< 3 Weeks Til Graduation!

I can't believe how fast this quarter is going. On my first round of midterms, I got clean A's on all 3 tests, which is nice. I do have a ton of work to do between now and June 13th, but it's nice to know how close I am.

I have essentially made the decision to stay in Bellingham this summer and continue working at Semiahmoo. I am really enjoying it, and, although it is a bitch of a drive, the free golf is really nice. The plan right now is to take it easy for about a month after I graduate, continue working, go to Vegas from July 1 through the 8th then start looking for jobs - probably in the Seattle area. I will then most likely be working down there and will start preparing for grad school exams next Spring.

Speaking of grad school, I am really proud of myself for pulling my GPA up this year and not slacking. I think that my upward trend will likely make me more appealing to schools. My GPA kind of suffered from having to take GUR's, which are b.s. required general classes that everyone has to take to graduate. I just never really took them seriously and didn't apply myself in them at all. But once I got into my major and started becoming proficient at it, I started working harder because I could see the progress that I was making. I will probably talk about this in my applications to grad schools.

Right now I am not even sure what exactly I want to be studying. I think I would be a pretty good fit for law school, but it's def gonna take a year of maturing and "growing up" before I am prepared to do that. I think doing some sort of corporate law would be interesting. I have also considered MBA or doing a Masters program, probably in Economics.

Whereas part of me wishes that I had applied to grad schools for this upcoming fall, I just didn't want to get burned out, and I just was not super motivated to enter the real world just yet. I am really really looking forward to this summer and playing tons of golf and building a bigger roll.

Speaking of that, this month has been going pretty well. I withdrew around $3300 at the end of April to live off of for a while, and am up around $1100 this month online. For some reason, hold 'em manager did not collect hands from a couple sessions I had at some 100NL with antes table, which I ran extremely hot at. Last Sunday I made over $600 at this table, and the other day I made over $300, and HEM says I am up $220 for the month.

I just got finished playing a session in which I felt I played extremely well. I have lately been trying to focus really hard on playing my best by eliminating some other distractions. I typically play on the couch, and, although the TV is usually on, I put on my Bose headphones and listen to Pandora while trying to focus and take notes, etc. It has really been helping, and I have been playing, what I would consider, optimally.

Today there weren't many FR games going, so I jumped in a couple 6-max games to see if I still had the magic. The games were pretty aggressive with at least 2-3 regs at each table playing a pretty similar style - 3-betting a lot, occasionally 4-betting light, iso-raising, c-betting, etc.

Here are a couple of the hands from this sesh:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/695118
I kinda like my line that I take here. This guy was 19/11, and I have been experimenting with the real small bet that a CR pro, David Benefield, likes to take. I tried my best to rep a big hand, and the river, I think I get folds from any PP under KK. I had him somewhat scared I guess as he played AJ slowly.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/695120
This hand was toward the end of the sesh and really sucked. I have played with this guy before back in my prime 6-max days. Earlier, I had called a UTG raise with 88, and there was another caller, then he squeezed, and I flatted and raised his c-bet on a A 6 5, and he started chatting, blah blah blah, so I thought he might try to come after me or w/e. I was trying my best to get him to spaz out and raise me with pretty small bets, but he obv just calls twice and rivers gin. I don't think I should be folding this river, given the history and the fact that my line looks pretty weak.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/695122
This was this guy's first hand at the table. I go back and forth between 3-betting JJ and QQ, but I am trying to 3-bet more, and I prefer to 3-bet 3x raises as opposed to 3.5x raises as the deep stacks are still intact. I think my river call is marginal at best. I just don't think he is doing this with worse very often unless he was turning his small PP into a bluff, but I don't think so that often. The mouse was over the fold button, but then I convinced myself that he would probably want to jam/get it in with a f/d, so I paid it off. Not good.

Now to some of the good ones:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/695125
I have nfi what this guy was doing. He butchered this hand so bad and it's not even funny. A lot of these players take pot control lines in spots where they lose just a ton of value. Anyways, my plan was to CRAI on the turn, but he checked behind and I took him to value town.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/695126
Real standard hand against a monkey.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/695127
Suck then re-suck against the same player. I am never folding flop, as he is shoving in his entire (very wide) range.

Overall, I ended up making $90. The KK hand sucked, but not much I could do I don't think. I'm going to continue grinding until end of June at which point I will withdraw a healthy amount of money for Vegas. I cannot wait.

I am going golfing today. I have been playing a ton and am still waiting for a breakthrough round. We'll see if that happens today.

Between now and June 13th, I will be taking 3 tests, writing 2 papers, and doing a presentation.

Wish me luck!

JG

Meh

Just wrapped up a 1,000 hand sesh and things didn't go great. Right before I got into my bed to load up some tables, I got a feeling in my stomach like, I really don't want to lose money this session, and that's all that I was thinking about. I couldn't get it out of my head. But it is Friday night, and the games are obv very good. Idk, it was kinda weird, but it sure as hell translated to sub-par results.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4210299
I don't know how I feel about p/f. Calling a 40bb stack's open with KQs is borderline at best. The hand plays itself on the flop. I felt the cooler coming, but I was never folding.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4210310
This one also sucked. I think my turn play is fine, as I don't want to bet/fold, and I don't like cr'ing because I'm never getting called by worse. Worst river in the deck obv.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4210320
I couldn't believe it when this guy turned over his hand. He called so quickly, I thought it had to be AA.

I was also playing in the 9pm bounty...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4210333
I was building a stack until this unfortunate hand happened. Not sure what this guy is doing. I busted in like 42nd place when I shipped QJo over a HJ raiser for 4k (150/300). He made it 775, I moved in, and he called with ATdd, and I missed. Still like my play.

I also played in the DS tourney today at 11 and finished 6 spots out of the money. I really like my tourney game right now, and I know that my cash game results have had a good impact on that. I am seeing and feeling things that I never did before. It's pretty cool.

Overall, today I made 120 in an earlier sesh and lost about 120 in this one, so even on the day minus $80 in tourney entries. Oh well.

My weekend is essentially laid out for me unfortunately. Tomorrow I work a split shift at the golf course, which means I work from 10-2 and 5-close with a 3 hour break in between. Kinda sucks, but at least I can go hit balls and try to figure my shitty swing out. I also work 12-close on Sunday.

Something funny/cool happened this week. On Tuesday, I was talking to my Dad, and he said congratulations for getting a 4.0 last quarter. Apparently they got a letter in the mail saying I was on the President's list and got a 4.0 or something. I told him that I got 4 A's and 1 B+ last quarter. Later that evening, I went online to double check my last quarter's grades, and my B+ got changed to an A. Ship it!! I'm pretty proud of my accomplishments even though it was somewhat anticlimactic.

Well I am going to go to bed.

God Bless,

JG

Why I Love Playing Deep Stack Poker...

Because you can play hands this way...

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682687

My read on this guy was based on a 10 hand sample, but I got the sense that he was quite spewy. Anyway, this is not really something I would have imagined doing a few months ago. I don't really know what happened last month, but something really clicked in my poker game, and I am feeling better than ever.

Here are some of the other hands from today's 700 hand sesh:

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682688
I am really proud of my read in this particular spot. I though it was equally as likely that this player had 77-99 as it is he had JJ or QQ, so I flipped a coin and jammed. It is a really really really terrible play by this guy to pot the turn ($25) with $55 behind and not have a plan when I ship it in. But players at 100NL consistently do this, and I am starting to pick up on it and putting in some turn bluff-raises. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold in this hand.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682689
I am absolutely in love with the line that I take here. Unfortunately I lose another big one on the river.

http://www.liquidpoker.net/h/682690
gotta love the 3-bet cold-caller with QJo

Overall I ran really bad in this session but ended up winning a little over $100 which is cool. My EV was $279 but w/e. I am playing really well right now and am enjoying it.

I decided to play some live poker last night, so I went to play 2-4NL at Nooksack Casino. It was a pretty typical game - 7 stations, 1 rock, and me. Literally 4-5 limpers every hand. However, the avg stack was probably around $150, so I really couldn't get too out of line. I couldn't do too much isolating, light 3-betting, or squeezing. But I did take down a ton of small pots and ran well in this big pots and ended up making $315.

In my last orbit, a somewhat interesting hand came up when I isolated a pretty terrible, nutty Asian with J9dd making it $16 to go p/f after he limped. We were HU to a Js 9c 6c flop. He checked, and I decided to weak lead $15 into the $38 pot. He looked extremely weak, looking back at his hand, but he threw in the $15. The turn was the 6s. He checked quickly, and I again underbet the pot, betting $25. He waited 3 full seconds before saying "Awww Eeeeen" for like $100 more. I took off my hat, sunglasses, iPod, etc. and started replaying the hand in my head as well as thinking about the other hands I had seen him play.

I saw him bet/3-bet AI with 97 on a 754Q9. With the little time that he wasted in shipping it in, I was fairly certain that he wasn't bluffing. And on this board, there is no hand that I beat if he isn't bluffing. He is never doing this with just one J or a 9 + f/d or something like that. So I opted to muck, and I am pretty happy about it.

I ended up not putting in any hands the last week of April, but finished up $1818 playing cash through 16.5k hands. I came up a little bit short of my goal of 20k hands, and I obv could have easily accomplished that, but after the 2nd place tourney finish, I decided to just take a break and hang out with friends more, which was nice. Including my session last night and a few live sessions over the month plus online plus rakeback, I would estimate that I made around $4600 last month, which is pretty big for me. I don't intend on setting a hands goal this month but will play when I feel like it and when the games are good (AKA when I feel like it lol).

Last week I started my job working at the golf course. I am starting out working outdoors, washing clubs and carts, picking the range, and doing other random stuff. If I were my co-workers I would find it so entertaining watching me. I am a pretty uncoordinated as it is, but with these little mindless tasks that seem easy, I find ways to screw them up. I'm sure this is true for a lot of people, but there were a couple things that I did the first two days that made my co-workers just laugh at me because the things that I was doing seemed so easy and simple that I didn't want to ask specifically how to do them!

I really love being around the game of golf, even though I am playing terrible right now. There's just something about the aura of a golf course that just makes me happy. I am not going to stop looking for a summer job/internship, but, at this point, I am pretty made up that I will be going to grad school in Fall 2010, and I wouldn't feel too lazy or unaccomplished if I don't find a "real" job right now, especially in this economy.

That being said, I have to work tomorrow at 9am (YUCK), so I need to get some rest. Big test on Tuesday but that's all about it for this week.

God Bless,

JG