Well...we'll see if this works because the requirement is to have a blog for a minimum of 2 months. I'm exactly at 2 months to the day tomorrow.

I've been trying to watch the Yankees lose tonight but the TBS feed keeps messing up so it makes it nearly impossible to watch. I figured I would make an update since I haven't in awhile. Sports are actually screwing with my poker playing time. Playoff baseball is fun to watch and Sundays is football time so I haven't played too much...which is ok. The nice thing about poker is being able to play when I feel like it. I can't imagine having to do it for a living. Nath seems really down about his play of late and it's taking a toll on his mental health. You'll get out of the funk Nath.

Everyone says that if you want to make good money playing poker stick to cash games. Yet there are sooooo many people killing the online tournaments that I feel I'm missing out. My schedule right now suits cash games as I can only play for a few hours at a time but if I had more time I wonder what the best avenue to take would be? I know that the top tournament players play 20 tournaments a day and the variance is huge, but couldn't they make more money playing cash games? I continue to read 2+2 posts daily about tournament situations but maybe I should venture into the cash game forums and make myself at home.

Goal update
Even while only playing sparingly I've made my way up to 3/6. Why the hell did I ever bonus whore? lol
I may need to switch over to Full Tilt since they have many more 3/6 games going. At FT I'll also be able to use pokertracker. I've been playing at a site that doesn't support PT so I have no idea what my stats are. Reviewing my stats should really be a part of my growth as a player. The only reason I haven't been playing at FT is because I don't have rakeback there.

For EdmondDante: You may be the only one that reads my blog...lol I need to be more proactive about finding people to talk to about poker. Do you mainly play live? On IM at all? Interested in discussing any hands?

So why the title of this post? I was actually vacuuming while playing poker the other day. First of all let me just say that I am a lazy ass and hate to do stupid chores when I would love to be doing something else. I think we work way too damn much as a society. Most people work a standard 9 to 5 (most times more) with an average commute time in a large city of around 30 min. You get home, unwind a bit, and then have to make yourself some dinner. By that time it's around 7:00-7:30 and you have about 2-3 hours to yourself. I'm a teacher so on many nights I'm grading papers while watching random television. On the weekends a variety of stuff usually has to get done: grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, etc. Throw kids in the mix (which I don't have) and you have no time to do the things you want to. Due to all this nonsense I try to eliminate as much of this crap out of my life as possible. I bought a townhouse so that I wouldn't have to mow the lawn or shovel any snow. I try to keep my meal preparation at 20 min or less. I even bought some shakes this summer with all the essential vitamins and other nutrients for those times when I don't feel like making a damn thing and need something quick.

So I found one of the greatest inventions I’ve ever used…the ROOMBA. The Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner. You charge that bad boy up and hit clean and it takes over and it does a damn good job. Some MIT students developed it based on some mine sweeping program and it runs a pattern to clean the entire floor. When it’s done it returns to the charging station by itself for later use...yeah that’s right…it charges itself, amazing! This is a bachelor’s dream. It’s very satisfying to be making money while you’re getting chores done.

The robot’s name is Tony…after Tony Danza from Who’s the Boss? My girlfriend dropped some dirt from a plant the other day and I said “Tony will get that” She said “Who the hell is Tony?” Damn I love that thing.

I'm not even sure many people read my damn blog....especially with all these higher profile people now joining :) Badgerpro, AJunglen the list keeps growing

Oh well, maybe my last goal (#4) will finally be accomplished and I can enter their little community...lol

The title I chose was know your opponent which should be an obvious thing but it's been important for me in the past few days. Some people suggest that before sitting in and playing you should watch a few orbits to see the general play of the players. This is an extremely good idea but sometimes I notice the % of players seeing the flop and I want to get in quick and sap the money from the fish before someone else does. One of the biggest things to know about players is if they're capable of folding? I had two similar hands recently where the type of player dictated whether my play worked or not.

I had just sat down at the table and was in mp with A10s. I raised and the BB called. The flop came 793. BB checks and I bet 2/3, BB called. The turn was a J. The BB checked and I bet 2/3 again, BB called. I assumed that he had a med pair type hand and I could bet him off of that or a draw like 68s. The river was K, BB checks and I bet 2/3 again. He'd shown weakness on all streets and I thought the king was a great card for me as I've been representing a big pair and AK got there too. I didn't assume he had a set or 2 pair because I figured he would raise somewhere along the way or bet the river. He called with A9o. After a few more orbits it was obvious that this guy was calling down with TP on the flop every time and even 2nd or 3rd pair. My note on him is now "Do not bluff"

A similar hand happened another day after I had been watching a few orbits and noticed that this particular player was prone to folding to bets on multiple streets. The villain was in the BB again and cold called. Flop 952r turn J river K My betting was relatively the same with AQo and he mucked showing Queens on the river. I don't bet all 3 streets that frequently but thought it was correct with the board texture in these instances and definitely correct in the second case because of my opponent.

I've consciously made it a rule for myself that if I don't recognize any of the players at the table, to watch a couple of orbits even if the game is super juicy.


Goal Update
I've been somewhat busy lately with things like parent's night and some other random teaching meetings. Lately when I play it's been for 2-3 hours a night...not any time for tournies...although I have donked away at some low buyins.

I've been playing 1/2 and 2/4. I hit my goal to play 2/4 but the 1/2 games have been so damn easy that I've probably played more hours of that level. I'm very near my goal to move to 3/6 but have changed my requirements slightly. I was going to move up to 3/6 when I hit $6000 but am now going to make it $7200. I'm going to give myself a 2 buyin cushion in case I were to drop that right away (which can be common).

For the new readers, I realize 10 buyins is not much for a level and most people suggest anywhere from 40-100 but this is not my total bankroll - it's just for this particular site. My original goal was to be at 3/6 by the end of the year and I'll most likely be there by the end of the month so my goals may need adjusting....hmmmmm

I heard Negreanu on tv the other day talking about being in a poker zone which got me thinking to how much "the poker zone" is very similar to the feeling in sports. Any time I hear that phrase I think of Jordan when he hit 6 threes in one half in the NBA finals as he shrugs to the scorer's table like "I don't know what's going on".

My experience with the "zone" is basketball related. It's an almost euphoric feeling...as if you can do no wrong. When you're in the zone you feel like you can kick the ball in. The hoop feels as big as a pool. It's a great feeling. When you're not in the zone and shots aren't falling you start looking elsewhere for explanations. You start to analyze your mechanics, am I not following through, feet set properly - you hang your head after shots as if nothing is going your way.

The same feeling can be true for poker. I've had times where I feel every decision I'm making is the correct one. You're read on players is spot on and you put players on the correct hand ranges. It's a definite rush. When things aren't going well you start looking at mechanics...hand selection, bet sizes, raising too much?, etc.

So the question is "How do you get in the zone?" It's not something that you can turn off and on when you want it . It just kind of happens. The key is to make sure your prepared so that it will happen. In basketball this means all those years of practice and shooting in the driveway set yourself up to experience this great feeling. In poker this means continually studying the game using books, forums, videos, and other players. If you're prepared it will come.


Goal update
I haven't been playing as much as I'd like to lately since I'm getting into the swing of things at school. I was taking a beat down for a week. I was losing many hands where I was a 70-80% favorite and was getting sucked out on the river...it happens. I've had a decent past few days winning around $1000 and have hit my mark for moving up to 2/4. Next is to get to $6000 to move up to 3/6.