Thanks benny. She was excited. Mama cleans at a nursing home and she said they are cutting back hours since they are under new management. This was right on time for every body.

The looks on all of their faces after they see that WSOP pic but before I tell them it's not real is priceless. One day it will be.

Thanks Diego. I couldn't imagine a better group of guys to play with. Everyone at TPE has been awesome.

Thanks bro. Sounds like you got a sweet set up. Good luck.

July Week 4 ending 7/28/13 MTD
65 games -$484 ABI $40

Volume

I had been doing my stats wrong. It is correct now. I've played 65 games this month and was down todd (aka heaps) until I won a tourney this week. Now I am down dott (aka the opposite of todd and also my mother's name).

Study

I am still on Ed Miller's hand reading book. I'm working through the exercises, but I dont know if I am doing the correctly. I wish there was a suggested answer key so that I'd know I'm not screwing this up. Maybe he will release one later? Oh, I wrote a couple of testimonials for his website too. Awesome.

I am really digesting the latest vids by Marc and Danny. I watch with the sound off to see if I would play it the same and if not, I listen and then post questions in the comment section. Marc is really good about answering these.

I listened to the latest Thinking Poker podcast and posted a reply to a What's Your Play prompt from Andrew. I got it wrong because I assumed reg meant good but apparently that doesn't apply to live poker.

Good

Ok, so I had 2 deep runs this week.

I shipped a $30r on Revolution for $1066 aka the Battle of Hastings. One of the useless facts that go stuck in my head from the high school academic team where they felt it was more important to teach me that than WTF an overdraft fee is.

I got 15th in a 35K Gtd on Merge for $300. I got a weird table draw when we were down to 2 tables. I was the smallest stack on my table and every stack on the other table was shorter than me. They were not busting though because I guess they were trying to make the final table. There were like 5 stacks under 8 bbs and I had 20. I reshipped T9s vs the chipleaders CO minraise and lost to ATo. I am glad I played to win. I already have enough final table patches.

Bad

I have been working on improving my aggression which is good, but I think I have taken it too far. I am opening and 3betting marginal hands like medium Ax in early levels to establish an image. This works great for getting you paid when you pick up a real hand because nobody ever believes you. The problem is that nobody ever believes you when you try to steal blinds either. I am going to be a little tighter early and work on my 3bet/4bet light game in the middle stages. That's where I am leaking the most I think.

Live

I may go down to the event in Hollywood, FL in a couple weeks.

I am definitely playing in an Atlanta home game in 2 weeks. They have a league that sends players to the WSOP every year to play a 1500. I am going to join and try to ship a seat.

The most interesting thing I did this week is play free poker in a strip club, hence the lack of pictures. It's a small freeroll and they wave the cover for players. If you've never been to a strip club in Atlanta, just imagine a stereotypical rap video except with no clothes and no rappers. Sweet! I will probably do this once or twice a week because I am dedicated to getting better at poker. Later. 

Guess I should talk about this now.

I am honored to have the opportunity to be a mod on the TPE forums. There is no way I could have imagined all this would happen when I re-signed up here about this time last year. This site has meant the world to me and reignited my passion for the game. I hope I can continue to do that for others. We have a wonderful community here and I will uphold it with the utmost loyalty.

Every Sunday, I put a note on my screen that says “take one down for the good guys.” The guys here really are good all around human beings. I play to make them proud the same way some of my math students worked hard for me when they didn't give a damn about school otherwise. We have a saying in education which applies to economically disadvantaged kids that came from broken homes like I did:

“They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

TPE has shown all of us bad ass students a lot of love from day one. I am humbled by the opportunity to pay that forward.

So the next time you reg for a tournament, know that you are down with the best goddamn crew of grinders around and it is your duty to take one down for the good guys. And I'm out this baatch!

Respect the Patch. Baatch!

Killingbird said:

Well deserved bud!

 

also happy to say that Loxxi will be writing the What's New piece for TPE every week going forward.

 

Want to throw a BIG thank you to Duggs taking it over from Bennymacca and doing an awesome job with it. He now has some life commitments that required him to hand it over, but he did an amazing job with it over the year or so, and I wanted to give make sure he knew it was apprecaited!

agreed. duggs really motivated me by putting my scores in there. thanks man.

This one was $1000 but I had punted like $200 on the day up until that point. I really needed to bink that one.

August Week 1 ending 8/4/13 MTD
43 games $328 ABI $35

Volume

I am only playing Fri-Sun now so the volume was decent with that being the case. I have dropped down to 4 tabling and only maybe 5-6 total tournies on Sundays. I am trying to focus more in the big games. I heard Wednesdays were good so maybe I will add that in to get my volume up.

Study

My new duties at TPE mean that I have to watch all the new videos and rewatch the majority of the old ones so studying should not be a problem. I am actively participating over at Thinking Poker as well. This weekend, I am buying a laptop to be used for poker only. That way, I can run HM2 ago and start reviewing and posting some hands.

Good

For whatever reason, I am starting to feel much better about my game. After each session, I am noting what works and what doesn't. I am starting to make the proper adjustments and know that the results will soon follow. 

I had another win in the 20r on Revolution for $1035. I seem to do very well in the late night tournaments over there. Being a satellite specialist, I have been collecting several tournament coupons on Merge as well.

Bad

Unfortunately, I have been running through these coupons on Sundays without even mincashing. The fields are so much bigger on Merge and the players are certainly tougher (I'm finding out that half of them are TPE members, lol). I have to adjust my calling ranges in the early levels. I made some bad folds because I didnt factor in how much people were willing to gamble with the new re-entry rules. At this point, I am not able to compete effectively with the better players there. It's awesome to have a goal to strive for. I'm excited for the opportunity to get back to where I was before I left that site.

Live

Looks like Hollywood, FL isn't going to happen. I think I will go out to Vegas in September for the Venetian Deepstack event. The flight there and back is $400 which is not much more than I pay to rent my place for 2 weeks. The beauty of this set up is, when I leave, I dont pay. I just put my items in storage and re-rent the place when I get back. So basically, the trip pays for itself. Awesome!

This weekend I will join a local league and play in a tournament there. Cant wait for that. Also, I get to meet some of the Thinking Poker regulars for lunch tomorrow. That should be fun.

I enjoyed watching TPE own the games yesterday and writing my first edition of What's New at TPE. The massive scores were super motivating. Until next time.

Take one down for the good guys.

August Week 1 ending 8/11/13 MTD
97 games $459 ABI $29

Volume

I need some work in this area. I may have to play more than 4 days a week if I am going to ever reach my goal of 300 games a month. I will continue to play fewer tables on Sunday because I was doing well in several games yesterday but was overwhelmed by the number of tables towards the middle of the session. I'd incorrectly expected to be out of at least one of the first ones by the middle of the day. Guess that's an ok problem to have but I could not keep up with the game flow when it counted most.

Study

Vids, vids, vids. I got my new laptop so hopefully I can get everything set up this week and start back reviewing and posting hands.

Good

Merge satellites are still going well. The tournies started off well this week also. I cashed in 3 out of the 5 deep stacks I played on Merge yesterday. The $11, $60, and the $33 (which sharkscope falsely says I bubbled which screws up my stats). I had a top 10 stack in the 150K Gtd early until I made a bad call with top set on the river, folded AKs to heavy action preflop due to having only one bullet for that buyin (such a leak), and cold 4betting light with 66 only to be 5bet lighter by Marc Alioto with 98s in a 4 way pot. Have I mentioned how much I hate TPE members? 

Bad

Even though I felt much better about my play at Merge, I have not been able to close when I get big stacks early. I can easily cruise to the money but I always seem to find a way to blow it before the final table. The hand that irks me the most is one where a guy opened from UTG. I flat with AKs from EP because we are hella deep in like level 3. Over 100 bigs. Two more flatters in LP and then the freakin BTN 3bets huge. It gets back to me and I still feel it's too deep to get in early so i flat again and then one of the LP dudes 4bets and the BTN 5bets all in. I tank fold and the other dude calls with AQo vs the BTN's 77. The mistakes I made in this hand are 1. forgetting for the millionth time that people get in light early on Merge now that they have re-entries and 2. not having a 2nd bullet myself because I am playing on only one $215 coupon. I know I was behind the 77, but I had more than 33% equity 3 way and there was already a ton of money in the pot plus I could do major damage with a monster stack. I should probably take that spot with 100+ bbs due to these factors alone. Snap busting pre ante would not be as bad as the regrets I have with what could have been. I will not make that mistake again.

Live

Looks like the Sept. vegas trip has been cancelled as well. I think I will go out for the Main Event final table and just play some daily tournies while I am out there. I went to play in the local league but decided not to join because I dont think I will be in town consistently enough to have a shot at the WSOP seat. I played as a guest and made the final table but lost a flip before the money. I got a chance to have lunch with Pie Farmer and Breyer who are regulars over at Thinking Poker. Awesome guys. We had a great time and will be getting together later to study Ed Miller's books and Andrew Brokos's TPE videos. I am going out of town this weekend so I dont know if I will play much. If I dont, I hope one of you binks something in my absence. Until next time.

Take one down for the good guys.

Great question. I'm guessing you haven't heard my podcast episodes. We went into this more there but basically I live so cheaply that I dont need to make a ton of money. My total expenses are under $1000 a month and I have enough non poker funds to cover that for at least 6 months even if I brick every tourney. I choose to live my life with no house payment, car payment, drug addiction, girlfriend, wife, kids, nice clothes, etc. This is an incredibly cheap way to live. So to answer your question, I am a pro by virtue of quitting my job and using poker as my main source of income but that income could be two figures over the course of several months and I would be fine. And if everything goes to hell in a handbasket, I can get a decent job within a matter of weeks. Math teachers are in high demand.

I actually think being a pro small stakes grinder is ideal for some people in some other countries. For example, I spent a summer in Jamaica in 2011. I was told by a teacher there that she made $200 per week and that minimum wage was $50. I think if someone there could get a TPE membership and a 500-1000 bankroll, they could easily smash that without ever needing to move up and with very little variance. Plus they can cashout without having to wait months like us in the US.

Thanks guys, it feels great to be an inspiration and bring other new players like myself to TPE. I like that role a lot. You guys just need to do what I am doing. Watch all the vids, participate in the forums, and use this time as more of an opportunity to learn and not worry so much about replacing your income if you actually need an income. Actually, I am less of a pro grinder and more of a full time TPE University student right now. 

He was on the feature table but sadly it was on day 2 which is before they started tapping on day 3.

Thanks guys.

OMG that game tonight was so awesome. I got second for $1200. I'm playing there every Monday from now on. I may even move to that side of town just to get closer to the action.

August Week 4 ending 9/1/13 MTD
191 games $323 ABI $28

Volume

Decent.

Study

The usual. Vids, etc. I really need to start doing hand history reviews. I may force myself to do this today. 

Good

I'm alive. And I got a text I have been waiting on for 3 years. Back then my niece was in 7th grade and rode to school with me every day because she was a student in the same school where I taught. Her mother had a problem with the principal and decided to move her daughter to the worse school in the district. There was nothing I could do about it because I am not her dad. Her mother felt that I took the school's side in their disagreement and started to limit my contact with my niece because she felt I was too hard on her. There was nothing I could do but wait. Now it is three years later. My niece is 15. A few days ago, she texted me to ask if we could hang out. We spent the day at Stone Mountain this weekend. It was great. As far as poker…

Bad

Bankroll still tanking. I am trying different things and none of them are working. My confidence is shot and I am just about oi Merge. Revolution was going well, but the powers that be decided to kill all the decent games on Intertops.  I am going to play Poker Maximus next week and if it doesn't go well, I'll just play the timbeys on Revolution and the live local games.

Live

As slow as live poker is, it seems to be the only place where I have an edge nowadays. I joined 2 local poker clubs and will play live at least twice a week going forward. I maybe even drive up to the casino on the weekends sometimes. I didnt do too well last week, but I feel good about tonight. Hopefully I can take one down for the good guys.

Life

There was a very good debate this week over at ThinkingPoker.com 

…..nderstand/

Andrew Brokos wrote an awesome analogy that compared a group of poker players having to start with shorter stacks than others to the descendants of slaves (aka me) who have to start life with fewer opportunities than others. His core argument is that wealth was taken from a group of people and something should be done about it. I agree, but I dont think anything will be and so I decided long ago to use my mind and just take some wealth for myself and my family. This lead me to think about how I came to that decision when so many around me decided to do it by committing small crimes (drug dealing, theft, fraud) in response to the poverty caused by that massive crime (slavery). Or even worse, many just simply gave up. A small part of that decision came from school which I excelled at, but mainly it came from the confidence I got from rap music, specifically from Tupac Shakur.

*Ok, I tried to edit this section somewhat because I dont want to offend anybody that reads this who may not be used to rap music*

This album came out in 1995 when I was 13 years old. I was going through a lot of shit back then and no one around me was mentally equipped to talk to me about it. My daddy wasn't around (shocker) and my mama didnt understand enough to explain some of the garbage I saw in my day to day life. 2pac seemed to understand how I felt and gave me the one thing I needed to solve my problems which was confidence (I could use some of that now). People (me included) understandably get tired of all the aggression and violence in hip hop, but I understand where it comes from and the benefit of it. When you are born into a chaotic situation, being too passive will cause you to get eaten alive (poker players, am I right?). What you call aggression in rap is the same thing that gave me the confidence that saved my life. And when the day comes that you are surrounded by crime and criminals, then you will understand the need for violence. No one questions why a soldier in a war is violent. Some of these neighborhoods are like battlefields. Scarcity and desperation causes people to behave this way.

The problem I see is too many people only know how to fight with their guns and so they took the violent messages in 2pac's music and ran with it. I realized how futile this was and so I was able to hear the productive messages in his music. The title song on this album provides a great example of the stuff he told me as a young teenager that no parent, teacher, preacher, or anyone else could have done. Despite all of his rookie mistakes, (remember he did the vast majority of his work between the ages of 21 and 25 when he was killed) he saved a lot of young boys and girls when no one else could. For that, I will always love him and thank him. Check it out…

Me against the World by 2pac

With all this extra stressing
The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath
When will I finally get to rest through this oppression?
They punish the people that's asking questions
And those that possess, steal from the ones without possessions
The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less - even the genius asks his questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essence
The power is in the people and politics we address
Always do your best, don't let the pressure make you panic
And when you get stranded
And things don't go the way you planned it
Dreaming of riches, in a position of making a difference
Politicians and hypocrites, they don't wanna listen
If I'm insane, it's the fame that made a brother change
It wasn't nothing like the game
It's just me against the world

But of course, this is 2pac and this is "gangsta rap" so it would not be an honest depiction if I didnt share with you one of the more aggressive pieces. So here is an example of the only side of 2pac that people seem to remember...

*If you are easily distracted by his aggressive words, all you will see is negativity. If you keep an open mind and read closely, maybe you will see positive lessons in there too. I did and it save me.*

Heavy in the Game

I'm just a young black male, cursed since my birth
Have to turn to crack sales, if worse comes to worst
Headed for them packed jails or maybe it's a hearse
My only way to stack mail is out here doing dirt
Made my decisions, do or die, been hustling since junior high
No time for asking why, getting high, getting mine
Put away my nine, cause these times call for four-five shells
Cause life is hell and everybody dies
What about these Ns I despise?

Them loud talking cowards shooting guns into crowds jeopardizing lives
Shoot em right between them Ns eyes

It's time to realize, follow the rules or follow them fools that die
Everybody's trying to make the news, Ns confused
Quit trying to be an O.G. and pay your dues
If you choose to apply yourself and go with the grain
Here comes the riches and the Bs and the fame

Maybe revisiting some of his songs and applying them to my poker play will help me regain my confidence. I haven't put anything in the music thread in a while so I will find some of his stuff to post over there if you wanna check it out.