CardRunners

WOW WHAT A DAY!!!! For being alone in my apartment, I probably had the best day possible. The Ravens absolutely kicked ass, they are such an imposing, bruising, and physical team that very few teams can compete, certainly not the Dolphins. Then there is the monster known as Ed Reed. This guy is an absolute beast, he is quickly becoming one of the greatest safeties of all time, and if he ever touches the ball, there is a great chance he will score a touchdown. I can't wait for next Saturday and a rematch with the Titans. I think we match up so well against them, and it would not shock me at all that we continue this crazy season. Unfortunately, Tennessee is certainly one of the few teams that can man up with the Ravens, but I think Kerry Collins might remember a few things about playing the Ravens defense in the playoffs. I am still considering taking a weekend in Nashville to see the game, but I found out that it is a 11 hour drive or 500 dollar flight, so I might just enjoy my big screen and root them on.

By the way, during this game I probably woke up most of the east coast with how loudly I was cheering and screaming, just can't tell you guys how excited I am about this game. On top of this game, my basketball team Duke won and our rivals and number 1 team in the country UNC lost, what a great day!!!! Finally, I played about 1k hands of poker and ran at about 38ptbb/100, that is sustainable right? Lol.

This month, and in particular this week is super busy for me. I have a lot of coaching, have some interesting work that I am doing with a certain website that I might announce soon, and I also have to put in a ton of hands before Vegas on the 15^th. My buddy Alex and I made a prop bet for who can play the most hands. Since I have the Vegas trip and other shit going on, he is laying me 4:3 on the bet. In previous months, this would be a totally unfair bet because when I first met Alex, he played poker for a living but never actually played, I could probably win the bet in 4 days. But the last month or so he all of the sudden became a real grinder and I think I might be on the wrong end of this bet. I predict this will come down to the final day or two, but if the Ravens keep winning I think I am in even more trouble.

Still so pumped about the Ravens win, and I will get to some poker discussion tomorrow.

Salud!

Well before I get to talking about my Baltimore Ravens, wanted to recap the last five days or so.  Right after coming back from the Ravens-Jags game in Baltimore, I flew up to see my girlfriend and her family.  We always have a great time with her family and this was no different.  The highlights of the trip were all of the card games we played with various cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings (my girlfriend is Greek and has a huge family), and definitely the lobster eating.  Her family really likes playing tournament poker, but unfortunately the games are designed to be over in 45 minutes and of course it is just who is the luckiest.  Needless to say that person is not me, but of the five tournies we played, I finally won the last one.  Her family must really be questioning my poker playing ability considering I always lose when I play them lol. 

Finally after two weeks I was able to sleep in my own bed on friday night, but this just hasn't been my week.  Of course my college team Penn State just got their brains beat in by a much more talented USC team.  I wasn't surprised that we lost but I was surprised at how poorly we played.  Then today was absolutely the day from hell.  I woke up early so that I could go to Best Buy to get a video card installed for my 30" monitor.  I buy the video card and then wait in line for about 45 minutes for the freakin geek squad to finally call my number.  Now let me tell you the geek squad is aptly named because two of the three guys there could not form one sentence, but I guess knew something about computers.  Of course I finally start yelling at the manager and they immediately wait on me, but I am in line for another 30 minutes and they tell me it will be an hour.  I go work out and come back and of course its not nearly ready, in fact the computer is in the same spot that I last saw it.  So I go home and get a call back that they need a new power source, my computer is not strong enough, so I OK that.  Finally around 7:30, I pick up my computer and bring it back. Of course now I try to hook it up to my monitor, and the connection is different on my cables than on my computer. So I talk to my computer friend and have to go back to Best Buy for now the fourth time today. Finally I pick up the correct cable and hook up everything, the fucking thing doesn't work. So I am just so steamed up I can't see straight and can't play poker, I am right now saying fuck it, I don't care about the 30” monitor for now.

But overall for some comedy's sake, lets take a look at how much I have spent on this monitor that I have still not hooked up 8 months after buying it.

Used 30” HP monitor: $550, good deal for sure

Video Card: $150

Installation: $50

RAM: $20

Installation: $30

Power Source: $50

Installation: $50

DVI Cables (2):$50

For a wasted money total of: $950, my ass hurts after looking at that last paragraph.

Well I have been waiting all week for the Ravens game, and probably will have a hard time sleeping tonight. Bottom line, I don't know how we lose this game, but I am quite worried that I am not worried. Combine that with the fact that I am on life tilt from the Penn State game and my computer problems and I am not feeling overly optimistic.

I am just not sure how the Dolphins score unless it is on defense. I don't think they can run against us, we proved in week 8 that the wildcat formation is not successful against us due to our team speed on defense. I also don't think they can just run the ball straight at us because of their undersized line, and our great nose tackle Haloti Ngata, and the great Ray Lewis. Throwing the ball doesn't look much more promising for Miami. Pennington really has only one competent WR Ted Ginn, and he is very inexperienced and not a very good route runner. Furthermore, we should have no problem double teaming him on a regular basis because there is no other tough receivers. One guy we do have to watch is the tight end Fasano. But we do have the best linebacking core in the NFL and hopefully enough to shut them down. What we need to watch for on defense is not trying to do too much, not trying to always make the big INT, but instead to play good fundamentals and not be caught my Miami's one or two trick plays. The Ravens offense vs. the Miami defense I find the matchups much more interesting. First of all Joey Porter is having a monster year sacking the QB. But we have serious history with Porter, he used to be a Steelers lb, and the guy was truly an asshole. He was constantly cheap shotting our players, and used to trash talk our defense (of course being a defensive player he could trash talk Ray Lewis all he wanted without ever being on the field with him), but most importantly he always became invisible in the big games going against Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden. We lost Ogden to retirement this year, but I think we will handle Porter, and do what he hates, run right at him. This will halt his pass rush and he is actually quite poor in run support. I think this is a game that the Dolphins will miss Zach Thomas, and by the third and fourth quarter, our pounding ground attack with LeRon McClain will eventually overwhelm them. I think their pass defense is really where they might give the Ravens problems. They are all solid in the secondary, but more importantly you never know how a rookie QB will perform in the playoffs, normally it is somewhere between bad and atrocious. Yet Joe Flacco is certainly Joe Cool, the guy is never rattled whether he makes a great play or a bad play, he has the same demeanor, he would be a great poker player. If he can not make any mistakes, I think we beat Miami, but if he can play like he has against Dallas or Jax, we have a chance of getting much deeper in the playoffs.

Win or lose, this has been such a great year, we made an amazing draft choice with Joe Flacco, we hired the right coach, and we have been a hard-nosed exciting team. My buddy Joe made a great point when he said the most exciting teams and seasons are when you never expect them to be successful. Well at the beginning of the year, I didn't think we would win 5 games, and now we are in the playoffs, what a season, lets keep it going!!!

WHAT TIME IS IT?!?!?!?!?

....(all Ravens fans know the remaining lines)

Salud!

Hey guys, I got a funny and very true text message from my buddy the other day who said he started reading some poker blogs, and we all have the same goals for 2009: play more tables, move up in stakes, improve our games, lose weight (or gain for the scrawny guys), and become healthier. Well he hit the nail on the head for what my goals were so I will try to save you guys time with the cliché new years blog.

What I will do is first talk about my 2008. Financially I have made more money than I have before playing poker, but more importantly I started January 2008 not being sure that playing poker was really the correct choice for my life, but in December 2008 I am quite confident that I have chosen the ideal career path. On top of that, I think I have proven to myself that I am one of the best low stakes players online, now I have to progress to being one of the best mid stakes players. More importantly, 2008 has really been a great year for me in terms of my overall happiness. My girlfriend and I have really had a blast living together, I have found a job that allows me plenty of leisure time and flexibility while also challenging me, and overall I feel very fortunate to be where I am now.

A few specific goals for 2009:

1. Work out and lose weight- my fat ass needs to work out more, and although I refuse to touch vegetables, at least stop with the 3am pizza and subs

2. Work harder at poker

3. Continue to improve and look for areas in my game that need help

4. Try to not recklessly spend money as much as before (I am going on two vacations in January so this might need to start February)

5. Finish the year as one of the biggest winners at 3-6 or 5-10

6. Call my parents more

7. Become a better and successful coach and video maker

8. Certain undisclosed monetary goal

Hope everyone's 2008 was great and 2009 will be better, for the last time this year:

Salud!

Hey guys, I wrote a much longer blog that was more personal but I decided against making it public. Instead I think it is quite appropriate to talk about the great UFC even tonight. UFC 92 was one of the most exciting cards I have ever seen, and it did not disappoint. The only unfortunate part was that whoever I rooted for due to money or emotion lost. The only survivor of my support was Matt Hamill who easily defeated his opponent. In other bouts, Wanderlei Silva lost to Rampage Jackson on a nasty left hook. This was a punch that we replayed over and over and honestly it is shocking to see a guy with his chin get knocked out by a left hand from a right hand dominant fighter. Later in the night, an even more shocking thing happened when “Minotauro” Noguiera lost to Frank Mir. Both fighters are certainly talented but it from my analysis Noguiera was just better at everything that Mir. Furthermore he had never been knocked out before, despite awful trouble in many fights against the best fighters in the world. Yet somehow Mir cleanly knocked him out and now will unify the HW title against Brock Lesnar. Another fight in the night saw CB Dolloway defeat his opponent in the first round, but if you TIVO that fight, my buddy John and I saw distinctly that he tapped out to a guillotine choke that the referee did not see. The final fight of the night saw Forrest Griffin lose the belt to Rashad Evans. Griffin won the first two rounds decisively, but was on his back in the third and could not stop Evans' ground and pound. Overall it was a great card and I can't wait for the upcoming megabout on Super Bowl weekend between 155 lb champion BJ Penn and 170 pound champion George St. Pierre.

In other sporting news, I absolutely can't wait for the Ravens game tomorrow. I have a lot of confidence in our team and hope we roll into the playoffs. This has to be my favorite Ravens team since the 2000 Super Bowl team. If you looked at our team position by position, you would probably think that we would be at most a 5 win team. Compound that with the fact that we have a rookie QB and rookie head coach, and this would really be amazing for us to make the playoffs. But we are here due to great coaching, composure, and most importantly, a great sense of team. This overachieving team has been just so much fun to watch and I think is the first Ravens team that my girlfriend has adopted as her own. She grew up as a diehard Patriots fan, but was turned off due to Tom Brady befriending the devil lol. Also I am not sure our relationship would work if she didn't root for the Ravens, but in years past she correctly thought there were just too many thugs and problems on the Ravens. Well this is the first year she is rooting just as hard as I am (she lost her voice following the Steelers game for 10 days). Lets hope tomorrow is the first step in the Ravens playoff journey, my prediction 24-6, GO RAVENS!!!!!

Probably the worst combination I can think of for my poker game is: Booze+playing lower stakes+playing like a nutjob+playing only 4 tables+playing on my little $400 laptop+shaky internet connection+boredom probably equals a 300 dollar loss at 100nl.  I knew this for a long time, but when I am not in the right atmosphere, I do not play good poker.  Hopefully I can take this as a lesson for my game, but since I play poker for a living, it is really terrible that I would play a session like this.  I need to take more pride, and regardless of stakes, play seriously at all times.  Finally, I should just never play on my laptop because 4 tables is just not enough for me, and I think I probably ended up playing about 45% of my hands.   


Although I played absolutely nutty, I think I did learn something about the 100nl games.  There are tons of good spots to win money, but playing fancy and crazy is not the best method.  The good solid nitty players had no problems getting the money in with very favorable situations, despite their image being super tight.  I think I learned a good bit from this session to help my students out, and at this level, playing as Brian Townsend would say: "Good solid poker, is winning poker"


Tomorrow is going to be a very fun day for me, because I have been looking forward to UFC 92 for a very long time.  Although there are two title fights on the card, for me the most exciting fight by far is the Rampage vs Wanderlei Silva fight.  These two guys fought twice in Japan for PRIDE organization and Silva pretty much dominated both fights which both ended in knockouts. Rampage is a much improved fighter, but the last six months have not been his best. After losing the 205 UFC title to Forrest Griffin, he later got arrested for disturbing the peace and generally going nutty, and he also ended his relationship with his longtime trainer. Both of these guys never put on a boring fight, and I expect a slugfest. But in MMA, it is possible for one fighter to just always be able to dominate the other regardless of where they are in their careers. I think Wanderlei has his number, and will go on to face the winner of the 205 lb championship match between Griffin and Evans. In the other marquee matches, I expect Nogiera to absolutely overwhelm Mir and for Griffin to outbox Evans.

Regardless of the results, these fights should be absolutely amazing tomorrow night. Of course Sunday is the main event to my week, as the Ravens play the Jaguars for a playoff birth. I will be down in Baltimore early to start tailgating and to prepare for a Ravens win.

Salud!

 Hey guys, I had a really successful poker day in only about 800 hands, but I was just in the mood to talk about a few random subjects, so here are some of my thoughts on everything from sports, to cigars, to online poker, hope you enjoy.

Baseball

I really think today might have been the last straw for me and caring about baseball. First I must admit that the past ten years has been a terrible time to be an Orioles fan. Our owner took the fans for granted and realized that we were still filling Camden Yards as the teams became worse. So he realized he could make more money by paying less for the team as the attendance stayed the same. Combine that with terrible general managing, team managing, and awful players and eventually believe it or not people stopped coming to the games and our team became worse. In that same time, baseball has refused to develop and salary cap and the league has been divided into a few haves, and mostly have nots. Well today the Yankees signed Mark Texiera for 8 years and 180 million dollars, making all three of the biggest free agents all going to the Yankees this off season. This one stung a little bit more than normal because Texiera grew up close to Camden Yards and the Orioles had been targeting him for probably three years now. My buddy John and I always talked about when we grew up (well that certainly hasn't happened for me yet) and had enough money the two of us would pay for season tickets. Now that we can, I have absolutely 0 desire to do so. Major League baseball has done everything in its power to alienate the fans and I for one have given up caring about the sport. I will certainly still root for the Orioles if they have a winning team, or if somehow a salary cap is installed making it an even playing field for all teams, but you can officially call me apathetic about baseball.

NFL Playoffs

Something really needs to be done about the playoff system in pro football. On Sunday night, the incredibly underachieving 7-8 San Diego Chargers will play the the hapless 8-7 Denver Broncos for a playoff birth. Also, the 8-7 Arizona Cardinals who lost 47-7 against the Patriots last week clinched a playoff spot because of their horrendous division five weeks ago. Therefore it is entirely conceivable that two 8-8 teams will make the playoffs while the Patriots can go 11-5 and not make it. Furthermore, it is almost certain that 2, possibly three 10-6 teams will miss the postseason. Clearly the NFL needs to do something about guaranteeing the 8 division leaders making the playoffs. My solution would be to make a mandatory rule that you have to be at least 9-7 to make the playoffs as a division leader, if not award an extra wild card slot to the team with the highest record not in the playoffs.

The Wire

I just finished up all 5 seasons of The Wire for the second time in about 2 months. This show was actually better the second time around because I was able to pick up even more of the nuances about the characters and plots. The basic plot of the story centers around the city of Baltimore and dealing with the crime, poverty, drug problems from the perspective of the police, drug lords, gangsters, mayor, education system, union workers, the local newspaper, and drug addicts. Although you guys probably know I am from Baltimore, I am actually from 40 minutes north of Baltimore which is a whole different animal than the poverty stricken city so this is by no means a “homer” perspective although it was nice to be in on a few of the inside jokes or locations. Over the course of five seasons, the show featured over 100 characters, all with their own personality, plotline, and ambition. I don't think any show in history has been able to develop so many characters with their own compelling story. Anyone that has not seen the show, please pick up the first season and I can almost guarantee you that you will be online at amazon.com or at Best Buy to purchase the remaining four seasons before you finish the first. In my opinion the only shows that I have ever seen that can top the Wire are the Sopranos and Seinfeld, so please pick up the first season and let me know what you think.

Cigar Picks

As some of you know from reading the blog from time to time, and certainly anyone who has gambled or played golf with me knows, in the last year I have really discovered the greatness of cigars. Over this last year, I have invested a good amount of money into buying a nice humidor, a high quality triple flame lighter, and of course the cigars themselves. There is nothing more relaxing than sitting out on the balcony and lighting up a high quality cigar, nothing better for best friends than smoking while playing golf and busting balls, or nothing more fun than playing blackjack or craps and enjoying a casino provided Cuban cigar. For any experienced cigar smoker, I am sure you already have your go to cigars and there is nothing I can teach you, but for anyone poker player or someone reading this blog who is a very inexperienced cigar smoker, here a few recommendations from my first year of smoking cigars, reading Cigar Aficionado (which my cool girlfriend bought me despite her dislike of me smoking), talking about them with friends, and playing craps with a few high rollers who had smoked practically every Cuban ever made (thank you Steve Wynn for providing the two best cigars I have ever smoked).

La Tradicion de Cuba (Churchill): For any first time cigar smoker, this is one of the smoothest cigars you can find. For a churchill (long cigar), this still has a great draw, has a slightly creamy taste, and the best part, you can pick up a box of them for 80 bucks! This is one cigar you will always find in my humidor, and I have never had one complaint even from guys who are used to smoking $20 cigars.

El Rey del Mundo (Robusto Suprema): This dark cigar is one of my favorites. It is produced by a little known company but has an amazing rich flavor and smooth draw. Again another cigar you can find a box for under 90 bucks.

Padron 1964 Anniversary (Toro): Padron is by far the best non-Cuban cigar maker in the world, the 1964 anniversary cigars and the best product they make, and for my taste this is the best cigar they make. The draw on every cigar is perfect, and this smooth and nutty flavor makes for a nearly flawless cigar. These cigars are certainly pricey, but I promise you this will not be one you find overrated.

Montecristo #2: This is probably one of if not the most famous cigars in the world. Although it takes criticism for being too trendy, I think most of the people bashing the cigar have not had the true Cuban version. This for me is a tremendous cigar, full in flavor, unique shape, and if you start smoking this cigar, you might have a hard time going back to any other.

Cohiba Siglo VI: If the Montecristo #2 is not the most famous cigar in the world, this would be the one. Anyone who is anyone will notice the bright yellow wrapper, and if you really want to be a baller, this is your cigar! If I had to choose one cigar to smoke, this would be it by a wide margin. Just smoke one of these and you will see why.

Now of course if you are smoking a great cigar, you must accompany it with a great liquor. Good cigars can be smoked with almost anything from water, ice tea, wine, champagne, but my personal favorites in order have to be:

1. Grand Marnier 150- the best after dinner drink in the world. I am a diehard fan of Grand Marnier and I always have a bottle of this expensive liquor in my bar. This is always the drink that puts my bill at dinner through the roof, or is kept under lock and key at your liquor store, but it is worth every penny and really compliments any cigar from the most mild to the strongest.

2. Talisker 10 year scotch- my buddy Jake hooked me on this after giving it to me as a groomsman's gift at his wedding, but it is a flavorful scotch that brings out the flavor of the cigar without overpowering it.

3. Johnny Walker Blue/Gold- the blue is the more famous and expensive, but both flavors go nicely with a deep and flavorful cigar.

Online Poker

I am anxious and somewhat optimistic about the state of online poker in 2009. There is no question that the games have become harder, the players more competent, and the fish fewer and far between. Despite these drawbacks, I really hope 2009 is a great year for online poker. As most of you know, I am not exactly a fan of the democratic party, but lets hope that our President and Congress take a favorable stance towards online poker, and either legalize the game, or at least overturn the UIGEA bill or make a loophole in it for poker. More states seem to be leaning towards including the game in their casinos, lets hope that we continue that trend instead of completely unlawful rulings like those in Kentucky.

Interesting Hand

I am not going to say anything about this hand besides: THE KID STILL HAS A LITTLE GAME

http://www.pokerhand.org/?3627369

Since starting this blog in April, I am pretty shocked at how many people read it, and how many positive responses I have heard from players and friends. It has been something that has provided me a lot of entertainment writing late at night (sometimes under the influence of too much alcohol), and I hope some people have either gotten a laugh out of it, learned a thing or two about poker, or used it as a source of political or sporting debate. Now lets increase the readership to catchup with all of the bigwig high stake players!

Salud!
 

Hey guys, I have been celebrating the Ravens win for the last two days and I finally got back to the poker tables today where I made a small profit. Most of my day was spent coaching two of my students (as well as giving a third student of mine shit for being a Cowboys fan), and I think we made some nice progress. I really do enjoy coaching, and it forces me to challenge myself and my own game; all of my students offer pointed and difficult questions and it improves my poker game to go over all the difficult spots. Furthermore, working on their leaks allows me to see what my opponents see. I am really enjoying coaching and hope to really see some drastic improvements in my student's bankrolls.

In the last week or two, I have really been thinking about my past year of poker, what went right, what I need to improve on, and what my goals are for next year. Now I guess I will save my new years resolution for a later blog, but I did want to talk briefly about what I have done well in the last year. One of the things that I think really led to my success this year was hard work. I played a lot of hands this year, I watched a ton of videos, and kept this blog that reviewed my hand histories. I know poker players are typically very lazy, and while I can say compared to the rest of the world I am lazy, I have worked hard on my poker game. Secondly, I think that I have really been creative with my game. My creativity has really been one of the best parts and I think what makes me a winning player. Additionally, I have become a stronger mental player, this time last year I was punching holes in the wall at bad beats, now I might yell and scream a few times but I quit right after. This is certainly an area I need to work on next year, but I am reasonably happy with my improvement. Another thing that has really helped my game was finally finding some great poker friends. For the past two years, I never seriously talked poker with anyone, and I sort of looked at it as a source of pride that I developed my game only through my own hard work. Of course I later realized how dumb this was when I joined Cardrunners, posted in forums, and finally found some guys that I can constantly run through hands with, argue strongly about hands, and challenge each other to improve our games and winrates, while having a lot of fun and constantly busting chops. So I really wanted to thank Greg, he was honestly the first guy who I talked about every hand with and held nothing back plus the kid just cracks me up, and also to Alex for giving me my CR breakthrough, and now talking everyday about every single nuance of the game, and finally Joe and Mike for all their help and challenging questions. Finally, I reached a number of goals that I set out for myself, and proved that I can make a very successful career out of the game, hopefully I can just continue to get better.

Alright sorry for talking about the good things, I promise next time I will talk about the things I need to improve for next year which I am sure will be more entertaining for the readers.

Salud!

 Hey guys, one of the best nights of the year for me, and it had absolutely nothing to do with poker. I have to tell you that I am super disappointed with two of my best friends, Alex and Greg: (Zaitsev and Gses75). I drunken emailed and called both of them with just a dramatic fuck yes, and they had no clue what I was talking about. As far I am concerned, both of these lose their man cards. But of course I was talking about the huge win by the Ravens over the Cowboys. I successfully put my third biggest bet of the football year on the Cowboys moneyline, hoping that I would put a reverse jinx on the Ravens. This worked incredibly well, despite an opening drive by the Ravens that resulted in a QB fumble by Joe Flacco that then resulted in a Cowboys TD. After the first five minutes into the game I told my buddy John that the game was over but boy was I wrong! The Ravens absolutely dominated the rest of the game, and now we just have to beat the Jaguars at home to move into the playoffs.

As my loyal readers know, I made a terrible prop bet where I have to wear a pink Ravens jersey to the game next Sunday. I am quite embarrassed, but I can't wait for the game, and my great football fan girlfriend and my best friend John are already planning on going to either the Patriots or Jets home stadium if the Ravens make the playoffs, such a great Saturday night, best losing bet for me in history!

Salud!!!!



BTW, I can't believe that there is anyone that reads my blog who doesnt read Doyle Brunson's blog on various websites.  It is by far the most interesting blog online imo, and the fact that he wins constantly at the highest stakes cash games proves that  he is one of the greatest players ever.  If not the greatest!  I love Doyle, am fascinated by his life, and for a pro poker player he should be the one man that is looked up to.  I pray one of these years I am blessed to play in a cash game with him!