OK... I will always be a UGA fan, I went to school there for more years than I can count... and I love the team. But good god, we lose to Vanderbilt AND Kentucky and then give Florida a run for it, and beat Tech. I swear to god, these Dogs are crazy!
A house always looks better when you have a dining room table, after 6 months of eating on the floor we finally found one. It was perfect! Cheap, good looking, and easily replaceable when we get one we really want... perfect I say!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, Estie and I were suppose to meet some friends for an evening buffet but apparently EVERYONE in Vegas goes to eat out on Thanksgiving. The line was 2 hours long, the casino was overflowing, and several of us had to work overtime... So it ended up being dinner at a Mexican place and some Pai-gow and drinks until 11. Still a good time, and we felt just fine!
The weekend before Thanksgiving Estie and I went and watch what was MY first live rugby game. I don't understand how those guys play that game... They run full speed at each other, dive on each other, and beat the living snot out of everyone on the field. They do all of it in shorts and a t-shirt and with no padding at all. It almost seems like cheating!
Trevor and I went to LA as I discussed last time, but the excitement really came on Monday morning when I got up to return the rental car we had taken and it had a flat tire! Apparently there was a nail in the tire, and it had vacated the premises. So I had to change the tire, drive it to the auto shop to flat fix the tire, and then return the car. Yummy... but the cool thing was I got to lay down on the ground, get my hands and clothes all dirty and come home and go "Look how dirty I am honey". I felt like a real mechanic for about 20 secs until I realized all I had done was change a tire....
I leave for my cruise on Saturday and Estie and I have been talking. The more contacts I make in the industry the more I really don't want a full time job. I am currently leaning towards just staying on the extra board until the WSOP next year when I can decide better what I want to do. I have cruises, the WPT Mirage, WPT Mandaly Bay, Tunica events, as well as some Bellagion events to work... So it just makes more sense to be able to come and go as I please, always be able to get 25-30 hours a week when I want it at Imperial Palace, and have a spot ready to go full time if I want it after the WSOP next year. There are some drawbacks in that I won't be getting predictable shifts, no insurance, no benefits, etc... but you have to give up a few things to have some freedome. I am not sure I can survive with just 2 weeks of vacation anymore!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
I'm not dead!
I have been slacking off big time in the blog... and I apologize. A quick run down of the past month or so.... Estie and I went to the Las Vegas Renessaince faire, let me say that it is nothing compared to Atlanta. A 3 day event, mostly vendors and amateurs. Not extremely exciting, but it was fun nonetheless. We are trying to plan a weekend in the mountains, but it hasn't come together yet... I went down to Anaheim with Trevor for GenCon SoCal (Wow that thing has really not taken off like GenCon Indy).... it was really good to see all my old friends from the Lord of the Rings days! I played a little bit of the new World of Warcraft CCG and managed to get 14th out of 156 in the one tournament I played. The prize support for that was 6 packs of the game... And talk about insanely lucky! I pulled the ultra-rare Turtle out of the packs and sold it on ebay for $125! Pay for the trip with one card! BONUS!
The month of October was not too bad for Poker... I still have to work on my scheduling with it, but I did get in 25 hours and finished up 970. So it was a good solid month, even though I hit a 700 downswing at the end of the month to make it much less exciting than it should be.
Work has picked up a ton... I figured out a few tricks of the trade, made some friends, and have managed to get up to 30-35 hours a week. I am pulling 6 days a week pretty regularly and even making some pretty decent money. I am up to 3rd from the top on the extra board list after we lost another extra board guy this weekend. He was fired for stealing.... I can't imagine how anyone would ever steal from the casino and completely ruin their career... Caught stealing from the casino = never work in a casino again!
On top of that, another guy is leaving next week and they have changed the tournament schedule which increased the amount of work they have... so we are actually short handed, and the money has been pretty decent.
Haven't gotten much poker in this month just been running around too much.... and working the next 12 days straight before I go on the cruise on December 2nd. Estie and I driving down to San Diego and she is going to spend the weekend there sightseeing. The cruise is sounding pretty exciting. I get to eat all the meals in the main dining room with the real customers, so it will be awesome eating all the good food... and making money while dealing poker on the cruise. Not to mention getting to go sight seeing in the cool ports we are stopping in.
Estie and I FINALLY went and saw Happy Feet yesterday. It isn't a bad movie, and it is really cute in parts... but the previews were definately the best part of it all. Lots more movies coming up for the holidays I want to see.... So time to get busy on the frequent movie club stuff!
The month of October was not too bad for Poker... I still have to work on my scheduling with it, but I did get in 25 hours and finished up 970. So it was a good solid month, even though I hit a 700 downswing at the end of the month to make it much less exciting than it should be.
Work has picked up a ton... I figured out a few tricks of the trade, made some friends, and have managed to get up to 30-35 hours a week. I am pulling 6 days a week pretty regularly and even making some pretty decent money. I am up to 3rd from the top on the extra board list after we lost another extra board guy this weekend. He was fired for stealing.... I can't imagine how anyone would ever steal from the casino and completely ruin their career... Caught stealing from the casino = never work in a casino again!
On top of that, another guy is leaving next week and they have changed the tournament schedule which increased the amount of work they have... so we are actually short handed, and the money has been pretty decent.
Haven't gotten much poker in this month just been running around too much.... and working the next 12 days straight before I go on the cruise on December 2nd. Estie and I driving down to San Diego and she is going to spend the weekend there sightseeing. The cruise is sounding pretty exciting. I get to eat all the meals in the main dining room with the real customers, so it will be awesome eating all the good food... and making money while dealing poker on the cruise. Not to mention getting to go sight seeing in the cool ports we are stopping in.
Estie and I FINALLY went and saw Happy Feet yesterday. It isn't a bad movie, and it is really cute in parts... but the previews were definately the best part of it all. Lots more movies coming up for the holidays I want to see.... So time to get busy on the frequent movie club stuff!
Friday, October 06, 2006
Are we there yet?
After last week's marathon at Red Rock and my success I realized that I have to stay focused on my play and maintain my focus on poker. I can only achieve continued success and improvement through playing regularly. I am going to try to get back to 20 hours a week minimum and work on my skills at the table.
With the new month starting, and tonight being my first night off I intended to get in 4-5 hours at the tables. I had to decide where to play first. Red Rock has no more freeroll going on, and only gives $1 an hour in comps. Rio only spread 2/5 and it is way over my bankroll to play there, Wynn scares me with their no-cap buy-ins..... so I settled on Treasure Island. They have $2 an hour in comps, good promotions for local players, and some pretty good games...
Before I went out tonight to start playing, I wanted to take Estie up to the mountains. She loves the mountains, and so do I. Unfortunately it was a windy, overcast day but we went up anyways.... It is a short 40 minute drive up there, and has nice relaxing scenary on the way. We got up the mountain and got some trail maps from the ranger station. They have about 10 different trails and as I browsed through them I saw one that was 1.4 miles each way, and rated as "Moderate". So we decided a nice hike would be just what we needed...
Now I need to have a conversation with whoever rates these trails.... This "Moderate" trail was 1.4 miles of rocky trails with a 1040 feet total rise, including a final natural staircase at the top before getting to the waterfall. To make it even more challenging we had breezes up to 30 MPH and it was 60 degrees on the top of the mountain.... It also turns out that I am NOT in good shape :) Well... technically I *AM* in a good shape, that shape is just round. Round is NOT a shape that climbs mountains. I have the utmost respect now for the hikers, and especially my Dad who is planning to hike the entire Appalachian trail. I did 1.4 miles and was dying before I got .5 miles up the trail.... I can't imagine doing 100's of miles. I am definately going to get in better shape and work up to doing the entire loop around the top of the mountain which is about 16 miles with a climb from 8000 to 11500 feet in elevation.
We finishing the ALMOST 3 mile treck without incident, and felt a great sense of relief when we saw the car on the way back down. A big lunch at Maccaroni Grill and a nap and I was ready to play some poker. I headed down to Treasure Island around 7:30 and didn't get into a game until 8:30. I immediately started out by playing awful, and gave away 100 dollars in the first 30 mins.... a big hand doubled me back up and then I tried to bluff the nuts again (apparently I have to do that at least once a day), and was back down the 100 I had just gotten back.
I managed to hit a gutshot in a huge pot and was rolling along playing very well after the first hour, getting good reads on players and slowly building up to around +300 for the night. I then get 78 suited in the cutoff limped to me so I limp in. Button raises to 20 dollars and 3 callers so I call. Flop is 589 2 diamonds and a very loose aggressive player to my right bets 15 dollars. Pair and a gutshot so I call. Turn is a 2nd 5 and it is checked to me. I decided I am going to take it down right here and bet 50, folded to the loose aggressive who calls. River is another 8 giving me 8's full of 5's. Checked to me and I am contemplating what he will call. The only hands I lose to are Pocket 5's, 9's, or 98. While I am thinking this guy says "I will call anything you bet so just check". Now it isn't like we have been best friends... so I don't think he is "being nice". I decide to see how serious he really is... and say "OK all in then". He INSTANTLY calls. Now I am not so happy... until he flips up his Q/5 off suit for 5's full of 8's and the 2nd best hand. I rake in a 950 dollar pot and after 20 more mins cash out up 880 for the night and head home.
Work tomorrow at 1 PM and then back to the tables to try to keep it up for a few more days.
With the new month starting, and tonight being my first night off I intended to get in 4-5 hours at the tables. I had to decide where to play first. Red Rock has no more freeroll going on, and only gives $1 an hour in comps. Rio only spread 2/5 and it is way over my bankroll to play there, Wynn scares me with their no-cap buy-ins..... so I settled on Treasure Island. They have $2 an hour in comps, good promotions for local players, and some pretty good games...
Before I went out tonight to start playing, I wanted to take Estie up to the mountains. She loves the mountains, and so do I. Unfortunately it was a windy, overcast day but we went up anyways.... It is a short 40 minute drive up there, and has nice relaxing scenary on the way. We got up the mountain and got some trail maps from the ranger station. They have about 10 different trails and as I browsed through them I saw one that was 1.4 miles each way, and rated as "Moderate". So we decided a nice hike would be just what we needed...
Now I need to have a conversation with whoever rates these trails.... This "Moderate" trail was 1.4 miles of rocky trails with a 1040 feet total rise, including a final natural staircase at the top before getting to the waterfall. To make it even more challenging we had breezes up to 30 MPH and it was 60 degrees on the top of the mountain.... It also turns out that I am NOT in good shape :) Well... technically I *AM* in a good shape, that shape is just round. Round is NOT a shape that climbs mountains. I have the utmost respect now for the hikers, and especially my Dad who is planning to hike the entire Appalachian trail. I did 1.4 miles and was dying before I got .5 miles up the trail.... I can't imagine doing 100's of miles. I am definately going to get in better shape and work up to doing the entire loop around the top of the mountain which is about 16 miles with a climb from 8000 to 11500 feet in elevation.
We finishing the ALMOST 3 mile treck without incident, and felt a great sense of relief when we saw the car on the way back down. A big lunch at Maccaroni Grill and a nap and I was ready to play some poker. I headed down to Treasure Island around 7:30 and didn't get into a game until 8:30. I immediately started out by playing awful, and gave away 100 dollars in the first 30 mins.... a big hand doubled me back up and then I tried to bluff the nuts again (apparently I have to do that at least once a day), and was back down the 100 I had just gotten back.
I managed to hit a gutshot in a huge pot and was rolling along playing very well after the first hour, getting good reads on players and slowly building up to around +300 for the night. I then get 78 suited in the cutoff limped to me so I limp in. Button raises to 20 dollars and 3 callers so I call. Flop is 589 2 diamonds and a very loose aggressive player to my right bets 15 dollars. Pair and a gutshot so I call. Turn is a 2nd 5 and it is checked to me. I decided I am going to take it down right here and bet 50, folded to the loose aggressive who calls. River is another 8 giving me 8's full of 5's. Checked to me and I am contemplating what he will call. The only hands I lose to are Pocket 5's, 9's, or 98. While I am thinking this guy says "I will call anything you bet so just check". Now it isn't like we have been best friends... so I don't think he is "being nice". I decide to see how serious he really is... and say "OK all in then". He INSTANTLY calls. Now I am not so happy... until he flips up his Q/5 off suit for 5's full of 8's and the 2nd best hand. I rake in a 950 dollar pot and after 20 more mins cash out up 880 for the night and head home.
Work tomorrow at 1 PM and then back to the tables to try to keep it up for a few more days.
Monday, October 02, 2006
October Checkup
Well... I left Atlanta February 24th to begin this journey of mine. Along the way I had great runs where I couldn't lose, and weeks upon weeks where I was frustrated beyond belief. There were a few times when I wasn't sure I could do it anymore... when I thought everything I had learned was completely useless. I even had to take a few breaks and re-analyze my play. After 7 months now I have learned a lot of new things I had never considered...
1) It is VERY VERY hard to seperate yourself from the winning and losing. You will never be good at poker if every time you lose it affects you drastically.
2) Poker is not a game you control. It is like baseball... it helps to have strong shoulders and a good swing... but you have to hit what they throw at you. If you can't hit a curve ball, you won't make it long in the league...
3) If you try to win, you lose. If you try not to lose, you lose. If you play scared, you lose. If you play afraid, you lose. If you daydream or don't concentrate, you lose. If you do everything perfect, and play exactly correct on every hand... you MIGHT win.
4) Poker is an ever changing game and if you can't adapt you will not make it. One style does not work for every night. You cannot go into the game with a "plan" and expect everyone else at the table to go with it. It is even harder when the game shifts from one extreme to another in the same session due to changing of players.
The end result of 7 months of this is I am more driven than ever to make this succeed... I am finally starting to get educated properly. It is a lot harder than I expected it to be... It takes a LOT of mental stamina and focus, but I am making the adaption and improving my game. Dealing the game definately helps by keeping me sharp when I am not playing and helping supplement the income.
1) It is VERY VERY hard to seperate yourself from the winning and losing. You will never be good at poker if every time you lose it affects you drastically.
2) Poker is not a game you control. It is like baseball... it helps to have strong shoulders and a good swing... but you have to hit what they throw at you. If you can't hit a curve ball, you won't make it long in the league...
3) If you try to win, you lose. If you try not to lose, you lose. If you play scared, you lose. If you play afraid, you lose. If you daydream or don't concentrate, you lose. If you do everything perfect, and play exactly correct on every hand... you MIGHT win.
4) Poker is an ever changing game and if you can't adapt you will not make it. One style does not work for every night. You cannot go into the game with a "plan" and expect everyone else at the table to go with it. It is even harder when the game shifts from one extreme to another in the same session due to changing of players.
The end result of 7 months of this is I am more driven than ever to make this succeed... I am finally starting to get educated properly. It is a lot harder than I expected it to be... It takes a LOT of mental stamina and focus, but I am making the adaption and improving my game. Dealing the game definately helps by keeping me sharp when I am not playing and helping supplement the income.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
New Phone Number
Well.... I have been here over 6 months now, so I finally got a local number in vegas. I still didn't bother getting a home phone, but I did change my cell phone to a vegas number... so I guess that means I am going to stay for awhile :) However, in my infinite wisdom we bought a marvelous new couch at Walker furniture. It has 2 recliners, and a sleeper sofa... so very comfy! We both LOVE it. In order to make getting the couch the MOST challenging possible, we gave them my old phone number to call for delivery directions... then I went to Cingular and changed it. Obvious this worked very well when they called to get directions! We ended up having to call the office, get the number changed, have them call the driver, blah blah blah... Long story short. We have a couch and a living room... very exciting.
I mentioned earlier that I was working to get my hours in for the Station Freeroll in October. Estie had 74.9 out of the 75 hours she needed, and I was not quite as close. So Estie and I headed up to the Red Rock to work on my next installment of hours. I decided to make this as challenging as possible and dropped 400 dollars in the first hour. I managed through some miracle to get back to even and even cashed out a nice 60 dollar profit (which was a huge improvement over down 400). Estie was killing the 4/8 game turning a 90 dollar profit in the same time (she was smart enough not to stress herself out and stayed up almost the whole time). The night really got interesting when about 9 PM the 200,000 dollar station casino bad beat jackpot was hit at Boulder Station. Luckily the rules of the bad beat are the loser gets 45,000 of that, the winner gets 35,000, and every other player in every other station casino gets to split the rest of it. Estie and I were both playing when it hit, so the two of us along with 387 of our closest friends all got $345 each. It was a very nice capper to an already fun night out together playing poker.
Friday afternoon on the way home from work I stop to see how close I am to my hours... I need 75 and I have 67.7! BAH! that is 7.3 away from the requirement and I have to work Saturday night and we are going to some friends Saturday afternoon... so I guess I need to finish it Friday Night. An 8 hour marathon here we come!
So I buy in for 200 (the max at 1-2 no-limit), and on the 3rd hand run into Ace's with my 6's on an 8 high flop and manage to only lose 120 on that hand... so I cap off for another 100 and build back to even before hitting 2 pair against better 2 pair and going back down to 100 and recapping off to 200 for my final cash in my wallet. A few missed draws, and some missed flops and I am sitting at a little over 100 out of my 400 left, and only about 1.5 hours into the night... BOO!!!! I buckle down and determine not to play scared, but to play smarter... If I lose the 100 I have left, then I just won't get the hours... whatever, it has still been a good week.
7 hours later I am still playing, recouped all 300 of the lost money and another 525 on top of that. I really didn't play any huge hands, just nickle and dime stuff. I got Aces 3 times and managed to win all 3 times with them for a net of about 200 on those 3 hands, a flopped flush, and a straight made nice payouts... A very satisfying night until the end. Now Red Rock uses these login/logout system where when you get up from the table they push a button and you get no time while you are not there. It is a solid idea, and prevents abuse of people logging in and going for a 3 hour lunch... however, when someone forgets to punch you back in you fail to get the time, or as happened to me when someone logs someone into YOUR seat you get booted out and get no time. So I finish my 8 hour marathon and head to check to make sure I am all good and after 8.5 hours of playing, I am credited with 6.5! WTF! Apparently I lost 30 mins to dinner (which I expected) and another 30 mins to someone else sitting in my seat! BAH! I was falling asleep at the table (I don't play well asleep...) and even though I am still 40 minutes short I am going to bed anyways... I will find a way to get an hour tomorrow I guess.
The work schedule is out for next week, and with 1 person leaving for Green Valley I am back up to 4 days including 3 8 PM - 4 AM shifts (my favorite shift) and I got a 7 PM - 3 AM shift added for this coming Saturday. An overall very decent schedule for the week, and with thursday and Friday off a good time to take a ride up the mountain or go do something else fun.
I mentioned earlier that I was working to get my hours in for the Station Freeroll in October. Estie had 74.9 out of the 75 hours she needed, and I was not quite as close. So Estie and I headed up to the Red Rock to work on my next installment of hours. I decided to make this as challenging as possible and dropped 400 dollars in the first hour. I managed through some miracle to get back to even and even cashed out a nice 60 dollar profit (which was a huge improvement over down 400). Estie was killing the 4/8 game turning a 90 dollar profit in the same time (she was smart enough not to stress herself out and stayed up almost the whole time). The night really got interesting when about 9 PM the 200,000 dollar station casino bad beat jackpot was hit at Boulder Station. Luckily the rules of the bad beat are the loser gets 45,000 of that, the winner gets 35,000, and every other player in every other station casino gets to split the rest of it. Estie and I were both playing when it hit, so the two of us along with 387 of our closest friends all got $345 each. It was a very nice capper to an already fun night out together playing poker.
Friday afternoon on the way home from work I stop to see how close I am to my hours... I need 75 and I have 67.7! BAH! that is 7.3 away from the requirement and I have to work Saturday night and we are going to some friends Saturday afternoon... so I guess I need to finish it Friday Night. An 8 hour marathon here we come!
So I buy in for 200 (the max at 1-2 no-limit), and on the 3rd hand run into Ace's with my 6's on an 8 high flop and manage to only lose 120 on that hand... so I cap off for another 100 and build back to even before hitting 2 pair against better 2 pair and going back down to 100 and recapping off to 200 for my final cash in my wallet. A few missed draws, and some missed flops and I am sitting at a little over 100 out of my 400 left, and only about 1.5 hours into the night... BOO!!!! I buckle down and determine not to play scared, but to play smarter... If I lose the 100 I have left, then I just won't get the hours... whatever, it has still been a good week.
7 hours later I am still playing, recouped all 300 of the lost money and another 525 on top of that. I really didn't play any huge hands, just nickle and dime stuff. I got Aces 3 times and managed to win all 3 times with them for a net of about 200 on those 3 hands, a flopped flush, and a straight made nice payouts... A very satisfying night until the end. Now Red Rock uses these login/logout system where when you get up from the table they push a button and you get no time while you are not there. It is a solid idea, and prevents abuse of people logging in and going for a 3 hour lunch... however, when someone forgets to punch you back in you fail to get the time, or as happened to me when someone logs someone into YOUR seat you get booted out and get no time. So I finish my 8 hour marathon and head to check to make sure I am all good and after 8.5 hours of playing, I am credited with 6.5! WTF! Apparently I lost 30 mins to dinner (which I expected) and another 30 mins to someone else sitting in my seat! BAH! I was falling asleep at the table (I don't play well asleep...) and even though I am still 40 minutes short I am going to bed anyways... I will find a way to get an hour tomorrow I guess.
The work schedule is out for next week, and with 1 person leaving for Green Valley I am back up to 4 days including 3 8 PM - 4 AM shifts (my favorite shift) and I got a 7 PM - 3 AM shift added for this coming Saturday. An overall very decent schedule for the week, and with thursday and Friday off a good time to take a ride up the mountain or go do something else fun.
The return of the Prodigal Shoe
OK... so now I think even my clothes are making fun of me. I put off working out because I lost my tennis shoes, and finally go out to get new ones... Everything is marvelous until my old shoes show back up! Apparently I had put them in the "perfect" spot, I just had no idea where that spot was... So 3 weeks later, I buy a new pair of shoes and boom! there are my shoes. Bastards are gunning for me... I can tell.
A cold front has moved through Vegas and snapped the weather from it's marvelous 100+ degree days with 8% humidty down to 85.. Wow, what nice weather that is. I can't even describe how nice it is outside at 85 degrees and no humidty! I thought I didn't like being outside, I now realize I just don't like being outside in hot, sticky weather! I LOVE 85 degree weather in vegas... I especially love looking at the weather on the news and seeing the 7 day forecast as Sunny, no humidty, high of 85, low of 60 every day... It is like they cut and pasted the weather across the week!
Work has been slow since I got back from my trip. Poker is slow this time of year, and so we are only getting 3 days a week for the extra board dealers... I had a long conversation with my boss the other day and now understand completely how everything works at the poker room. The short story is that Extra Board dealers are guaranteed 0 days a week, while full-time is guaranteed 5. He tries to make sure all regular extra board get 3 days minimum ( which is all we have been getting lately), in addition fulltimers cannot be sent home early unless the volunteer. Extra board can be sent home anytime after 4 hours of their shift...
The nice thing about extra board is that anytime I have something else to do, I just have to tell them and I am off. I don't get paid of course, but it has no impact on any of my future at the company... So I am going to take a week off in December to go deal on a poker cruise, and then probably another 2 weeks in January to go deal in Tunica at the WPT Gold Strike Classic. I really like having that flexibility, and I am like 6th in line to get a fulltime spot... so that means I need 6 people to find other jobs... Hmmm... not a decision I have to make right away at least.
Station casinos are running the qualifications for their next freeroll and you need 75 hours in 3 months, those 3 months end the 30th of September. Now July was the World Series, and August I started the new job and finally got to spend some time with my wife, and September I went to visit my parents.... So finding 75 hours was tough, and with 1 week left I needed 20 more hours! BAH! So I went into overdrive, and have been playing every day. Apparently that was something I needed.... since I have been playing much better, showing a lot more discipline and patience, and have managed to make almost 800 dollars the past week while working on my hours. I still need about 7 more hours... so let's hope I can keep focused while finishing that up the next 2 days.
It really is amazing in poker how much your mental state makes a difference! A good attitude, a marvelous marriage, and a supportive wife... makes such a HUGE difference. It is really not that easy to sit with 9 strangers for 4-5 hours at a time without losing your focus. Especially since so many of them are SOOOO annoying, and the more fun I am having the worse I play!
Lots of fun stuff coming up the next few months... Vegas RenFest the first part of October, friends coming to visit in October, November, December and January. Christmas in Orlando at Disney, poker cruise to the Mexican Riviera! Sheesh... I need a vacation from my vacations!
A cold front has moved through Vegas and snapped the weather from it's marvelous 100+ degree days with 8% humidty down to 85.. Wow, what nice weather that is. I can't even describe how nice it is outside at 85 degrees and no humidty! I thought I didn't like being outside, I now realize I just don't like being outside in hot, sticky weather! I LOVE 85 degree weather in vegas... I especially love looking at the weather on the news and seeing the 7 day forecast as Sunny, no humidty, high of 85, low of 60 every day... It is like they cut and pasted the weather across the week!
Work has been slow since I got back from my trip. Poker is slow this time of year, and so we are only getting 3 days a week for the extra board dealers... I had a long conversation with my boss the other day and now understand completely how everything works at the poker room. The short story is that Extra Board dealers are guaranteed 0 days a week, while full-time is guaranteed 5. He tries to make sure all regular extra board get 3 days minimum ( which is all we have been getting lately), in addition fulltimers cannot be sent home early unless the volunteer. Extra board can be sent home anytime after 4 hours of their shift...
The nice thing about extra board is that anytime I have something else to do, I just have to tell them and I am off. I don't get paid of course, but it has no impact on any of my future at the company... So I am going to take a week off in December to go deal on a poker cruise, and then probably another 2 weeks in January to go deal in Tunica at the WPT Gold Strike Classic. I really like having that flexibility, and I am like 6th in line to get a fulltime spot... so that means I need 6 people to find other jobs... Hmmm... not a decision I have to make right away at least.
Station casinos are running the qualifications for their next freeroll and you need 75 hours in 3 months, those 3 months end the 30th of September. Now July was the World Series, and August I started the new job and finally got to spend some time with my wife, and September I went to visit my parents.... So finding 75 hours was tough, and with 1 week left I needed 20 more hours! BAH! So I went into overdrive, and have been playing every day. Apparently that was something I needed.... since I have been playing much better, showing a lot more discipline and patience, and have managed to make almost 800 dollars the past week while working on my hours. I still need about 7 more hours... so let's hope I can keep focused while finishing that up the next 2 days.
It really is amazing in poker how much your mental state makes a difference! A good attitude, a marvelous marriage, and a supportive wife... makes such a HUGE difference. It is really not that easy to sit with 9 strangers for 4-5 hours at a time without losing your focus. Especially since so many of them are SOOOO annoying, and the more fun I am having the worse I play!
Lots of fun stuff coming up the next few months... Vegas RenFest the first part of October, friends coming to visit in October, November, December and January. Christmas in Orlando at Disney, poker cruise to the Mexican Riviera! Sheesh... I need a vacation from my vacations!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
A little misinformation
They say in poker to change up your game and always keep them guessing. I suppose I carried that over to real life when on June 23rd I married Estie Moller and kept the secret from my family. I didn't do it for any deceitful reasons, but my sister was having her first baby in early June and I didn't want to distract from that. I knew that if I told everyone they would want to come out and be part of the wedding. So we got married in a small ceremony at the Mon Bel Ami chapel in downtown Las Vegas. It was a gorgeous ceromony and I can say I now know why so many people get married in Vegas. It was SO easy and relaxed... I really enjoyed the wedding and the amazing Steak afterwards at Smith & Wollensky's. In keeping with the simple approach we registered at Amazon.com and are going to have a party next summer to celebrate our 1 year anniversery and invite everyone to attend then. (So consider this your fair warning!)
I sprung this news on my family this past weekend when Estie and I went for a visit. It was a marvelous visit and even though we had connecting flights both ways, no bad layover stories are to be told. We got to see my sister and her new son Keith (whose first name is Charles... so when HE becomes a dealer, he will be using THAT name... Hpmmph). They are moving down to Columbia soon, so all the young kids will be around north georgia (my 2 younger brothers are in Athens).
While I was in Athens visiting my 2 brothers and sisters (and their marvelous spouses... on a side note, how does EVERYONE in our family manage to marry outside their class? Every one of us managed to marry a marvelous spouse which we so totally do not deserve... It is obvious God takes mercy on those less fortunate) I got a phone call from CardPlayer Cruises inviting me to go deal on a Poker Cruise to the Mexican Riviera in December... I have to get it approved with my boss, but a week long cruise that I get paid to go on seems AWFUL nice.
Work is still going well, and I am getting back into playing poker now that things are settling down. I need 20 more hours to get to the 75 hour minimum for the freeroll in October at Station Casinos. A guaranteed 100 dollars and a first prize of 70K is awful good... not to mention that in October I plan to start playing at the Rio again, and getting into their monthly freerolls. 40 hours a month is doable, and first place in the freeroll is a 10K entry into the WSOP in 2007.
I have discovered a minor flaw in my "amazing" poker skills. They only apply when *I* am not playing. I am really good at knowing what people have in their hands when I am observing the game from the dealer box... I am about 95% accurate on who is going to win and with what in the games I deal... However, when I am playing, for some reason all that goes out the window and I let emotion rule my decisions. Last night I have pocket 10's and the flop is J56 rainbow. I raised and got reraised by an aggressive solid player. He often made plays at pots, but had not made reraises or called with weak hands. So his reraise said at LEAST AJ and probably 2 pair or better. So since I had 1 pair that could not even beat AJ I reraised all-in. Of course, he called and had 2 pair and I lost 200 on that hand. It was obvious to me outside of the game that he had me beat... but in the heat of the hand I decided I should win since I had a good hand... but not good enough to win. It is very frustrating to look back and see how poorly I played and know I can play much better, I just have to seperate emotion from reality. A real challenge for me, since I tend to be overconfident at times :)
I mentioned the other day that I intended to start working out when I got home. So Tuesday I was recovering from my flight and had to work that night so I planned to start on Wednesday. Wednesday I overslept (well I slept really well and long with no reason to get up... so it kind of counted) and I got up around 3 with the intention of going to work out (after spending an hour relaxing, and another hour watching TV and playing games) and ran to the closet only to remember that I had managed to lose my shoes in my tiny little apartment with no furniture in it (I think they returned to Atlanta without me, not sure why... I think I forgot to wash my feet and offended them. Or maybe it was the friends who visited and picked them up by accident... but I am sure they walked back to Atlanta in a tizzy).... so my wednesday workout was killed by not having any shoes. Wednesday afternoon I went to get new shoes :) However, I have flat feet and the only shoes I have ever liked are Reebok's so I went to Target to get some, but they don't have reebok's, and then the shoe place near me doesn't have any I like, and the reebok outlet is far away from here (like 10 MILES!) and it was 5 PM and there was traffic and I wanted to play poker, so I didn't go! In hind sight 40 dollars on shoes would have saved me 300 in poker and allowed me to work out Thursday morning... but whatever I had a learning experience... BAH!
Now I have shoes, and motivation (I bought new pants which don't fit but I like them so I have to exercise).... so tomorrow... for real this time... tomorrow. IN the meantime, work tomorrow at 1 PM as well as Saturday, poker every night, World of Warcraft and KOTOR II, and I placed a few bets on football (Florida State can't cover 29 against a high school team, Georgia has been covering everything this season even 27 against Colorado is a good bet, Baltimore will beat Cleveland by 15 or more and the line was only 6, Tennessee has looked very bad recently so 22 against Marshall was too much, Steelers and Bengals are going to beat each other up and over 41 total seemed a good bet. So I basically bet that TEN and FSU suck and can't cover huge spreads, BAL and UGA are better than the other team and will win handily, and Big Ben and Carson will put on a show and score over 41 total.)...
I sprung this news on my family this past weekend when Estie and I went for a visit. It was a marvelous visit and even though we had connecting flights both ways, no bad layover stories are to be told. We got to see my sister and her new son Keith (whose first name is Charles... so when HE becomes a dealer, he will be using THAT name... Hpmmph). They are moving down to Columbia soon, so all the young kids will be around north georgia (my 2 younger brothers are in Athens).
While I was in Athens visiting my 2 brothers and sisters (and their marvelous spouses... on a side note, how does EVERYONE in our family manage to marry outside their class? Every one of us managed to marry a marvelous spouse which we so totally do not deserve... It is obvious God takes mercy on those less fortunate) I got a phone call from CardPlayer Cruises inviting me to go deal on a Poker Cruise to the Mexican Riviera in December... I have to get it approved with my boss, but a week long cruise that I get paid to go on seems AWFUL nice.
Work is still going well, and I am getting back into playing poker now that things are settling down. I need 20 more hours to get to the 75 hour minimum for the freeroll in October at Station Casinos. A guaranteed 100 dollars and a first prize of 70K is awful good... not to mention that in October I plan to start playing at the Rio again, and getting into their monthly freerolls. 40 hours a month is doable, and first place in the freeroll is a 10K entry into the WSOP in 2007.
I have discovered a minor flaw in my "amazing" poker skills. They only apply when *I* am not playing. I am really good at knowing what people have in their hands when I am observing the game from the dealer box... I am about 95% accurate on who is going to win and with what in the games I deal... However, when I am playing, for some reason all that goes out the window and I let emotion rule my decisions. Last night I have pocket 10's and the flop is J56 rainbow. I raised and got reraised by an aggressive solid player. He often made plays at pots, but had not made reraises or called with weak hands. So his reraise said at LEAST AJ and probably 2 pair or better. So since I had 1 pair that could not even beat AJ I reraised all-in. Of course, he called and had 2 pair and I lost 200 on that hand. It was obvious to me outside of the game that he had me beat... but in the heat of the hand I decided I should win since I had a good hand... but not good enough to win. It is very frustrating to look back and see how poorly I played and know I can play much better, I just have to seperate emotion from reality. A real challenge for me, since I tend to be overconfident at times :)
I mentioned the other day that I intended to start working out when I got home. So Tuesday I was recovering from my flight and had to work that night so I planned to start on Wednesday. Wednesday I overslept (well I slept really well and long with no reason to get up... so it kind of counted) and I got up around 3 with the intention of going to work out (after spending an hour relaxing, and another hour watching TV and playing games) and ran to the closet only to remember that I had managed to lose my shoes in my tiny little apartment with no furniture in it (I think they returned to Atlanta without me, not sure why... I think I forgot to wash my feet and offended them. Or maybe it was the friends who visited and picked them up by accident... but I am sure they walked back to Atlanta in a tizzy).... so my wednesday workout was killed by not having any shoes. Wednesday afternoon I went to get new shoes :) However, I have flat feet and the only shoes I have ever liked are Reebok's so I went to Target to get some, but they don't have reebok's, and then the shoe place near me doesn't have any I like, and the reebok outlet is far away from here (like 10 MILES!) and it was 5 PM and there was traffic and I wanted to play poker, so I didn't go! In hind sight 40 dollars on shoes would have saved me 300 in poker and allowed me to work out Thursday morning... but whatever I had a learning experience... BAH!
Now I have shoes, and motivation (I bought new pants which don't fit but I like them so I have to exercise).... so tomorrow... for real this time... tomorrow. IN the meantime, work tomorrow at 1 PM as well as Saturday, poker every night, World of Warcraft and KOTOR II, and I placed a few bets on football (Florida State can't cover 29 against a high school team, Georgia has been covering everything this season even 27 against Colorado is a good bet, Baltimore will beat Cleveland by 15 or more and the line was only 6, Tennessee has looked very bad recently so 22 against Marshall was too much, Steelers and Bengals are going to beat each other up and over 41 total seemed a good bet. So I basically bet that TEN and FSU suck and can't cover huge spreads, BAL and UGA are better than the other team and will win handily, and Big Ben and Carson will put on a show and score over 41 total.)...
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The "Night Life"
I never thought I would "get used" to the heat. I mean I lived in Atlanta and it hit high 90's often, but I sitll thought 120 was FREAKING HOT! and it is! But now, I go outside and I am like "Oh it is fine... a little breeze and shade". The heat freaking MELTS my books when I leave them in the car... but I go outside for walks. BAH! It is frying my brain... that must be it!
Imperial Palace is going well. The more I work there, the more I like it. I got moved to swing shift, and it is great! I work 4-5 days a week and get 8 hours almost every time I go in. Fortunately for me, the rest of the dealers want to go play poker... so I can stay and they go early if it is slow. I had to make some adjustments to my dealing from the Series to here. The players at the Series were there to PLAY, and there was nothing you could do to slow them down if you were lost. At IP they are there to drink, hit on the waitress, tell stories, etc... So you really have to push the game along. If you don't, then you get no hands out, and you get no tips. The really nice thing is working the night shift at IP, in at 8 or 9 PM most nights is awesome... the sun is down, the weather is beautiful, lots of peopel coming and going, and there is a night club right outside the poker room and the only bathroom is past the poker room.
Poker has been a little more challenging lately. I moved to no-limit and did very very well, making almost 2 grand in a week or so, but then I got cocky and thought suddenly I was better than everyone else at the table, and then I lost :( a LOT. So I went back to limit and lost, and went back to no-limit and lost, and the idiots got lucky, etc etc. It is really tough when you combine overconfidence and running bad! I had to go back to the basics and re-evaluate my game. I played a lot better when I was focused on improving my game, evaluating what I was doing every hand, etc.
The last week or so I have been playing on my off days and before work, and doing much better. Playing with more respect for the game, and listening to my knowledge a lot more. I am heading to Atlanta for a visit this weekend, and then after that will be able to really focus again. I am also going to go back into the gym starting next week... It is just too important to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you have no sick days! Not to mention, all the women playing poker now don't tip fat bald guys nearly as much as they tip bald sexy ones!
Imperial Palace is going well. The more I work there, the more I like it. I got moved to swing shift, and it is great! I work 4-5 days a week and get 8 hours almost every time I go in. Fortunately for me, the rest of the dealers want to go play poker... so I can stay and they go early if it is slow. I had to make some adjustments to my dealing from the Series to here. The players at the Series were there to PLAY, and there was nothing you could do to slow them down if you were lost. At IP they are there to drink, hit on the waitress, tell stories, etc... So you really have to push the game along. If you don't, then you get no hands out, and you get no tips. The really nice thing is working the night shift at IP, in at 8 or 9 PM most nights is awesome... the sun is down, the weather is beautiful, lots of peopel coming and going, and there is a night club right outside the poker room and the only bathroom is past the poker room.
Poker has been a little more challenging lately. I moved to no-limit and did very very well, making almost 2 grand in a week or so, but then I got cocky and thought suddenly I was better than everyone else at the table, and then I lost :( a LOT. So I went back to limit and lost, and went back to no-limit and lost, and the idiots got lucky, etc etc. It is really tough when you combine overconfidence and running bad! I had to go back to the basics and re-evaluate my game. I played a lot better when I was focused on improving my game, evaluating what I was doing every hand, etc.
The last week or so I have been playing on my off days and before work, and doing much better. Playing with more respect for the game, and listening to my knowledge a lot more. I am heading to Atlanta for a visit this weekend, and then after that will be able to really focus again. I am also going to go back into the gym starting next week... It is just too important to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you have no sick days! Not to mention, all the women playing poker now don't tip fat bald guys nearly as much as they tip bald sexy ones!
Friday, August 11, 2006
World Series ends and the rest of the year begins
The World Series is finally over... It was pretty easy for awhile, then really kicked into high gear for the last 2 weeks before trailing off quickly. The 12 hour, no break days ended after Day 2 on Wednesday and then it was pretty short work from there on staying at 7-8 hours or less. I won't get the final check until Thursday, hopefully it will be a good one and I can relax a little on bills.
Now I have to decide what I am going to do now. I was offered a full time position at Imperial Palace (technically extra board which just means no benefits, no normal shifts, and no guaranteed hours. But it is still 40 hours a week basically), and had an audition at Treasure Island, in addition I was offered a spot on the Card Player Cruise in December, and a spot at the WSOP Circuit event in Tunica in September.
The only problem now is working all these options together and figuring out where to go.. .For now, I am working at Imperial Palace and will see how it all fits together in a week or so when I hear about Treasure Island.
When I worked at the World Poker Tour at Mandalay Bay they gave me 2 free tix to see Mama Mia which is a musical based on the music of Abba. A very good, very family oriented show... very nicely done. Then at the World Series I was given 2 free tix to both Clint Holmes and ERocktica. Clint Holmes is a one hit wonder from 30 years ago (he had a song called Playground of my mind - My name is michael) and nothing since. But it turned out to be a lovely tribute show, and very touching.
I then went and show Erocktica. Now it is effectively the same thing as the Clint Holmes show, cover tunes, etc... except instead of an amazing live band behind the 2 singers, it was a group of dancers and recorded music. VERY VERY loud recorded music, and lots of smoke machines, etc... WE ended up getting seats up in the 2nd row, and since the dancers were all topless it made for a very interesting show. It is really a sad state of affairs that I was watching the show at one point and didn't even realize they had put their tops BACK on... how sad is that! The singers were both very good... but I think there are better shows in vegas if you want to see Topless dancers and live music.
Now I have to decide what I am going to do now. I was offered a full time position at Imperial Palace (technically extra board which just means no benefits, no normal shifts, and no guaranteed hours. But it is still 40 hours a week basically), and had an audition at Treasure Island, in addition I was offered a spot on the Card Player Cruise in December, and a spot at the WSOP Circuit event in Tunica in September.
The only problem now is working all these options together and figuring out where to go.. .For now, I am working at Imperial Palace and will see how it all fits together in a week or so when I hear about Treasure Island.
When I worked at the World Poker Tour at Mandalay Bay they gave me 2 free tix to see Mama Mia which is a musical based on the music of Abba. A very good, very family oriented show... very nicely done. Then at the World Series I was given 2 free tix to both Clint Holmes and ERocktica. Clint Holmes is a one hit wonder from 30 years ago (he had a song called Playground of my mind - My name is michael) and nothing since. But it turned out to be a lovely tribute show, and very touching.
I then went and show Erocktica. Now it is effectively the same thing as the Clint Holmes show, cover tunes, etc... except instead of an amazing live band behind the 2 singers, it was a group of dancers and recorded music. VERY VERY loud recorded music, and lots of smoke machines, etc... WE ended up getting seats up in the 2nd row, and since the dancers were all topless it made for a very interesting show. It is really a sad state of affairs that I was watching the show at one point and didn't even realize they had put their tops BACK on... how sad is that! The singers were both very good... but I think there are better shows in vegas if you want to see Topless dancers and live music.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Overtime
Apparently when you piss off enough employees it eventually comes back to haunt you. They originally hired about 900 dealers for the World Series of Poker and are down to 550 after the most recent round of walk-outs and firings.
Yesterday was the 2000 dollar buy-in event which had "only" 2050 players.. However, they had about 20 dealers call-in sick and didn't have enough to start with, so we ended up with Chip Runners and Managers dealing for the first 2 hours with no breaks. Of course, as soon as the 12 PM tournnament started breaking down they had live cash games starting, satellite's, a 3 PM tournament, a 5 PM tournament, a 7 PM tournament, a dinner break, etc. So I ended up dealing 6 straight hours (as did almost everyone else) without a break and worked 11 hours with only 2 short 15 minute breaks. I didn't realize how tired I could get dealing poker... now I do!
Lucky for me I have Saturday off so I can recover. A good nights sleep and now I am off to look for a real job after the series if over. I have a few leads on some... I just hope one pans out.
Yesterday was the 2000 dollar buy-in event which had "only" 2050 players.. However, they had about 20 dealers call-in sick and didn't have enough to start with, so we ended up with Chip Runners and Managers dealing for the first 2 hours with no breaks. Of course, as soon as the 12 PM tournnament started breaking down they had live cash games starting, satellite's, a 3 PM tournament, a 5 PM tournament, a 7 PM tournament, a dinner break, etc. So I ended up dealing 6 straight hours (as did almost everyone else) without a break and worked 11 hours with only 2 short 15 minute breaks. I didn't realize how tired I could get dealing poker... now I do!
Lucky for me I have Saturday off so I can recover. A good nights sleep and now I am off to look for a real job after the series if over. I have a few leads on some... I just hope one pans out.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Quick Update
Sorry for the long delay in updates... It has been hectic crazy lately. The world series is... well going. Highlights so far.
- first paycheck was less than half what everyone expected, so huge uproar from the dealers.
- second paycheck was even worse... So a bunch quit.
- Another 100 or so walked out in the middle of the shift and demanded to see the boss.
- A decision that paying everyone by hours worked, while being unable to control what everyone did or where they did it at, encouraged people to clock in and hide for 8 hours. So the hourly pay was scrapped, and it went back to paying you for how much you worked (novel concept I know)
So that has been quite the excitement... the money isn't as good as expected. However, $30 an hour or so isn't exactly slave wages. If I had to pay travel expenses, etc I might be a little more upset.
I have been playing some no-limit in my spare time. I am discovering that unlike limit when I do something stupid it is VERY expensive. I have to work on my decision making process and thinking through everything. It has been a painful learning experience to say the least, but I am learning and growing in that... it will also help my tournament play.
It is very nice to be able to relax and know the paychecks are coming in to pay the bills... Not to mention as of the 17th the house is officially sold! So that makes life much more relaxed.
- first paycheck was less than half what everyone expected, so huge uproar from the dealers.
- second paycheck was even worse... So a bunch quit.
- Another 100 or so walked out in the middle of the shift and demanded to see the boss.
- A decision that paying everyone by hours worked, while being unable to control what everyone did or where they did it at, encouraged people to clock in and hide for 8 hours. So the hourly pay was scrapped, and it went back to paying you for how much you worked (novel concept I know)
So that has been quite the excitement... the money isn't as good as expected. However, $30 an hour or so isn't exactly slave wages. If I had to pay travel expenses, etc I might be a little more upset.
I have been playing some no-limit in my spare time. I am discovering that unlike limit when I do something stupid it is VERY expensive. I have to work on my decision making process and thinking through everything. It has been a painful learning experience to say the least, but I am learning and growing in that... it will also help my tournament play.
It is very nice to be able to relax and know the paychecks are coming in to pay the bills... Not to mention as of the 17th the house is officially sold! So that makes life much more relaxed.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Welcome to the club
It has been just over a week at the World Series of Poker and I feel like I am officially in the "club". The first few days were really easy.. 4/8, 2/5 no-limit, 225 dollar buy-in 200 person tourneys. Nothing special at all. The last 3 days however... they were something else. It definately stepped up to a new level. Saturday I was in the $2500 buy-in 6 handed no-limit tournament and had just about everyone at my tables. Gavin Smith, Daniel Negreanu, Kathy Liebert, Reigning world champion Joe Hachem, and many more. Sunday I was in the live section and got the row of Pot-limit Omaha from 5/10 to 25/50 PLO and a couple of Chinese Poker tables. Monday I figured it couldn't get any worse... PLO Hi/Low is about as tough as it gets, pots getting up to 4000-5000 dollars and pot, repot...ick. Monday started out well. 2/5 No-limit, 5/10 no-limit, chinese poker, a break. I come back from break and the idiot Dealer Coordinator has sent someone who just came in to my table! So I go talk to him and he says "oh, go on break and then push 162 at 5 till the hour". Well I just came OFF break, but whatever... then I look and 162 is 400/800 mixed with 2-7 triple draw, Badugi, and Omaha Hi/Lo. Oh shit... followed by 75/150 Omaha Hi/Lo, and then 50/100 Stud Hi/Lo for 2 tables and finishing with 50/100 limit!
I got to find out just how good I really was... Angry players, playing for thousands of dollars, and me with my few weeks of experience. It turned out to be really smooth, all the players treated me well (even though I heard they were NOT so nice to other players... so maybe I am doing more right than I expected). Then, to top it off with this murder's row... I push into the first table and the cash box is $100 down. So I have to call the floor over which starts a chain reaction of people coming by going "Really?" All of the chips should add up to a static $800 in the hi-limit section and this one was exactly 700. I think the poor guy who was there before me got fired for it... I am really glad I counted that box over his shoulder and did everything exactly right. It would be a really bad time to get lazy (which is what I think he did) and not count it.
I got to find out just how good I really was... Angry players, playing for thousands of dollars, and me with my few weeks of experience. It turned out to be really smooth, all the players treated me well (even though I heard they were NOT so nice to other players... so maybe I am doing more right than I expected). Then, to top it off with this murder's row... I push into the first table and the cash box is $100 down. So I have to call the floor over which starts a chain reaction of people coming by going "Really?" All of the chips should add up to a static $800 in the hi-limit section and this one was exactly 700. I think the poor guy who was there before me got fired for it... I am really glad I counted that box over his shoulder and did everything exactly right. It would be a really bad time to get lazy (which is what I think he did) and not count it.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
World Series Update
Well 2 days in and it is a little less exciting than I had expected. The people running the dealers and the events are really far behind. I generally am sitting and waiting for 1-2 hours before I even start dealing, and they have so many dealers I haven't worked a full 8 hour shift yet. Nothing extremely exciting so far... lots of poker celebs running around but none at my table. A few very loose No-limit games, but otherwise nothing exciting.
I have decided in my cash games I like this no-limit stuff.... 5 sessions of No-limit and up all 5, at least 2 buy-ins normally 3-4. I played this afternoon and was up 7 buy-ins at 1/2 NL with a $100 buy-in.
I finished up my Month 4 numbers and so far after 4 months I am not doing to bad. So far I have made $12,560 after taxes for an average of a little over $3,000 a month. It is less than I made as a computer engineer, but with a LOT less hours and a whole lot more upside.... So I can't complain to much at all... especially since I was in class for 2 of those months and travelling for 3 weeks.... So all in all, unemployed for about 3 months isn't TOOO bad to not be belly up.
I have decided in my cash games I like this no-limit stuff.... 5 sessions of No-limit and up all 5, at least 2 buy-ins normally 3-4. I played this afternoon and was up 7 buy-ins at 1/2 NL with a $100 buy-in.
I finished up my Month 4 numbers and so far after 4 months I am not doing to bad. So far I have made $12,560 after taxes for an average of a little over $3,000 a month. It is less than I made as a computer engineer, but with a LOT less hours and a whole lot more upside.... So I can't complain to much at all... especially since I was in class for 2 of those months and travelling for 3 weeks.... So all in all, unemployed for about 3 months isn't TOOO bad to not be belly up.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Here comes the world series
I went to see Click last night, very good movie.. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It makes an interesting statement about what is important in life, and how you can get too caught up in what you HAVE to do and not what you really WANT to do. In the movie he misses his kids camping trip because his boss wants him to do a job for him. It really makes me appreciate the direction I have chosen for my life. I turned 35 a few weeks ago and I am more than halfway to retirement and couldn't be happier. I really feel like I am doing what *I* want to do and it really shows in my attitude and my work.
I finished the Imperial Palace 3 day gig on Sunday and start the world series on Monday at 10 PM. Once again, at the end of a temporary gig I was approached about a position with them. Obviously, my attitude and professionalism keeps attracting attention. Everywhere I go I meet more people and more people learn my name and my face. I have so many opportunities and options coming at me now I am actually have to turn stuff down.
I had orientation for the World Series of Poker on Thursday and got to see "THE ROOM" for the first time. 208 tables in a massive room... It is going to be insane seeing THAT many poker players in the same place playing. I got assigned "Swing7" shift which means I will be coming in everyday sometime between 2 PM and 11 PM. It is one of my favorite shifts and I am estatic to have drawn it. I can't wait to get started tonight and it is going to be a blast. I saw some of the dealers from Mandalay there, and it was nice to catch up with all my friends from class and previous jobs.
I finished the Imperial Palace 3 day gig on Sunday and start the world series on Monday at 10 PM. Once again, at the end of a temporary gig I was approached about a position with them. Obviously, my attitude and professionalism keeps attracting attention. Everywhere I go I meet more people and more people learn my name and my face. I have so many opportunities and options coming at me now I am actually have to turn stuff down.
I had orientation for the World Series of Poker on Thursday and got to see "THE ROOM" for the first time. 208 tables in a massive room... It is going to be insane seeing THAT many poker players in the same place playing. I got assigned "Swing7" shift which means I will be coming in everyday sometime between 2 PM and 11 PM. It is one of my favorite shifts and I am estatic to have drawn it. I can't wait to get started tonight and it is going to be a blast. I saw some of the dealers from Mandalay there, and it was nice to catch up with all my friends from class and previous jobs.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Good Bye Robert Morea. We will miss you
A good friend of mine Robert Morea passed away a few days ago from a lung infection. Robert had numerous medical problems over the years including a lung transplant, but he never let it get him down and always had the best attitude. Robert was a founding member of Team Draft with myself, Trevor and Will. He made every trip with us even going to Vegas just months after having a lung transplant. A better friend you could not ask for, and I would not have changed a thing about him... I just wish he could have been with us longer. Robert was an asset to his friends and a wonderful companion.. he will be dearly missed. Good Bye Robert... you have touched me and everyone around us. You are an inspiration to us all, and we love you.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Going Going GONE!
I have discovered that no matter how little stuff I have, I STILL hate moving. Hooking up utilities, unpacking, setting stuff up, etc... It is beyond annoying. To top it off, I moved into an apartment with nothing... so I now have that empty room problem!
The past week has been swamped with stuff. The house sold and closes on June 30th, but I lost the keys to it.. so I had to track down a copy and get it to the agent (who managed to lose the one I gave them), I took and aced my final exam so I am officially graduated. I had an audition for a 3 day tournament at the Imperial Palace which I got a perfect score on. I also walked into the Rio and saw that the final freeroll for a world series seat required 50 hours between June 1 and June 15, unfortunately I didn't see it until June 8... So I put it into overdrive to hit 50 hours.
I also had the Station freeroll which I played very well until I managed to invent a new way to lose. Virtually guaranteed moving onto day 2 I made a dumb move and finished 120th out of 500 (top 100 move on to day 2).
The Rio freeroll was tonight, and it was really a very very nice structure. 30 minute rounds, 5000 in chips, 25/25 blinds to start. I lasted 3 hours before pushing in with KK and 5800 in chips and getting called by 66 who then flopped quads on me. I went out 24th out of 39. Not a bad showing... but that pot would have put me up near the chip lead and in good position to win the 10k first prize.
The past week has been swamped with stuff. The house sold and closes on June 30th, but I lost the keys to it.. so I had to track down a copy and get it to the agent (who managed to lose the one I gave them), I took and aced my final exam so I am officially graduated. I had an audition for a 3 day tournament at the Imperial Palace which I got a perfect score on. I also walked into the Rio and saw that the final freeroll for a world series seat required 50 hours between June 1 and June 15, unfortunately I didn't see it until June 8... So I put it into overdrive to hit 50 hours.
I also had the Station freeroll which I played very well until I managed to invent a new way to lose. Virtually guaranteed moving onto day 2 I made a dumb move and finished 120th out of 500 (top 100 move on to day 2).
The Rio freeroll was tonight, and it was really a very very nice structure. 30 minute rounds, 5000 in chips, 25/25 blinds to start. I lasted 3 hours before pushing in with KK and 5800 in chips and getting called by 66 who then flopped quads on me. I went out 24th out of 39. Not a bad showing... but that pot would have put me up near the chip lead and in good position to win the 10k first prize.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Whew... I need a nap
Well it is all over but the final paycheck, and it was one heck of a ride. I never realized sitting in a chair slinging cards around could be so tiring.. but it was. I ended up working 13 days straight without a day off and I am definately worn out and need some rest... Luckily I have nothing planned for the next 2 weeks so I plan to get some nice mid-afternoon naps.
The media circus at the WPT was amazing. They were like bees swarming around leaning over my shoulder, writing down everything. These guys were playing for a first prize of 1 million dollars, so any mistakes were definately NOT an option. I made sure to take my time and not make any mistakes, which I fortunately didn't. There was a line of laptops along one side, TV cameras and interview chairs on the other, a live radio show going on, and hordes of note taking peons.
I ended up finishing with 75 tournament downs for the event. Each down was 30 minutes in the box. I also picked up about 650 in tips from live games. I get my final check and tips on Friday so we will see how it all comes out in the end. It was certainly well worth the effort. I made a lot of great contacts, had a great time, and have established myself in the tournament world as a viable tournament dealer who anyone would be happy to have.
I managed to pick up some leads on new events and tournaments and am going to be pursuing those to keep this train rolling. Things do look very promising to say the least.
The media circus at the WPT was amazing. They were like bees swarming around leaning over my shoulder, writing down everything. These guys were playing for a first prize of 1 million dollars, so any mistakes were definately NOT an option. I made sure to take my time and not make any mistakes, which I fortunately didn't. There was a line of laptops along one side, TV cameras and interview chairs on the other, a live radio show going on, and hordes of note taking peons.
I ended up finishing with 75 tournament downs for the event. Each down was 30 minutes in the box. I also picked up about 650 in tips from live games. I get my final check and tips on Friday so we will see how it all comes out in the end. It was certainly well worth the effort. I made a lot of great contacts, had a great time, and have established myself in the tournament world as a viable tournament dealer who anyone would be happy to have.
I managed to pick up some leads on new events and tournaments and am going to be pursuing those to keep this train rolling. Things do look very promising to say the least.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Only in Vegas
Only in Vegas can you sit at a table and play 4/8 with Elvis and a Blonde in a bikini wearing sunglasses and acting all serious. At least Elvis was having a good time... The funniest thing was I asked Elvis wear he was from and he said LA!
Yesterday was the first day of the main event... and everyone was out. TV Cameras, interviews, pictures, rows of laptops lined up, people walking around doing chip counts, etc. It was a crazy media event... media credentials required of course. Everyone who was anyone was there. Phil Ivey, Daniel Negranue, Mike Matusow, Phil Laak and his girlfriend Jennifer Tilly. Even Shannon Elizabeth showed up to take on the big boys. It was insane... and I loved it :)
Yesterday was the first day of the main event... and everyone was out. TV Cameras, interviews, pictures, rows of laptops lined up, people walking around doing chip counts, etc. It was a crazy media event... media credentials required of course. Everyone who was anyone was there. Phil Ivey, Daniel Negranue, Mike Matusow, Phil Laak and his girlfriend Jennifer Tilly. Even Shannon Elizabeth showed up to take on the big boys. It was insane... and I loved it :)
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Better watch the slowplay
The main event starts tomorrow, so of course with 4-5 table pushes and few breaks I went out and played poker until 3 AM... but I will survive. One thing I have noticed about these high limit players is they are action JUNKIES. They have 4-5 grand riding on a baseball game, $300 last longer bets with the entire table of a 10 person Sit and Go, etc... they love to gamble and if there isn't money involved then they are bored. I can honestly say I don't see the excitement in betting if the flop will be more red than black.
I hit the Rio tonight with a ton of energy and came out of the gate on fire. Unfortunately noone else at the table got anything and I ended up with mostly blinds and small pots so I was up a modest 40 bucks. Now this is where the story should end... but as you might have guessed it doesn't. I then proceeded to go on a sick run of getting rivered with 1 and 2 outers and ended up tilting badly and pressing to get back at them and dropped 350 before I decided to get out of that game... You might think the story ends here... but NO. It was only 11 PM, why go home now... So they started up a 1/2 No-limit game and I have been wanting to give it a try, so I decided to give it a go. I took my remaining 46 dollars in chips and another 100 in red I bought and went to the 1/2 game. Shortly after sitting down I take down a nice pot with JJ against AK on the turn and am over 200 in chips... sweet, this no-limit thing is EASY.
It wasn't always so easy as I got JJ again against a flopped flush and put 45 dollars more than I should have into the pot. I then missed a few draws and had to rebuy for another 100 as I dwindled down to a net of over 500 down. The night took an upturn finally around 12:30 AM as I got 66 UTG. I raised it to 5x bb ($2 BB so $10) and it is reraised to $20 and called by one other player reluctantly. I put the raiser on a big ace and the caller on a weaker ace (meaning one ace is dead and I am a bigger favorite) so I reraise all-in to isolate and the original raiser called, the other player folded. The raiser had AQ suited and nothing came and I stacked him to double up. Interestingly the caller SAID he had JJ and would have won... if he did, he played that hand absolutely AWFUL....
A little while later the guy to my left lays down a hand to a reraise and is shown the bluff and is now steaming. My read on him is he wants to get his money all-in ASAP and is looking to check/raise someone all-in to do it. I limp on the button with K6 off-suit and he raises a small amount. Folded back to me, and I call. I figure if I can hit a flop I can stack him and it will be easy to get off of. Flop is AKx and he checks. I smell a trap as this guy is steaming and check. The turn is a gorgeous 6, giving me 2 pair and he checks again. I "Fall for it" and bet $20 into a $60 pot. He check-raises all-in and I call before he even finishes saying all-in. He shows AJ for the "Trap" and I stack him. He leaves in disgust.
A little while later I got to demonstrate the power of position... I have the button and limp with J/9 suited. The Big blind raises a signifigant amount and I call. The flop is A/9/x and he checks. I make a stab at the pot and he lays down his QQ. He shows me and goes "Good laydown", and I show him the J/9, a little while later I would stack him with a flush vs his top pair.
I ended up busting 4 guys out of the game and running from 500 down to 57 down to end the night, including being up 300 at no-limit. Not to shabby for my first attempt at No-limit.
Now off to bed.. Main event.. time for the big time baby.
I hit the Rio tonight with a ton of energy and came out of the gate on fire. Unfortunately noone else at the table got anything and I ended up with mostly blinds and small pots so I was up a modest 40 bucks. Now this is where the story should end... but as you might have guessed it doesn't. I then proceeded to go on a sick run of getting rivered with 1 and 2 outers and ended up tilting badly and pressing to get back at them and dropped 350 before I decided to get out of that game... You might think the story ends here... but NO. It was only 11 PM, why go home now... So they started up a 1/2 No-limit game and I have been wanting to give it a try, so I decided to give it a go. I took my remaining 46 dollars in chips and another 100 in red I bought and went to the 1/2 game. Shortly after sitting down I take down a nice pot with JJ against AK on the turn and am over 200 in chips... sweet, this no-limit thing is EASY.
It wasn't always so easy as I got JJ again against a flopped flush and put 45 dollars more than I should have into the pot. I then missed a few draws and had to rebuy for another 100 as I dwindled down to a net of over 500 down. The night took an upturn finally around 12:30 AM as I got 66 UTG. I raised it to 5x bb ($2 BB so $10) and it is reraised to $20 and called by one other player reluctantly. I put the raiser on a big ace and the caller on a weaker ace (meaning one ace is dead and I am a bigger favorite) so I reraise all-in to isolate and the original raiser called, the other player folded. The raiser had AQ suited and nothing came and I stacked him to double up. Interestingly the caller SAID he had JJ and would have won... if he did, he played that hand absolutely AWFUL....
A little while later the guy to my left lays down a hand to a reraise and is shown the bluff and is now steaming. My read on him is he wants to get his money all-in ASAP and is looking to check/raise someone all-in to do it. I limp on the button with K6 off-suit and he raises a small amount. Folded back to me, and I call. I figure if I can hit a flop I can stack him and it will be easy to get off of. Flop is AKx and he checks. I smell a trap as this guy is steaming and check. The turn is a gorgeous 6, giving me 2 pair and he checks again. I "Fall for it" and bet $20 into a $60 pot. He check-raises all-in and I call before he even finishes saying all-in. He shows AJ for the "Trap" and I stack him. He leaves in disgust.
A little while later I got to demonstrate the power of position... I have the button and limp with J/9 suited. The Big blind raises a signifigant amount and I call. The flop is A/9/x and he checks. I make a stab at the pot and he lays down his QQ. He shows me and goes "Good laydown", and I show him the J/9, a little while later I would stack him with a flush vs his top pair.
I ended up busting 4 guys out of the game and running from 500 down to 57 down to end the night, including being up 300 at no-limit. Not to shabby for my first attempt at No-limit.
Now off to bed.. Main event.. time for the big time baby.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
I don't like to lose
I have discovered something about myself... It doesn't matter if I want to win or not, I still don't want to LOSE. We had a dealers tournament tonight at Mandalay Bay with a $55 buy-in and the top 4 of the 60 person tournament got an entry into the $1000 super-satellite where the top 10% got entries to the 10k main event. So we are talking a $55 investment to possibly win over 1 million dollars... But it is one heck of a long shot, and I have to play for at least 5 days to get ANYTHING back from it. (1 day of a Super Sat, and 4 days of the main event before I reach the money). I am making about $300 a day dealing the WPT events, so that means I am giving up $1500 in earnings at a miniscule chance of winning a whole lot of money... If I KNEW I was going to win I would do it in a heartbeat... however I would really rather have the guaranteed $1500 right now.
I can't bring myself NOT to play in the dealers tournament, the chance to play against my fellow dealers was too much fun to pass up... and of course I had to do well, and then I wanted to win! Unfortunately they paid top 4 and I bubbled out in 5th. BAH! It sucked even worse as I got my pocket 9's busted by 8/3 off when I was the short stack. I really did feel I played pretty well but I still have a lot to learn about tournament poker, when to make moves, reading players, etc.
Another interesting tidbit from the dealers tournament... Back when I was in Atlanta playing bar tournaments there was a dealer who dealt on occasion who I heard other players commenting was a "Vegas dealer who was visiting friends here". I watched her deal a few times and was amazed.. she was so fast, and so accurate, and had such good control of the game. It was like she was flying around the table she was so good. I could only hope to be even half as good as she was one day.... now fast forward to our current tournament and the dealer in the box is this cute blonde with a slight accent. She mentions she is from Atlanta and it suddenly dawns on me THAT is why she looks familiar (I thought it was just because she was cute and blonde... it happens, leave me alone). So we talk a little and she confirms she used to deal at Jeffries and Rafters and that was where I knew her from. She starts up dealing and I realize just HOW much better I am now than I used to be... Now she looks very good as a dealer, but no better than I am... It is just amazing how much of a difference it makes when you have a different perspective.
My plan during the WPT events was to play after work one day, and then go to bed early the next. This would allow me to play a decent amount and still keep up on my sleep (it is hard when you prefer to sleep 10 hours a day if allowed to). Tonight was suppose to be my playing day, however I ended up in the dealer tournament for over 4 hours... so home I am and I will play after work tomorrow night.... so now I have to get to bed so I can be well rested and play until 1 or 2 AM tomorrow night if the games at the Rio are good.
I can't bring myself NOT to play in the dealers tournament, the chance to play against my fellow dealers was too much fun to pass up... and of course I had to do well, and then I wanted to win! Unfortunately they paid top 4 and I bubbled out in 5th. BAH! It sucked even worse as I got my pocket 9's busted by 8/3 off when I was the short stack. I really did feel I played pretty well but I still have a lot to learn about tournament poker, when to make moves, reading players, etc.
Another interesting tidbit from the dealers tournament... Back when I was in Atlanta playing bar tournaments there was a dealer who dealt on occasion who I heard other players commenting was a "Vegas dealer who was visiting friends here". I watched her deal a few times and was amazed.. she was so fast, and so accurate, and had such good control of the game. It was like she was flying around the table she was so good. I could only hope to be even half as good as she was one day.... now fast forward to our current tournament and the dealer in the box is this cute blonde with a slight accent. She mentions she is from Atlanta and it suddenly dawns on me THAT is why she looks familiar (I thought it was just because she was cute and blonde... it happens, leave me alone). So we talk a little and she confirms she used to deal at Jeffries and Rafters and that was where I knew her from. She starts up dealing and I realize just HOW much better I am now than I used to be... Now she looks very good as a dealer, but no better than I am... It is just amazing how much of a difference it makes when you have a different perspective.
My plan during the WPT events was to play after work one day, and then go to bed early the next. This would allow me to play a decent amount and still keep up on my sleep (it is hard when you prefer to sleep 10 hours a day if allowed to). Tonight was suppose to be my playing day, however I ended up in the dealer tournament for over 4 hours... so home I am and I will play after work tomorrow night.... so now I have to get to bed so I can be well rested and play until 1 or 2 AM tomorrow night if the games at the Rio are good.
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