A New Chase Someday For A REAL thrill?

Date: Sun, Jun 15, 2008 Professional Internet

This may be me writing while in a pretty emotional state of mind after watching what Tiger Woods was able to do on the 72nd hole about an hour or so ago, but it has really got me thinking about some things. For starters I freaking love Tiger Woods. He is just the ultimate person in my mind and to almost anyone, obviously heads and shoulders the greatest golfer that ever played the game. I have always been so inspired by him. I started a folder for my (hopefully) future son on my computer about 6 months ago that is full of articles and you tubes of the most inspirational things I have seen. About half of these things or more are of Tiger Woods. Quite simply put, he is my hero. Here is a clip below that is new and now in my “Son Folder.”

What watching the golf today mainly got me thinking though, was that while I am very happy to be doing what I am doing, I am not TRULY happy the way I would be if I was having this kind of success in golf. I was born to play golf, I believe. It is in my blood. And I have had more people than I could even tell you say those exact words to me. In poker, there is just nothing exciting about it. I can’t really have a glory day. I mean I guess I could win a donkament, but who gives a shit? Oh whoopee I was the biggest luckbox amongst a group of bums for a week. Whoopde fuckingdoo! I can never make something happen the way Tiger did on the final hole today, because in poker you just don’t have control like you do in golf. Is it an accomplishment if I win a flip to win the WSOP? Give me a break. I want to say that I physically stepped up to the challenge and made an important shot. That just isn’t going to happen in poker.

As most of you know from past blogs, I was on the path to great things as a kid. At 13 years old I broke two of Tiger’s records in the same summer. I shot the lowest score in the Junior World Golf Championship history (beat Tiger by one..woohoo!) and I also won more points (you earned them by coming in the top 5 in tournaments) than Tiger did in the Southern California junior golf program at that age. At 15 years old I was the #1 freshman golfer in the country. I kind of peaked a little early and things didn’t go as well as I would’ve hoped for (I still did well though) from ages 16 to 21, but right about that time my fire got rekindled a bit and I was back onto great things. In fact I lead the professional money list for about 9 months in Southern California all the way up to the day I had a heart attack at 23 years old. To date, I haven’t played a competitive round of golf or even had a legitimate practice session.

Looking back, besides the heart attack, there were several things that I wasn’t very good at in golf. The main thing I had going for me is that it was “in my blood.” One way or another I found a way to get the ball in the hole, which often meant getting up and down from places that would make Phil Mickelson jealous. In fact my good friend Kevin Na who is now on the PGA tour always told me that I had the best short game he had ever seen. And Kevin was #2 last year on the PGA Tour in saving par from inside 100 yards! I shot low scores when I was swinging well, but often I wasn’t (by PGA Tour standards anyway). Furthermore I lacked some of the power that is awfully useful these days on tour. I was somewhat of a mental midget at times when the pressure was on. When I was trying to make it out there I was young, without a swing coach, a mental game coach, a person I looked up to who believed in me and I was flat broke living from tourney to tourney.

At this very point in my life I feel as if I could solve every one of those problems that I just mentioned. First of all I am as mentally tough today even at my worst, than I was 4 years ago at my best. I have fallen in love with physical fitness. I have been going to the gym 4 days a week or more and my personal trainer is very pleased with my efforts. I never really rehabilitated my muscles after the heart attack so I started off last month very, very weak. I also have the resources to play in every tournament I need to. I have a solid group of friends as well as a supporting wife and I believe in myself more than I ever have. Lastly, and arguably most importantly, I have the resources to find a swing coach that can help me hit the ball well enough consistently to play out there. Really all I need is to get my ball striking good enough to be in the bottom half of the ball striking rankings. I chip and putt so well that even decent ball striking is good enough for me to compete.

So with all this talk I sound like a guy that is going to quit poker and chase my dream tomorrow to go on the PGA tour…lol. That is not the case. What I want to do is develop a 3-5 year plan (probably 5) that has me chipping away at where I want to be so I can make a serious run at the tour in the near future. In 5 years I can hopefully start to get rid of some of my swing flaws, maybe accumulate enough money to never have to work again, continue to push myself to be in perfect physical condition and with Jared’s help, be the 2nd most mentally tough golfer on earth. I would say first, but overtaking Tiger is impossible.

In poker I set out to be among the best in the world. I feel I have done that in the sense that I have played with the best and have walked away knowing that if you took 6-7 tables off of my screen and threw away my bankroll management skills, I can compete just fine. So that is one goal accomplished as far as I am concerned. I’m sure there are some people that will LOL at what I just said, but I don’t really give a crap and since there never will be a way of ranking people that everyone agrees with, I am content in my mind that I accomplished my goal. I think it is time to set a new one with golf. I could throw caution to the wind and play poker part time starting tomorrow so I could focus on golf if I wanted, but I want to stick with what I am doing for now and begin to chip away at being where I want to be 5 years from now. I want to be ready in that time. Then I can go to poker part time and have enough money to not have to worry about it. Now the ultimate would be if my son got into golf, loved it and was awesome at it. One can only dream at this point though.

Discuss this blog here:

http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=87666#post87666

My US Open Prediction

Date: Sun, Jun 15, 2008 Professional Internet

Tiger Woods is teeing off in the final pairing of the US Open here in a few minutes and I have a prediction. Tiger always wins when he has a lead heading into the final round. He usually hits the middle of every green and shoots a ho hum 1-2 under par and wins by 3-4 strokes. I think that he will once again go on to win, but this time he is going to hit it all over the lot and put together the grittiest final round victory since Ben Hogan in 1950. I think Tiger is in a lot of pain, much more than he is letting on. He is also swinging the golf club very poorly for him. I predict he is going to hit a number of incredible shots around the greens today
and also make a clutch shot or two at the end for a 1 or 2 shot victory at most. You heard it here first.

Discuss this blog here:

http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=87596#post87596

The Money Masters

Date: Sat, Jun 14, 2008 Professional Internet

So as many of you know I'm able to generate resources through real estate as well as poker. I have experience owning cash-flow property (great against inflation), private financing (moderately valuable against depression), and more recently have become involved in land development (which involves forcibly appreciating the value of land, and performs moderately well with inflation). I would consider myself very financially literate by common standards, but not by academic standards. I feel financial literacy is something that very much belongs in the public school system, and is much more valuable to the average person than even mathematics beyond basic algebra.

A friend of mine recently pointed me towards a documentary which I feel is important. Most first-world nations are dependent upon a privatized central banking system which controls the amount of currency in the market. By controlling the circulation of currency central banks can create either a boom or depression at will. A stock market crash, for instance, does not necessitate a depression, only a lack of circulation can cause a depression. It is also important to remember that in a depression money does not vanish, it is consolidated.

This documentary looks at the "boom and bust" business cycle, which is a valuable thing to understand in any case. What this video focuses on, however (and please excuse the 1996 graphics on the intro), is how that cycle can be and has been artificially exploited by privatized central banking to deliberately exploit individuals, corporations and nations by extending credit, withdrawing circulation and repossessing assets and then repeating to consolidate wealth in the central banks.

Part 1: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6076118677860424204&q=the+money+...

Part 2: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7336845760512239683&q=the+money...

You can discuss this blog here: here

What An Idiot

Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008 Professional Internet

So today I had an appointment at 1PM with a local CPA. I have been doing my taxes myself for the most part because it was so simple. I wire money in, deduct the small expenses I incur here and there and then pay the appropriate tax. Simple enough. This year things have gotten much more complicated as I have become officially involved with 3 online companies and Jared and I are starting a new project with our book. As a result my taxes have become much more complicated so I felt that now was a good time to hire an accounting service.

I arrived shortly after 1PM and the guy seemed like a nice enough guy. As far as accountants go, this guy seemed much more friendly than some of the others I have dealt with so I was excited to work with him. We got everything all set up and made another appointment for next week to make everything official. As I was walking out the office door and into the lobby he said, “That is a hell of a lot of tax you are going to have to pay.” “Whatever you do don’t vote for Obama.” I’m thinking, “Oh boy, here we go.” He then said that if Obama gets his way I will have to pay all of these extra taxes and that my effective tax rate would be 71%….LOL. Now I have combed through just about everything Obama is proposing and while he will definitely cost a guy like me more money, he will certainly not make my effective tax rate 71%. What a joke.

Oh, but wait, he wasn’t anywhere near done. He said that, “Obama is going to be a complete OBAMAnation of a President.” He then warned me again not to vote for him. Now I don’t have too much of a problem if he wants to tell me from a tax perspective what I am getting in for if I vote for Obama. I think it is tremendously bad business for him to do so, but at the same time I wouldn’t not work with him if he felt the need to explain that. First of all, if he is going to do that he ought to simply state the FACTS and not make up some bullshit about how people in the highest income brackets are going to have to pay 71%!!!!

I tried to just nod and smile and get the hell out of there, but after hearing more of his verbal diarrhea, I decided to tell him that I was an Obama supporter and that I would take a look into his proposed tax policies and make my own decisions when I see the facts. He then took that final step across the line and said, “Just whatever you do don’t vote for some BLACK MUSLIM.” My brain almost just shut down completely. I couldn’t even believe what I was hearing. I was like speechless. I looked at him for a second and just said, “He’s not a Muslim…..see ya.” With that I just walked out the door and can quite safely say I hope that I never see that idiot again. I almost went back in there as I gathered my thoughts some more and started to regain my brain function, but I have dealt with these types before. Some people are what they are and they will NEVER listen to logic and reason. I could show that man a picture of Obama being sworn into the United States Senate along with his family and their old family Bible (such a picture DOES exist btw), but he probably still wouldn’t believe it…..sigh.

So the search continues for a decent CPA. I went to another guy and he said that he wanted me to keep track of all my sessions as defined by how I did at each specific table I ever sat at and record the wins and losses. So by the end of the year I might have $100M in winings and $99M in losses for a $1M profit. As I understand it, keeping track of how you do every day and breaking a session down by the day, is plenty good enough for any accountant. So that was the deal breaker with that guy. Hopefully the third try will be a charm. My bar is going to be pretty low after meeting with this last guy. Maybe someone who simply isn’t a racist or a liar will suffice …lol.

Discuss this blog here: http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=87225#post87225

On the Road Again

Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008 Professional Internet

Unfortunately, this one is going to be short(that's what she said) I landed in Puerto Rico last night around 2:30. We went looking for house today and got a few good leads. I was able to crush Hamilton in Chinese on the flight. Why? Well, either I have edge(unlikely) or I just run good(very very very likely). I have not played any hands yet, but that should follow once we get setup in a place. We are going to take some longboards out for a dawn patrol tomorrow. It should be fun.

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Taking a Breath

Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008 Professional Internet

I'm home in New York for a few days to clear my head and see my family (and make a few Stoxpoker videos). Looking back, it was an interesting first leg of the World Series of Poker for me. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect this year. The games online have gotten much tougher over the last six months--and not only have I noticed this trend myself, but it's evident from reading the blogs of many strong players. What then would the fields look like in the lower buy-in WSOP events?

The answer turned out to be: not as soft as in previous years, but still soft enough. And although I'm down about $4k after playing seven events, I'm really pleased with my peripheral stats (if you will). I doubled my starting stack in all seven tournaments, quadrupled my starting stack four out of seven times, and got to ten times my starting stack or more twice (the two tournaments I cashed in, of course). If just one more showdown could've gone my way (let's say the straight flush draw against Avery's kings in the shorthanded event), I love my chances to make a real score.

But oh well, I have to settle for a small loss in leg one. As promised, here are some Best and Worst Plays.

Some Best Plays from Me:

1) In the rebuy event, during level 3 (post-rebuy period), with blinds of 100-200, the hijack opened for 550. Both blinds were dead (much of the rebuy tournament played shorthanded for me, because so many people weren't at their seats for whatever reason). I made it 1,700 on the button with ATo. My opponent called. The flop came 972 with two to a flush. We both checked. The turn brought a six and my opponent bet 2200. I called. The river brought a 3. My opponent thought for a while and checked. I bet 4500 and he folded instantly. Although this wasn't a crazy impressive float by me or anything, I liked that I took my time on the turn, thought that there was a decent chance my hand was good, and thought through the best way to play the rest of the streets given that I had outs if I happened to be behind.

2) In the 2k limit event, we were about three places from the money and I was one of the shorter stacks. Folded to the small blind who raised. I called with K6o. The flop came 223. He bet, I called. The turn came 4. He bet, I called. The river came ten. He bet, I called. He tabled 87o and my hand was good. This was a fairly standard limit play in ordinary circumstances, but near the bubble you really don't want to go broke as a short stack. It took a bit of a read to call down here, and I had a bit of a read (and it turned out to be right).

3) The quads hand (see my earlier post from day one of the shorthanded). Yes, I was lucky to flop quads, but then I got the guy with jack-high to put 70 blinds in the pot.

Worst Plays from Me:

1) Late in the rebuy event, with about 20 blinds in my stack I folded 77 UTG. As those who watch my videos know, I like to play tighter than usual for the first raise with 20-30 blinds in my stack. With antes in the pot, though, I don't think it's ever correct to fold 77 UTG.

2) In the limit event, the cutoff opened and the hijack three-bet and I folded 99 in the small blind. Again, this was a close decision, but I think it's definitely correct to four-bet against good players here. Note that I would've lost more money in both of the above hands if I hadn't made these mistakes. This is not the point.

3) My bustout hand in the shorthanded event (see my earlier post). I think this was a really tough hand, and I've talked to seven good players about it. Four would've played it the same way I did, three would've played it differently. So it's not that I think I made some horrible decision. I'm bothered by this hand because I had a chance to really make a good read and save some chips, and I didn't get it done. In close spots you're supposed to trust your reads, and I had the 13k chips in my hand ready to just call Avery's river bet before I overruled myself and decided to go with the more aggressive (and standard) play of check-raising for value. I wish I'd gone with my first instinct.

Best Play from Others:

The player to my immediate left for most of the rebuy event was a fantastic player. He came over the top of my raises several times, and opened for small raises often himself. But he wasn't a maniac either, he was just loose enough and good enough to be a major problem for everyone at the table. I think the hand that best exemplifies this came when he raised on the button and the big blind called. The flop brought two aces and a low card. The big blind led out, and the button called. The turn was a blank, and the big blind bet again. The button called. The river was another blank, and the big blind fired a third bullet. The button tanked for a long time, and finally called with A5. He flopped trip aces and never raised once, instead maximizing the value of his hand by inducing three bets from the player in the blind (who had ended up flopping the lower pair and overplaying it). It was his ability to shift gears that made me realize this button player was so strong. I wish I'd got his name (he's probably a well-known tournament pro that I happened not to recognize).

Worst Play from Others:

In the limit event, a short stack got moved into the big blind after we'd hit the money. The cutoff raised, the button three-bet, and the big blind called everything cold. The big blind then led out the ace-high flop, and led again on the turn, before betting a short all-in on the river. The button reluctantly called with two kings, and the big blind showed J8o for jack-high. There is bad play, and then there is just giving away your tournament. This guy just gave away his tournament.

My next event is the $2k No Limit Hold 'Em on Thursday. I will try to post another WSOP story before then.

The Idiot's Guide to Winning a WSOP Seat

Date: Thu, Jun 12, 2008 Professional Internet

Step 1: Earn 590,000 FPPs
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn248/odysseus314/cashier9.jpg
Step 2: Go to the FPP Store
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn248/odysseus314/FPPs.jpg
Step 3: No more FPPs :(
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn248/odysseus314/cashier2.jpg
Step 4: Rejoice at email from PokerStars!

Hello Collin,

We noticed that you already won a WSOP seat and were credited $10,000. All
additional seats are in W$. Since we already credited you $8,500, we will
not convert then to W$. However the balance of $1,500 will be credited in
W$ once you fulfill the requirements.

Regards,
Leonard
PokerStars Team