My maxim is as follows:

We all suck at poker.

Ok, maybe not all, but almost all, even good winning players with access to all the poker information now available, are no where near maximum potential. If we continue to learn and get better, maybe one day we won't suck so bad.

But, there will always be people who suck worse than us, and we can still make a decent profit off of those people until then.

Agree/disagree?

I'm sitting on my back porch eating yet another can of progresso chicken gumbo I heated up on the grill. This is the exciting life of someone in a town thrown out of whack by a little storm named Ike. If not for my blackberry I would have gone crazy a while ago. At least I have some communication with the outside world, even if it is just on a 2" x 2" screen.

The night of the hurricane was, well I have no idea because I slept straight through it. My girlfriend says it was bad, that she never wants to go through it again and that next time we are leaving town regardless of what the authorities say. To that I say, "meh, how bad can it be if I slept through it." All I know is I woke up to a leaking roof and a backyard that looked like this:

Since then the neighbors and I worked to fix the broken fence and kinda sorta hopefully fixed the roof. We still have no electricity but it's feelin pretty good to have running water again. I think of it as a sort of camping vacation, but in your own house.

Anyway, everyone I know made out ok from the storm with very minimal damage. The biggest complaints are from people being bored. I have to admit I kinda like the quiet and I'm not really bored at all, but I do miss my internet pokers.

talk to ya'll again when I am back up and running.

I played 2 donkaments in New Orleans, both Friday. I played Circuit Event # 1, a $500 event, and a $300 "second chance tourney." Neither tournament was very eventful and I never really was in a spot I liked. In both tournaments I ended up short stacks and shoving wide which eventually resulted in being knocked out by a better hand.

The real story comes from playing cash game on Saturday night. I was playing 2/5 NL with a whole crew of locals and a few good players. After about 2 hours of play I was down to about $250. I called a $20 raise with 77 from the BB along with 4 other callers. Flop comes K67 with 2 hearts. I check, someone bets $100, 3 call, and I shove my remaining $230 in. I get 2 callers who both cover me by about $200. So the main pot is about $900. The turn is the 6 giving me a full house and completing a flush. The other 2 players shove/call the turn. One tables A6 and the other KJ. River - K.

I go back to my hotel busto and ready to get the heck out of New Orleans. Nothing like putting your chips in with 98% equity and losing.

Most of you work a 9 to 5 job like me and play poker for recreation and extra income. Poker only made up about 10% of my income in 2007 and although I am off to a slow start I hope to best that in 2008. The problem is that poker is an extremely consuming hobby compared to other activities. People who enjoy, say, mountain biking or wine tasting, don't read strategy forums constantly, think about the equity of AKo with an M of 7 during their business meetings, or stay up late at night staring at a computer screen analyzing all the minutia of activity 6 or more tables can provide at any given moment. Most recreational activities also allow a fair degree of socializing during them, while online poker does not. Most nights my girlfriend lays on the daybed watching TV or browsing the net on the laptop while I play 4 to 6 tables. She complains I am like a "zombie" when playing, but how can one not be a zombie when he needs to take note of continuation bet sizing patterns or MP raising ranges? She introduced me to poker, so I remind her that it's all her fault anyway.

Having said that, here are brad2002tj's 6 tips for balancing out your life with poker:

1. Set aside "date nights" for your significant other. Take her out to dinner, a comedy show, get drunk together, etc. Talk about anything but poker. Tell her you like her dress. You know, all that crap you did when you met her.

2. Exercise. I run 15-25 miles a week. It's one of the few things that keep me from truly being a degenerate. Find something athletic you like to do, even if it is just lifting weights. You will live longer, look better, and the afore-mentioned significant other will be much more likely to give you sexytime you after you donk out of all your games. Plus exercising with your SO keeps her in shape, so what's not to like about that?

3. Do non-poker related projects, especially if they can be done with your SO. Landscaping, home improvement, writing, etc. are all good ideas. My SO loves working on the yard, so often our weekends involve trips to Home Depot and working together outside.

4. Set professional goals. Don't be satisified with where you are. The sad truth is that for most of us our mental resources would be better spent applied to our profession than poker. Volunteer for extra projects. Don't even think about "going pro" until you have a year or two of living expenses in your bankroll. Considering that I usually spend my winnings, that will be never.

5. Spend time studing the game away from the tables. Many of us post/read online strategy forums, and I am always reading poker books and magazines (review of Harrington on Cash 1-2 is forthcoming). Dedicate at least a small portion of your day to doing this so that you don't get lost in the minutia of the game and to help see the big picture.

6. Play for fun again. Every now and then I'll open up a $1 STT, especially after some alcoholic beverages, and play like an absolute maniac. It's amazing what moves you can make when you really don't care about the money. You can be the fearless poker player you always wanted to be, and it's actually fun and stress-free. The free games at your local bars can be a great stress reliever as well.

Happy living!

I used to play at Full Tilt a while back, where I grinded out $200 or so playing STT, cashed out profits, and then ran (played) horribly and went bust. Someone at 2+2 recently needed a tilt to stars transfer, so I decided to help them out and transfer $200 from stars to tilt and try out the site again. When Tilt announced the $100.00 bonus from their network problems it gave me extra incentive to play there.

I played a little over 100 STT with only breaking even and was starting to get frustrated. Then Sunday night I finished 5th out of 600 in a $10 KO tourney for a payount of $270. I also went on a STT heater, cashing in 11 out of 12 straight with several wins and along with bonuses and the 5th place KO finish grinded my $200 up to $700.



I havn't been playing stars much, but as you can see I've been only breaking even, except for wasting $50 or so at the Sunday 100k lottery and WSOP steps.



Seperately I cashed out my AP account to have bankroll to play 1/2 NL at Harrah's New Orleans when I go there tomorrow for a business trip. My earnings rate there has historically been very high, and I hope that trend continues Wednesday through Friday. Will put up a trip report this weekend.