tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4127116987796064942024-02-18T23:44:12.062-08:00The Adventures of Willing2Die"In No-Limit, in order to live you must be willing to die." -Amir Vahedi, 2003 WSOPWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-54531336474388590412009-07-19T20:13:00.000-07:002009-07-19T20:46:05.277-07:00It's only been 3 months...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnirMeFdmDLHmWw7olEaEEML_EH2U-BuSIlCp2RELLcC7hyphenhyphen4et0efKf_Nfq87Z1gZgeKhKN1sGbvPYT1W_K5tZlzKUG9EXSav8gQh7gIVwn2yY_-IxVuy_n8czAP7JACR3kPhyphenhyphenMirgmUA/s1600-h/061+Willing2Die.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnirMeFdmDLHmWw7olEaEEML_EH2U-BuSIlCp2RELLcC7hyphenhyphen4et0efKf_Nfq87Z1gZgeKhKN1sGbvPYT1W_K5tZlzKUG9EXSav8gQh7gIVwn2yY_-IxVuy_n8czAP7JACR3kPhyphenhyphenMirgmUA/s400/061+Willing2Die.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360383541269921714" border="0" /></a><br />I'll be the first one to admit that the advent of Twitter has made the willingness to take the time to blog practically...well...old news. The ability to relay your thoughts and actions on a minute-by-minute basis is something that we never could have dreamed of just a few years ago. Never the less, I thought I would update everyone on my last three months.<br /><br />I made my 5th annual trek to the WSOP in late June. I have seen the WSOP evolve since I first went and watched them at Binion's in 2004. This year, I played in a $2,000 NLHE event (the same one I've played in the last two years). I won't recount all of my tweets from the event but I did get a chance to played with "Wretchy" and "TitanTom" from online fame, Allan Le (Nam's brother), Tiffany Michelle, and Joe Serock. I lasted until after dinner break and when I returned, I picked up K-K in the SB on the 2nd hand. An early position raise allowed me to shove for about $9,750. He hemmed and hawed for a bit and called with A-K. Four bricks and an ace on the river later and I was out. Tough way to go out but not a whole lot I could have done different.<br /><br />I played in two more RIO nightly tournaments and a $500 Venetian Deep Stacks event. All of them ended in various heartbreaking fashion as I just really didn't run well that week. I know that's going to happen from time to time and I just picked a bad time to run bad. I had a fantastic time sweating my favorite players until 2 or 3 in the morning each night and also got to meet a lot of people I had met online via PokerRoad.com.<br /><br />Last week, I went back out to the RIO to play in the first WSOP DreamTeam Event. I played in the event with my friends Andrew and Robin and we were "Team Willing2Die." There were 122 teams entered in the event and we finished in 19th place. Unfortunately, the top 10 teams cashed so once again I was shutout. It was a fun tournament although the structure is pretty shallow and really collapses after about 5 or 6 hours. The picture above is me laying down K-K on an A-Q-10 board to Dan Michalski of www.Pokerati.com. He showed me an ace so it was another $%^&ed hand at the RIO :):).<br /><br />After a lot of online play over the past 30 days, I have made a commitment to play less online and more live. I'm hoping that it will put a little more fun in my poker game as well as giving me a little more time with the family (and wife) during the week. My limited live results really haven't been half bad as I have 3 cashes in 8 career WSOP tournaments, 3 cashes in 7 Chumash tournaments with buy-in's of $200 or more, and I took down a Saturday daily tournament at Caesar's Palace. Unfortunately, this year has been relatively horrible as I'm 0 for 6 in live tournaments. I'm hoping to turn that around over the next few months as I'll be hitting the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino and a few tournaments at the Commerce.<br /><br />I plan on getting another blog in over the next few nights as I talk a little football and share some thoughts on my poker career and what the future holds for me in the coming months and years.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-29012623908837759272009-04-14T20:37:00.000-07:002009-04-14T20:45:17.318-07:00NFL Schedule releasedToday was one of those days that pacifies the diehard NFL fan during the off-season. 2nd only to draft day, the release of the NFL schedule gets me pumped up and also allows me to plan out my Qualcomm Stadium attendance for the coming season. It looks like my schedule will be as follows:<br /><br />Home Opener vs. Baltimore (Tailgating with my wife)<br />Monday Night Football vs. Denver (Going with buddies from work)<br />December 20th vs. Cincinnatti (Weekend trip with the kids/Tailgating)<br />January 3rd vs. Washington (Tailgating with friends)<br /><br />I'm so pumped....the Cutler trade to Chicago has pretty much handed the AFC West to us for the next couple of years so we really need to take advantage.<br /><br />Anyways....I have not been playing a ton of poker lately. I'm looking to ramp up the volume in the coming weeks and win a WSOP Main Event seat. My current economic conditions don't point to me dropping ten dimes for an entry this year so if I don't win a seat, I'm pretty much screwed. If it gets to that point, I'll play in a couple of mega-satties when I'm in Vegas (6/18-6/21) but I think the best value is still winning one on Full Tilt.<br /><br />I have lots of other thoughts to convey but I am literally busy day and night so I'll have to carve out an hour to drop some more deep philosophy on you. lololol<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-12871711153359232842009-02-28T21:50:00.000-08:002009-02-28T21:58:04.987-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPc2pGONm_LyhyfuqG9ShOQi6fnjqY6kY7ayacVEHJS3XXV1AweAJlqCyivCk7of-8go6dtF6g5K9RscsbB4dmQXmfAdrk45Qs1zL3naFj-86U31wFt3CDmyIQzeuCSVf0ffNbTsaDKU/s1600-h/090227+Big+Double+A.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPc2pGONm_LyhyfuqG9ShOQi6fnjqY6kY7ayacVEHJS3XXV1AweAJlqCyivCk7of-8go6dtF6g5K9RscsbB4dmQXmfAdrk45Qs1zL3naFj-86U31wFt3CDmyIQzeuCSVf0ffNbTsaDKU/s400/090227+Big+Double+A.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308094485230906690" border="0" /></a><br />I took 2nd in the Full Tilt Big Double-A last night for around $2,500. It was my fourth 2nd or 3rd place finish since my last MTT win almost 10 months ago. I usually find myself with a big chip deficit when I reach heads-up and last night was no different....to the tune of a 11-1 deficit.<br /><br />I ended February up around $3K for the month and am up around $14K for the first two months. Not bad for a "recreational player" If I may say so......I figure I'm getting geared up for the WSOP :):).<br /><br />Talk to you soon,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-77940248925126610942009-02-20T16:17:00.000-08:002009-02-20T16:25:14.444-08:00Shameless PlugsI wanted to take a quick second to direct your attention to a couple of poker-related things:<br /><br />1. A friend of mine who I have spent many an hour talking life and poker with via AIM, Stephen Lawrence, has had one of his poker articles published at the following link:<br /><br /><a href="http://foxpoker.com/articles">http://foxpoker.com/articles</a><br /><br />Stephen, commonly known as <a href="http://www.blogger.com/Virge">Virge</a>, is a great poker mind and a helluva nice guy. I encourage everyone to check out the article and if you're looking for some cash-game coaching, please consider Virge as a worthy candidate.<br /><br />2. I have been putting a ton of time in at the <a href="http://www.blogger.com/Pokerroad%20Forums">Pokerroad Forums </a>and am running a couple of different contests for the LAPC Main Event. I spend most of my time in the "Live Tournaments" section of the forum so I again encourage you to first check out <a href="http://www.blogger.com/Pokerroad">Pokerroad </a>, then check out the forums and especially the Live tourney section. I am, of course, Willing2Die on the forums.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-63122065303415415172009-02-06T13:37:00.000-08:002009-02-06T14:08:13.707-08:00Update<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDx2OPqxi9q4K9oQwPibFEmFMbBX2jz6Bs1c5mQ89aw61g3SUdwNnRKkd3hiB3JBdBTK_XW1mJIfEEiL2z92dDnYamGJUJuyu7GG31elbrheau06POzWooqXiovWrolw7zKNcEBRpzF10/s1600-h/090204+$23K.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299809137778616674" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 279px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDx2OPqxi9q4K9oQwPibFEmFMbBX2jz6Bs1c5mQ89aw61g3SUdwNnRKkd3hiB3JBdBTK_XW1mJIfEEiL2z92dDnYamGJUJuyu7GG31elbrheau06POzWooqXiovWrolw7zKNcEBRpzF10/s400/090204+%2423K.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Things have been going real well the last couple of weeks as life continues to be a fun journey. After my two big online cashes on January 13th, I was even for most of the rest of January and ended January up over $11K. I started February off with a bang as I took 3rd in the Full Tilt $23K on Wednesday night for a little over $2,900. I have now played only 28 MTT's in 2009 and I have four cashes with three of them being a 3rd place and two 2nd's. It is vastly different from what was occurring in 2008 where I was having a ton of cashes with no deep finishes. There is definitely a calm and controlled aspect to my end game where I just let things come to me and don't make as many "fancy" plays as I used to. The caliber of play is still sub-standard enough that you can allow others to make mistakes for you. After Wednesday night's score, I told my wife that I was calling my shot right now...I <u>guarantee</u> I will win a WSOP $10K entry this year.<br /><br />The Super Bowl lived up to every expectation anyone might have had. The 4th quarter was undoubtedly the greatest quarter in Super Bowl history and Harrison's play was clearly one of the Top 5 plays in the history of the NFL. There may have been flashier or more difficult plays but for the context under which it occurred (Super Bowl...:00 on the clock...14-point swing), they don't get much bigger. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers.<br /><br />UFC 94 ended up being underwhelming. I went 6-4 on my predictions although I think I got hosed on the Kim-Parisyan fight (That was one of the worst fights I've watched in months). Jon Jones was the most impressive fighter of the night. Considering he's been training MMA for about a year, I'd love to buy some stock in that guy's future. The main event was disappointing as GSP was just too much for B.J. "Vaseline-gate" has overshadowed his dominant performance and just today there is talk about GSP-BJ III. I'm not even sure I want to see that. (See my UFC Fight Night predictons below)<br /><br />The 2009 WSOP schedule came out and, as usual, I'm excited for those 45 days of the year. I hope my job doesn't mind my brain being somewhere else for that month-plus. (just kidding lolol). I already booked my flight for June 18th-June 21st. I'll be playing the $2K on 6/18, maybe the $1,500 on 6/20, and hopefully Day 1C of the Main Event. I've cashed in 3 of 7 WSOP events I've played so I always feel good going out there.<br /><br />The pokerroad gang played one of my voicemails on the 2/5 PRR episode and Joe Sebok even said "I love Willing2Die" on the air. If a 38-year old married father of three gets giddy over that, I think he has serious problems.<br /><br /><u>Here are my predictions for UFC Fight Night (Feb. 7th):</u><br /><u></u><br /><u>Joe Lauzon</u> v. Jeremy Stephens (I'm going with Lauzon even though I'm not a big fan of his talents. A Stephens KO wouldn't surprise me)<br /><br /><u>CainVelasquez</u> v. Denis Stojnic (Cain by 1st degree murder/He's the future UFC heavyweight champion)<br /><br /><u>Mac Danzig</u> v. Josh Neer (Danzig wins a tough decision)<br /><br />Luigi Fiorivanti v. <u>Anthony Johnson</u> (Johnson by head removal)<br /><br /><u>Kurt Pellegrino</u> v. Rob Emerson (Pellegrino is very under-rated...he takes this one)<br /><br /><u>Dan Miller</u> v. Jake Rosholt (UFC debuts rarely go well...Miller submits him)<br /><br /><u>Matt Grice</u> v. Matt Veach (I'd be pompous if I said I knew anything about these guys but it's Veach's UFC debut...that means Grice wins)<br /><br />Gleison Tibau v. <u>Rich Clementi</u> (I'll go with the guy who over-achieves over the guy who under-achieves...Clementi wins)<br /><br /><u>Nick Catone</u> v. Derek Downey (Both are UFC debuts...Catone takes his Sadollah-related frustation out on Downey's head)<br /><br /><u>Steve Bruno</u> v. Matt Riddle (No fighter should smile as much as Riddle does and I don't think he'll be smiling after this one)<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2D</div>Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-82961084325242150122009-01-31T07:53:00.000-08:002009-01-31T08:04:54.670-08:00UFC 94 PredictionsI've been a diehard MMA fan since UFC I was televised while I was in the police academy in 1993. I've seen hundreds of cards from Dream to Pride to Strikeforce to EliteXC to UFC to Affliction.....but I have never been so pumped for an MMA card as I am for UFC 94 tonight. I'm a big B.J. Penn fan and am hoping he takes it but I have a ton of respect for GSP and just want to see an historic fight. I thought I'd take my shot at some prognosticating for tonight's card:<br /><br /><strong><u>UFC 94</u></strong><br /><strong><u></u></strong><br />Matt Arroyo v. Dan Cramer ARROYO<br />Jake O'Brien v. Christian Wellisch O'BRIEN<br />Chris Wilson v. John Howard WILSON<br />Manny Gamburyan v. Thiago Tavares TAVARES<br />Jon Fitch v. Akihiro Gono FITCH<br />Nate Diaz v. Clay Guida GUIDA<br />Karo Parisyan v. Dong Hyun Kim KIM<br />Stephan Bonnar v. Jon Jones BONNAR<br />Lyoto Machida v. Thiago Silva MACHIDA<br />B.J. Penn v. Georges St. Pierre GSP<br /><br />As you can see, I love B.J. but I picked GSP. If I was betting on the fight and could get +160 or +170 on B.J., I would definitely go that route. At this point, I think GSP's wrestling is going to be the difference but I'm praying for an epic B.J. performance.<br /><br />I'll check back on Monday to see how I did.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />Eric "W2D"Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-1471753104288320702009-01-20T10:42:00.000-08:002009-01-20T10:49:28.675-08:00JanuaryQuick update:<br /><br />I'm heading to the Commerce on Sunday to play in the LAPC $335 event at 1:00 P.M. Just another example of why my wife is the best woman in the world..she didn't bat an eye when I told her I was going.<br /><br />My goal for the year is to read twenty (20) new books and I've already powered down two of them. I read <u>Outliers</u> by Malcolm Gladwell and <u>Talent is Overrated</u> by Geoff Colvin. I highly recommend both of them. I've compiled a reading list for 2009 which so far includes the following:<br /><br /><u>According to Doyle</u> by Doyle Brunson<br /><u>The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11</u> by Lawrence Wright<br /><u>Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq</u> by Thomas Ricks<br /><u>Elements of Poker</u> by Tommy Angelo<br /><u>Just 2 Seconds</u> by Gavin Debecker<br /><u>The World is Flat</u> by Thomas Friedman<br /><br />I'm always looking for recommendations so if you know of any "must-reads", please let me know.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-5079024850567780302009-01-13T13:05:00.001-08:002009-01-13T16:07:12.646-08:00Biggest Night Ever!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELjT_QCAzx27aVeU-I6cQmrm1AWNhJ1nZ84T-W_d7JNDTfjd2WSkSMVqtCvChV5yTzIK_O7Cjtt02SJK5SdcgL2Exr3S8mXn-oS04Cqmpv2UHKjV5Tu-0rCW38CUHmrZVwxrL0P2pi_g/s1600-h/090112+%2423K+2nd+Place.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290891498105356258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 279px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiELjT_QCAzx27aVeU-I6cQmrm1AWNhJ1nZ84T-W_d7JNDTfjd2WSkSMVqtCvChV5yTzIK_O7Cjtt02SJK5SdcgL2Exr3S8mXn-oS04Cqmpv2UHKjV5Tu-0rCW38CUHmrZVwxrL0P2pi_g/s400/090112+%2423K+2nd+Place.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6LyRRU4gpNM1P0NAwjI5WHKHebA2IfD17oHtgEq4Q12GZSsObiBiYJPWWiqE5WpTWCKIf52-LWakzwvOvfWssJsbOUY-1mxDjTJ6jB9isxAy0mreWU1F3-G6EatLLankotVvIKbjBn4/s1600-h/090112+Fifty-Fifty+2nd+Place.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290891501866465618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 280px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6LyRRU4gpNM1P0NAwjI5WHKHebA2IfD17oHtgEq4Q12GZSsObiBiYJPWWiqE5WpTWCKIf52-LWakzwvOvfWssJsbOUY-1mxDjTJ6jB9isxAy0mreWU1F3-G6EatLLankotVvIKbjBn4/s400/090112+Fifty-Fifty+2nd+Place.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>Wow....I'll cut to the chase. I had my biggest night in my online poker career last night as I took two 2nd places in big TILT tourneys for around $11,000. It started with the Fifty-Fifty as I built up a big stack early and pretty much maintained a nice stack throughout the tournament. I took two bad beats enroute to the final table but perservered and got to the FT with above-average chips. It was a really, really difficuly FT that took sometime to finish. "TheMasterJ33" was hyper-aggro and we reached the 6-hour break 7-handed. Within five minutes after the break, we lost three players and we got down to 4-handed. I had lost J-J v. A-2 when two deuces flopped and was down to 4BB but somehow battled back. I bobbed and weaved until "TheMasterJ33" somehow busted 3-handed and I was heads-up at a 6:1 chip deficit. First prize was $11,500 which would have been my biggest online score ever but it was clearly not to be. My heads-up game sucks balls...I didn't last too long and took 2nd for $7,300. As this final table was finishing, I was down to the final two tables in the $23K guaranteed---->....</div><br /><div>The $23K was a lot like the fifty-fifty as I got a big stack early and pretty much maintained it throughout. The final table was vastly different as the play was horrible and I think it took me around 25 minutes to get heads-up. By this time, I was brutally tired (2:45 in the morning) and although I had about a 1.5:1 chip deficit, I again stood no real chance. I took 2nd for $3,700.</div><br /><div>I clearly left around $6K out on the felt due to my inadequacies at heads-up play but am in no position to complain. It was my 2nd largest single online score ever and my biggest night of my online career. It feels really great to start the year out this way and I owe it to two things:</div><br /><div>-I ran like a Jamaican sprinter chasing free bobsled lessons.</div><br /><div>-My live session at the Bellagio last week may have been an epiphany. It was my best live session ever and as I sat in that particular room (my favorite poker room in the world), I had time to reflect on my poker "career" and whether I was going to continue to pitter away at this venture or really start thinking like a "professional" and make something of myself in poker. I'm not saying by any stretch that this is the start of a mountainous climb but I do think I've changed the way I look at my poker playing and how I can't simply "waste time" playing poker when I have a wife and kids. I owe it to them and myself to play my "A" game at all times and maximize the time I spend playing. </div><br /><br /><div>I have a real sense of confidence and "being" at the poker table right now and, based on experience, it's best to ride that wave as long as it's there. I'm hoping I can go on a tear in January and maybe sew up my WSOP funds for the year. A very special shout-out to <a href="http://www.smokkee.com/">Smokkee</a> and <a href="http://stevenlawrence.blogspot.com/">Virge</a> who provided some much needed rail support at the very late hour. Thanks, guys! I owe you...</div><br /><div>On a sidenote, this was another example of the "hotel" effect that I've talked about for years. I'm currently in a San Francisco hotel for the week which is no coincidence at all.</div><br /><br /><div>The Chargers season is over...I'm bummed but as usual, they weren't boring this year. Let's draft a WR and a LB and get it on next year!!!</div><br /><div>Thanks for reading,</div><br /><div>Eric "W2D"</div></div>Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-19874706338426362232009-01-06T20:42:00.000-08:002009-01-07T17:06:33.561-08:00Another Degenerate Weekend!My wildcard weekend turned out to be one of my better weekends ever in Vegas. We arrived at McCarran at around 9:00 on Saturday morning and went straight to Bally's. We really didn't have any idea where we were going to watch the games but as soon we got to Bally's and saw their awesome sportsbook and attached sports bar we knew that was the place. The first game (Atlanta/Arizona) wasn't starting for another few hours so I killed some time in the "Party Pit" by losing a quick $200 at blackjack (I hate that fucking game...it is 3 times faster than Pai Gow which means you can lose money 3 times as fast).<br /><br />We got ourselves the best seat in the house at the Sportsbook around 11:30 and never left until around 9:00 at night. I placed several wagers on each football game, bet every race at Santa Anita/Los Alamitos/Delta Downs, and bet a ton of different college basketball games (around 70 wagers for Saturday). My losings were neglible...tempered by a boatload of Bud Lights and 2 (maybe 3) pretzel dogs. The stage was set for the Chargers/Colts game and they surely didn't disappoint.<br /><br />I've watched plenty of NFL playoff games live as well as 3 Super Bowls but I have to say the atmosphere in the Sportsbook was something quite unique for the Charger game. I guess the combination of almost everyone in the room having some wager on the game as well as having been drinking most of the day makes for a "special" type of electricity. This was the 3rd epic, history-making playoff game the Chargers have played in the last three (3) years. I will definitely never forget that experience.....at least not until this Sunday when they play another epic battle in Pittsburgh.<br /><br />After the game ended, the five of us went across the street to the fine establishment that is Bill's Gambling Hall. We hit Bill's Steakhouse for dinner (I didn't really like the Pan-seared Scallops) and then I hit the dice for around an hour. Some good rolls let me leave up around $200 and then we wandered over to the Bellagio. I wanted to show the other guys the poker room there and was telling them stories of the different things that have occurred over the years in Bobby's room. We walk in the poker room and I immediately see some shadowy figures in Bobby's room. I get closer to peer in the windows and sure enough, the Big Game is going on. They have hardly been playing the Big Game live over the past few months but sure enough...Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, and David Oppenheim are playing 5-handed. For someone like me, that is basically like going to Cooperstown or meeting your favorie movie star. I was mesmerized just seeing them sitting there. I would have given my left nut to have sat and sweated one of them for 5 minutes. The 4 other guys I was with were not quite as enamored with them as I was. We left the Bellagio and went back to Bally's where I won $300 at Roulette before losing $100 at Blackjack. I hit the room at around 2:00.<br /><br />3 of the other 4 guys that were there had to leave for various reasons so I was left with a guy that I had met just the day before. We ended up getting along real well and took up the same spot at the Sportsbook around 9:30. We stayed in that spot for 12 hours and this time I bet on pretty much everything that was on the board. Horses, College basketball, NBA basketball, NHL Hockey, NFL Football...I placed over 100 bets on Sunday and ended up losing around $120. I got killed on the over (+41) for the Minnesota/Philadelphia game when it ended 26-14. That one cost me $175 and the Laker game didn't do me any favors but I made up for it in the Stanford/Arizona game and a couple of exactas at Santa Anita.<br /><br />After we finally staggered out of the sportsbook, David wanted to go back over and check out the Bellagio so we headed across the street and strolled into the poker room. He asked if I was going to play some poker and I didn't really plan on it but I had always wanted to play at the Bellagio so I threw my name on the $1/$2 NL list. I got a seat around 10:30 and didn't really have a plan as to how long I was going to play. The table ended up being great and I played one of my best live sessions in a long time. I played all night until the game started to break and we were down to 3-handed. We played a few more hands 3-handed and I ended my session up at $826 after starting with a $200 stack. I ran back to Bally's trying to get out of the 29-degree weather as fast as possible. I hit the pillow at around 4:30 and ended up getting up around 9:00 and heading straight to the airport for the return trip.<br />--------------------------<br />I have three (3) main goals for 2009 (not resolutions):<br /><br />-Read more books<br />-Stick to my diet and workout routine<br />-Avoid procastination and time-wasting at work<br /><br />Easy goals...nothing special...but they will help me tighten the screws in my life this year.<br />--------------------------<br />I have my poker stats for 2008 and, to be honest, they're pretty embarrasing. It was my worst year in four years and I basically turned poker from a second income to a hobby in 2008. Here's hoping I can rekindle some of the magic in 2009.<br /><br /><u>2008 Poker Statistics</u><br /><u></u><br />Overall winnings- $1,843<br />Online winnings- $10,378<br />Live winnings- (-$8,535) <----this included a $10,000 entry to the WSOP Main Event<br />Biggest online cash- $7,730 (Full Tilt)<br />Biggest live cash- $3,850 (WSOP $2k event)<br />Online MTT ROI%- 34%<br />I played in 641 online MTT's...I won 19 satellites on Full Tilt for seats $216 or above...I made 15 final tables in big MTT's and only won 2 tournaments.<br />-------------------------------<br />I'm currently finishing up <u>Outliers</u> by Malcolm Gladwell. It is the third book I've read from Gladwell and it is clearly his best. I highly recommend it.<br /><br />I'm pumped for another great NFL weekend and I'm excited to see what rabbit the Chargers can pull out of their hat this week. L.T. is done...Merriman has been done...WR Vincent Jackson got arrested for DUI last night...There aren't many things going their way except two big players: Darren Sproles and Mike Scifres. GO BOLTS!!!<br /><br />I'm heading to San Francisco Sunday night so maybe I can get some good online volume in and maybe start the year off on a positive note.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-32990923737695048492008-12-30T21:29:00.000-08:002008-12-30T22:16:04.784-08:00Holiday UpdateWhat kind of blogger writes a blog once a month? I guess I'll blame it on the busy holiday season but it really boils down to a combination of laziness and a less than glamorous streak of medicore poker. Christmas has passed...New Year's is about here...and life is no less busy.<br /><br />The Christmas season was great for my family. The three kids (11, 9, and 5) got pretty much everything they asked for except for the laptop for the 11-year old and a cellphone for the 9-year old (We have to draw the line somewhere, don't we?). They got a new puppy ("Rudy") and I surprised the whole gang with a family vacation to Beaches Boscobel (Jamaica) in July. We recently started going to a different church after being at the same one for 35 years so it was a very uplifting and revitalized Christmas season for my wife and I.<br /><br />As a diehard Chargers fan, it's been quite a last month. Put out to pasture after week 13, somehow..someway...every miracle that could happen did and they were given an opportunity to play for the AFC West title on Sunday. We had purchased ten (10) tickets to this game 2 days after the Hochuli fiasco in week 2 and, at the time, never would have thought the game wouldn't mean anything. As the season progressed, it appeared as if the game would be nothing more than a tune-up for Denver and their playoff hopes. But Dwayne Bowe (KC) fumbled an onside kick and somehow the Bills found it in their souls to fight the Broncos in Denver and there we were on Sunday fighting for the division title. My boss' family and my family went down to San Diego on Saturday and got up early Sunday morning for the tailgating scene. We had a great time tailgating (it was the first game for the kids) and the game, obviously, was incredible. Objectively, I did have an inkling that the Chargers might blow them out. Every single thing pointed towards a big win and I know in the NFL anything can happen but Qualcomm is becoming an increasingly difficult place to play late in the season.<br /><br />If you refer to one of my September posts, I made a considerable amount of over/under NFL bets with various friends. I ended up taking the worst of it for around $225 which was offset by my 2nd place finish in my Church fantasy league for $275. San Diego and New England screwed me....Dallas and Miami helped me.<br /><br />Poker has quickly fallen down my list of high priorities over the past month. I don't know if the continued responsibilities of home and work coupled with an overall deterioration of my game have led to my attitude but, as I was telling a friend at work today, for the first time in four years, I haven't played much poker and I really don't care. I understand that a lack of big cashes will often lead to a distaste for the game but for me, it has become really monotonous. I have been unable to put in the time necessary to allow my game to evolve over the past months. I consider myself relative dead money in MTT's now and I have no one to blame but myself. I do think the online scene has become more difficult since the UIGEA but not to the point that I should have the results I've thrown up (<----aptly put) over the past 6 months.<br /><br />I continue to enjoy the poker "scene" and spend a considerable amount of time on pokerroad.com reading the forums and listening to all of the podcasts. I guess I'll never get over my affinity for the gambling/poker lifestyle. I'm sure I can rekindle my poker candle sometime in the near future but for now, I've got to make sure I don't blow my whole bankroll during my "funk." For Christmas, my boss (and close friend) bought me a book titled <u>Talent is Over-Rated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else</u>. I'm really looking forward to reading it because as I read the cover notes, it talked about a concept called "Deliberate Practice." It is a concept that the author writes is what separates the good from the best. Not god-given talent and not "hard work" but "Deliberate Practice." I'm hoping to gleen some nuggets of wisdom that might crossover to my poker game.<br /><br />I'm heading to Vegas this weekend for a "Wild-card" party. My buddy and I planned this around 3 months ago and are looking forward to sitting around and watching football all weekend. I would have never in a million years thought the Chargers would be hosting a playoff game but I can't change the plans now. We're staying at Bally's (what can I say...free rooms!) but I'm sure I will slide over to the Bellagio throughout the weekend.<br /><br />I'll end on a Mixed Martial Arts rant...I can't wait for Brock to kick Frank Mir's ass...I can't wait for Rampage to kick Rashad Evans' ass...I can't wait for BJ to kick GSP's ass...I can't wait for Chuck to kick someone's ass...Why the fuck is the DREAM New Year's card not on American TV?... I don't want Franklin or Henderson to lose their fight...Arlovski v. Fedor is going to be good.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-35837330185979469962008-11-14T15:38:00.000-08:002008-11-14T15:46:39.761-08:00Poker, Poker, Poker<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTX7CBwmyrjhWL2cAc6KwwxIpNh85lFU_pr08ys5ObpE0Uc6XlNV2hk5TgnTqEDBA4YJWs13DeBcJ7tPzaio-v-AvlwAAKC4uRatowuxaV0DMD1nOO4opurLSXF3SXMk7th0a7SOsr30I/s1600-h/Stars+$5K.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268662847401402930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 288px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTX7CBwmyrjhWL2cAc6KwwxIpNh85lFU_pr08ys5ObpE0Uc6XlNV2hk5TgnTqEDBA4YJWs13DeBcJ7tPzaio-v-AvlwAAKC4uRatowuxaV0DMD1nOO4opurLSXF3SXMk7th0a7SOsr30I/s400/Stars+%245K.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>After one of my most recent posts about 17 Top-50 finishes without a final table, I was finally able to break the streak and finish 9th in the TILT $23K for around $600. Since then (and over the last six days), I have five additional Top-50 finishes including an 11th and 15th in the TILT $11.5K and a 5th place finish in the STARS $5K for around $420 last night. I'm playing as good as I ever have and if I can ever run relatively well at the end of a tournament, I know I'm going to take one or maybe more tournaments down in the near future.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br />Life is plugging along as the holidays approach....Soccer is ending but basketball is starting....UFC 91 tomorrow night (Go Randy!!)....The Chargers will be fighting for their season in the next three weeks. Nothing but fun and games Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br />I hope to report some huge poker results in the coming days. In the meantime, please check out this thread I started on <a href="http://www.pokerroad.com/">http://www.pokerroad.com/</a>: </div><div></div><div></div><div><a href="http://www.pokerroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2125">http://www.pokerroad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2125</a></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br />Let's just say that I'm a poker savante and I probably have too much time on my hands.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br /><br />Thanks for reading,</div><div></div><div>W2D</div>Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-61840573386080091842008-11-03T11:20:00.000-08:002008-11-03T11:22:40.825-08:00CLARIFICATIONFor the record...I am vehemently opposed to California Proposition 8 but I see that Google Ads has put a "Yes on Prop 8" Ad on my blog. If I had the time to figure out how to get it off of there, I would. I'm kind of pissed that political ads are allowed to be placed via Google Ads. It's bush-league (excuse the pun) IMHO.<br /><br />Anyways....If you live in California, Vote NO ON PROP. 8. I thought we had cleared every civil rights hurdle but some people want to take us back to the 50's and 60's.<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-33867949926031843522008-10-31T11:18:00.001-07:002008-10-31T11:20:29.910-07:00Mediocrity at its Finest!On Wednesday, I racked up my 17th Top-50 finish in an MTT with more than 400 entrants since my last final table (6/18/2008). 17!!!!!!!!!!! That is 17 times I've put myself in the position to either play good or get lucky and 17 times that I've failed. My end game is worse than the Chargers.<br /><br />Please, oh please Poker Gods....just once let me run like Barry Sanders at the end of a tournament. PLEASE!!!!!!Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-64511235905129191932008-10-29T11:36:00.000-07:002008-10-29T11:38:11.001-07:00Ask and Ye Shall Receive...Very nice...On Monday, I blog about the Chargers and how Ted Cottrell should GTFO if he can't think of any new defensive schemes. On Tuesday, they FIRE HIM!!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.<br /><br />What else should I ask for?Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-51548960659936708122008-10-26T21:23:00.000-07:002008-10-26T22:49:38.725-07:00Caesar's Poker Classic/WPT Festa Al Lago<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyXYXxGskTjJTl9hlkIjEi0GLaAVlvu-5cdRQnTXW-thfoMsB9RKoPxU4gNttvbArNEOGs_hQYyAEUDYSqCmn8lzEKZmglS7qOFDaZ2VwbioSONSlgCUTqOm5ZXd40sso7a4RhsSpZeg/s1600-h/HPIM0697.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261704048407527282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuyXYXxGskTjJTl9hlkIjEi0GLaAVlvu-5cdRQnTXW-thfoMsB9RKoPxU4gNttvbArNEOGs_hQYyAEUDYSqCmn8lzEKZmglS7qOFDaZ2VwbioSONSlgCUTqOm5ZXd40sso7a4RhsSpZeg/s400/HPIM0697.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXfm1vTRJ92tJGBjamOSl8tcMtxDxHb_i1rBWqctJnc32GZVYAJ2P8zE0Tx2qS9bEqV0fT7Cj7yId6RzIrELAo-7AWj3qyEOgX7aSwIpKBvhpIpIi3cxzXNBDcwPmiqkzIFza36bYRDM/s1600-h/HPIM0703.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261701551065407954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXfm1vTRJ92tJGBjamOSl8tcMtxDxHb_i1rBWqctJnc32GZVYAJ2P8zE0Tx2qS9bEqV0fT7Cj7yId6RzIrELAo-7AWj3qyEOgX7aSwIpKBvhpIpIi3cxzXNBDcwPmiqkzIFza36bYRDM/s400/HPIM0703.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>I just got home from an eventful weekend in Las Vegas. It started wonderfully by my wife and I losing $1700 in the first 5 hours we were there. That dampered my spirits a tad but I've been there and done that as far as ups and downs in Vegas so I wasn't sweating it too much. We made reservations for YellowTail, the sushi bar at the Bellagio, and I headed over there about 2 hours early (by myself) so I could rail the final two tables of the WPT Festa Al Lago going on in the Fontana Lounge. I've railed many tourneys there and I love it every chance I get. I was especially pumped this time because my favorite pro, Joe "Seebs" Sebok, was still alive and big-stacked. I was able to represent with "PokerRoad" gear (see picture) and got to meet B.J. Nemeth, Ali Nejad, Shronk, and the rest of the PokerRoad gang. I'm 37 years old but still get a little giddy when I see the guys that I follow so closely on the website and the podcasts. Sebok was able to finish strong with 12 players remaining and looked to be in good position for Saturday's run to the TV final table.<br /><br />On Saturday, my wife and I slept in until around 9:30 which marked the first time I've slept in past 7:00 since my trip to Jamaica. I have refereed soccer games at 8:00 every Saturday morning for the last two months and I go to church at 8:15 every Sunday morning so you have NO idea what it feels like to sleep in just ONE day. :):):) I headed over to Caesar's where I registered for the $550 buy-in Caesar's Poker Classic. I sat down at my table and saw a few different pros in the field such as Bryan "Devo" Devonshire, Barry Shulman, Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler, and Men "The Master" Nguyen. My table seemed relatively weak and I was able to chip up through the first level and a half from $5,000 to approx. $7,500. I got my foot stuck on the gas pedal, though, and a couple of guys either check-raised me or took pots from me in position and over the course of about 20 minutes, I got myself down to around $3,800 when the following hand came up:<br /><br />With the blinds at $50/$100, a guy that had just come to our table with a huge stack and a "lip ring" (I'm not kidding) raised it up to $275. The previous hand he had said, "Get out of my way boys" so I pretty much gave him no credit for a hand. A guy in middle position called, the button called, and the SB called. I was in the BB and looked down at two black Kings. I felt like my table image was extremely loose and I'm sure they thought I was steaming over a fairly big hand I had just lost with two Queens. It was a great spot to make it look like a squeeze and maybe induce someone to come back over the top (careful what you wish for....). I raised to $1475 leaving me only around $2300 behind. The original raiser folded quickly but the first caller shoved and had me covered. This was the same guy I had lost to with the two queens so I figured he thought I was making a move. I really thought he had something like A-K or maybe two 10's. Ummm.....I was wrong. I obviously called with that much of my stack in there and he showed me two Aces. That was that.....<br /><br />I enjoyed being able to represent PokerRoad with the hoodie and hat (see picture) but I was especially proud to wear a fallenheroesla.org patch for everyone to see. I recently met LASD Deputy Scott Diamond on the PokerRoad forums and have talked with him a lot about the Charity he started for the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. This is obviously a cause that I hold dear to my heart and it was a pleasure to represent his noble cause in the Caesar's poker room. (<a href="http://www.fallenheroesla.org/">http://www.fallenheroesla.org/</a>)</div><br /><div>After busting out so quickly, I headed back over to the Bellagio to find the final 12 of the Festa Al Lago playing in the Bellagio Poker Room. It was a horrible place to hold such a big tournament (the noise from the Sportsbook was ridiculous) but it provided me a great spot to stand literally 4 feet from Joe Sebok and Michael DiMichelle. I was able to sweat both of them for around two hours and got to talk to Seebs at one of the breaks. He appreciated my support and liked the fact that I was wearing the PokerRoad stuff. He looked to be in real control of his game and I ended up leaving when they broke it down to one 10-handed final table. At one point, Seebs was the chip leader at that table but, alas, he lost a big coinflip A-K v. 7-7 and eventually was eliminated in 9th place. I've been spending a lot of time on the PokerRoad forums and he had quite a support base there. We were all pretty heartbroken that he didn't make the TV final table. </div><br /><div>I eventually left the Bellagio, went back to NYNY, and played Pai Gow and drank myself under the table for around 5 hours straight. My wife and I continued our horrific run of cards and added to the weekend deficit. We had a great dinner at Gallagher's Steak House before calling it an early evening due to excessive alcohol consumption.</div><br /><div>As we got ready to drive home today, my wife wanted to play one more hour of Pai Gow while our friends got ready to leave. I was against it but eventually obliged and we went and grabbed a couple of seats. What a DAMN good decision that was....we ran like two Jamaican sprinters for around an hour and literally couldn't lose a hand. We made around $700 in that final session which definitely dampered the pain of the other weekend losses. We eventually got on the road just in time to listen to the Chargers game....yeah, you heard me....THE F$%&KING CHARGERS GAME!!!</div><br /><div>To quote Dennis Miller..."I don't want to go on a rant, here". This has been the most frustrating season I've ever experienced as a fan of any team. The Chargers lost their fourth heartbreak game of the year (and fifth overall) today and it was mind-numbing to listen to. Vincent Jackson has long been touted as having tons of potential but I can tell you that I don't think Jerry Rice or Marvin Harrison have <u>ever</u> dropped a ball like he did today. 14 PENALTIES???? Give me a break....I put that squarely on Norv Turner's shoulders. And let's not even start with the defense. They had ZERO SACKS IN OCTOBER. Are you kidding me? Ted Cottrell-What the hell are you doing? GTFO if you can't come up with a scheme in the NFL that puts some pressure on the quarterback. OIU h'oihd'aosifc ha'iodc hfa'oihdg'aviohgf'ihgf'knv'c ..........</div><br /><div>Okay...I'm done. Needless to say, I'm very frustrated with their season. </div><br /><div>Overall, it was another great weekend in Vegas. I forget sometimes the charge I get from playing live, big buy-in tournament poker. It really is fun and you have to make sure you remind yourself that while you're playing because if you only have fun when you do well, more often than not, you're going to hate it. </div><br /><div>I've played 12,600 hands of $.50/$1 NL the last 45 days and have won at a clip of 6.42BB/100. I don't know for sure but I think that's somewhere between okay and average. Anyways, I should be putting in a lot of hours the next two weeks so maybe I can report back with a big score (or two).</div><br /><div>Thanks for reading,</div><br /><div>W2D</div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div></div>Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-14243007245026261832008-10-10T08:51:00.000-07:002008-10-10T09:12:18.564-07:00Ship the First Prop Bet!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZWOleyyYSTPamM1bClQfyzMUdvhRb0l5LCyr53MSxcO5UWwbpjhswPCtaIeczgPHAhGUaS55lV4J_BQV2wbvqGrEuremIi__1COhtuvYafmxKhSr7RPbF4IP0COWIbIheNsRnOWB8xo/s1600-h/Prop+Bet.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZWOleyyYSTPamM1bClQfyzMUdvhRb0l5LCyr53MSxcO5UWwbpjhswPCtaIeczgPHAhGUaS55lV4J_BQV2wbvqGrEuremIi__1COhtuvYafmxKhSr7RPbF4IP0COWIbIheNsRnOWB8xo/s400/Prop+Bet.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5255557497312976834" /></a><br />On July 23rd, <a href="http://rosewsop.blogspot.com/">Rubba</a> and I made a series of prop bets that were discussed in detail on this blog as well as his. We had said the contest would last until the end of November. Shortly after making those bets, we both had busy times in our personal lives that severely cut into our time at the tables. I honestly haven't been thinking too much about them because several of them involve heavy volume which I haven't been able to commit to lately but last night...I continued a huge run I've had at $.50/$1 NL the past ten days. I've been 4-tabling at this level for about three weeks. I have played approx. 11,000 hands at a win rate of only 6.9/100BB but with rakeback, it's helped me add over $1K to my roll the last few weeks.<br /><br />At one table last night (see picture), I was finally able to WIN A PROP BET!! I went on a sick heater which included a $280 pot with 10-9 on a 10-9-3 flop (vs. 3-3 and A-A). River.....obv 9. :):):) I was able to win <u>Prop Bet #4 of the Willing2Die division</u> "<em>Be up at least five (5) buy-in's at a cash table (min. stakes $.50/$1 NL</em>)."<br /><br />I've been a tourney donk for over four years but I'm having so much fun playing cash tables that I've foregone a lot of tournaments lately. I'm going to make a huge push towards some of the other prop bets we have so I can close this deal :):):). I also won a $216 seat to the FTP $750K guar. so if I could somehow win four more seats by Sunday, I could ship another of the prop bets. We'll see....<br /><br />Can the Chargers please beat the damn PATRIOTS one time??!!??!!<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-5966502225038758942008-09-29T17:01:00.000-07:002008-09-29T23:50:23.863-07:00It's only been 25 days...Man....time flies by when you're having, well, ummm......Okay, I've been having fun. September is always a busy month as school starts up for the kids and my wife goes back to work in the classroom. My youngest son started kindergarten and my daughter started Middle School so it was kind of a "special" year for us this year. Soccer is in full swing so my Saturdays consist of refereeing 2 games, watching 2 games, and coaching one more. I'm usually whooped when I get home around 2:00 each Saturday afternoon. I've got so many random thoughts right now that I seem to do best when I bullet-point them. Here it goes:<br /><br /><u><strong>Football</strong></u><br />God, I love football. I'm in 3 Fantasy leagues, 2 football pools, 1 elimination pool, and I have a ton of over/under season bets (see earlier post). As much fun as I've had watching the games this year, I've gotten my a$$ handed to me in a variety of different ways this season. I'm 4-7-1 overall in my 3 Fantasy leagues...I'm in last place in an 18-member pool....I've lost all 4 weeks in a 1-on-1 pool...and I got eliminated in the first week of the elimination pool when I picked K.C. over the Raiders in Week 2. For someone that reads and studies as much about football, I utterly suck when it comes to prognosticating. In week 5, I am literally going to either have my bulldog or my 5-year old make my picks. I couldn't possibly do worse than I did last week. I'm staring at a 4-digit loss in football wagers this season if I don't get my act together.<br /><br />I was able to lasso some 15-yard line tickets to the MNF Chargers v. Jets game last Monday. It was a great game and I always love Qualcomm on gameday. I'm taking the whole family to the Dec. 28th Chargers/Broncos game along with my Boss' family. We're going to spend the weekend down there and tailgate before the game. I've never taken my kids to a Charger game so I'm pretty pumped about that.<br /><br /><strong><u>Poker</u></strong><br />It's been an interesting month for me as I've played quite a bit of poker on FullTilt. I took 12th in the $11.5K on Saturday night when I really thought I was finally going to take one down. I found myself thinking about the $3,500 first prize with about 3 tables left but, alas, I misplayed one hand which really cost me in the end. I went deep in the $28K last night and once again misplayed one hand. It's frustrating how hours of solid play can be ondone by just one hand. I've really been addressing some glaring leaks in my mid-tourney game and I'm starting to see some results so I'm hoping I can hit a big score in the near future. I'm currently reading the Rizen/Ape/PJ book on tournament poker and I like it so far. I always hope to at least pick up one or two tidbits from each book I read.<br /><br />I have played approx. 9,000 hands of $.50/$1 NL on FullTilt in the last month and am only winning at a rate of approx. 4BB/100. This is pretty mediocre but my rakeback helps a little and I'm trying to fill some leaks in my cashgame as well so I'm hoping I can grind a little more before moving back up to $1/$2.<br /><br />I'm going to Vegas Oct. 24-26th and Nov. 14-17th. In October, I'll be staying at NY/NY and I'll be playing the $550 event on Saturday at the Caesar's Palace Classic. The last time I played a live MTT at Casesar's I won it so let's hope I go 2-for-2.<br /><br /><u><strong>Life</strong></u><br />All through my 20's and until I was around 35, I lived my life in a completely different manner than I do now. I was an avid saver/investor of our money and never really did anything real exciting in my life. Not that we lived a boring life....but I just didn't do many "really" exciting things because I was focused on saving money and not being away from my job. From 2003-2006, I had a high-pressure, many-hours assignment at work that had me working nights, weekends, etc. and being out of town for extended periods of time. My life centered around that assignment and consequently, my relationship with my wife and my kids suffered. I got out of that assignment "just in time" and really had somewhat of an epiphany as to how I wanted to live my life. I saw many of my friends that really never did anything fun in their life and my wife and I had incomes that allowed us to do extra things in our life. Since I left that assignment, I've been to the Carribean 3 times, a Chargers game in Green Bay, Disneyworld, Las Vegas around 20 times, a Mexican cruise, and a family trip to Montana. I go to Chargers games whenever I feel like going....I went to UFC 86 at Mandalay Bay...I've been to 2 Brad Paisley concerts...and I'm hoping to be at Couture/Lesnar on November 15th.<br /><br />I guess my point in bringing this up is that I see so many of my suburban friends (most of my friends have 3-5 kids) caught up in the rat race and worrying about their entire lives centering around their children. I think sometimes they forget about being adults...they forget about nurturing their marriages and doing "adult" stuff that makes the other parts of their lives more bearable. When my wife and/or I see something we want to do (Concert, trip, show), instead of thinking of a reason why we CAN'T do it, we usually think of a reason why we can. I wish more people, and more of my friends, had that same attitude about life. We're not here on this earth forever, folks. Like the old adage says....no one is going to commend you at your funeral for all those days you spent at work. HAVE SOME FUN!!!<br /><br /><br />I really hope to post some big poker results in the near future. I've put some extra time in studying and listening to numerous podcasts and I'm hoping to add a new addition to the "Biggest Scores" chart at the top of this blog.<br /><br /><u>Podcasts I Listen to Each Week</u><br />Pokerroad Radio<br />Big Poker Sundays (Pokerroad)<br />Cash Plays (Pokerroad)<br />All Strategy (Pokerroad)<br />Beatdown (Sherdog-MMA)<br />P.T.I. (ESPN Radio)<br />Poker Podcast (Two Plus Two)<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-57415721715709678052008-09-04T23:33:00.000-07:002008-09-04T23:38:56.441-07:00It Never Gets Old-Part 2And for tonight's episode.....I just took 19th in the TILT $11.5K after taking 21st two nights ago (see Part 1). Please tell me what to do differently:<br /><br />Full Tilt Poker Game #7942214790: $11,500 KO Guarantee (60271256),<br />Table 4 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:31:51 ET - 2008/09/05<br />Seat 1: bigbman29 (25,994)<br />Seat 2: javman30 (108,294)<br />Seat 3: badbeatme (87,211)<br />Seat 5: Lez Ride (150,781)<br />Seat 6: HGJ18622 (23,395)<br />bigbman29 antes 250<br />javman30 antes 250<br />badbeatme antes 250<br />Lez Ride antes 250<br />HGJ18622 antes 250<br />bigbman29 posts the small blind of 1,000<br />javman30 posts the big blind of 2,000<br />The button is in seat #6<br />*** HOLE CARDS ***<br />Dealt to HGJ18622 [6h Ac]<br />badbeatme folds<br />Lez Ride folds<br />HGJ18622 raises to 23,145, and is all in<br />bigbman29 raises to 25,744, and is all in<br />javman30 foldsbigbman29 shows [As 4s]<br />HGJ18622 shows [6h Ac]<br />Uncalled bet of 2,599 returned to bigbman29<br />*** FLOP *** [Qd 4h 3s]<br />*** TURN *** [Qd 4h 3s] [Ah]<br />*** RIVER *** [Qd 4h 3s Ah] [4c]<br />bigbman29 shows a full house, Fours full of Aces<br />HGJ18622 shows two pair, Aces and Fours<br />bigbman29 wins the pot (49,540) with a full house, Fours full of AcesWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-53569979573986801382008-09-04T22:21:00.000-07:002008-09-09T10:13:53.208-07:00Lots of NFL side bets for 2008I have booked a ton of NFL bets for the coming season. I'm going to try my best to chronicle them on this blog so I can keep track of them. There is a good chance of a chop on many of them. For example, in the "Q" bets below, if the Jets win 8 games, I push. If Notre Dame wins 6 games, I push. Here they are (so far):<br /><br /><u><strong>"Q"</strong></u><br />$50 N.Y. Jets 7 wins or less<br />$50 Notre Dame 7 wins or more<br />$25 Philadelphia Eagles 7 wins or less<br />$25 Green Bay Packers 11 wins or more<br />$25 San Diego Chargers 13 wins or more<br />$25 Dallas Cowboys 10 wins or less<br />$25 Miami Dolphins 3 wins or less<br />$25 U.C.L.A. 9 wins or more<br /><br /><strong><u>"A"</u></strong><br />$25 Philadelphia Eagles 7 wins or less<br />$25 New England Patriots 11 wins or less<br />$25 Green Bay Packers 11 wins or more<br />$25 San Diego Chargers 13 wins or more<br />$25 Dallas Cowboys 10 wins or less<br />$25 Miami Dolphins 5 wins or more<br />$25 U.C.L.A. 9 wins or more<br /><br /><strong><u>"S"</u></strong><br />$20 Oakland Raiders 8 wins or more<br />$20 New England Patriots 13 wins or more<br />$20 Philadelphia Eagles 9 wins or more<br />$20 Green Bay Packers 11 wins or more<br />$20 San Diego Chargers 13 wins or more<br />$20 Dallas Cowboys 10 wins or less<br />$20 Miami Dolphins 5 wins or more<br />$20 U.C.L.A. 9 wins or more<br /><br /><u><strong>"D"</strong></u><br />$25 Oakland Raiders 6 wins or less<br />$25 Philadelphia Eagles 7 wins or less<br />$25 New England Patriots 11 wins or less<br />$25 Green Bay Packers 11 wins or more<br />$50 San Diego Chargers 13 wins or more<br />$25 Dallas Cowboys 10 wins or less<br />$25 Miam Dolphins 5 wins or more<br />$25 U.C.L.A. 9 wins or moreWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-91001713748993967822008-09-02T23:42:00.000-07:002008-09-04T23:37:28.992-07:00It Never Gets Old-Part 1Just took 21st in the Full Tilt $11.5K. For the third time in the last week, I was within the last 4 tables and got it in with pair over pair pre-flop....I've got to figure out something different. 80% favorites just don't work for me. WTF!!!!!!!<br /><br />Full Tilt Poker Game #7914952863: $11,500 KO Guarantee (60061375), Table 62 - 1000/2000 Ante 250 - No Limit Hold'em - 2:38:08 ET - 2008/09/03<br />Seat 1: longballjy (186,815)<br />Seat 2: HGJ18622 (17,159)<br />Seat 3: luckycatch1 (49,469)<br />Seat 5: FloppedTheNuts (38,428)<br />Seat 6: Dobbsey (88,348)<br />longballjy antes 250<br />HGJ18622 antes 250<br />luckycatch1 antes 250<br />FloppedTheNuts antes 250<br />Dobbsey antes 250<br />FloppedTheNuts posts the small blind of 1,000<br />Dobbsey posts the big blind of 2,000<br />The button is in seat #3<br />*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to HGJ18622 [Qs Qh]<br />longballjy folds<br />HGJ18622 raises to 16,909, and is all in<br />luckycatch1 folds<br />FloppedTheNuts has 15 seconds left to act<br />FloppedTheNuts raises to 38,178, and is all in<br />Dobbsey foldsFloppedTheNuts shows [3d 3s]<br />HGJ18622 shows [Qs Qh]<br />Uncalled bet of 21,269 returned to FloppedTheNuts<br />*** FLOP *** [4c Ah Kh]<br />*** TURN *** [4c Ah Kh] [6s]<br />*** RIVER *** [4c Ah Kh 6s] [3c]<br />FloppedTheNuts shows three of a kind, Threes<br />HGJ18622 shows a pair of Queens<br />FloppedTheNuts wins the pot (37,068) with three of a kind,<br />ThreesHGJ18622 stands upWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-32786935573060138852008-08-28T16:21:00.000-07:002008-08-28T16:49:07.542-07:00Dog Days of AugustWhen I started this blog a few months back, I hoped to display the perspective of an everyday working guy with kids and a wife and his pursuit of glory in the poker world. Over time, I have resorted to simply telling you about bad beats, tourney results, and the occasional anecdote about prop bets or Vegas trips. The last week has shook me back into reality and has so harshly reminded me why my quest to elevate my poker game always seems to be an uphill battle.<br /><br />My wife and oldest daughter were out of town for the weekend so I was home alone with my two boys. They had both fallen asleep watching a movie on the couch and I was playing in three different MTT's around 9:30 in the evening. My work phone rang and it was my boss telling me that we had just had an officer-involved shooting at work. As the Commander of the Internal Affairs Unit, I have to respond to every OIS. But here I was.....stuck at home with my two boys and no one to watch them. I abandoned the three MTT's (so much for those buy-in's) and quickly called a good friend of mine who allowed me to drop my two boys off at his house for the night. I knew it was going to be a long night as any call-out is usually a 5-hour minimum.<br /><br />When I got to work, I found out that our SWAT officers had attempted to stop a murder suspect (the guy had shot and killed an innocent man outside a bank) and the suspect jumped out of his vehicle and opened fire on the officers. A fairly hellacious gunbattle ensued with no one getting injured before the suspect was actually able to escape. The investigation took most of the night and I ended up getting home around 6:00 in the morning. As I was driving home (and weaving from one side of the road to the other), I was thinking to myself that I'm pretty sure most of the online pros that I seem to "envy" don't have these sorts of things happen to them when they're in the middle of MTT's. It was a real splash to the face....again realizing that I probably have too many things going on in my life to really make an impact in the poker world. I can't really expect myself to be analyzing hands and thinking poker strategy 24 hours a day when I have friends and co-workers being shot at and I'm in charge of the investigations. (sigh)<br /><br />Since I had to skip an entire night of sleep, I've been pretty much of a basket case ever since which has again reduced my ability to play late night MTT's. I've shown some very uncharacteristic restraint in NOT playing poker the last few nights when I've been tired. In the past, I've played anyways and gotten so tired that I've found myself hoping I would bust so I could go to bed. Yesterday was the first day of school and my youngest boy started kindergarten so it was a pretty big day in our house. With school starting, my weekly schedule looks something like this:<br /><ul><li>Coaching soccer 6:30-7:30 on Mon-Wed.</li><li>Getting home from work every other night at 7:00.</li><li>Attend, coach, or referee 5 soccer games every Saturday.</li><li>Make lunches for 3 kids every night.</li><li>Workout with a personal trainer 3 times a week.</li></ul><p>Where exactly am I supposed to fit in the volume necessary to either make a steady flow of income from poker or actually win some of the prop bets I have with RUBBA? I still hold out hopes of making big scores in the poker arena but it is becoming harder and harder with my schedule. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like If I was 15 years younger and in college during the boom of online poker. I would probably be very well-known or broke without a degree. Take your pick!!</p><p>For the record, I came the closest yet to picking up one of the prop bets with RUBBA. I ran a $.50/$1.00 NL cash game on Full Tilt up to $419 before falling short. One of the bets is to have 5 buy-in's at a table and I almost made it. The forecast is not too good over the next couple of weeks for a lot of online play but I will do my best. I hope that it will make me focus just a little more knowing that I don't have the luxury of playing ten tournaments a day.</p><p>I'll keep you updated...Thanks for reading.</p><p>W2D</p>Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-48731978373239904342008-08-17T21:14:00.000-07:002008-08-19T08:32:15.587-07:00UpdateFor the record, I didn't quit. Shocker.....I've had a 47th, 46th, 23rd, and 20th place finish in MTT"s with at least a $4,500 first prize in the last 7 days. I may be coming to the conclusion that I am...well.....ordinary. :):)<br /><br />W2D<br /><br />EDIT: I just finished 17th in the TILT $17K running K-K all-in pre-flop into 5-5. Board...Q-2-3-4-6. Like the mule that I am, I'll just keep running my head into this wall until the wall crumbles or I go unconscious.Willing2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-52503192170530418362008-08-10T19:48:00.000-07:002008-08-10T19:52:48.496-07:00I quit!I made the 3rd hour of nine MTT's in the last 6 days and have cashed in 3 out of 9. I am running as bad as it gets....the following hand happens to me every single tournament in the 3rd or 4th hour. My coping ability has come to an end. I feel adrift at sea...<br /><br />Full Tilt Poker Game #7598105304: $32,000 Guarantee (57063392), Table 36 - 400/800 Ante 100 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:37:59 ET - 2008/08/10<br />Seat 1: SweetLuh (13,143)<br />Seat 2: beleivedat (40,186)<br />Seat 3: mcclain21 (35,217)<br />Seat 4: ATrain16 (18,110)<br />Seat 5: njrepp (56,176)<br />Seat 6: JoNova (10,110)<br />Seat 7: Sweendog24 (8,975)<br />Seat 8: Burbur111 (11,120)<br />Seat 9: HGJ18622 (18,782)<br />SweetLuh antes 100<br />***Dealt to HGJ18622 [Jc Jh]<br />ATrain16 foldsnjrepp folds<br />JoNova folds<br />Sweendog24 raises to 8,875, and is all in<br />Burbur111 folds<br />HGJ18622 raises to 18,682, and is all in<br />SweetLuh folds<br />beleivedat folds<br />mcclain21 folds<br />HGJ18622 shows [Jc Jh]<br />Sweendog24 shows [7d 6d]<br />Uncalled bet of 9,807 returned to HGJ18622<br />*** FLOP *** [3s Th 7h]<br />*** TURN *** [3s Th 7h] [6s]<br />*** RIVER *** [3s Th 7h 6s] [8h]<br />HGJ18622 shows a pair of Jacks<br />Sweendog24 shows two pair, Sevens and Sixes<br />Sweendog24 wins the pot (19,850) with two pair, Sevens and Sixes<br /><br />Who needs the bullshit....<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-49539928260353386612008-08-06T20:47:00.001-07:002008-08-06T20:51:03.043-07:00FTOPS UpdateI went deep in the TILT $17K last night (20th out of 951 entrants) so I thought maybe things would continue tonight in FTOPS Event #1. Unfortunately, I was at work late so I actually had to play while driving home (30-minute drive). I don't know if anyone has ever played on their laptop WHILE driving but it sucks. I picked up A-A in the BB and a limper ended up flopping a set of 7's on me for half my stack. I was pretty much short for the next 2 1/2 hours and played a short stack pretty well but ended up running A-J into A-A to cripple me then ran 6-6 into A-A to finish the job....<br /><br />I probably won't play another FTOPS event until Sunday's $300 event.<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-412711698779606494.post-41945428180417194772008-08-05T15:48:00.000-07:002008-08-05T15:58:06.534-07:00Quick Update...I returned from Jamaica on Friday and am now back at my dungeon I call work. Man....I could really live in Jamaica. I mean...if I didn't have kids, responsibilities, etc., etc.<br /><br />I came back ready to smash the online scene but Saturday night was "one of those nights" as I was only able to play two MTT's. I got it all-in with K-K v. A-K and Q-J on a K-10-5 board. Yeah, no good (river Ace). I then got it all-in in the other one with K-K v. A-K. Yeah, no good (runner-runner straight). I did win an FTOPS seat so that eased the pain. I will really start ramping up the MTT volume over the next couple of days.<br /><br />After over four years of playing online, I finally purchased Pokertracker 3 on Saturday. It has taken me a little bit to get it set up and situated but I have already seen improvements and enjoy the HUD feature which gives me added input when I'm multi-tabling. I'm looking forward to see if it improves my results.<br /><br />Besides the tons of bets with Rubba this month (see previous post), I've got various other things brewing:<br /><br />$50...I've got Notre Dame for 7 wins or more this year. 6 wins, I push. 5 wins or less I lose.<br />$50...I've got N.Y. Jets for 8 wins or less this year. 9 wins, I push. 10 wins or more I lose.<br />$20...I win if Brett Favre is the GB starter in week 1. I lose if Aaron Rodgers is the GB starter in week 1 (I'm fucked on this one).<br />I also opened my big mouth the third week of June and told a close buddy of mine (huge GB fan) that if Favre ever played another down with the Packers, I'd go to a game with him this year at Lambeau (we went last year). As it stands today, it looks like I'm safe on this one. That would have been a $1,500 loss.<br /><br />I'm looking to pile up a ton of NFL prop bets this year as I feel I can take the best of it against most of my friends. Very few of them know what the hell they're talking about.<br /><br />Anyways, FTOPS starts tomorrow. I'm hoping to play event #1 at 1800 hrs. Weeeeeeeeeeeee<br /><br />Thanks for reading,<br /><br />W2DWilling2Diehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08621380839256156194noreply@blogger.com0