It is really quite hard to believe but it has been a full year since I joined TPE. I thought this would make a fitting 99th blog to go through and think back to where I was when I started and where I am now in my poker journey, setting up for a very nice 100th blog post of what this next year looks like, how I am going about preparing and what I am looking to get out of it. Okay, off to the races. Last year in July I took the leap and subscribed to TPE. I have played poker on and off for a number of years now, but never seriously and never with any actual thought behind it. I had in December of 2009 after my brother had done some convincing decided that if I took [More...]
Matt StoutNicky Evans
Mike Leah
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A Year in Review
The WSOP Ends
I thought I would take a minute or two and write as it has been a few days. I have been on a bit of a tear the last few days playing tourneys which is a really nice change of pace. I did notice something really weird though, I am managing to play substantially better when I was also watching coverage of the WSOP ME on TV. I don't know if it was total immersion, or my brain was really in a poker groove watching the ins and outs of a tourney, but whatever it was I really like it. A nice side effect to it was my wife actually really got into watching the coverage and has started taking an interest in the game. I have to say I was taken back a little by it as she hasn't [More...]
A Rare Sunday Blog
This is a bit of a rare treat as I don't usually write on the weekends, but the wife is at the gym and I'm chilling so I figured what the hell. I gave a run last night to a handful of tourneys while I was watching the WSOP on ESPN (if you haven't been watching it, the coverage has been fantastic) and surprised myself. I have been feeling better and been sticking to playing my natural style and I managed to bang out a 5th last night in the Dollar Dazzler on Merge. It felt really good to sit down and play well and really start to understand what's going on and see the game with a lot more clarity. Feeling confident and comfortable so hopefully it continues today. I think I am going to try to satellite [More...]
Confidence Breeds Confidence
I suspect that the title isn't all that shocking to anyone. When you are confident in what you are doing and you are doing it well, you continue to feel good about doing it. Something that I have noticed particularly about my game is that when I am feeling comfortable and solid I can sit down at a table and play well. Beats don't seem to affect me, I can recover my stack, I am in the zone and focused and the results just happen. When I'm shaken, bad things happen. Bricks fall faster than a crumbling building when my confidence is shaken. So it begs the question, how do you build your confidence and keep it rolling given the variance of the game? Not sure. Wish I knew. Any help appreciated I guess it isn't totally true that I don't [More...]
Mixed Games and Other Stuff
Its been a little bit since I wrote so it felt like time. I think it was mostly frustration, but not really sure. The last time we talked I had just finished tossing a lot of bricks and was pretty frustrated. I have been contemplating taking a break from NLHE and really working in re-structuring my game and rebuilding because I have been frustrated with a perceived lack of success on my part. I find that I hold myself to very high standards and when I don't meet them I become frustrated and look to do whatever I can to get on track to my goals. I decided this time that I was unclear if I was over-reacting or really broken so I decided to give myself one more shot and see what happened. I took a few days off [More...]
Top 10
Top 10 Things Im Looking Forward To When I Get Home In no particular order… 1. A "drive to nowhere" with Andrew. This is something I used to do on my own, but last year started doing with my son. It's where you get in the car and start driving with no destination in mind. You make every turn decision based on some random method (there is a nice iPhone app that we use, but you can just flip a coin). You drive all day until you find some place interesting then you stop for the night and stay in a hotel (cannot be a chain hotel). Then you drive home the next morning. Another rule is that you cannot eat any chain food. Only local eateries. 2. North Carolina BBQ. The only REAL BBQ. 3. Seeing [More...]
All good things must come to an end.
Sadly, the summer is about to come to a close. I had an amazing time being able to live with all the TPE guys all summer long and despite our lackluster results I feel as if I improved a lot as a player. I feel like I played pretty well but didn't run the best in some key spots. I still have one shining moment left in the WSOP Main Event which I will be starting my journey to November on day 1D which is Sunday the 10th. Last year was the first time I've played the main event and there really isn't another tourney anything like it. I will be doing updates every level on twitter @cougars4444. Hopefully all of TPE nation is doing great and I look forward to getting home and getting really back involved in the [More...]
Throwing Bricks
Well it was a long couple of days on the tourney circuit for me and all I have to say for my performance is I have gotten better at throwing bricks. I have bubbled or near bubbled a dozen tourneys in the last 3 days and it hurts. I forgot how badly it sucked to brick like crazy. But gotta get back on the horse. I have found that since BF and not playing nearly as much with as much selection tourneys have gotten a little harder to select and the impact of bricking seems to be affecting me more than it has at any point prior. I guess I'm going to have to dig a little deeper and see if I can move through this. That little gripe aside if you haven't been following the WSOP you have been missing [More...]
Vegas, I Missed You
I'm jumping on a plane this afternoon to head back to Vegas. I'm really looking forward to getting back in to the house and playing some more tourneys. A bit of time at home with family has left me feeling recharged and ready to go! I have 4 Venetian tourneys on my schedule (pending day 2s) including two $550s, a $350 and a $1k. Hopefully I'll also get a chance to take a shot at a satty to the WSOP Main Event. I'll probably also play one or two more Caesars Megastack tourneys. Finishing 10th in the Venetian $550 was a great run, but I'm really feeling the need to make a deeper run and hopefully close one out for the nation! If any TPE members are playing the Main Event, make sure and drop me a PM. Perhaps we [More...]
A Mixed Bag of Stuff
I apologize for the length between posts. My wife and I are in the process of buying a house so last week was filled with the inspection and a myriad of other fun things related to that process so I didn't have a ton of time to sit down and write (or play) for that matter. This weekend was a whole different story. I managed to squeeze in a fair amount of play, mostly live which was actually fun. My family got together on Saturday for a big BBQ and we spent a huge amount of the day playing Omaha. Sunday we picked up where we left off playing NLHE and had a continued great time. Unfortunetly my brother is really the only other serious player in the family so it makes some things more interesting, especially when we are [More...]
