Start Your Engines
By myself | December 18, 2007
Couple things to note. First of all, Pokerstars has come to the Mac! I was sick of having to use a virtual machine or use a friend’s PC to play on Pokerstars but finally with this beta version out I can natively play on the two big sites (Full Tilt Poker being the other). Now all I need is Poker Tracker to come to the Mac and I won’t need to think about a PC as far as poker is concerned.
Also this past week the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule has been released featuring eight $10k buy-in championship events including the main event. Also of note is the WSOP is starting much earlier than in past years with the first event beginning in late May. Time to get your bankrolls in order as the most degenerate time of the year is coming soon.
Topics: Happenings, Poker | No Comments »
Itchy Hands
By myself | December 14, 2007
Been getting the itch to play some cards. Stopped by the good ol Commerce Casino the night of the Mayweather vs. Hatton fight (Mayweather #1 USA #1) to catch the 2nd half of the fight since they had it on. Every time I walk into the good ol Commerce I get the rush of wanting to play as high as possible. Maybe it’s the gentle sound of the collection bell going off in top section. Or maybe it’s their lack of eye-candy talent in their services department which makes me just concentrate on gamb00ling up. But when it comes down to it nothing beats getting squeezed out of a pot in the 40/80 hold’em game when you’re holding TPTK when you lead the turn and it gets 3 bet to you and you figure you have to be beat so you muck but then on the river it goes check-check and you feel sick that you let the best hand go because the pot just got pushed to some Korean lady with only J high while the Armenian man who 3 bet you out is muttering that he “missed everything”. Only at the good ol Commerce.
Topics: Happenings, Poker | 2 Comments »
Can’t Help But Wait
By myself | December 12, 2007
A lot on my mind these days. Normally I just go with the flow but lately I’ve been obsessive on what tomorrow will bring. Been working a lot the past couple weeks so haven’t had the time to really think about anything however when I do have a moment I’m constantly trying to sort the madness in my head.
One thing that crosses my mind a lot is my desire to play poker. It seems I am back and forth on how much I want to rely on playing to supplement my income. Part of me wants to devote myself full-time while another part of me wants to keep it as a hobby. The full-timer in me is seeking a life of flexibility in time and location while the hobbyist in me is making sure life is stable.
I don’t think I can go half way with this. Either I decide on some other ‘career’ or I got to go for the full-time ride _again_ but hopefully do it the right way (bankroll management, dedication, etc.).
But all of these thoughts are dwarfed by my immediate situation of figuring out whatimgoingtodowithmyselfrightnowandwherethehellamigoingtolive.
For most of my adult life things haven’t been so stable and I was fine with that. Actually, probably just used to it. I almost preferred not knowing what tomorrow will bring because it’s just one less thing to worry about. However when you don’t have things in place today then tomorrow can be kinda scary.
I thought a year ago this time things were coming around stability wise. Found a place to live right next to the beach for way cheap for the area. Work was so easy and I was in my best financial shape. Then all of a sudden we’re in the beginning of 2007 and I get a ‘promotion’ by default into a spot I ultimately didn’t want to take and by Spring I decided to make the big decision to walk away from a job and title that most everyone in the industry would love to have.
I still stand by my reasons for walking away – mainly I didn’t want the job to become a career. At the time I felt like I can pull off the pro poker thing however it was just an excuse to not get stuck in something I didn’t want to let define my life.
Then came the pro poker trial which was doomed from the start because what I really desired was a break from everything to figure out what I wanted to do.
Which leads to today and what I talked a bit about last post. I’m trying something new and seeing if it’s to my liking.
What I’m starting to realize is there probably isn’t a ‘career’ out there which will be to my liking. In the end all we do is go for something we don’t have at the moment and when we do we move on eventually. It’s really all about the journey and the paths we take. While results are what we measure ourselves and others on what we take from everything we do is how we get there.
I just want to get to a point in my life where the results don’t matter and I can just enjoy the ride.
In the meantime in between time I’m kind of in a holding pattern until things just play itself out. Until then I’m just going to keep dreamin’ the dream.
Topics: Happenings, Poker | No Comments »
Still Alive
By myself | December 1, 2007
Wow not a single post since September. Lots been going on, just not much related to poker. This is still a poker blog, I think.
Anyhow I maybe have played poker a handful of times since last post. Nothing memorable. I did go to Vegas three times in a span of four weeks which is a lot even for me. Vegas is usually a poker business trip but lately it’s been just Vegas. I even returned to the table games and bet sports which signaled the end of my current run at a ‘pro’ poker career. I’m sure I’ll give it a go again because everything I do is in cycles. This latest stint I finished with a small profit, definitely not enough to live off of. The best part of it all was the lifestyle outside of poker – waking up whenever, enjoying the beach, playing golf, etc.
Kind of ironic how the lifestyle I desired from playing poker became the downfall of playing professionally. I was having too much fun being a Man of Leisure tm. Much rather be at the beach or on a golf course than grinding out a living online or a poker table. I needed to be like ImperialSam and play poker every non-sleeping/working minute if I were to be successful.
So where does life lead me now? At the tail end of my pro poker playing days I developed an interest in the entertainment industry. Worked as a background actor for various TV shows and also served as a PA for a reality show and just observed and absorbed everything going on. Still trying to find a niche where I can fit in this industry. I just so happened to luckbox working a post-production gig doing HD concert videos. Had to dust off my tech skills from back in the day to get my foot in the door but hopefully I can learn everything there is to know about post-production.
Even though my interests have swayed to entertainment, poker will always be a part of my life. I’ll definitely get the itch to play a lot at some point but for now a session of 4/8 Omaha 8/b here or there is enough for me these days.
Topics: Entertainment, Happenings, Poker | No Comments »
Life Is Beautiful
By myself | September 24, 2007
If you get a chance to check out The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack do so immediately. Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue wrote a memoir of his time of drug addiction. Memorable tracks include “Van Nuys”, “Life is Beautiful”, “Accidents Can Happen”, and “Dead Man’s Ballet.” Each chapter of the book had a corresponding music track. Neat stuff. Came across this while cruising with DaRealSheezy. Nikki Sixx was in town promoting his book and he was able to pick up a copy of it and the album.
So for the 9548375th time I am officially declaring my suckage at poker. I just don’t have the patience or drive to play, especially online. For whatever reason I want to beat the online game but it’s a whole different game compared to the live one. You definitely got to focus more online with all the distractions going on like surfing the net, instant messaging, email, etc.
Good to know once I find the passion to play again the games are still good in the local card rooms. DaRealSheezy, coons^3, ImperialSam, and WhereIsTheF**kinFreeway decided to make a stop at the Hustler Casino this past Friday night. I didn’t play but I was a spectator to some hands that were pretty entertaining. I believe it was limped in by 4 players on a flop of K Q J rainbow. It goes check, bet $25, raise to $50, fold, check raise to $75, fold, and the guy who bet $50 thinks and then shoves for close to another $200 more. He gets snap called by AT obviously and the guy who shoves you’d think has maybe has two pair or pair with a ten or something right? Nope. He has A5o. Send all the money away. This was a $100-300 buy-in NLH game with $2/5 blinds. Definitely the game to play on the weekend. Other variants available at other Los Angeles area card rooms are just as good if not better.
Summer is over which means it’s football season. Having a rough start to the season being a Charger fan especially after today’s debacle. At least I got in on some fantasy football action. Last year I decided not to play since I was still bitter about being in a rigged league in 2005.
Should only be a matter of time before I go back to my old job. In the meantime in between time still doing background work for television shows. Can be pretty fun to be on set and see how everything is done. Have met some interesting people and heard some crazy stories. Now I have to get a Tivo and start recording everything I might be on this fall.
Topics: Happenings, Music, Poker, Sports | No Comments »
Starting Up Again
By myself | September 8, 2007
For whatever reason I decided to fire up Full Tilt Poker the other day since they sent me some cache monies to mess around with. Donked around the $5 + .50 SnG’s and am on a +10 buy-in run after 18 of them (15 of which were NLH – donked the first 3 in PLO and O8). While the early success is nice I’m very much aware it is a fortunate upswing. What I’m happy about is I’ve gone back to basics and staying patient and try not to get too fancy. It helps that the $5 + .50’s are pretty soft. Being away from the game for some time has helped me see where my leaks are and hopefully I can keep up the solid play.
Though I haven’t been playing much I’ve still kept up with poker player blogs here and there. Been reading a lot of the CardRunners.com stuff which I find interesting. Those guys are very passionate about poker. Passion has been one of the main things I’ve been lacking in my game for the past couple years.
I’ve been following Brian Townsend’s blog lately and it’s amazing the dedication and passion he has for poker. He plays the highest cache games but regardless of what limit he is playing I’m sure he will do all he can to beat it. He recently picked up a MacBook Pro and has nothing but good things to say about it. Being a Mac guy myself I read that hoping CardRunners will be Mac compatible some day which is the main reason why I haven’t signed up yet. Well that day is coming soon as I read in Ezra’s blog the new CardRunners site will be Mac compatible. Nice!
In the meantime in between time I will just see how this SnG experiment goes. Going to check out UFC 75 over at the Long Beach Hooters with ImperialSam and WhereIsTheF**kinFreeway. We caught UFC 74 over there last time and it was good times.
Topics: Happenings, Poker, Sports | No Comments »
The King Of Kong
By myself | September 6, 2007
It’s been a long while since my last post. All I can remember doing is trying to enjoy summer at the beach as much as possible. Saw a couple movies including The King Of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters which was a wonderful documentary about classic video games and trying to achieve the highest score in Donkey Kong.
Billy Mitchell had the high score in Donkey Kong which held for over 20 years until a dude name Steve Wiebe got bored one day and decided to try to beat Billy’s high score. That’s the just gist of it though there is actually a lot of humour and drama to go with the battle for high score in Donkey Kong. You should really check it out as it gets a 4 $ Send All The Money approval.
I also saw Bourne Ultimatum which was pretty awesome itself. I haven’t seen the first two Bourne’s (yeah I suck) but if this one was indicative of the first two I should really put them at the top of my Netflix queue right now.
So besides the aforementioned background acting and PA work I really haven’t done too much. The Man of Leisure ™ life will be coming to a close soon as I’m most likely to return to my old place of work. I thought I’d feel pretty bad about it but having looked at my options it just makes sense financially and just reload from there. At least I found some new interest in the entertainment world and can at least have a new focus on life. So while the poker project may look like a failure it is more an incomplete to me. While trying to make it in poker I found a new potential passion so something came out of the past 5 months.
Now I have to come up with a plan to get to where I want to be asap. Poker is still a large part of the plan. If anything I don’t have to feel the pressure of trying to grind out enough cash to pay the bills. I can just concentrate on trying to get the highest score a la the King of Kong.
Topics: Happenings, Movies, Poker | No Comments »
Not Much Poker For Now
By myself | August 22, 2007
August has been an interesting month to say the least. I haven’t played poker much at all. Realized I can’t optimally play unless fully bankrolled. The dream is still alive – it’s just on hold at the moment while I reload.
So what am I doing to reload? My interest in the entertainment industry has continued. Been doing a lot of background acting gigs and PA work. I even stopped by my old casino job to see if there’s anything I can do there. They made no promises however a couple days later they called to see if I can help with a charity event. Kind of funny how the charity event was filmed since I been around cameras recently. Maybe it’s a sign to keep pursuing entertainment lol.
Probably won’t get a regular job at the casino which is fine. In the meantime in between time I can do the same work I’ve been doing in entertainment and can help out at the casino when needed. Also looking at trying to get my foot in the door at the WSOP Circuit events and possibly the Bellagio events coming up.
This way I can have some income going while retaining freelance status. When you don’t work a normal 9 to 5 job for a while you definitely don’t want to go back. I don’t mind sacrificing a little stability for freedom as long as I can do what I want.
Topics: Happenings | No Comments »
Send All The Entertainment
By myself | August 7, 2007
Quick recap:
The background acting gig was pretty fun. Definitely will do something like that again if I come across it. You spend a lot of time sitting around doing nothing but you get to meet some cool people. Good for days you don’t feel like playing poker.
The next couple days I worked as a production assistant (PA) for a television show. Very long hours doing trivial but very important work for the production. Even though I was doing the work no one else wanted to do I tried to soak it all in and learn as much as I can about the production. With very little experience working in the entertainment industry, working as a PA is a way to “break in” I suppose. If I thought about the money I make compared to what I did before I’d cry but I guess as long as it’s enough to pay the bills and eat then maybe it’s worth the grind if I find happiness in moving up in the production world.
Not much going on as far poker is concerned. Still trying to decide what I want to do with poker in general. It’s still a game I am fascinated by. Just don’t know where I stand as far as passion. Still hard to say since 4 months is a very short session and I was in “vacation mode” according to ImperialSam. Come to think of it I should have taken a real vacation before I started the poker pro thing.
Spent the other day in San Diego – home to Barroids. Oh wait, he plays for the San Francisco Giants. I guess you wouldn’t know that for sure if you were in San Diego at the time Barroids tied Hank Aaron for the all time home runs hit in beisbol history with the full front page cover of Barroids hitting #755 in San Diego. Of all my years living in San Diego I don’t recall Tony Gywnn ever getting a full front page cover photo. What a sad sports town. It’s only a matter of time before the Chargers do something to piss me off and disown them like I did the Padres.
Topics: Happenings, Poker, Sports | No Comments »
Cause I’m Looking At You Through The Glass
By myself | July 28, 2007
I got the ball rolling on looking for “work”. To tell you the truth I am doing everything I can not to find a real job. This past Tuesday I got on the horn and made some calls to some peoples and sent my resume out. Wednesday I made the drive to Burbank to register for Central Casting. They are the top casting company for background actors. Been meaning to do this for awhile for fun but never got to it. Obviously working as an extra doesn’t make any money. You pretty much work for minimum wage if you are non-union. But if you’re bored or into movies and television and want to be a small part of it then it’s worth doing. It’s a real simple process. All you have to do is go to the place and fill out some forms and get your picture taken for $25. Then they give you a number to call which is like a job hotline with descriptions of roles and whom they’re looking for. If you think you match what they are seeking then you give them a call. This is how you find work as an extra the majority of the time.
However, about 5% of the time someone will call you directly if they came across your photo and had your look specifically in mind for a role. The very next day after I registered I luckboxed my way into receiving a call about doing a “higher base rate” role. All that means is you’re doing a little more than a normal extra would be doing whether you happen to have a costume (when you register you list costumes and props you can provide for a role) or some other unique trait. When I called back they said I was going to play the role of “Jesse” in a documentary to be aired on the History Channel. The only caveat was I had to shave my facial hair since I will be depicting a military character. I kind of hesitated when I heard that but I said whatevers why not.
So I’ve got that lined up and some other gigs in the entertainment industry pending. RedLionEx is an old buddy of mine who I go way back with happens to be working for a television show and dropped my name to some peoples so if anything develops I will write about it later.
Thursday evening had dinner at the Otani Hotel in Little Tokyo. It was ImperialSam’s 30th birthday. We had Japanese style BBQ in the Summer beer garden. It was a pretty nice atmosphere. Very entertaining evening as ImperialSam got pretty wasted.
Last night another old buddy from way back Pat2Roge came out to chill along with DaRealSheezy, ImperialSam, and WhereIsTheF**kinFreeway. Night was pretty chill but had an entertaining moment when we gave DaRealSheezy an early birthday surprise. The look on his face was priceless. Too bad we couldn’t get a picture. The place we were at probably wouldn’t like it if we took a picture there lol.
I started today playing online a little bit and did ok. Yesterday I felt like I had a shot at some real money in a tourney but came up short. Still cashed but was left with a slightly bitter feeling knowing I could have got more but was content with my play. Just couldn’t get over the hump in the mid to late stages of a tourney. Probably going to go out to celebrate DaRealSheezy’s 30th birthday. In the meantime in between time I will just chillack at home and enjoy the ThisCantBeSummerLoooove weather.
Topics: Happenings, Poker | No Comments »
