Favorite Moment of the Olympics

I am going to apologize in advance for some non-poker commentary; nothing drives me crazier than to visit "DegeneratePokerRiverStories.com" to find cat videos and meatloaf recipes. You knuckleheads start a poker blog but can't wait to enrich our day with what the bank teller said to you this morning? What gives?

Anyway, here's my version of the same. I'm going attempt a connection by playing the "competition" card because I'd like to talk about my favorite moment of the Winter Olympics so far.

2009 Recap

2009 was a very humbling year. I've spent New Year's day trying to get my arms around what happened. At the beginning of the year, I was coming off my best year (2008), best quarter (QIV08), and second best month (Dec, 2008) of all time. I was feeling super-human and the whole "why am I going to work everyday" thing kept creeping into my brain. I would never quit my job to play poker but it's hard not to daydream about it when you're running good.

So I took a ridiculous amount of money to Biloxi in January and lost all of it. Welcome to 2009. I was playing in stakes I had never played before and thought it through ahead of time as a calculated risk. I was taking a shot and I had given myself permission to do, but in the process chalked up my worst month ever. To be honest, I shrugged it off. Then I repeated the "worst month ever" feat in my local $2-5 PLO game, which included 7 consecutive losing sessions of a week's salary or more. So now I'm in deep for the year.

The Cold War is Back

I think this is my favorite poker clip of all time. I love how the crazy Russian announces "I win" and we're forced to wonder if he thinks that translates to "sigh ... nice hand." The goofy Russian keeps the goofy smile on his face throughout the hand ... I think he's seen this episode before!

Entrepreneurship and Poker

My friend Byron passed along this interesting article about the similarities between entrepreneurship and poker. I think it also speaks to the luck (both good and bad) that we all experience throughout life, reminding me of a great book that I read years ago that I still think about: Fooled by Randomness. While technically a book about finance, many of the author's philosophies spill over into real life. Check it out if you have time, you'll enjoy it.

The Meadows, Summer 2009 - Days "the rest"

You what is pretty cool? Not getting the updates of the Vegas summer trip done before the Halloween trip takes place. So stay tuned for the Halloween debauchery but in the meantime, get caught up here and here.

The Meadows, Summer 2009 - Day 2

Day 2, Friday. $2-5 NLHE at the Bellagio.

Did you miss day 1? Get caught up here.

Day 2 may have been one of the most successful days I have ever had playing poker. Not my largest win but perhaps the best/longest I've ever played really well. I sat at a Bellagio $2-5 game from noon until three in the morning and only had two losing HOURS. I didn't decide to leave and play $5-10, I didn't start playing crazy, just tried really hard to play RIGHT and I think I did. There were several hands where I knew exactly what the other player had and either bluffed or extracted chips just like I should. It was nice, in the middle of what has been a rough year for poker.

The Meadows, Summer 2009 - Day 1

For a good part of 2009 I have been doing my best to support the local economy by donating money at the poker table. If you would like to know the formula for getting your butt kicked, it is as follows. Get your money in good (or at least “appropriately” as it relates to PLO) on 12 out of your 15 biggest bets for the year and then proceed to lose 13 of those 15. That’s really all it takes. I’m down for the year and am dead even since the biggest pot of my life last Halloween but I’m happy to report I took out my frustration on The Meadows (that’s English for Las Vegas (Spanish)) over Labor Day Weekend. Highlights are as follows.