:10:38
David, I really think you'll like this clip if you've not already seen it. It is a sketch by Tim Minchin, an Aussie comic who is pretty awesome. Its about how those debates you just discussed generally develop.
Best of luck in the 40k and the rest of the Series.
Anyhow here's the link
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujUQn0HhGEk
If it doesn't work, just type in Storm by Tim Minchin into youtube, it's worth a watch.
May 27, 09 09:38:33
You speak the truth sir. Closemindedness gets you not very far and religion is a product of a persons environment near 100% of the time. As for nutrition, eat what you want, but if you give up beer and hard booze I will hunt you down and force feed!
May 27, 09 09:41:22
But you didn't answer the question - how are you gonna get enough protein? Aren't you just going to become a twig?
May 27, 09 09:51:47
The sign of true intelligence is being able to hold two opposing ideas in your mind at the same time (and not go crazy from it).
I never assume I can change people's mind about such subjects as you discuss. As you mention, it's easy to tell when someone has no interest of holding an opposing idea, even for a second. I do like to have discussions with smart, articulate people who have different views than me, but only for MY benefit...not for theirs (unless I can see they are really looking to get something out of it vs. just trying to change my mind). Only by doing so can we 1) make our own arguments stronger (by seeing and adjusting for what others see as the weaknesses in them) or 2) realize maybe the way we have been thinking isn't so optimal after all. It takes a strong person to admit they're wrong, especially about something as personal as these subjects. Really similar concept to improving at poker; you obv get that so it's hard to understand why everyone else doesn't. But it's really a hard thing to do.
End of rant.
May 27, 09 11:18:55
The best diet is to eat nothing and only drink the blood of young childern. Just look at Madonna.
May 27, 09 11:19:52
"The thing is.. it is all but IMPOSSIBLE to change anyone’s mind about these topics. Everyone seems VERY set in their views,"
Why blog about it then?
May 27, 09 12:10:47
The fact that you put nutrition in the same category as religion and politics leads me to believe that you have some serious issues, dude. Your nutrition obsession confirms that there is a fat guy dying to break out of that metrosexual shell you call a body.
I hope you can find a Johnnie who will roll with you.
Congrats on the 25K HU result.
May 27, 09 13:21:39
Not trying to tell you what to do but if you are switching diets you should make sure you're getting everything you need and if not take a supplement. When my sister first became a vegetarian she did not take the time to research what nutrients she would be missing. As a result she suffered from an iron deficiency, got very fatigued, lost concentration and just overall went through a really rough time until she figured out what was wrong.
As a guy you're not losing blood regularly so you don't have to worry as much about an iron deficiency but there are nutrients that your body normally gets from animal products that it needs to function and if you simply cut those out you are going to get into trouble. If you're switching to a Vegi or Vegan diet you should take the time to make sure you're still getting all the stuff you need.
May 27, 09 15:39:26
If someone tells you that you'll wither away, just tell them that Tony Gonzalez is vegan and that will surely shut them the hell up about that.
May 27, 09 15:52:02
As someone who is a vegan and and 5"11 165 with 5 percent bodyfat I can assure you what your doing will be benificial to you. I studied nutrition in college and though I learned a lot of stuff in the textbooks journals, etc that we had to read I learned far more on my own, researching. Some of the things people have said to you were the same they said to me, like where do you get your protein from or you are going to be deficient in so many vitamins. When my bro said that to me we went onto a nutritional tracking site and layed out our diets, I had between 150-500% daily recommendation of every single vitamin and mineral and he he had 100+ in less than half. Nuts, seeds, fruit, oats, quinoa, etc are the most nutritionally dense foods by far. And as for protein quinoa, nuts, seeds, lentils, beans or protein powders like pea protein are all "complete proteins." People only know what they hear and as someone who was once on a paleolithic diet, trust me your on the right path.
May 27, 09 15:52:53
BTW if your craving ice cream "coconut bliss" and "purely decadent" are the sh*t
May 27, 09 15:57:47
Religion is a poison and does nothing but harm. I know what you mean about people being closed minded in terms of religion. Are you an Atheist Dave?
May 27, 09 16:09:09
HI Dave,
I agree 100% with you about peoples mind on being set. It is like one cow leading the way to the field and all the other cattle follow and don't review any other maps to find their on way.
First off, there are a lot of healthy people that are vegans. I do not eat as much meat as I use too based on increasing my own frequency and awareness. I was nutritionist and trainer for over 8 years and during that time did the body for life 3 times got runner up once and transformed my life completely. I would eat protein and tons of meat and thought this was the only way to get big and strong. After about 4 years when I was 20 I could not digest meat as good. The reason was that I depleted my enzyme stores. A naturopath told me that I had to lower my protein as I was producing too much uric acid and not producing enough enzymes acid. I have put immense studies into life force and eating meat vs. Vegan diets and I think there is pros and cons for both regimens. Many groups around the world believe that you absorb the negative life force from the animals when you eat meat which can possibly lessen your awareness or from reaching higher levels of consciousness. Others say the non heme vs. heme iron bonds are stronger with eating meat which makes the the absorption or bioavailability much easier to absorb the nutrients and micro nutrients and especially the iron. Today, with the antibiotics, GMO foods, pesticides, herbicides and other things I think there is a ton of things us humans have to do to be healthy now. Considering 40% people in North America are expected to get cancer. 1/3 heart disease. The other may still get something else like diabetes or ... This limits anyone from being very healthy long term I believe and especially with all the new genetically modification techniques. Did you know there are over 250 approved pesticides just for organic foods. Or the fact that most foods are irradiated even organics before being delivered to your local grocery store. My Opinion is only the strong human genotype will come out on top in this tuff times.
I agree with most people on here Vegan diets are tuff. If you are going to attack it make sure you are getting the correct nutrients and do your research. Negreanu has been vegan for 6 years and I think he would be a good guy to talk too. Food combining maybe be huge for being successful and has been around for 1000s of years. Combining beans with rices to get the complete proteins and making sure you are balancing iron will prove to be extra important. Once you got this down you will do well, but make sure to do your research.
I would be happy to help you out if you need it. And maybe you would help me out for the wsop this year playing a couple events and the main event. I have some of the sickest work out routines ever for transforming your physique fast. I have tons of transformation pics too. Any how, I am just responding because I think you on the right track to the go in a great direction in your life.
Do what you think is right, but make sure you speaking to your doctor and getting feedback and blood work to make sure your iron, thyroid levels and other are in check.
Very best regards,
May 27, 09 19:17:50
But you didn't answer the question - how are you gonna get enough protein? Aren't you just going to become a twig?
Stinger885
Well that'll give new meaning to "you are what you eat"
May 27, 09 23:44:16
Dave Good Sources of Protein to research:
Complete Proteins;
Any Beans with Brown rice (Lundberg non gmo organic rice and Organic and beans)
Lentils with rise same as above
Barley
All these sources are low glycemic too
Tofu naturally fermented with out the estrogen forming properties of some fermented type tofus.
Soy Tempeh, but not a big fan as it builds estrogen
Others
-Spirluna
-Blue Green ALgae
-seaweed
-kelp
-Quinoa more calcium then milk
-Amaranth
-Legumes plus seeds like flax or sesame
-Legumes plus nuts etc..
-Veggie burgers not a fan
*Hemp which is complete omega 3 6 9 very good choice
Tons of choices keep is to keep the nutrients high and eat very clean
Udo' and hemp good soucrces of omega as well another good source is molecular distilled phytoplankton awesome.
Any how message me if you may need anything.
May 28, 09 00:15:10
Another thing to keep in mind on the whole topic of nutrition, is Ph balance both in the foods we eat and our bodies in general.
Obvious things like soda, many of us know are very acidic, but other things like bread, anything pickled, or most seafood, beans, are quite acidic while things like ginger, barley grass and spinach and carrots are alkaline.
We should be more conscious about this balance for many reasons, one of which is that cancer forms most often in acidic enviroments.
May 30, 09 05:18:34
In terms of nutrition it's fine to be a vegetarian, as long as you make an effort to get the protein and other nutrients that you need... but isn't the food just really unsatisfying? It's like you're eating a bunch of side dishes without ever getting to the main course.
May 31, 09 18:23:14
"Everyone seems VERY set in their views, and there is nothing wrong with that!"
There is something wrong with that as Bertrand Russell said it best, "The fundamental cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt."
Jun 1, 09 04:00:28
Mr B,
Interesting topic i enjoyed reading. I would say because we are social beings people will always try to push their beliefs and lifestyles onto others. The more you deviate from the norm the greater you will experience this. Greater education for the masses seems to be the only way to evolve in this respect.
Jun 2, 09 11:59:53
This post made me LOL, from the other side of the water America always looks like a land of extremes. Fat Fit, conservative liberal, intelligent dumb ass, etc.
But if you need diet defence, Shaolin Monks with the Kung Fu stuff are all vegetarian. They get enough protein from beans and nuts. Check this video called Shaolin Super Humans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRxhlJGYe1o
personally though nothing takes the wind out of their sails like nodding and saying 'you know what, I think your right' followed by a swift topic change to something light hearted. If they have any sense they’ll realise bitching at parties and social gathering is bad craic.
Jun 11, 09 15:57:47
I think that people know very well that they are doing wrong by eating animals. However, as long as everyone does it they do not have to care and they can go on thinking about how nice guys they are knowing deep in their hearts that they are doing a terrible thing. Now when a vegan shows up, he is a living example that no one needs meat and just by his existance he forces people to think about the injustice they keep taking part in. So no wonder people are pissed.
Jul 4, 09 14:31:54
I've actually been doing some similar searching into nutrition so that I can perform optimally at the poker table, in the gym, and on the mats (BJJ.) As funny as it sounds, one book that's a super easy read that really changed my views on food is called "Skinny Bitch." My girlfriend turned me on to it, but it's like, written under the masquerade of being a diet book for girls, but by the time you get through it, you realize they don't give as shit if you're skinny, they want you to be healthy, and it promotes a vegan life style.
I could do almond milk instead of cow's milk, but idk if I can go without sushi. I think I non-processed, no fried, no junk diet with high quality fish and meat would be close to optimal for someone like me also. Please do tell if you come up with something that seems to work for you.
Another good book that's a bit of a tougher read but certainly worthwhile is omnivore's dilemma.
Best of luck in your endeavors,
James
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So I just got done playing the 25k HU. I lost in the finals to theashman103. He is a great HU player and we had a fun match. I am definitely not unhappy with him winning, but obviously I would have preferred to ship it! I felt I played really well the entire tourney, and it was a great way for me to start off the summer. I am looking forward to going into the 40k NL event at the series and stomping. It also helps to pay for my college tuition with 2 days of work.
For those that are curious, I DID in fact record all of my matches, and will probably do some sort of video series on them. I know watching 1 table is pretty boring, so maybe I can figure out a way to do multiple HU matches at the same time, but I feel like that would sort of detract from the flow, which is super important in HUsng matches. We will see.
I am on day 7 of eating a Vegan and everything I am eating is delicious. I have been working out a bunch, and am feeling great. My normal routine has been wake up, eat a bunch of fruit, work out, drink a shake, float in the pool for an hour, then figure out what to do with myself for the entire day. I wasn’t even planning on playing the 25kHU but aejones was like ‘omg this is softest field ever u should play’, so I regged pretty late. Guess that one worked out for me.
I haven’t been playing much poker at all really, and I am ok with that. It was a good break, but if games are good I will probably start playing a bit more. I am not sure how many events I am playing this summer, but definitely doing all the big NL and PLO ones, and I think there is a 10k HU which I will definitely take part in.
I would like to take a cool trip somewhere soon, with the purpose of surfing. I haven’t been surfing in quite a while, so definitely want to get some in somewhere. Anyone have any ideas on where really good surfing is right now? I am not really that good, but I want there to be some decent waves and good instruction available.
I don’t really have much to report, life is good, I hope everyone is crushing.
-David
May 24, 09 18:51:03
gg in 25k dude. I'd imagine winnerfish will be dreaming about that 108 hand for the rest of his life. You aware that he sattyed in for \$75?
May 24, 09 19:00:13
there are numerous great places to surf in western australia. also, thanks for the great HU videos.
May 24, 09 19:38:32
congrats in the 25k HU. If you want to go somewhere close, La Jolla has awesome surfing right now. Cost Rica and Hawaii are solid in June/July. Melbourne, Australia will be good in July/August.
May 24, 09 19:55:20
Australia, will give surfing lessons for poker lessons, come down under!
May 24, 09 20:12:29
congrats. a one table video at this level of skill will def NOT be boring.
May 25, 09 09:14:09
check out this little surf village/beach town in brazil...itacare'
nice surf, not crowded, pretty cheap...and it'sin brazil. u will have to ditch that vegan crap though, brazillians love them some beef.
May 25, 09 12:43:41
Congrads on your win. YOu owned everyone!
Hawaii is sick for surfing, but the current is super strong.
I would recommend it!
May 25, 09 14:01:54
Surfing, feeling good, winning at poker when ever you feel like playing? Im a bit envious... Not much, just a bit. Do the video, do it with one table for the flow, its good. I dont see how some people find it uninteresting to watch one table and complain about it in the comments, if you watch to learn, one table is the way to go for HU. Do it soon too, like now ! Im impatient for good content.
May 25, 09 14:49:46
1 table of HU is way better than mixing up 2 matches.................. ur right . congrats btw
May 26, 09 06:27:20
Humans are predators, that's why we have the eyes in the front to cale the pray and why we still have (little) fangs. Also I do have an ethic issue with eating the food of our food. LOL
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So I wanted to take a few moments and share what I ate today. Today was the first day of the vegan diet, and it was awesome. I am getting help from Phillip (magentaradio on 2p2), he is preparing all of the meals and is a super cool guy. My initial plan was to do this for a 2 week trial, but I could easily see this lasting for the entire summer. I felt great eating everything, and it was all delicious.
In other news I have been pretty busy in the last week engaging in much debauchery in my first week in Vegas. Lisa came into town, and all my roommates were here so we were going out a lot. Joe had a couple girlfriends from jersey fly in and we went out a ton. Was a great time. My favorite night was a date night where Lisa and I went to go see The Phantom of the Opera at Venetian, then did the tasting menu at Valentino’s. I mentioned that in my blog, and it was probably one of the best nights of my life. Anyways, here is the first day of me being vegan.
Day 1 of veganism.
¾ cup cereal : buckwheat, sunflower, quinoa, pumpkin seed, almonds, all sprouted
Cinnamon banana almond milk: 2 cup almond, 4 cup water, 2 dates, 1 banana, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp celtic sea salt, yielded 6 cups used 1.5
16oz green veggie juice: ½ zucchini, 2 carrots, ½ cucumber, ½ beet, 3 cups kale, 2 cups swiss chard, ½ lemon, 2 oranges, ½ grapefruit, 1 packet green vibrance, yielded 44oz used 15oz
Workout
PWO smoothie : 2 scoops vega protein blend, 1/8 cup coconut water, 2 cup almond milk, ½ tbsp agave, 1 tbsp hemp seed, ½ pack green vibrance
Young coconut : the juice/water only
‘pasta’ : squash, zucchini, 3 mushrooms, 3 tbsp red pepper, 1/3cup pesto, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, sprouts, 2 flax crackers
Pesto : 2c basil, 1/2c arugula, ¼c miso, 1c walnut, garlic, 1tbsp flax oil, 1 tbsp hemp oil, 5 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp agave, 1 lemon, yielded 2 cups used 1/3cup
Kale chips : cashews, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, salt, scallions, red bell pepper, garlic, water for the sauce, dipped kale in it then dehydrated it. Tasted like Doritos, was delicious.
Apple mix : 1 braeburn, 1 gala, 1 fuji, 1 red d’anjou pear, 1/2c walnut, 1 lemon, 1/2c almond, 1/2c pumpkin seed, 1/2c raisins, yield 4 cups, ate 1/3 cup
Dinner: 1c quinoa, ½c broccoli, 1/3c onions, 1/4c swiss chard, 1/4c bell pepper, 1/4c mushrooms, all steamed
Miso sauce: 1/4c scallion, ginger, 2 tbsp agave, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tbsp miso, 1/2c sunflower, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 1/4c water, yielded 1.5 cups, used 1/4cup
Strawberry mousse pie
Mousse part : 2c cashew, 1 lemon, 1 lime, 2 tsp agave, 2 dates, 1/2c coconut water, 2 tsp vanilla, 6 strawberries, 1/2c chia
Crust : 2c almond meal, 1/2c walnuts, 3 dates, ¾ cup coconut water, 1 banana, cinnamon, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 tsp agave, pinch salt. Yield whole pie, ate 1/8th
-David
May 19, 09 22:05:44
I thought I would share the link for any of your blog readers who might be interested... http://www.pokercurious.com/interviews/view/david-raptor-benefield-interview/
May 20, 09 05:10:28
read your interview on Poker Curious.
Just wanted to say (regarding your Vegan diet and your willingness to go through with it for the entire summer:) Ship it!
May 22, 09 01:01:03
How much dope do you have to smoke to eat this kind of stuff? Im guessing 1 to 2 cups.
May 22, 09 02:23:39
looks delicious, i'd happily eat like this everyday tbh. too much preparation needed though
May 22, 09 05:50:48
"looks delicious, i'd happily eat like this everyday tbh. too much preparation needed though"
that and be able to afford it - meat is not good
May 23, 09 13:37:58
Booya, keep up the veganism. I also recommend reading "animal liberation" by Peter Singer, it will help you appreciate the ethical side of veganism, which makes it easier to stick to.
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This weekend temporarily marked the end of my short lived coaching career. We had our conference playoffs with 8 teams, and we went in as the 5th seed. We were matched up with the winners from the previous year in our first game, and we were supposed to lose pretty badly. They actually play in a different conference, but for the playoffs somehow they ended up with us starting last year, and they crushed.
We threw one of our freshman to start it off. He hits his spots v well, has a decent curve, and has a lot of savvy on the mound. He doesn’t throw that hard, but he wont make too many mistakes otherwise. John Cooper school threw their number 2 guy, and he seemed pretty solid.. until we put up 4 runs in the top of the first inning. Bink! From there we just held the lead for the rest of the game, and
Immediately after finishing we piled onto the bus and went to All Saints for the second game. We were matched up with Cassady, who we beat earlier in the year when we took a trip to
From there, we had to wait around for like 3 hours for the other game to finish. We got matched up with
We managed to load the bases, walk in a run then have the top of the order up with NO outs, and a score of 9-7. Our leadoff hit a long fly to right, but the guy on third didn’t tag, so we didn’t get a sac fly run. Our number 2 guy put one in the hole between second and first, scoring a run. The right fielder made a great throw getting the ball in preventing the tying run from scoring. Our 3 hitter came up to the plate with runners on 1st and 3rd, 1 out, and only down by 1. He drilled it past the pitcher, but the short stop was basically playing on top of second base, and they rolled it up to end the game. Such a soul crush.
This was the furthest Oakridge baseball has gotten in like 12 years. To get to the finals and only lose by 1 run to a team that beat a team that run ruled us was pretty damn awesome. We also put ourselves in a situation to really make something happen in the 7th. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work out, but it was a hell of a game. I legitimately teared up a little bit at the end when we were talking to the players. I got very emotionally involved in this team, and can’t say enough about the experience I gained working with the coaches and the players. I am sad that it is all over, at least for now.
This next week should be pretty awesome though, so don’t feel too bad for me. Tonight I took my Mom, Dad, and Aunt (Dad’s sister) to Del Frisco’s. They are huge nits and don’t like spending money, but this is like my favorite place to eat, and I wanted to treat my mom for mothers day. We all had a great time, had some awesome wine, shared a few laughs, and I got to hear some fun stories.
After dinner we went back to my parent’s house and they did a little birthday celebration for me. Totally unexpected, but I am leaving Tuesday for the summer and didn’t really have a plan to be with the family other than tonight. It was a lot of fun, they gave me a book on John Wooden, a guide book to Santa Fe (where I am going to school this fall) and a really cool wine stopper from Cedar Key (my grandfather’s favorite place). Also had to eat a piece of chocolate fudge bday cake, tragic.
Tuesday I am headed to Vegas for the summer. I am meeting up at DFW airport with Lisa, who is flying in from
Wednesday night we are going to see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. I haven’t seen this show, but have wanted to for years. I heard the production in Vegas is absolutely awesome. My parent’s saw it and loved it, so I am really looking forward to it. After that we are going to Valentino’s for dinner. I heard some pretty good things about this place as well, and I am looking forward to doing the chef sampler and wine pairings. When I was in NY I did this with Jay, Emil, Dani, and Phil, and it was one of the best meals I had ever eaten. I often try to go for the chef selection and wine pairings now. Generally I am pretty ABC with food choices and don’t branch out too much. This forces me to and is a much better overall experience.
On the 16th we are probably going out clubbing somewhere, and staying out pretty late. On my actual bday, the 17th, I intend to lay in bed recovering all morning, then I am having a few people over for a pool party and barbeque, and a last hoorah of meat eating for the summer. I am starting a vegan diet on the 18th, for a lot of reasons, and am very much looking forward to that. I did this for a couple weeks last summer and felt really great/had my best month in poker, so we are going to go for round 2.
Last time I ended up making most of the food myself and stuck with what was easiest, so I didn’t really experiment with too many options. This year executive chef Magentaradio(of 2p2 fame) is going to be helping out with food preparation, and should be able to help me experience some other flavors. Joe committed to a 2 week trial (which is huge for him) and Jeremy said he would do it as well. I think Tony can be convinced if we are all doing it, so for 2 weeks at least I will live in a vegan household. Should be an interesting experiment, and I am looking forward to it immensely.
On a nerdier side of things, I picked up Street Fighter 4 on PS3, as well as 2 of the tournament arcade sticks. I had it all sent to my place in Vegas, so haven’t actually gotten to play it. I loved sf2 turbo back in SNES days, and am really looking forward to playing this game. I have been watching some videos and learning some of the techniques to implement, and really can’t wait to try it out. Generally I suck at all things fighting games, but having 3 roommates for the summer should give me plenty of competition and practice.
That is all I have to report for now, but life is awesome, haven’t been happier ever as far as I can tell, and I am SUPER excited for the summer. Pretty much everyone I know is going to be out there for at least some portion of the time, and it will be great getting to see a lot of my poker friends from all over that I haven’t been able to see in a few months. Good stuff.
-David Benefield
May 12, 09 00:56:48
I love ur blog. They are always long and detailed and just kick ass. THe one thing I wanted to comment on was Street Fighter 4. Its a great game, ESPECIALLY if you liked the original arcade version. :) classic imo.
Gl in vegas this summer dude. Hopefully, the vegan diet will be just as rewarding as it was last summer, if not BETTER. GL GL
May 12, 09 10:37:59
I had the tasting menu at Valentino's once last fall. It was one of the most delicious meals I've ever had, you won't be disappointed.
May 12, 09 15:21:00
Yo man, that's great you are going to try out a vegan diet. A lot of people end up doing it the wrong way and give up quickly, so I would love to give you some advice as I studied nutrition and college and ultimately went vegan.
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