If things continue to turn around, I will someday look back on March of 2009, and be proud of myself. For the first time in a long time, instead of putting my head down trying to push through all the adversity, I stopped pushing and something amazing happened. I realized that the wall I had been beating my head against had an open door two steps to the left and I couldn't see it because I was being so narrow minded in my focus and approach.
I know that it's not going to be all upswings and life robusto from now on, but I've got the strength, confidence and roadmap to get me through the tough times in the future.
I'm going to get back into more consistent writing in April. Part of stepping back, was not worrying about keeping up the blog amongst other things, but the next three months are going to be fast paced and exciting in the Burro household as we get ready to move to Austin...........Finally.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Post #15 - Recovery
That is my goal for March...........REBUILD & RECOVER.
Things have been so sh!tty recently, that writing about them isn't even cathartic. If something can go wrong recently, it has. I'm really trying hard to keep a positive outlook on everything, but it's just getting harder and harder each day that I have drag myself to the job I hate. I really think all the other things would seem so much less troubling if I wasn't miserable for 10-12 hours a day, 5 days a week. So, I'm starting to formulate my "exit strategy". Luckily, my beautiful and intelligent wife may be starting her dream job in Austin this summer, which means finally getting out of Htown, and possibly having a bit more financial freedom to take a pay cut and do something I love (fingers crossed).
My workouts have come to a stand still due to my recent bout with teh shingles, but I'll be getting back to regular 6 day/week sessions now that I'm close to 100%.
Last, but certainly not least, poker. L.O. f'n L. Play bad, run bad. Play good, run bad. I've tried it all recently. Super NIT, TAG, LAG, you name it, I've tried it, and I can't seem to find a style that works for me. My coach seems confident that I am just going through a rough patch, and that I should be able to beat these limits easily, but my confidence is shot. I pretty much put the coaching on hold to go back and start from scratch watching as many of the uNL and ssNL vids as I can, and...........drop down to NL50.
Things have been so sh!tty recently, that writing about them isn't even cathartic. If something can go wrong recently, it has. I'm really trying hard to keep a positive outlook on everything, but it's just getting harder and harder each day that I have drag myself to the job I hate. I really think all the other things would seem so much less troubling if I wasn't miserable for 10-12 hours a day, 5 days a week. So, I'm starting to formulate my "exit strategy". Luckily, my beautiful and intelligent wife may be starting her dream job in Austin this summer, which means finally getting out of Htown, and possibly having a bit more financial freedom to take a pay cut and do something I love (fingers crossed).
My workouts have come to a stand still due to my recent bout with teh shingles, but I'll be getting back to regular 6 day/week sessions now that I'm close to 100%.
Last, but certainly not least, poker. L.O. f'n L. Play bad, run bad. Play good, run bad. I've tried it all recently. Super NIT, TAG, LAG, you name it, I've tried it, and I can't seem to find a style that works for me. My coach seems confident that I am just going through a rough patch, and that I should be able to beat these limits easily, but my confidence is shot. I pretty much put the coaching on hold to go back and start from scratch watching as many of the uNL and ssNL vids as I can, and...........drop down to NL50.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Post #13 - I'm not dead or busto.........
......but I feel damn close.
The bottom has pretty much dropped out for me recently. I can't seem to put in a winning session to save my life. I'm basically in the middle of a 30 Buy In downswing, and getting ready to suck it up and drop down to NL50 for a while. I started getting some mentoring from a DC coach and FTP NL200'er "jongreenway". He basically crushes the NL200 games on FTP playing a very solid and heady game. I'm hoping he can help me with some of the many leaks that I obviously have and get me going in the right direction again, because right now, I really don't remember what it feels like to win.
I would love for that to be the worst part of my life right now, but unfortunately, it's not. My wife and I are still struggling to cope with the loss of our unborn child. I've never felt more devastated as I did when I heard, "there's no more heartbeat". I still don't believe it, and the whole pregnancy prior to that seems like a dream.
Oh yeah, I hate my job. (who doesn't?)
FML.
The bottom has pretty much dropped out for me recently. I can't seem to put in a winning session to save my life. I'm basically in the middle of a 30 Buy In downswing, and getting ready to suck it up and drop down to NL50 for a while. I started getting some mentoring from a DC coach and FTP NL200'er "jongreenway". He basically crushes the NL200 games on FTP playing a very solid and heady game. I'm hoping he can help me with some of the many leaks that I obviously have and get me going in the right direction again, because right now, I really don't remember what it feels like to win.
I would love for that to be the worst part of my life right now, but unfortunately, it's not. My wife and I are still struggling to cope with the loss of our unborn child. I've never felt more devastated as I did when I heard, "there's no more heartbeat". I still don't believe it, and the whole pregnancy prior to that seems like a dream.
Oh yeah, I hate my job. (who doesn't?)
FML.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Post #12 - Swonguary 2009
This is how I will remember January unless I can get a nice heater to finish the month. My graph looks like some obnoxious roller coaster that makes you vomit, so I'll probably refrain from causing any motion sickness in the one or two readers of this blog. I've been +2000, -800, +800, -800, and I'm sitting at a pitiful +70 right now (better than -70 in a "half full" world I guess). Everytime I put together a couple days of good play, I seem to follow that up with a disastrous day that eats up almost all of my profit from the previous days. The worst part is I've been doing a bunch of studying over that time period, so I don't know if I am applying things incorrectly, at the wrong times, or just not understanding the concepts. Thank you DC for making me feel completely clueless right now ;)
I'm enlisting the help of an established winner at SS&MSNL 6max, and I hope it can develop into a great poker relationship. I could definitely use the help right now, so it's good to know that I have someone to get me through the rough spots and help me get my bankroll and game ready to move up in stakes. There's no guarantee this will happen, but my "mentor" seems confident, so we shall see.
I'm enlisting the help of an established winner at SS&MSNL 6max, and I hope it can develop into a great poker relationship. I could definitely use the help right now, so it's good to know that I have someone to get me through the rough spots and help me get my bankroll and game ready to move up in stakes. There's no guarantee this will happen, but my "mentor" seems confident, so we shall see.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Post #11 - Back to NL100, Back in the right direction
I'm still kind of reeling from my brief jump to NL200. It's hard watching 1/3 of your bankroll go flying out the window when you got in with the best of it 90% of the time. That being said, I'm happy with myself for not chasing my losses and getting into a bigger hole. Instead, I sucked it up and put in 5k hands of NL100 on Saturday and Sunday to get myself back on stable ground and start moving in the right direction again. I won a little over 6 BI's, and I'm again on the positive side for the month.
I finally took the time to get my HUD setup and running, and it's tough following the stats on 6 tables at a time. I had to make a cheat sheet to remind me of what each number represented (embarrassed). I'm sure that once I get used to it and build a bigger database on the players that it will be extremely helpful, but right now, it's almost more of a hindrance than helpful.
The installs that helped more than anything this weekend were some FTP mods from Tiltbusters. I downloaded one of their table mods, and found some cards and Paulson Pharoahs chips as well. The new setup looks great and makes it much easier to multitable!
I highly recommend checking out Tiltbusters even if you are just bored with your current setup, as they have mods for most sites inlcuding FTP, Stars, UB, etc.
I wasn't originally planning on depositing into my FTP account (originally funded with transfer), but with my recent downswongy attempt at NL200, I decided to dump $600 in so I could take advantage of the signup bonus. It's a free $600 right? I cleared $120 of it this weekend, and I hope to have it all cleared in the next week or so.
I did get a nice $200 in rakeback last week because of my shot at NL200. Would have been great if I didn't drop $1200 during the process. At some point, I hope to start withdrawing my rakeback every month, but for now, it's staying in and helping build my roll. I'll likely be staying at NL100 for a while. It was worth the shot when I felt like I could do no wrong, but now that reality and variance have set in, I'll just stay where I'm at until I feel HEAVILY rolled to move up in stakes. For me, that probably means somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 BI's. I'd rather be a bankroll nit and play more aggressively on the tables, than be a nit at the tables and play in too big of a game where I'm scared money or less confident.
I'm still going strong at 45min/day, 6days/week on level 4, and I think it's time to bump up the time or level next month. I'm thinking going to level 5 is the answer. At the end of 45 minutes, I'm still feeling REALLY strong. I still want to find time to add some yoga workouts during the week, but I haven't come up with a plan I feel good about. I need to get on that though, my back and shoulders have been really sore lately, so I need to incorporate some serious stretching to my routine.
One last thing regarding my back, shoulder and neck issues........I'm considering getting an ergonomic chair for poker. I've been told it's a MUST for grinding long hours, so after a bunch of research and shopping, I think I've settled on the Raynor Ergohuman. There's an Austin store that sells on Ebay and they have a great deal with 30% off through Microsoft Live making the cost only about $400 instead of $650+. Part of me thinks it's crazy to spend $400 on a chair, but I've heard countless testimonials about the benefits of an ergonomic chair, so I'm most likely taking the plunge.
Hasta Luego!
I finally took the time to get my HUD setup and running, and it's tough following the stats on 6 tables at a time. I had to make a cheat sheet to remind me of what each number represented (embarrassed). I'm sure that once I get used to it and build a bigger database on the players that it will be extremely helpful, but right now, it's almost more of a hindrance than helpful.
The installs that helped more than anything this weekend were some FTP mods from Tiltbusters. I downloaded one of their table mods, and found some cards and Paulson Pharoahs chips as well. The new setup looks great and makes it much easier to multitable!
I highly recommend checking out Tiltbusters even if you are just bored with your current setup, as they have mods for most sites inlcuding FTP, Stars, UB, etc.
I wasn't originally planning on depositing into my FTP account (originally funded with transfer), but with my recent downswongy attempt at NL200, I decided to dump $600 in so I could take advantage of the signup bonus. It's a free $600 right? I cleared $120 of it this weekend, and I hope to have it all cleared in the next week or so.
I did get a nice $200 in rakeback last week because of my shot at NL200. Would have been great if I didn't drop $1200 during the process. At some point, I hope to start withdrawing my rakeback every month, but for now, it's staying in and helping build my roll. I'll likely be staying at NL100 for a while. It was worth the shot when I felt like I could do no wrong, but now that reality and variance have set in, I'll just stay where I'm at until I feel HEAVILY rolled to move up in stakes. For me, that probably means somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 BI's. I'd rather be a bankroll nit and play more aggressively on the tables, than be a nit at the tables and play in too big of a game where I'm scared money or less confident.
I'm still going strong at 45min/day, 6days/week on level 4, and I think it's time to bump up the time or level next month. I'm thinking going to level 5 is the answer. At the end of 45 minutes, I'm still feeling REALLY strong. I still want to find time to add some yoga workouts during the week, but I haven't come up with a plan I feel good about. I need to get on that though, my back and shoulders have been really sore lately, so I need to incorporate some serious stretching to my routine.
One last thing regarding my back, shoulder and neck issues........I'm considering getting an ergonomic chair for poker. I've been told it's a MUST for grinding long hours, so after a bunch of research and shopping, I think I've settled on the Raynor Ergohuman. There's an Austin store that sells on Ebay and they have a great deal with 30% off through Microsoft Live making the cost only about $400 instead of $650+. Part of me thinks it's crazy to spend $400 on a chair, but I've heard countless testimonials about the benefits of an ergonomic chair, so I'm most likely taking the plunge.
Hasta Luego!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Post #10 - WTF?!?! (doomswitched ldo)
I'm sure this is all pretty "standard", but it's been a painful last few days none the less. 10,000 hands of NL200, -$1200.
I might post some hands in a bit, but they make me sick to look at.
Back to NL100.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Post #9 - New 24, NL200 & Home Donkaments
For those of you expecting to see something about Jack Bauer here, that wasn't the 24 I was referring to in my title. The new 24 is actually a Samsung (1920x1200 resolution), which is just what I needed for 6 tabling. I got a really sick deal! Office Depot had them for $300 after a $39 instant rebate (compared to Circuit City's $399), and using 3 $100 Visa gift cards brought my out of pocket total to about $24. Ship it!
I was sure that as soon as I fired it up, I was going to experience some sort of "new monitor curse", so instead of my usual 6 tables of NL100, I opted for NL200. Why not right? 4 hours later, I was up $800+ and happy to book a win on the new monitor and new level. I'm still just under my desired 30 Buy Ins for NL200, but I'll stick around for a few more sessions and see how things go. If I drop a few BI's, I'll go back to NL100, but if I can manage to eek out some wins or have a big session, I'm here until NL400 comes calling.
My volume this week (hours) was a bit down due to the BCS games and no Saturday or Sunday play, but I booked a good week and I'll be ready to attack NL200 this week and hopefully get in 20 hours of online play.
On Saturday evening, my boss hosted a 27 person donkament for friends and customers. This is the 5th or 6th time we've done this and my record is something like......2 wins (outright), 2 chops, and a 3rd. We use a T1000 structure, $20 Buy In with unlimited rebuys for the first two hours and an add-on at the break. It's a soft field (obv), but I still managed to drop 4 BI's before ever winning a hand! The fifth was the charm though, and I manged to run real goot for the last 3 hours before agreeing to a chop with my buddy Jason. The total prize pool was $1300 and paid the top 5. Jason and I split the 1st and 2nd place money for $400 each even though I held a 3.5-2 chip lead. Good times were had by all (except my boss, who can't deal with losing).
Workouts are really rolling along. My new schedule is 45min/day Monday-Saturday, with Sunday being a rest day. I'd like to incorporate some yoga into my workouts. My flexibility is laughable! It's pretty embarassing to be an ex division 1 athlete and not be able to touch your toes anymore. I have back problems that compound the issue, but that's a pathetic excuse I won't use anymore. Ideally, I would like to do 20-30 minutes of yoga first thing in the morning, but I'm not sure I can manage to get myself out of bed an hour earlier. It's a goal.
I was sure that as soon as I fired it up, I was going to experience some sort of "new monitor curse", so instead of my usual 6 tables of NL100, I opted for NL200. Why not right? 4 hours later, I was up $800+ and happy to book a win on the new monitor and new level. I'm still just under my desired 30 Buy Ins for NL200, but I'll stick around for a few more sessions and see how things go. If I drop a few BI's, I'll go back to NL100, but if I can manage to eek out some wins or have a big session, I'm here until NL400 comes calling.
My volume this week (hours) was a bit down due to the BCS games and no Saturday or Sunday play, but I booked a good week and I'll be ready to attack NL200 this week and hopefully get in 20 hours of online play.
On Saturday evening, my boss hosted a 27 person donkament for friends and customers. This is the 5th or 6th time we've done this and my record is something like......2 wins (outright), 2 chops, and a 3rd. We use a T1000 structure, $20 Buy In with unlimited rebuys for the first two hours and an add-on at the break. It's a soft field (obv), but I still managed to drop 4 BI's before ever winning a hand! The fifth was the charm though, and I manged to run real goot for the last 3 hours before agreeing to a chop with my buddy Jason. The total prize pool was $1300 and paid the top 5. Jason and I split the 1st and 2nd place money for $400 each even though I held a 3.5-2 chip lead. Good times were had by all (except my boss, who can't deal with losing).
Workouts are really rolling along. My new schedule is 45min/day Monday-Saturday, with Sunday being a rest day. I'd like to incorporate some yoga into my workouts. My flexibility is laughable! It's pretty embarassing to be an ex division 1 athlete and not be able to touch your toes anymore. I have back problems that compound the issue, but that's a pathetic excuse I won't use anymore. Ideally, I would like to do 20-30 minutes of yoga first thing in the morning, but I'm not sure I can manage to get myself out of bed an hour earlier. It's a goal.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Post #8 - Looking back, looking forward.
It's been a busy few weeks since my last post as the holidays were just too hectic to get in time to write. After the Christmas Madnesss, the wife and I spent a week in San Jose del Cabo relaxing and getting recharged for the new year. It's been a LONG year for the both of us individually and as a couple, but we hit a HUGE upswing to close out the year, and we are both happy and excited about things to come (like a Baby Burro)!
Workouts:
I'm a workout machine! Not really, but compared to how I have been for the past few years......
I've done a 45 minute cardio workout almost everyday, and I feel GREAT! My energy level is so much higher than it was previously, and it definitely helps my concentration. I've started a rule of no poker unless I've done a workout first. It's great incentive to get my workout done early and keeps me from steaming and spewing (too much).
My goals for 2009 are.......
* Continue 6day/week cardio workouts building up to 1hour at the highest level
* Make time to get to the beach when the surf is good (It's fickle, so get on it when you can!)
Poker:
I used the time in Cabo to do some reading and I was able to finish Elements of Poker and Harrington on HoldEm I. There are plenty of reviews floating around, so I won't say too much other than I highly recommend both. I'm ordering HoH II & III this week and I hope to finish both this month. Reading in general is always +EV, and since I don't have a "crew" to bounce ideas off of, I need to absorb as much info as possible and weed through what works for me and what doesn't.
Mrs. Burro must have been reading my mind, because when I came downstairs Xmas morning, I had a subscription to Deuces Cracked "under the tree". I'm extremely excited about digging into the videos and forums at DC. I know atleast two of the coaches they have are currently living in Austin, so I am hoping to meet them sometime in the future and see about getting some mentoring.
December was a solid month for me at the tables. I was able to play just over 60 hours for a total of 21,671 hands while 4 tabling NL100. I won $1677, plus about $400 in rakeback which equates to approximately 9.5bb/100 hands. I was able to earn "Gold" status at FTP, falling just two days short of Iron Man. This earned me a $75 bonus for each month I earned that status, unfortunately, December was my first and only month of FTP in 2008. I play during Happy Hour as often as possible to maximize my FPPs, and with the 3x Holiday Happy Hours they had running, I earned almost 15,000 FPPs.
Last night, I 6 tabled NL100 for the first time, and it was CHAOS for the opening hour. Not only did it seem much faster than 4 tables, but I was getting hit with deck on almost every table. Before I knew it, I was up 6 BuyIns! Then, this hand happened.........
Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
MP: $242.65
CO: $120.90
BTN: $100.10
SB: $100
BB: $58.40
Hero (UTG): $201.65
Pre-Flop: A
K
dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $3.50, MP raises to $12, 4 folds, Hero calls $8.50
Flop: ($25.50) K
J 5 (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $17, Hero calls $17
Turn: ($59.50) 7
(2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $36, Hero raises to $104, MP raises to $213.65 and is All-In, Hero calls $68.65 and is All-In
River: ($404.80) 3 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: $404.80 Pot ($3 Rake)
MP showed 7 7 (three of a kind, Sevens) and WON $401.80 (+$200.15 NET)
Hero showed A K (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$201.65 NET)
I'd love to hear some comments as I've been replaying this hand in my head since yesterday. 4bet preflop? Check raise the flop?
My goals for 2009 are...........
* Play 300,000+ hands 6 tabling NL100 & NL200 (shots at NL400 with table selection)
* Move up to NL400 by the end of the year (requires $16k roll)
* Read 1 poker book per month
That's all for now...........
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Workouts:
I'm a workout machine! Not really, but compared to how I have been for the past few years......
I've done a 45 minute cardio workout almost everyday, and I feel GREAT! My energy level is so much higher than it was previously, and it definitely helps my concentration. I've started a rule of no poker unless I've done a workout first. It's great incentive to get my workout done early and keeps me from steaming and spewing (too much).
My goals for 2009 are.......
* Continue 6day/week cardio workouts building up to 1hour at the highest level
* Make time to get to the beach when the surf is good (It's fickle, so get on it when you can!)
Poker:
I used the time in Cabo to do some reading and I was able to finish Elements of Poker and Harrington on HoldEm I. There are plenty of reviews floating around, so I won't say too much other than I highly recommend both. I'm ordering HoH II & III this week and I hope to finish both this month. Reading in general is always +EV, and since I don't have a "crew" to bounce ideas off of, I need to absorb as much info as possible and weed through what works for me and what doesn't.
Mrs. Burro must have been reading my mind, because when I came downstairs Xmas morning, I had a subscription to Deuces Cracked "under the tree". I'm extremely excited about digging into the videos and forums at DC. I know atleast two of the coaches they have are currently living in Austin, so I am hoping to meet them sometime in the future and see about getting some mentoring.
December was a solid month for me at the tables. I was able to play just over 60 hours for a total of 21,671 hands while 4 tabling NL100. I won $1677, plus about $400 in rakeback which equates to approximately 9.5bb/100 hands. I was able to earn "Gold" status at FTP, falling just two days short of Iron Man. This earned me a $75 bonus for each month I earned that status, unfortunately, December was my first and only month of FTP in 2008. I play during Happy Hour as often as possible to maximize my FPPs, and with the 3x Holiday Happy Hours they had running, I earned almost 15,000 FPPs.
Last night, I 6 tabled NL100 for the first time, and it was CHAOS for the opening hour. Not only did it seem much faster than 4 tables, but I was getting hit with deck on almost every table. Before I knew it, I was up 6 BuyIns! Then, this hand happened.........
Full Tilt Poker, $0.50/$1 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
MP: $242.65
CO: $120.90
BTN: $100.10
SB: $100
BB: $58.40
Hero (UTG): $201.65
Pre-Flop: A
K dealt to Hero (UTG)Hero raises to $3.50, MP raises to $12, 4 folds, Hero calls $8.50
Flop: ($25.50) K
J 5 (2 Players)Hero checks, MP bets $17, Hero calls $17
Turn: ($59.50) 7
(2 Players)Hero checks, MP bets $36, Hero raises to $104, MP raises to $213.65 and is All-In, Hero calls $68.65 and is All-In
River: ($404.80) 3
(2 Players - 1 is All-In)Results: $404.80 Pot ($3 Rake)
MP showed 7
7 (three of a kind, Sevens) and WON $401.80 (+$200.15 NET)Hero showed A
K (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$201.65 NET)I'd love to hear some comments as I've been replaying this hand in my head since yesterday. 4bet preflop? Check raise the flop?
My goals for 2009 are...........
* Play 300,000+ hands 6 tabling NL100 & NL200 (shots at NL400 with table selection)
* Move up to NL400 by the end of the year (requires $16k roll)
* Read 1 poker book per month
That's all for now...........
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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