The Hollywood Poker Lifestyle

So I have been getting allot of questions about why I haven't updated my blog recently. The short and simple answer is that I have been extremely busy plus I want to have some more good news to report. So just as a quick update regarding poker. HU though profitable was too labor intensive for me. I couldn't grind the volume or hours required so I decided to move back to FR and to FTP for that matter. I played a little bit of 50NL Rush in order to grind my roll back up(FT FullTilted me with their processor issues but I will explain more in next blog post) and have now began playing 100NL again with the hopes to be back at 400NL within 2 months tops. Here is a graph of my 50NL Rush results. Though it has regular 50NL, it was all rush. So I am pretty happy with results especially after finishing February as my worst month ever, but at the end of the day it is only 50NL and a small hand sample so I still have allot of work to do. So, this is the end of the least interesting blog post ever but the next one will be much better.

So it is time for my first update. First I want to thank everyone for their support and positive feedback. I hope to inform as well as entertain throughout the rest of my posts. Everyone not interested in poker skip the first two paragraphs.

We will do poker first this time. So I dropped down to play the 50NL FR games on Stars the other day and boy was that a shock. I was absolutely shocked and how terrible the players at that limit were. Let me first say a few things before I go off. First, I work with quite a few 25 and 50NL FR grinders on FTP so I thought I pretty much knew what to respect. IMO the 50NL Rush games on Tilt really don't play that differently from the 100NL Rush games which aren't that different from the 200NL Rush games. Therefore I have allot of respect for those players and I tell the guys I work with to not underestimate the competition. I also believe that though the 100NL games on Stars have a handful of regs that are better than any 100NL regs on Tilt, I feel overall the 100NL games on Tilt are much more difficult. 200NL and above on Stars are much harder games than FTP imo though. So going back to these 50NL games on Stars, I really felt like I was back in 2006 or something. Every guy first off has a half stack which drives me nuts as I feel their is way less room to be creative and maneuver against opponents. Second, virtually everyone limps in creating a limp train. Guys call down with hands that they should either be folding or bluffing with, raise marginal hands that they should be calling with, and slowplay every monster hand they have. IMO not one of these guys bankrolls would last 2 weeks over at the same games on FTP. I was absolutely shocked until I actually stopped to think about and realized it made perfect sense. If you don't make SN on Stars, it makes no sense to play there as it would be fairly difficult to get SN at this limit plus RB is way faster. Also, RB is virtually instant gratification which is very important as it helps pad the roll much more quickly.

That being said, I have decided to switch to HU until I am adequately rolled to move back up to 100NL FR. I was actually starting to learn HU from my buddy who was the biggest winner(or one of) at 100NL HU last year but kinda back burnered it when I found out I was coming out here. Everyone here primarily specializes in FR so I figured it would be best to focus on that. OK, before everyone says "those games sound super easy, all you have to do is wait for good cards and play them strong etc" I agree. However, like Chappelle says in his Prince skit "this bores me." If I am going to go busto or move back up, I want to do something that at least is mentally stimulating to me. To all the 50NL FR players on Stars that I have insulted, I apologize but that is my opinion.

HU results from first few sessions

In unrelated news, one of my best friends growing up is coming out to visit. He is a massage therapist and the guys are pretty excited to have him coming. I also, slid down the banister cause I felt like I had to do it at least once before I left. It was fun, but my junk wasn't as happy with me afterward. 

I have also been getting allot, of questions about the reiki and the experiences that have happened to me. Therefore I will add at least one facto every post about this. Coincidence, 3 of my other poker coaches are out here at the same time and want to get together. They are all out here for different reasons but again I thought it was pretty strange that they were all out here at the same time and all wanted to get together. I know, this in itself is nothing, but if you add it to the literally 40 other "coincidences" and such that have occurred which again I will  elaborate more on in later posts, they start to add up.  One more thing, one of the guys that lives here, went to college at the same school my wife is going to and he is good friends with one of the coaches that is out here and we are all from the same area. I had never met any of these guys before I got here and had only received coaching from one of them via skype. They are super good guys and have made me feel super welcome.

Lastly, I have not been able to get this Black and Yellow remix by 2P2 poster SRSLYSIRIUS out of my head. It is Black and Yellow remixed about Prahlaid Friedman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIwR2CjxdGk&feature=player_embedded

Keep following to find out more tails of adventure. I know this post was pretty boring but the weekend in Hollywood is coming up so I predict some shenanigans to come.

View from my bedroom window my first morning here

So this is the first time I have ever written a blog so let me first give you some quick background on myself. I am 30 years old, married to a beautiful Brazilian woman(Bruna) who is studying Food Science at UMass, and live in Amherst, MA. We have a super cute min pin named Coffee who garners most of our attention. I am currently living in a super baller mansion in West Hollywood with some of the top mid and high stakes players in the world. Don't ask who they are but if you are really curious, its not that hard to find out. I was a  solid winning FTP Rush FR regular spending most of my time at the 100NL FR Rush games but August through November I spent my time in the 400NL Rush games(approx 300K hands of BE poker). I have a Finance degree and spent 7 years in the industry and another 5 years working with my best friend helping him run his business. I am now a full-time professional poker player.

The first question I am sure most of you are thinking is, how did this noob luckbox his way into living in a house with some of poker's elite? Well the answer is pretty simple, in business it's not what you know allot of the time but who you know and I spent allot of time and money in order to get coaching from poker's best imo. Subsequently, I have developed some very strong friendships from these relationships and I was very fortunate when this opportunity presented itself.

So a week before I moved out here I was attuned to become a level 1 Reiki practitioner. I thought this would be something "nice" to do as I have enjoyed receiving Reiki treatments. What I didn't know was that I would literally have a Spiritual awakening while I was out here. Some quick background, I was not religious and/or spiritual in any way shape or form before this.  I am a finance guy, and if it isn't logical and doesn't make sense well then it can be discredited. Since I have been out here(10 days), I have had at least 40 occurences that there is no logical or explainable reason that they could happen. I will elaborate on those in later posts.

As far as poker goes, I feel like I am playing by far the best poker of my life but have been on the worst downswing of my poker career. I think it is at 60 bi's at this point. Needless to say, I have decided to drop down to 50NL as opposed to getting an infusion of funds from many viable options and my grind roll back up. I have about 15 bi's in my poker account for that now and will be playing on Stars for the at least the near future and hopefully wont have to drop down any further. Though I have access to funds if I absolutely need them, I have no stream of income or savings, my bank account is in the red currently and I have $678 on my credit card as my only means of support. I like challenges :)

So this blog will chronicle my successes and failures as I try to attempt to transition into life as a professional poker  player. Strap on your seat belts it is going to be a bumpy and wild ride.

Lastly, you are probably wondering where Jaws fits into this. Well, I absolutely love the movie Jaws and the only remaining shark from these movies is located only 10 miles away in a local junkyard. Before I leave, I will make pilgrimage to this junkyard in order to see Bruce the Shark.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Save-Junkyard-Bruce/149868761724808