December was huge

December 2010 was good for a lot of reason. Mainly because our adoption of Brady went through on my 40th birthday. I cannot explain the joy of having another family member to share our lives with. We had a nice party that night after the court proceedings and had family and our closest friends there. QDoba catering is recommended IMO.

So to celebrate my 40th b-day I put up a QH, guilted investors into feeling bad for an old man and shipped over $3500 in winnings for the $297 invested. It was a good night of poker and a good night for the investors.

I still don;t have near enough time to commit to a BAP that requires a lot of volume, but did put in for a small rebuy stake and have a QH up for tomorrow. Taking time off from poker feels refreshing seeing I have put a lot of time into my job and travel.

Finding a life balance is tough, but I think i am managing it well as to be expected. My wife is a saint for taking on the burdens of 4 kids and a full time job when I am gone.

Horrible September - The game has changed for the worse

Last month was grueling. I bombed in my first BAP in a long time. My play was actually decent, but the shove and call ranges have changed in general play. That just means that I need to find better spots and tighten up a bit. Hold em manager is more important than ever. I killed the micros as usual, but I need those results in the bigger buys.

This month has started with a few deep runs and near FTs in MTTs. I have already done well in 4.40 -180s to get things going on my PBT stock. Really, my reads remain solid in general, but cards have to fall my way too. Losing 1010 to KQ on a K108 board today is one example. I had three dominant hands that lost in the 16.5K on tilt. The trip 10 hand was followed by AK
So I continue to grind and put myself in the correct positions to win. I will win.

On the home front, we are still in the adoption process of our now 17 month old boy. He's been with is since day 6 of his life and is a joy. My boys are playing tennis and taking lessons. They both have talent at 8 and 6 years and I can't wait to play them as they grow older. My daughter started middle school and is loving it.

With my wife back to work, I also made a career rebound back into industrial filtration from manufacturing. I accepted a national sales manager's position and have been on the road already. The next few weeks I will be in the HQ and grinding out MTTs in the comfort of a hotel room. I hate being away from home, but I have done well and cannot put in the full time work of poker to make it a replacement to my career. Maybe someday.

Strong Finish after bad variance means positive BAP finish.

After some really bad variance, I had a good night to finish my month long BAP on PTP. Solid play in the turbo $16.50 on stars allowed me to overcome a crippling loss to a shove monkey who went runner runner in a blind on blind all in. I got him back with two big hands and put him out on a run that allowed me to be patient and find great spots. I ended up taking it down for $1125.00 which was a nice ending to the donk beats I had been taking for weeks.

Same night I took 12th in the 70k, but really had a good shot to do damage until a guy overplayed AK after I re-popped him on a flop with top pair. I called his shove and he lucked out a turn A to cripple me.

All in all, my reads have been impeccable and I am playing solid poker and was even through the downswing.

On the family front, my kids are having a good summer and my oldest daughter is playing tennis. We currently have two foster kids, one who we have been matched with to adopt. It is a tough thing to decide knowing that there will be some identity crisis in his life as he is African American and that could be a tough subject for him to take in. Truth be told, love conquers all. We can give him some super opportunities to grow and have stability he wouldn't have otherwise. Tonight is FTOPs #1 and I plan to play solid poker and look for a deep run.

Good luck on the tables.

BAP closes positive, I am playing and running well

Last night's 3rd in the 35K was proof the deep runs of later were not flukey, but instead a sign of some solid play and some run good. I have had 3 significant final tables this month in big fields, but I am far from done.

I am taking a week or two off again and will return to another BAP and plan to nail it.

Also, have taken a student on and will dedicate a few nights in the next few weeks to help him crush his games.

Over 10k in cashes in the last 5 weeks. More to come.

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

After 90 days of isolation in a Turkish Monastery, I have found myself again ready to launch havoc on the virtual felt tonight. I feel great. I am rested. While crazy, my life still is good and my wife and I are closer than ever which was the best part of the break.

I plan to win so I will be tired as hell tomorrow morning for soccer practice (I coach my boys).

My mind is clear, I am relaxed and I think I will make great decisions. If the cards cooperate, I will take something down.

Viva la poker.

Time off

After over 2 months of a self imposed hiatus, I am on the small side of a return. Honestly, the return will be much smaller in volume. The realization was my priorities were skewed and I will be playing much more sparingly, but making the most of my chances.

My mind is clear, my frustration gone and I look forward to the opportunities I have to play.

See you March 12th.

UGH it's been awhile...

I can't believe it has almost been a month since my last update. Crazy times at my household. Last Wednesday our foster daughter went through her skull surgery. She is doing great, recovering at home finally and making good progress. He appearance is clearly changed and she'll look pretty normal now.

Poker has been quite a ride, 2 final tables in one night last week, now I am on the verge of a major downswing as I have taken some horrendous, beyond all reality beats in the last few days. I have been deep several times and even was in the top 10 of the 70k and 28k with ~300 to go in both only to exit just under 100. When I cannot get AQ to hold against a button shove even after flopping top 2...I know that I am not running well.

I wrapped up some mini ftops games for a stock on PBT and it was brutal. I guess I don't know how people can be so bad and get rewarded, but keep calling with 67 offsuit on my 3x raises and I am sure eventually FTP will reward me.

Keep on grinding....it will turn.

Paul