CARDRUNNERS

I was reading Jeff218 blog title "I need structure" This is so true. Looking back at poker and my winter when I’m off I have no structure. People might say great you are off for 2months do what you want. However I think this is one of the many reasons why I play bad. I would play because I was bored. When I did play I would play for like 6 hours. Neglecting the things that I need to do. Not big stuff but just little thing around the house i.e. laundry etc….

Also during the winter I would not go to the range and work on my game. I need to do this because it takes me about 2 months to get my game back. By that time the season is started and I do not get time on the range for myself. I know I beat my members, but the way I win is not pretty.

So this winter will be my best winter ever. In the next couple of weeks I will come up with a schedule for myself. When it comes to playing poker and golf. It should be easy because my son is in day care for 3 days a week. Last year it was hard because he was home with me the entire winter. I love being with him, but you do need time to yourself.

Nay Hoh everyone (hello in Cantonese)!

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving and are getting ready for a fun holiday season.
 

With my class schedule at Georgetown and my girlfriend's work schedule, we have been pretty limited on our travel time, so we made a bunch of weekend trips to see family and had what has started to become an annual friends' Thanksgiving party at our apartment the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  Forty to fifty people showed up, everyone brought a dish, we had a keg of Sam Adams, and I cooked a turducken for the third year in a row (sorry Brian, I'm going to have to take credit for this one haha), it was a blast.

The next morning we left to spend our Thanksgiving holiday vacation in Hong Kong! I had been to Hong Kong once before, briefly for a poker tournament in Macau, but I didn't get to explore it that much. The city is stereotyped as dirty, ultra-crowded, and with a tough language barrier, but it is completely undeserving of this reputation. We had an amazing time and it's one of my favorite cities in Asia.
 

We stayed at the Peninsula Hong Kong based off of some friends' recommendations and it was incredibly nice. The concierge was extremely helpful in getting us set up with killer dinner reservations, fun activities, and even drove us around in a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom:
 

The architecture in Hong Kong was my favorite part of the city. The skyline is so impressive, and every building has a fresh, unique design. We took a tram up to "The Peak" where there is an incredible view:
 

I was surprised how easy the city's subway system was to navigate. Here in DC the metro is very simple and useful, but I've found it confusing in NYC at least. Hong Kong's system was expansive but intuitive. One day we hopped on the subway to the cable car that takes you to the giant bronze sitting Buddha statue:
 

Other fun touristy stuff we did included picking up a bunch of souvenirs for friends at Stanley Market, and going to a ton of random bars.
 

Some of the best restaurants we ate at were:
 

Zuma -- same Japanese restaurant as the one in London. Brian T, his gf, my gf, and me tried to go to the one in London but accidentally made reservations for a restaurant called "Suma" which was a fiasco, so it was fun to check out this place. We had the tasting menu and it was pretty good, I wasn't blown away or anything though.
 

Lung King Heen -- the only Michelin 3 star restaurant in Hong Kong, traditional Cantonese food in a tasting menu form. This place was awesome. I love Asian food but to be honest am not crazy about Chinese food. I like it and all, but I'd pick Thai or Japanese over it generally (although I am a sucker for airport Panda Express). This place was awesome though, definitely have to go there. There was a great view, and the food was very unique and all around perfect.
 

Man Wah -- dim sum restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental. First off, the Mandarin Oriental hotel is beautiful and in an awesome part of town. I loved the Peninsula, but I would probably stay here next time for a change of pace. The dim sum at Man Wah was my favorite food of the trip. It was on the fancy side, but at the same time it's dumplings so it's not that stuffy. Every bite was delicious and unique:
 

Robuchon -- awesome as usual. I've been to Robuchon restaurants in Vegas, Paris, and Hong Kong now and they are all a hell of an experience. This one was a lot different though, as the seating was bar style around an open kitchen. I loved it, it was a little more casual, and we ordered a ton of small plates. They had a really great slider dish called "Le Burger" haha! It was cool to see Robuchon on Top Chef a few weeks ago, he seemed like a really nice guy and he cooks some awesome food.
 

We had an amazing time and I would highly recommend Hong Kong to anyone who is looking to do some traveling in Asia. I know Taylor went recently and had a similarly great experience as well.

Poker-wise I've been working harder than ever before this year, with tons of analysis away from the table, and it's paid off big time. The action in the past few weeks against Ilsidur has been nuts, and it's been fun to be a part of it. The key factors that have led to my great results this year have been
 

*Extensive analysis away from the tables. Going through all my big hands, running ranges in pro poker tools, getting advice from friends, being honest with myself.
 

*Good life management. Staying healthy, leading a well balanced life, and being happy in general will drastically improve your performance at the tables.
 

*Strong personal management with regards to poker. Risk management is so important at very high stakes, not forcing volume or feeling pressure to play, etc.  Being the best player at your level is great, but is not sufficient for success if you have leaks in other areas (tilt, bankroll management, playing drunk, etc).

*Being positive. I'm not into "The Secret" or anything, but at some level I definitely believe that thinking positive, forming goals, and believing you can achieve them is half the battle.  There is so much jealousy and negativity in the poker world that is pretty disgusting.  What is bashing someone on an internet forum going to get you?  Go out and have fun, be happy for others, and have confidence in yourself.  The rest will follow.  If you get caught up in thinking "XYZ reg sucks so bad and has ran so hot, he doesn't deserve that," then well... that's what you'll get caught up in!  What results are you trying to achieve?  If on the other hand you get caught up in thinking "I'm going to work as hard as possible, believe in myself, manage my life and bankroll well, and not worry about elements outside of my control," you're going to have better results and be happier.  Phil Galfond talked about the differences between money and quality of life on his blog, and I think his thoughts were spot on.  Money keeps the score in poker, but happiness and a high quality of life is the end game.
 

*Putting myself in the right spots. Not just playing in the right games, but surrounding myself with the right people who are positive, hard-working, encouraging, and analytical.
 

None of this would have been possible, and I'm sure my poker results wouldn't have been half as good as they have been this year, without the help of Brian Townsend and Brian Hastings. Thanks guys. Taylor Caby has been an amazing role model and friend as well, and always gives the best advice, I am extremely grateful for our friendship as well.
 

Yesterday was the last day of classes at Georgetown, and my semester went pretty well. It's tough balancing life, school, and high stakes poker, but I learned a lot and think I did a pretty good job. We're starting exams in a few days, but once those are over we'll be on winter break, and I can't wait. I'm itching to get back on the mountain and just picked up a bunch of new snowboarding gear.
 

Good luck and I hope you all finish 2009 with strong results,
 

Cole