D_Finkle

I started out my day down a couple hundred... but let's just say I made a big score at a table that I shouldn't have been at. I need to learn not to play above my br, but I'll take the big pot i won there anyway. Then I played in the VIP 100k freeroll on pstars. I made the money in that after being on the road and not playing for the first 40 minutes of the tourney. 50 bucks is 50 bucks. So anyway I made about twice what i need to on a daily basis to get by. This gives me the extra leeway I was hoping to have come Monday or Tuesday as I think I'm gonna play a lot of golf (possibly 36 holes). The only problem with that is that I have the opportunity to make it to Platinum Star, if i can pick up 900 VPP over the next 3 days. For many of you this is no problem, however, at the lower limits I play, this can be tough. As long as I devote the appropriate amount of time, i'm sure i'll get there.

Also, I got someone to trade me money onto Full Tilt. This will definately help me with my game selection. I count tell you how many times I've been unable to find a game i like at pstars. It will take some time to get to know the people at FT, but from what I see i think the play is actually weaker there, but I have a pretty small sample size to base this on. Is it just me or does it seem like it will take a lot longer to earn a significant amount of Full Tilt Points, than it does to earn a significant amount of FPPs on Pstars?

Also, a fun question.... What's the coolest thing you've ever bought with consierge service on pstars? I've heard a new computer system from a friend recently... thought i'd ask.

1 votes

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Somehow, i need to lower my variance on the razz tables. Razz can be a high variance game in general for those of you that don't play it. I went into last night up 145 bucks.... after about an hour and a half was down 20. 3 hours after that i had battled back to up 65 and i quit for the evening. This morning i was down 160 in 40 minutes, then up 20 .... 10 MINUTES LATER! Crazy swings.

Sorry so short on this one folks, but i'm taking my little sister (15) to see the Simpsons' Movie. I used to be a big simpsons fan but haven't actually watched an episode of the show in about a year. My avatar on pokerstars is homer simpson but my brother put that on there for me. I'm waiting until my baby is born to put his/her picture on there.

Everybody have a good one!

1 votes

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Lately i've noticed more and more people acting like jerks at the table. This indicates a couple of things about those individuals in my opinion. One, they have very little self-discipline/maturity. Two, they probably have very little intention of ever becoming a GREAT poker player of any well known stature. The reason I say this is that you wouldn't want to be known as someone who bad mouths others. It's just not profitable for a big name player to do that (sponsorships, etc.) Do I believe I will ever be a "big name player", not a chance. Have I ever berated a player at the table. More than I'd like to admit. Was I a jerk when doing so....? Yes I was. I am going to do my best to change this about myself as I hope any of you that take part in this, will make the same attempt. I've actually noticed that it has helped my game when I keep my thoughts to myself.

I just had a player (i'll leave his name off of this) come to my table, not play a hand, then have this conversation with me.

Other Player (OP): hey finkle, i like your blog on liquid poker. it's very insightful.

Me: ty

OP: just joking

Me: ok

OP: your a nit.

Then he leaves. I was then unable to find him at any other table. This means that he logged onto pokerstars for the express purpose of coming to my table and saying that. What is the purpose? His comments do not bother me as much as they are a microcosm of what i see in the poker community on a daily basis. To those of you that do not like my blog or what i have to say in it. My blog is in fact, NOT, the only website on the internet! You don't have to read it. If you go back and read my second entry, you'll find that I am not writing it for you. I am writing it for the friends that I have made in the short time that I have been posting on here. I am writing it for myself. Good luck to you all and good luck to OP, you know who you are as I am sure you will continue to read my blog despite my lack of insightfullness. :-)

1 votes

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I started out yesterday crushing everything I sat down at. I played some .50/1.00 just to wake up and made around 16 bucks in abot 10 minutes. Then moved on to razz where I had run my daily profits up to 144 in 2 hours playing 1/2 and 2/4. Then.

There had been a really bad accident that took place near my parents house the day before (Tuesday). 6 people were injured including a teenage girl and an 8 year old boy. As it turns out the 8 year old boy was in my mother's preschool class and the teenage girl was one of my sister's friends. When I found this out, I decided to take a break from poker and go hang out with my sis for a while. I get over there and she doesn't seem all that affected. My mom told me she had been pretty upset earlier but that she had calmed down quite a bit. Turns out that they were friends (my sister had gone to her b-day party once) but that they didn't hang out even on a monthly basis. So while I'm sure she's upset by it, it didn't affect her the way it did my brother when his best friend was killed in a baseball accident.

So after about an hour of hanging out with my sister, she jumped on her computer and I went downstairs to play some more razz. Ugh. I found a pretty juicy 3/6 table and a decent 1/2 table. I did well at the 1/2 but hit 47 bricks in a row (literally, i counted) at the 3/6 table. Instead of just saying screw it, and taking my losses I kept playing hoping that I would stop running bad but it was not to be. I lost the first 60 because i compounded running bad with playing awful. Then i lost about 55 to bring-ins and antes without playing a single hand (JQ7 isn't really playable). Thanks to a suckout wheel on 7th street i was able to get back to only down 11 bucks on the day prior to going to the greatest competition of all time - see previous blog entry.

When I got home, I was in a much better mood, as my sister competed with us at the tournament, and the quesadilla i ordered at taco bell actually had melted cheese this time. 2 hrs. 15 min. later i was back up over 100 on the day and called it quits after making over a buy-in at a 3/6 table.

Talk about an up and down day! But I'll tell you what... I learned quite a bit yesterday. I think I might make a few more -ev decisions so as to keep my variance down a bit. Fisheye25 reccomended that to me and I think he is right. Especially when starting out a new career I think that is the better approach.

1 votes

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Tonight.... I will be attending the greatest competition of all time. I mean, talk about prestige. I don't know if I can describe the fame that comes with winning it. That's right, for those of you in the know.... you're already aware that I'm talking about the Wednesday night putt-putt tournament. I'm nervous just thinking about it. I've been debating all week and have finally made that crucial decision. I will be going with the red ball this evening. Last week i used the green ball but had trouble finding it on the green carpet at times. Wish me luck you all. If i win, autographs will be 5 dollars each.

1 votes

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I had a decent day yesterday making twice what i feel i need to make on a daily basis. That was good as I had been on a small downswing. Its funny how one good day can rebuild your confidence quite a bit. Also, I've started talking to another big razz player who also has a Sunday Million ft to his credit. He seems to be a pretty good guy and I think he's going to help me clean up my game a little bit. Which leads me to the next thing I want to talk about....

I started writing this blog yesterday for two reasons...

1) I have read plenty of blogs from the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Brian Townsend, etc. While I always enjoy reading about their daily escapades, I find it difficult to relate to Brian Townsend's recent 3 million dollar downswing. So, if others think the same way I do, this would give them at least one more person that is in a similar place in the game as they are to read about and compare themselves with.

2) While my wife has been 100% supportive of my attempt at a poker career, many others around me have questioned it. Once I have explained to them the responsible approach that I have taken with it, they usually view it in a better light. So, one reason I am writing this blog is to get to know you all, as I would think you all would be more apt to "root me on" than some of my friends/family have been. So.... one last time.... I have set aside multiple months worth of paychecks. If I have to dip into said paychecks to a level agreed upon by my wife and I, I am done with poker as a career and will move onto a job with a company that I already have lined up waiting for me if I need it.

I graduated high school on my 18th birthday. I graduated college exactly 4 years later and had a job lined up in teaching before I graduated. 3 weeks to the day after I graduated college, I got married. 3 weeks after that, I bought my first house. I had been at the same job ever since, though i was slowly disliking it more and more (nothing like having kids curse you out on a daily basis, then get rewarded for it by the administration). I tell you all this to point out that... in my 26 years, I haven't taken a single big chance in my life. So for the couple of you who feel the need to leave negative comments about my wanting to play for a career, let it be. I never understand why people want to be so negative towards others that belong to the same community. With things like the UIGEA and the negative stigma that many still place on poker, I would think that people would embrace the community of poker players and encourage each other rather than attack, attack, attack.

Ok, so this is my semi-rant.... How you guys doing? How are the kids?

1 votes

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I'm newly playing poker as a career. I've only been playing as my soul source of income for about 2 and a half weeks, so I'm very new. But so far so good. Just after I started I won the nightly horse event for 693 which was nice. To give everybody an idea of what kind of player I am, I am not playing at high levels. I'm grinding. I'm grinding at very low levels. You can find me playing the 1/2 - 3/6 razz tables at pokerstars and playing the low level sng's as well. I used to be a high school math teacher but got tired of the governmental influence in the day to day teaching, and am now doing this. I have my first child on the way (almost 2 months away!!!) and therefor really want this to work out. It would be nice to be able to stay home with my wife and the baby when she's on maternity life from her work. Anyway, I have been having a rough past week. I've been winning but not at the level i would like to. Also, I find that I am losing quite a bit in the morning and winning it back in the evening. First response to this is of course.... only play at night... but that's when the wife is home and I'd like to be able to take that time off if possible. Yesterday I sat 10/20 razz for the first time in a while and did ok making about 150 in the hour i played there. It was cool because i got to watch some of the top razz players on the net play and showdown the hands they played that way with. This morning i have employed a couple of things I learned there and it has paid off so far. Up about 60 in my first hour of play. I'll take it. Well, my mother is coming over to the house for a couple of hours, so I need to clean up. I wouldn't want her thinking her son just sits around playing poker all day now would I? :-)


Baltzman: I understand that this is in most cases quite a risky venture. However I have reserved some money so as to allow myself time to find a "real job" if months go by without the paycheck that I plan to send myself. I agree with you that most people should take quite a bit of caution before doing what I am doing as it can be a volatile way of making a living.

1 votes

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