SplitSuit.com

What a good holiday it turned out to be. I will start from the beginning and try to do this by day:

Thursday: I woke up at 6a, took care of emails and 2p2 stuff, then packed up. Hit the road for Palm Springs (about a 4.5hr trip) at 8. Nice weather on the road, so no complaints from me. Jessica (for those unaware, that is the name of my car) did very well. There were a lot of grade changes (elevation changes from 1K-3K feet regularly)…but I just took it easy and had no issues. In the desert there are very few highway rest stops…which sucks because back East you are spoiled with a rest stop like every 40mi. I am also a complete nit and never want to feel stressed about gas in the desert (breaking down out there, esp where phone reception isn’t always guranteed, would suck)…so I stopped at some random exit to get gas. Damn stuff was $3.49/gal…which is nuts being the worst I saw anywhere else was $2.89. lol…I got robbed…but whatever.

Got to Palm Springs at like 12:30 and got some food in my belly right away. My grandparents new place is actually quite nice…and in a very quiet location. Quite scenic as well with mountains in the background and palm tress everywhere. Mostly just caught up and ate the entire day. Didn’t eat the actual turkey until about 4:30p and I passed out quickly after desert…but still a good day none the less =)

Friday: Woke up at 9a, which was awesome as I needed a lot of sleep. Went down to the pool as soon as I woke up (the weather there is like 20* hotter than Vegas, so swimming was certainly an option). Starting the day with swimming laps and then beer+hot tub is a great way to begin. I met a few of my their friends at the pool, and all were very nice. It is apparently a very gay community, so I met some guy training for the “gay games” in Germany (he didn’t seem to find my “gaylympics” comment very funny, lol) and another gay couple who adopted a twins….very well behaved twins actually.

Went back after, got some breakfast, and got ready for the day. Headed over to the Palm Springs Tram which is really cool. We had to wait for about an hour for our turn, so we just played Rummy 500 while waiting. We then rode the tram car up the mountain (about 6K feet up) and got an amazing view over LA, the mountain itself, and the windmill farm. Very cool to say the least. On the top of the mountain are a few restaurants and giftshops, but we just took some pictures and then headed back down. Ended up meeting a nice family from Philly who was out here for some field hockey tournament…and one of the kids was thinking about going to Syracuse for college, so I talked to her about that and gave her some helpful advice =)

Got back down the mountain, then went to this Gorilla Burger place for dinner. Quite good and had a jalapeno burger which was actually quite good. My grandma suggested we go to one of the local casinos (Aqua Caliente)…and luckily for me they had a poker room. Fairly small room, but had about 12 tables I would guess, and looked fairly well run. Got my name on the 1/3NL, 2/5NL, and 6/12/Kill 08…and got called for the 6/12Kill O8 first. Ended up playing that all night (only played for around 1.5-2hrs), and made $1 profit after tipping out and ATM rake. Sweet night =) Played very well, but got caught in a 4way killer pot with 2nd 2nd (A862 on an A8644 board against 32xx 32xx and J874…also, if you are not laughing at J874…you do not understand O8 =) ). O well…nice to play a lil live for a mix up.

Saturday: Woke up at 7a, got ready, at eggs benedict, and then helped with dishes. Packed up and got ready to go pick up my great grandma from the airport, as I wanted to do lunch with her before I left. It was raining as we left, which was odd because the locals told me that it hadn’t rained in months. It made the drive hellish because desert people do not know how to drive in the rain, and it was coming down really hard. Picked great grandma up no issue, grabbed lunch at TGIFridays with her, and then bounced back to Vegas.

It was only a 3.5hr drive back but hellish because the weather was on and off. Managed to do the whole trip on 2 CDs, but enjoyed the overall drive. Got home, got set up, and crashed out quickly. Woke up this morning for coaching and have been going ever since. Going to do another one (damn time zone conversion) and then possibly another one later on today.

Hopefully the holiday was good for yall as well.

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So the video I released a few days has been getting some views (around 500 or so uniques at the moment), not including the people that downloaded it. Very cool that I am getting that much more volume per video than I was about a year ago. There were some interesting comments left in the thread on the video, and I wanted to address them here (because I will personally read this post in 1yr…I will probably never check that thread again after it dies off):

Thanks for making this. Question – do you find this style is easier to play at 25NL than say 50 or 100NL? I ask because it seems like when I played 25NL, everyone folds to cbets all the time. lol But at 50NL+, this obv isn’t as much the case. And since you are looking for folds, do you find yourself double/triple barreling more to achieve this?

Another way of asking, I’d assume there would be fewer of the spots you are looking for the higher the stakes, so how does a LAG compensate for this?

In my opinion and experience this style works extremely well at lower limits, 25NL and 50NL especially. This is because the regs at these levels understand some basic things, like not making huge pots with weak hands. They understand this so well that they fold too damn much…leaving a huge opportunity for LAGs to make a healthy WR. I said in the video that the money now a days is in LAG…and I think that is true at these limits. If you try to play like this at 100NL or 200NL, you will most likely get killed. Players there will pressure you back, won’t give you the FE you so desire, and will make your life hell.

I just think alot of beginners to this strategy will look at how successful you were in this video and then boot up stars immediately, try to apply what they have seen, and get themselves into alot of trouble cause they dont get the hands you got.

This play style is not for everyone. Very importantly, and this will be touched on in the article I am writing in a few weeks, is that in order to be a successful LAG you have to be a successful TAG. You can be a LAG if you are a good TAG, but you cannot be a good LAG if you cannot TAG well. So don’t go try to run 30/25 if you don’t understand like all of a TAG play style…otherwise your leaks will stick out like sore thumbs

Why do folks who make a living from poker, or want to, educate others how to play better?

If you play at a higher limit, then fewer bad players, or less bad, will be moving up to your limit. It seems very ev-. You might learn something but I can’t see how that could out way all the cost of better educated opponents.

This is a very fair question that I actually get asked more often that I care to admit. You will notice that videos I give out for free do not go into anywhere near the detail I go into for say, my videos on Stox. I do these videos for entertainment and for some education. I also do them to show people fun stuff. I remember when I was coming up in this game I saw some vids of people playing super loose…if nothing else it was very entertaining…but I understood the underlying value in the videos.

I also do videos and posts and articles because I enjoy it. I enjoy teaching people, I enjoy giving back to a community that has given me quite a bit. Do I realize what I am doing to the games? Of course. Do I care? To an extent, of course. But these videos, much more so than my videos on Stox, give information that is useless without work. For example, my Equity Exploration video…this is the most popular video on my site and has gotten over 4000 unique views. The video gives a lot of info, and a lot of ways to start thinking and framing poker in a different way. Is the video going to make someone a tough player? Not unless the person takes the video, does the work, applies the lessons, and constantly thinks, reflects, and adjusts it.

That is why I give what I give. I have no problem giving someone the keys to the car knowing that they cannot start the car until they find it in the parking lot. I give information that is useless without work being put towards putting into context before putting it into a profitable strategy. I am a teacher…this is what I do for people that want things for free. If you pay for it, obviously I give it all to you…but again, it is useless unless you put in the work.

I will admit I am tired and that may only make sense in my head (I will re-read it in the morning, lol)…but those are my initial thoughts on the matter.

Hopefully you enjoyed my rambling

*SS*

I know this will be a pain in the ass for those that have been using Skype+ Teamviewer with me, and I apologize. Teamviewer gives you X ammount of hours before they charge you for it, and oddly enough, I have gone over that limit this year, lol. (and rather than pay $400 for it…I’d rather find a free alternative)

So go here: http://www.mikogo.com

and download it. Hopefully this option works well. Make sure you go to “Settings”, then “Preferences” tab, and select “Max Speed” from the Quality/Speed section.

Sorry for the pain in the ass =(

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LAG Video 25NL

It has been awhile since I made a video, so I decided to make a LAG video at 25NL today. I ran 30/25, 3b: 14% and ATS: 76%. The video goes over pressure spots, some 3b-ing, some talk about when to lay off, and examining our image to make optimal plays. This is a precursor to the “TAG 2 LAG” article I will be writing for the COTW in a few weeks. Enjoy the video, and any questions/comments are welcome!

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The weekend was good, though busy. Ended up doing 6 hours of coaching, which may not seem like a lot of hours…but I assure you, 6 hours of hardcore focusing and thinking and talking is damn intense, lol. Also had my shortstacking student which I think went really well, and got all of his questions answered on the document I mentioned in a previous blog post. I am absolutely wiped, so this post will be short. I’ll make it up at some point.

Took Friday night pretty easy. Just jumped over to crEATe with my roommate and enjoyed a meal before bed. Felt like a loser still going to bed before midnight on a weekend…but O well…it is a severe function of the work schedule. Got a good 13hrs of sleep, did students all day Saturday, and then jumped down to the strip at night. Met up with Equus Ansus from 2p2 with my roommate over at Noodle Asia at the Venetian. I honestly do not think there is a better place to get shrimp fried rice…trust me. Equus was a cool kid…def a smart guy who has his head on straight…and always cool to meet a student (albeit not for quiiiiiiiite some time) in real life.

Was supposed to meet up with some college friends after that, but they ended up bailing on me. So I walked the strip for a little bit and considered putting in a session over at PH. But I could not figure out where an actual ATM was (they had these odd ticket machines that I thought were ATMs…but alas, they were not)…so decided it was an omen not to play and went home. Woke up this morning, did 3 more hours of coaching, and here I am. Super tired, and have my alarm set at 5:30a to make sure I am up for the open…sweet =) Hope all is well…and in light of my horrible post, here is a song…enjoy!

(also, random…but hopefully yall enjoy the new buttons. Now you know wtf they are for, lol)

*SS*

Ship the jar of rungood. I got my laptop fixed up yesterday and I cannot tell you how good it feels to be back and working on my machine again. Turns out I just needed a new fan and I haven’t had a hiccup since. And I have been pretty damn productive since…which I am happy about.

Today was kind of a rollycoaster. Got in a really bad mood earlier when I effed up some backtesting stuff and realized how behind I am on certain things. Figured I wouldn’t let myself get too down on that so decided to get all of my phone calls out of the way for the week and also finished up my shortstacking document. I seriously do not think I have written something so…valuable…before. It is only 8 pages with a few charts, but it is the most intense shortstacking system I have come across. Only reason I wrote it was because one of my students wanted to shortstack…but I charge a lot for it…so I figured I would put some serious time into it.

Then I got a PM from dtan about getting a coaching/staking stable off the ground. I agreed and off we go. The offer is focused at 25NL/50NL FR players looking to get moving upwards…and you get coaching with me =) Here is the link for those interested. I have been looking to get involved in something like this for awhile, so hopefully it takes off and hopefully everyone wins in the end of it all.

Nothing else really big or new. I am going to Palm Springs for Thanksgiving for sure, and just bought my plane tickets for Boston (spending pretty much all of December there)…so I will be out and about the next month or so. Should be a good time, but I’ll just be working like usual. I am not looking forward to snow, but then again I hate when it is only 65* out here…so whatever. If anyone is out in the Boston area during that time give me a HU…I’m always looking for more people to eat Legal with =)

Random stuff: I decided to drive into the desert the other day because the sky was looking cool and I was really ADD-ing. I took some pictures that will be attached (just with my iPhone, hence the quality). Apparently the cool car club of Vegas meets in the desert because as I was driving in a large collection of awesome cars was driving 90mph in the opposite direction. Cars included were a lambo, 2 gorgeous porches and an M3. I finally got my doc appointment all set up. For some odd reason spam bots are loving my site…I randomly got 200 spam comments in 24hrs this week. Why do some people treat their Facebook accounts like Twitter accounts?…use the right service dammit. I have fallen in love with cherry 7up…that is all

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So I had a feeling last week that the computer tech guy would not be here on Thursday or Friday. Believe it or not, I was correct. The customer service guy said Monday would be the last day I would possibly have to wait for. I decided to call this morning just to make sure that someone would be out here today. Not really to my surprise the customer service guy told me that my request for a tech was never put through last week. NO FUCKING WAY! Seriously…I wish I could say I was shocked…but ’tis how I run sometimes. Finally get a call from the computer tech today, but he might not be out here until Thursday/Friday. I really have no bets placed that he will be here tomorrow or Wednesday…in fact, I really wouldn’t be shocked if I had to wait until after Thanksgiving.

Other than that, nothing is really new. The trading system is getting stronger and stronger. I may create a blog in the next month or so so I can start showing some of my trades, and I tend to learn better when I write about what I am doing anyway. Still trading on the sim account, but no reason to rush into live yet until we are sure the system is +EV enough. We have actually been getting a lot of help from a trading coach…so hopefully that all pans out well…

I really want to be grinding right now tbh. My sleep schedule has me awake for only 12 hours per day, and I have about 4 free hours per day (after eating, trading, attempted relaxing, coaching) and want to spend that working more. I just need to wait for my laptop to be fully fixed. I did end up picking up a lot of students in the last few days…some leakfinder and some taking advantage of the end of year sale…so my schedule will be picking up a little bit. Also picked up a SSing student which I haven’t done in quite some time…so that should be fun as well.

Past that, life is the same. Random junk in a few lines: some kid tried to steal my racquetball the other day…normally I wouldnt care but I have very few left and didn’t want to have to go to the store. I felt bad cuz the kid was super embarassed about it. whoops. Equus is coming into town this weekend so I will go down to the strip and see him at some point. I have been going to bed at 6p every night and feel like the biggest loser. If 21yr old me ever met 23yr old me…a brawl would be enacted and 21yr old me would win. I am also going to be writing a COTW for December on transitioning into a LAG…so that should be fun (and I will try to add pictures to make it less boring). That is all.

Hope all is well!

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So my damn laptop decided it didn’t want to stay on yesterday. Called support to figure it out, and it turns out that the fan inside is probably dead. Makes sense because my laptop will turn itself off if it gets too hot. I’m supposed to have a tech coming out in the next few days (Monday at the latest), which sucks because I feel so odd without my normal set up. My roommate is letting me use his desktop for the time being, which is nice because I need to get certain things done.

Sleep schedule has been hilarious. I slept for 15hrs last night (1p-4a) and that has been pretty standard. I really don’t know what is wrong with me. My guess is either depression (although I really don’t feel depressed right now) or sickness or I am catching up on all the hours of sleep I missed in Boston. Again, I have no idea which it is…but whatever…it’ll figure itself out.

Random things from this week:

1.) I flooded my bathroom. I was cleaning it (the irony in this is LOL obviously) and without thinking threw some paper towels in the toilet after cleaning the seat, flushed it, and walked away. Heard the horrible sound of running water 2 minutes later and found my floor covered in water. I was just lucky to have found it quickly, and used a weeks worth of laundry to dry it all up. No mold as of yet, and everything seems to be back to normal. Lesson learned

2.) Never eat a whopper without cheese on it. That is all

3.) I went to the store to pick up some fried chicken (the local food store has an amazing deli with in-store made fried chicken). They also have amazing dipping sauce (buttermilk ranch that I cannot seem to find anywhere else). I ask the guy behind the counter for extra sauces, and he apparently ran out. He jokingly asked me if I wanted the full bottle…I seriously accepted and left. Score free sauce for me =)

4.) I started the uFR Secret Santa 2009 this week. LINK for those interested. This event was a ton of fun last year, and in just 2 days I already have more people involved in this year’s. Jump in if interested, as the more the merrier.

5.) If you remember about a month ago I went to a GP to get the ball rolling on seeing a psychiatrist. The GP gave me 2 places to get in touch with. I just called them yesterday (thank you ADD for moving that process along in a timely manner). Turns out he referred me to 2 in-patient mental wards (where you check yourself in for weeks at a time). WTF signals did I give off!??! I’m guessing he just gave me 2 phone numbers from his list of mental health services list…but wtf

That is all. I am done with trading for the day (may start up again later, but not sure yet). System is working out quite well, so no complaints. Have a good one everyone

*SS*

Things have been pretty interesting over the last few days. My sleep schedule is totally LOL-able. I am averaging 14 hours of sleep per day, which leads me to believe that I am sick. This kind of scares me because the girl I was hanging out with in Boston the whole week just came down with swing flu yesterday. Hopefully I missed it and don’t have that, or any other virus…but time shall tell. I am also doing odd things like going to bed at 6p and waking up 4 hours later. I can’t seem to get a full 8+hrs of sleep…so I am just taking lots of long naps per day. Waking up at these odd hours has me really tweaked, but at least I’m functioning =)

Trading stuff is going pretty well. Ended up finding a very sick system and back-testing has been very profitable thus far. The plan is to live test it for a few days and then re-eval from there. I have a lot of faith in it, and our risk management system is pretty awesome off the bat. So hopefully we get some positive results and we can start grinding that out.

Poker grinding has been going well. I actually got to suck out on somone the other day which was odd (AA v 65 on a K955 in a 3b pot (binked the A on the river)) and nice. I am playing pretty damn well, though because I am playing at such primetime hours, my stats have been super nitty (11/9-13/11). I love running looser, but profit is profit. I have also collected some awesome hands so I might end up doing some poker hand reviews on them…though maybe I shouldn’t because they were cool bluffs, and I don’t need people calling me down lighter =)

Doing well on my goals thus far. Started reading “The Secret” (which btw was given to me as a gift by my ‘friend who is a girl’ in Boston)…and I will give some reviews on that when I am done with it. Started making some music the other night, and have some hands under my belt. Also picked up one new student already, and just came up with some more incentives for those looking for coaching. I decided to do an End of Year coaching sale…so prices are discounted on 3hr packages (and super discounted for 2NL-10NL players). Link for those interested. I really think this will be my favorite thing ever, because I love shorter packages and I love that I get to do my favorite types of sessions (sweat, HH review, theory lecture)….and hopefully students agree =)

Past that, I am going down to the strip to meet up with Kurt for breakfast, and then I’m back here for 3 hours of coaching, a nap, and then the markets. Hope the weekend was solid for everyone

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I’m heading to the airport in an hour and just figured I would write something up before I left. My vacation was very solid. My sleep schedule is very silly right now though. I cannot seem to sleep an entire night all the way through. Not really sure why, but I can only sleep for like 2hrs at a time, and then I wake up. Very odd, but hopefully it will correct itself when I get back to Vegas.

Spent most of my remaining time in the city. Had a really nice dinner at a place called “Sonsie” over on Newbury. Really good stuff, and we did a nice tasting of the menu. I will say I was very impressed with the oysters and scallops…but I’m a total seafood whore =) Also ended up doing sushi with my mom earlier today, which was good. Though sad to say that my sushi place in Vegas is better than the one I went to today. But O well…

I’m in an odd mood at the moment and most of that is due to a lot of reflection over the last few days. I realized that I am not where I wanted to be by 23. I actually feel reeeeeeeally behind where I wanted to be. A big part of that is that I feel like I am floating. I have felt like this for most of the last 2.5years, and I have been fully aware of it. I think I need to put more structure in my life. As an ADD kid, I desperately desire structure to make me productive. So I am going to start working on that more.

In saying that, I need to figure out what I want to do with the trading stuff. I already have my trading account all set up (joint account), but I do not feel like I am ready to start trading yet. This has been pretty frustrating to me. My roommate is an amazing learner, and probably the most motivated person I have ever met…and I know I am taking a much longer time to get a good handle on all of this. I just got to the point the other day where I realized that I don’t NEED to keep up. I can, and thus will, work at my own pace. And besides, I have learned a ton about markets/trading over the last 2mo anyway…

That being said, I am going to start grinding much more. My student load has picked up considerably, but I feel I need to be putting in more volume as October was a fairly light month as far as volume, or any sort of productivity, is concerned. So this will be the first month in almost 10 that I will make goals:

1.) 50K hands at a minimum
2.) Get through the entire trading strategy blog
3.) Pick up at least 2 students
4.) $4K month at a minimum
5.) Read “The Secret”
6.) Make at least 1 new song
7.) Write something for 2p2 (maybe a 5,555 post post)

That is all. Sorry for the lengthy post. Hope all is well!

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