Looking Back, Forward, but Mostly Enjoying the Moment

August was pretty much a month long vacation for me.  If anyone follows me on Twitter or facebook, you probably noticed my status involving swimming, drinking, going to theme parks, getting sushi, hanging with friends and doing all sorts of fun stuff a lot more than it read “playing happy hour.”  Also, I’m making the big move to Vegas on Sept 8th, so I had to pack up my life, spend time with people I won’t see as often anymore, and just basically make my peace with Upstate NY, the place I’ve called home for most of the last 18 years.

I played a total of 3 days of poker, made $5229.  Not bad for like 20 hours work, if that.  Here’s the breakdown from SharkScope w/ rakeback:

18% ROI over 251 games, Avg. Stake $117, Avg Profit $21, Total Profit $5,229.

Siiick Life IMO.

I know running good over a small sample isn’t really something to brag about, but to be fair I also think I was playing my A game almost 100% of the time.  To be honest, one of my biggest concerns is getting myself back into the groove of the grind.  I haven’t played a hand of poker in like 2 weeks, and it’s not like you forget how to play, but I feel like I have a little bit of an advantage when I’m playing every day (like most months.)  I think this comes from noticing the ebb and flow of the games, who’s playing what stakes, who’s moving up, who might be an unknown solid player, which regs have leaks I can exploit, ect…  I’ll probably ease myself in my first session, playing like 3 $55s, adding in 3 more after 2 blind levels, and rocking it at just 6 tables of $55/$110 for the first day or so until I shake off the rustiness in my play.

Life wise, things are going well.  I’m on a bachelor party trip right now (writing this in DC.)  Lost about $1200 last night in a quarter ante game of Acey Deucy gone awry.  It was 3 handed, and basically the dealer flips 2 cards, and you gotta bet on whether a third card will be in between the 2 cards or outside.  If the thrid card is the same as one of the 2 original cards, then you owe double your bet.  Basically, game theory optimal strategy would be to min-bet every times it’s a bad bet, and bet pot every time the odds are in your favor.  Long story short, we all got a favorable deal, potted it, and hit the double.  I laughed when John owed $217 to the pot, I fell on the ground dying (rotflcopter) when Darrell owed $632 to the pot, I did not laugh when I owed $2132 to the pot on an Ace (high) 3 split when the case 3 soul-crushed me.  FML.  At that point another double could have cost someone like 5K, so we split the pot and I took the $1200 hit.  We rabbit-hunted it out, against my will, being honest about what we would have bet, and obviously I would have scooped the whole pot within 3 rounds.

Lesson?  Bankroll Management!  I played perfect, and both my friends were making errors.  Darrell was hedging his bets to avoid losing in favorable situations, and John as playing like a complete monkey.  If I had the life-roll to sustain the swings, and we played a ton of Acey Deucy, I would be a big winner.  Regardless, it made for a hell of a story.  I’ll never forget Darrell throwing Adam’s chair against a wall, half-breaking it in anger when he hit the double, and then launching it across the room and fully destroying it in jubilation after I hit the effen double.

Been down here in DC a few days, checked out the Smithsonian, really enjoyed the botanical gardens.  We won a pitcher at sports trivia by nominating A-Rod for the superlative “most likely to shit a gerbil skull.”  We’re heading to Atlantic City for the weekend, and then I leave for Vegas Tuesday.  I’ll be back in NY just one more time for Darrell’s wedding in Oct, then road-tripping it cross country with my life packed into the Si.  I’m going to be living with 5 other pro poker players, so I’m pretty excited about that.  Soooo many pro’s credit a sizable portion of their success to surrounding themselves with the right people.

Well I guess that’s all for now.  Gonna be doing some serious detox, exercise, and focusing when I get to Vegas, but at the moment I’m just riding those positive waves…