Mid-May Update

So many things are going on in my life that I don't know where to start. I wish I had a ton of poker content but that would probably call for me to be actually playing poker which I don't seem to do much of lately. I just returned on Monday from a 3-day cruise to Mexico for one of my best friend's 40th birthdays. We spent about 6 hours at Papas and Beers Cantina in Ensenada and managed to dispose of 12 buckets (10 bottles in each) of beer in that short time. It was an excellent time and great memories for my friends. I did manage to get in a little poker on the cruise ship as they have two of the PokerPro automated tables. They really aren't too bad to play poker on but the rake is un-fucking-believable. I sat down and played heads-up with a guy for about an hour. I had $300 behind me and he had $100 playing at $1/$2 NLHE. We played for 30 minutes and I had $250 and he had $50. $100 IN RAKE FOR 30 MINUTES!!!! They raked 10% of every single pot. If those tables actually ever caught on, the company that makes them would be a goldmine. I also entered a $150 SNG with 9 players that pretty much played like the super-turbos on FTP right before the Sunday $750K. I played exactly TWO pots the entire tournament and both times I moved all-in. I stole a couple of limpers the first time and lost J-J v. A-Q the 2nd time to be eliminated 5th out of 9. Whatever.....

I am currently down around $700 for the month of May in which I have probably played the least amount of poker in a month that I can remember in the last three years. I am going to have to get my ass in gear if I want to stick with one of my goals of having 12 profitable months this year. I am looking forward to next week as I will be in Palm Springs for my work's annual golf tournament. We will be in a very nice hotel and will finish up golf at about noon each day. You know what that means....Some SERIOUS action on Full Tilt awaits me. I plan to buy-in to the $1K WSOP Sat. on Thursday to see if I can't grab a Main Event package. I have a $500 buy-in to the 150-seat guarantee on Full Tilt but it is being played on Father's Day and I don't know if that's going to work. I might unregister for it and use the $T to enter the $1K.

The WSOP is fast approaching. As you can see from the ticking clock above, it's less than two weeks away. Listening to all of the poker series that are being played in Vegas during June and July in conjunction with the WSOP makes me realize that the poker world really revolves around these 45 days each year. If you consider yourself any level of serious poker player, there is no way you can skip being in Vegas sometime during this period. I've got my two trips planned and I hope it turns into more with having to keep coming back for Days 2, 3, 4, etc. of the Main Event.

I've been wanting to really write and insightful post about juggling fatherhood, work, and poker but the ironic thing is that I haven't had the time (I guess that makes sense). If I get a chance in Palm Springs, check back and I will try to provide some perspective about a 37-year old's view of poker and the poker landscape. I know there are enough blogs about jetsetters and 21-year olds crushing the live and online circuits. Maybe it's time for someone to give a different perspective on the "everyman's" look at life and poker.

Thanks for reading,

W2D

Where the hell have I been?

Almost 25 days between blog posts.....that's pathetic. My life has been a whirlwind lately and only a small fraction of it has been poker-related. I'm going to write this post in bulletpoint format only because I have a lot of minor thoughts I want to get across:

-I just got back from an 8-day trip to Disneyworld with my wife and 3 kids. It was pretty much the perfect vacation for us with absolutely no issues with planes, hotels, tickets, etc. There is a very serene type of satisfaction for a man when he can give his family everything they want in life. It does a lot more for your inner ego than anything I've ever found in poker.

-I was able to play some late-night poker in the hotel room in Orlando which allowed me to attain the "IRON" status on Full Tilt Poker. As I have said before, I'm not sure why I did that but it was a personal goal and I reached it. I usually got my 200FTP points each night by playing a ton of turbo SNG's. I would estimate that this "goal" of mine cost me about $1500-2000 for the month of April. I'm done with trying to play a set amount of poker each day.

-If I hadn't mentioned this earlier, Full Tilt finally set me up with rakeback!!! I got about $350 back for the month of April so I anticipate about an extra $500 per month. Not bad.....it adds up.

-Lately, I have really been feeling the problems that come with being a dad, husband, coach, police officer, and wanting to be a semi-professional poker player. My daughter recently made all-stars in softball and I am the third-base coach for the team so my weekends are pretty much swamped for the next two months. It's difficult to get into any type of rhythym with your game when you're playing one tournament every three days.

-The WSOP is less than 4 weeks away!!!! My plane and hotel reservations are set for June 26-29th at the RIO and July 5-7th at the Gold Coast. I'll be playing a $2,000 event on 6/27 and the Main Event Day 1D on July 6th.

-I was able to somehow end April as a profitable month meaning I have had four straight profitable months to begin 2008 (I was up a little more than $300 in April so it's nothing to write home about...)

-I've got two big weeks coming up where I will play an insane amount of poker and try to win a Main event package. May 27-30th I will be in Palm Springs for a golf tournament (that I run) and will be in a hotel every night. On June 16th, my wife and kids are flying to Montana for a week and I'll be home alone so you can count on some major rounding that week.

That's all for now. I'll try to have some more poker content in coming posts.

Thanks for reading,

W2D