How I Made Millions
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2008 Professional Internet
Here are my top ten rules of playing poker professionally. If you listen carefully, you too, can lots of monies.
1) If you never quit when you are stuck, then you will never have a losing session.
2) You are entitled to win. You are smart. They are dumb. They suck. You don’t.
3) Poker is cruel. You don’t deserve to lose.
4) You never “play bad” if you “get there."
5) Trust your instincts. If you think a card is coming it probably is.
6) If you are not shoving all in pre-flop, then you are not tilting.
7) Bankroll is overrated.
8) Game selection is overrated. You are just that good, and you know it.
9) LOL, Math? MATH?!?!?!?! What are the odds of THAT happening????
10) Of course, it is just variance. How can they be that ******* lucky over and over and over and over again???? **** my life!!!
AC trip and a quick update
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2008 Professional Internet
I am heading to Atlantic City in a few hours with boc4life from 2+2 for a few nights. He and myself are probably moving out to Vegas next year and maybe buying a house as an investment and to live in for a few years to just grind. I'll probably play some 20/40 and maybe some 40/80 if I run well. I am the only online player who doesn't play a decent amount higher live which is definitely odd. I would want to go to the room with about $4k to play 40/80 and maybe bring another $10k for a few days in case I ran bad. I just feel weird with that much money in a room for now.
Anyhow, I have the photos developing from Vegas so I will post them with a brief synopsis of my trip before I go on a cruise with my family on next Sunday or whenever it is. After that, I will be in a beach house with all my good friends down the Jersey shore, so the blog will be on a hiatus for a little. Other than that I just wanted to say I love HU now, just because when I am doing well people flip out.
Player A: wp u fkin idiot
Player B: u shuld die
Player B: FK u
Player B:****** head
Player B:u r so fn bad
Player B:y the fk do u even play
These just make for a good laugh and help me enjoy my day even more. Wish me luck in AC.
-Reese
Your Landlord Might be a Poker Player
Date: Wed, Jul 23, 2008 Professional Internet
So after getting off to a rocky start my Windsor building is finally full. We had a rough transition when switching between management companies (ie. non-bureaucratic to bureaucratic) and lost a number of tenants in the process which ran up a non-negligible loss the first six months of this year. Windsor, like most manufacturing sectors in Canada, is in pretty poor shape at the moment due to the strong dollar and its focus on production within the American auto industry, so market rent and demand are suffering. I don't expect that the situation will be improving much in the next 7 years or so, either, but that's what comes with buying into the bottom of the market.
I'll be dropping by on the building towards the end of the month to meet with my management company and asses the feasibility and associated costs with keeping the building up and running for 20 years+. In some respects I think it may turn out to be a more disappointing investment than what I had originally expected, due to some wishful thinking about what it might take to retrofit a building for the long-term, but the fact that real estate is such a fantastic hedge against inflation still keeps it pretty positive for me. The dollar could third itself in value, or even disappear overnight, and all that would do is wipe out the debt on the building and increase rents. When thinking long-term portfolio it never hurts to have a trick like that in your belt.
I'm Done Fearing The End Of Poker
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2008 Professional Internet
Well I am back on a plane coming home to Portland. I am a little bummed at the way the trip to Nick’s as well as the member guest tournament turned out. I was either insanely tired, suffering from anxiety or in the ER. I tried to make the best of the situation and not to drag down those around me who were trying to have fun. I hope I did my best to stay out of their way and allow them to enjoy the awesome tourney that Fountain Grove puts on each year. The event is first rate all the way and the format/festivities are first class. Basically what I was looking forward to was a weekend of a ton of golf and a ton of hanging out and having some drinks with all of the really cool members there. That didn’t pan out, but at least I walked away with my health which is a good thing to have…lol
Nick and I spent today watching the British Open. I don’t think Greg Norman should feel bad as he gave it his best on a tough day, but was just that 5% or so off that led to a highish score and a 3rd place finish. Padraig Harrington (Nephew of Action Dan Harrington who we all know) played truly world class golf and shot one of the best back nines in golf history to claim the title. Even if Greg had been on his game he likely would have lost anyway with as good as Padraig played. Nice work Paddy!!!
After golf Nick and I made 3 dual commentary videos and I feel they were probably our best work ever together. The first one was at 200nl and the second video was a 2 part series at 400nl and we had plenty to talk about and the discussion should prove invaluable for those seeking to work their way from small to mid stakes. We discussed the art of not only how to move up, but when to move up and the risks associated with it. I feel like we played pretty well and although the cards weren’t going our way, we still had lots to talk about and still managed to scrap out a small win. So keep your eyes peeled for these videos which should be distributed over the next couple of weeks. You won’t want to miss them.
I very much miss my wife and am very excited that in an hour or so I will get to see her. After what happened yesterday, it will be good to just spend some time with her and relax. As I said before, I have pretty much written off this month poker wise in the sense that I have no hands played or $ won goals. I am just going to relax and enjoy life and when I feel like playing I am going to play. So far I think I have managed to squeeze in 25k hands or so and am up around $27k. I’ll certainly take it and honestly whatever happens happens. I am just really looking forward to chilling out and enjoying the beautiful summer here in Portland with my wife. We are going to go to the beach for a couple of days and maybe do some wine tasting if it works out. Whatever it is we do, getting to spend some quality time is what I am really after.
In the coming weeks I am planning on switching my schedule temporarily and see if I like it. I am going to play poker only 12 days per month. During those 12 days I am going to play a bare minimum of 10k hands each day and hopefully closer to 12-13k. If I like this schedule I think I will pretty much be the happiest guy alive because I will still easily play the number of hands I intend to play this year which is 1.5M hands a year. But I will also get to enjoy life like few people on earth get to enjoy it. I will maximize the other 18-19 days in the month by traveling, going camping with my wife, golfing and basically anything else that sounds cool for us to do together. Truthfully I am growing a little tired of the rat race that I have created for myself in taking on all that I have taken on. I am looking to start enjoying what my money can provide for us and in more simple terms, just chill the fuck out. I have lived in constant fear that poker will one day blow up and I will have to get a job I hate and my quality of life will go down significantly. But you know what? Poker isn’t going anywhere. I have the most secure job (amongst 7 figure + jobs) on the face of the planet. Name one profession that pays a 7 figure income that has more job security than me? I’m sure there must be a few, but I can’t think of one at the moment. And I am tired of feeling like I have to play 8 bazillion hands a day because someday I fear I will go to log on and poker will be gone. There is less than a 1 in a million chance imo that poker will go away entirely to the point that there are no online games. It just isn’t going to happen. The industry is too big and too many people love the game. It will ebb and flow obviously, but there is no way on earth it will just be gone one day.
So the last thing I am going to do is continue to live my life fearing that poker will go away and in the meantime toss away chances to spend time with my wife, future kids, and just enjoy life myself. I will always be a grinder and I am certainly not ever going to go off and retire. I will always have some project I am working on that I am excited about. It could be a business/golf/poker/or something I haven’t even thought of yet But the days of me slaving away at the poker tables out of fear are over. I’m sure I will still play a heck of a lot because I do genuinely love poker, but it will be for me and not the fear of some 1 in a million long shot.
Discuss this blog here:
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=96780#post96780
One Scary Day For Me
Date: Sat, Jul 19, 2008 Professional Internet
For all intents and purposes the member guest tournament at Nick’s club was a disaster for me. On the first night I had to go to bed early for me at like 11:00PM (I normally go to bed at like 4AM) and it just wasn’t happening. I tried for hour and finally gave up at like 1:30AM and grinded some poker until I was tired at like 4:30Am and then passed out. I had to be up by 7AM so I only got about 2 ½ hours of sleep. The next morning my partner and I played great and shot 65 in the two man scramble which was the best score of the day. I powered through till about 11:30PM and went to bed looking forward to 8+ hours of sleep. I fell asleep fine, but woke up at 4AM and had some pretty nasty anxiety as well. I just laid there because I knew that my body needed to at least get some rest and made it to the 9AM tee time feeling like total shit.
By the time I got to the course my anxiety faded, but I was like a complete zombie. I played terribly and my partner struggled as well and the end result was a score so poor that we essentially shot ourselves out of the 3 day tournament. After the round was over at 2:00PM, I went back to Nick’s and with the help of some Tylenol PM, passed out until about midnight. I woke up and took another Tylenol and after about 2 hours of messing around online and grinding a few hundred hands, I fell back asleep and woke up at about 8AM. So I got about 16 hours of sleep give or take and felt great once I got to the course. As I was about to begin the round I started feeling really terrible. My anxiety was back in a very big way. I couldn’t even stand still and I felt like a hard core drug addict going through withdrawals. I also had some heart palpitations which make getting a root canal sound like a lot of fun. I hit the ball ok for the first 2 holes, but on the second green I started feeling even worse. I would go from extreme anxiety to tremendous lows where I felt like I was almost going to pass out. My partner Scott Davis was right on the ball and phoned the pro shop at the club and the head professional Jeff Pace took me to the ER.
Once I got there I felt slightly better. I would attribute this to just being in the hospital which makes me feel safe. With my heart history they performed a battery of tests and my heart looked pretty good, so that made me feel much better as that is always my primary concern when stuff like this happens to me. This type of thing unfortunately happens all too often and is something that I worry about a lot. Since I have been in my twenties, I have gone to the ER for potentially heart related issues 8 different times. 5 of these times it has been a false alarm of sorts, but 3 of the times if I hadn’t gone in, I likely would’ve died. And the symptoms for most of these trips were similar so you can’t be too careful. Luckily, this was somewhat of a false alarm although they did determine that I have anxiety and gave me some medication to help me calm down.
The hospital I went to was quite good and they immediately went to work on me as soon as I got there. Although I did feel a little better once I got there, I did have a panic attack of sorts while I was in there and came super close to passing out and my pulse dropped into the 40s. I began sweating as if I were running a marathon in the middle of the desert and lost all color in my face. I felt like I was going to throw up, but I also managed not to somehow. They gave me some medicine that relaxes you and I felt much better after that. The tests came back and they did indicate past events of the heart, but nothing new fortunately.
It is really tough to have to deal with this. It gets me down in the dumps from time to time thinking about it. I know that there are a lot of people that have a lot worse things happen to them, but it still is frustrating to not get to live a normal life that a 27 year old usually gets to live. I haven’t gone a year since I turned 20 without going to the ER scared for my life and often times that gets me pretty depressed. I usually snap out of it within a week or so and life is good again. But my heart gives me a constant reminder that your life can be taken away from you in a flash. In a way it can possibly be my greatest attribute believe it or not. It has made me a fighter in life which translates into other things in life as well. For those who read my blog regularly or see my posts, I constantly tell anyone who might listen that you only get one shot at life and I encourage everyone to make the most of it. LIFE OWES YOU NOTHING! Life is a gift. I believe it is a gift from God, but no matter what you believe in, it is a gift. And that is why I encourage everyone to take advantage of it in any way possible. There are a lot of people who have aspirations in life and want to do things, but inevitably put them off and put them off until the next thing you know it is too late. And you know what? You can’t go back. You get one shot here on earth. Make the most if it and it would be better if you started making the most of it today rather than tomorrow.
I am constantly evaluating decisions I make in life and trying to keep myself in check with my own philosophies. Sometimes it is easy to get a little selfish and not leave that nice tip to the waitress that bent over backwards for you. Or it is easy to be in a $3k a night penthouse suite at the Palms with all the stripper poles, lights, plasmas everywhere and a 7 figure bankroll and start to think you are something a little more special than you really are. But without patting myself on the back too much, I am really proud of the progress I have made as a person over the years. I am proud of myself that I could’ve gotten caught up in all that and instead wrote a Vegas blog http://www.stoxpoker.com/node/1957 focusing on all of the wonderful people I met and friendships I made. Because that is really what it is all about anyway. At the end of my life if all I have to hang my hat on are steakhouses, penthouses, millions of dollars in the bank and whatever other excesses that are out there, then that would be pretty sad. I want to go out with a hell of a lot of people who care about me and not a dime to my name because I gave it all away to various people/charities who could use it to make monumentally positive changes in many, many lives. That is what it is really about. And I hope that these heart problems take a little hiatus and I can continue to work towards that becoming a reality. I know life owes me nothing, but I just hope that it doesn’t take me away any time soon.
I also want to especially thank Jeff Pace for helping me out in a time of need. He really went above and beyond in driving me to the ER and staying with me virtually the entire time in the ER. He definitely helped me relax and it was great to have such a wonderful person there during a difficult time. When you are on the road the last thing you want to have happen is something like this. Jeff showed his true colors and stayed with me despite having so much responsibility putting on his biggest event of the year. He even took me to the pharmacy to get my medication and basically anything else that would make me more comfortable. Jeff is truly a great guy and Fountain Grove country club should be proud to have such a great man as their head professional. Thanks again Jeff.
Discuss this blog here: http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=96542#post96542
Humberto Brenes
Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2008 Professional Internet
I know I just posted an entry, but I know tons of people have different opinions of Humberto, both good and bad so I wanted to post a few hands real quick that were fun. I only played 20 hands and these were the only 2 with him in.
PokerStars Game #18912904959: Hold'em Limit ($30/$60) - 2008/07/18 - 13:40:15 (ET)
Table 'Asterope' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: p12resh04 ($1005 in chips)
Seat 2: Stane1985 ($1302 in chips)
Seat 4: Humberto B. ($1612 in chips)
Seat 5: BOSO44 ($1248 in chips)
Stane1985: posts small blind $15
The Camel: is sitting out
Humberto B.: posts big blind $30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to p12resh04 [7c Td]
BOSO44: folds
p12resh04: raises $30 to $60
Stane1985: folds
Humberto B.: calls $30
*** FLOP *** [3d Kh 4d]
Humberto B.: checks
p12resh04: bets $30
Humberto B.: raises $30 to $60
p12resh04: calls $30
*** TURN *** [3d Kh 4d] [Ah]
Humberto B.: bets $60
p12resh04: raises $60 to $120
Humberto B.: calls $60
*** RIVER *** [3d Kh 4d Ah] [Qc]
Humberto B.: checks
p12resh04: bets $60
Humberto B.: folds
Uncalled bet ($60) returned to p12resh04
p12resh04 collected $493 from pot
p12resh04: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $495 | Rake $2
Board [3d Kh 4d Ah Qc]
If he had a king I think he may be weak enough to push him off it on the turn, although a good player should not fold here. Then when the river came in my bluff only needed to work like 15% of the time and I think he has a missed draw more than that plus the board got scary and I can push out a 3 or 4 also.
And then I guess he decided to respect my raises from now on and this hand came up
PokerStars Game #18913009321: Hold'em Limit ($30/$60) - 2008/07/18 - 13:44:56 (ET)
Table 'Asterope' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: p12resh04 ($883 in chips)
Seat 2: Stane1985 ($2035 in chips)
Seat 3: Raist0000 ($973 in chips)
Seat 4: Humberto B. ($1891 in chips)
Seat 5: BOSO44 ($573 in chips)
Stane1985: posts small blind $15
Raist0000: posts big blind $30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to p12resh04 [Td Kh]
Humberto B.: raises $30 to $60
BOSO44: folds
p12resh04: raises $30 to $90
Stane1985: folds
Raist0000: folds
Humberto B.: folds
Uncalled bet ($30) returned to p12resh04
p12resh04 collected $165 from pot
p12resh04: doesn't show hand
RESPECT, discuss this entry at the link below
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=96249#post96249
Back from Vegas
Date: Fri, Jul 18, 2008 Professional Internet
A trip report will follow shortly. I need to get pictures developed to post since my digital camera did properly function, leaving me to rely on disposable Kodak cameras. I just got back from taking my grandma out to lunch for her birthday. It's funny these days because she's like you don't have to treat me, and I just said I'm not, some guy in Vegas is.
Anyhow, on my way to meet my grandmother a weird encounter occurred. My neighbor was waving me down as I drove by so I slowed down to see what was up. She asked for a ride to the high school which is right down the street. Apparently she didn't feel like riding a bike, and mind you she is in her fifties. I open the door from her and then realize that I have a few grand in cash in my hand. She looks at me kind of funny and I just simply say "Vegas", and toss the money in my center console. Then she proceeds to call me Ryan which is clearly not my name. This kind of irks me, if you are unsure of someone's name then don't say it at all. I used to get this all the time when I interned, and people who thought they were real important didn't take the time to learn some names. O well, people will be people. Switching topics, it is really tough to be home and not be in the spotlights of Vegas.
I won't get in to the trip now, but I am pretty sure it inspired me to definitely move out there once I finish college next year. I am pretty random though so maybe I'll end up living in Hawaii or a European country or something and just playing online and not live for a year. I'll update everything once I get the pictures developed. I hope everything is going well in everyones' lives.
-Reese