Live poker and possibly relocating outside the US again

 Most former US grinders that played mostly online before "Black Friday" now play predominately live. There are so many obvious differences between live and online and for me the most difficult thing is sitting next to all the people and listening to all of the absurdities.

  So I am the guy that sits with his shades listening to his ipod and focusing on all the action, the bet sizing, my own thought processes all the while dreaming that I was clicking buttons on Poker Stars lol

 Here's to New Jersey allowing Stars to return, hopefully in time other states will follow and band an interstate compact to increase the player pools and once again the SamuraiPlaya can return to the virtual felts :-)

 Until then I have been in contact with some successful 2+2 investors and I may once again move outside the US. I will update when I know more. Have a great day on & off the felt!

 

Book of the Month

"The story of a small village Bank that revolutionized the way people around the world fight poverty."

 I have been reading more literature on finance, business and investing and I came across this book at the library. I usually know that I love a book when I first read it from the library and then go and buy it for my own :)

  I do not consider myself Republican or Democrat but rather a moderate conservative and this story really confirms my belief that entrepreneurs who invest in others ideas and dreams truly do grow the economy and provide opportunities for others to grow and improve their lives where they otherwise may not have been able to without the risk takers and lenders.

 We do however need to regulate "predatory" and reckless lending but make no mistake, credit and loans allow people to do things they otherwise would never be able to do. If you get a chance I suggest that you read this book if you are interested in economic growth and prosperity. Enjoy :)

Book of the Month

 I have made a commitment to updating my blog. After online poker's "Black Friday" I have found it difficult to blogging my thoughts and play but I believe it is positive and certainly +EV for me do do so. Just being able to share and reflect on things is a big plus in my personal growth and quest to succeed.

 So, the first post back in a couple years will be my book of the month. I try to read as much as time and energy allows and I also try to read a variety of subject matter as well. Please feel free to suggest any good reads and perhaps I will share it in my blog. 


"The Richest Mam Who Ever Lived" by: Greg Steinmetz 

This is more like a history book, mostly sharing facts about the life of Jacob Fugger 1459-1525 who  was said to be wealthier in his time than Rockefeller and JP Morgan combined. Here is an excerpt from the author.

 : He was the first modern businessman, in that he was the first to pursue wealth for it's own sake. By all indications he was happiest when striking deals or scrutinizing his ledgers. Nothing gave him greater joy than the chores required to make him richer.

 I found it very fascinating that the wealth itself did not fulfill him the most but the daily work did so. Very interesting and I do recommend the book if you like historical biographies. Enjoy :)

The "V" word

Variance

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the mathematical concept. For other uses, see Variance (disambiguation).

In probability theory and statistics, the variance is a measure of how far a set of numbers is spread out.

 It is one of several descriptors of a probability distribution, describing how far the numbers lie from the mean (expected value). 

In particular, the variance is one of the moments of a distribution. In that context, it forms part of a systematic approach to distinguishing

 between probability distributions. While other such approaches have been developed, those based on moments are advantageous in

 terms of mathematical and computational simplicity.

The variance is a parameter describing in part either the actual probability distribution of an observed population

 of numbers, or the theoretical probability distribution of a sample (a not-fully-observed population) of numbers.

 In the latter case a sample of data from such a distribution can be used to construct an estimate of its variance:

 in the simplest cases this estimate can be the sample variance.

(Dec 23)   20th / 339   $5reb  $10k GTD

(Dec 27)   11th / 245   $55 $10k GTD

(Dec 30)   17th / 284   $22  $4k GTD

(Jan 2)      13th / 285   $7reb  $6k GTD

(Jan 6)       20th / 233  $88 WU $20k

(Jan 8)       19th / 573  $11reb  $10k GTD

(Jan 8)       21st / 233  $55 $10k GTD

(Jan 13)     14th / 569  $44  $20k GTD

(Jan 20)     13th / 634  $55  $30k GTD

(Jan 21)    1st / 634  $11reb  $10k GTD

250 Game sample on ipoker I felt like I was running awful with all of these near FT bubbles.

 But the truth of the matter is in that short of a sample it may seem like running poorly to keep coming up

 short when in fact I may have been running good to even make 9 near FT bubbles in less than 250 games... 

sigh at variance and how it works :(

I did however ship the $11reb $1k GTD for almost $2,700 

Here's to running even better over my next 250 games  :)

Have a great week and gl on and off the felt....

Sundays

 Every online grinder knows what Sundays are about. The biggest prize pools as well as the biggest player fields and in the short term sample runs has the most variance. It is that variance that I am speaking about today.

 As a full time player we must constantly and consistently keep our focus on our play and the things we have control over such as volume and strategy approach. This very principle of variance can be so tricky.

 I just started playing on ipoker network where most of the players are significantly less skilled than your average Merge or Revolution player and the fields are much smaller than Stars or FTP on average. So many times during my session I will have to put large portions of 50bbs + in preflop with top hands due to how awful the players are fundamentally. These spots are unavoidable and even though I have them notched most of the time it still creates more variance.  

 For example, you are only 50% to win 4 consecutive 80/20's and that really puts things into perspective on how much variance there truly is in MTT play. So much more so than cash due to the structure and very nature of forced action.

 Being around 100 game sample on ipoker and on a 50 buy in downer really felt like I was running awful but last night I reviewed some HHs and reflected on my mindset at the tables I can definitely see that I have been playing well and the downswing is more normal that I realize that I still have plenty of room to improve and get better.

 One of my favorite Quotes is; "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing" and in this case the main thing is to fully focus today on my play and let the results take care of themselves....

GL ev1 that plays today  :)

Sunday Sigh

 Speaking of controlling and dealing with emotions with regards to my last post here was the ending to my sunday.. I 3b/c and lose a 75/25  for the C/L in the $15k GTD ipoker with 16 left in my last MTT of the day.. 2nd place would have snap got me out of MU and a win would have put me in the red for a chop  :(

 Obviously having the C/L with 16 left doesn't guarantee us a top finish but I sure like my chances if I can just fade 3 outs for all the dollar equities here  sigh pokerz....

I feel as though I am doing as well as ever in terms of handling the ugly variance of the game we play but I wont lie this hand had me steamed a bit. I snap signed off and went and got some ice cream and watched 4 episodes of "The Office" on Netflix  lol

Ok on to the next one, I am ready to grind heaps this week and put good volume in and play near or at my best game as much as possible.

Have a great week everyone and gl on and off the felt.

Vulcan Logic

  As a poker player it is a constant struggle to deal with our emotions in relation to our short term results. And just as Spock quoted in the movie "Wrath of Khan" to Doctor McCoy to take control of emotions or they will destroy him so to in poker can a players emotions make them into a losing or breakeven player or at the very least cause them to win much less than they are capable.

 Just tonight I decided to play a late night session on Lock/Revolution and right on the direct FT bubble I min raise/4b AA into KK for 45bbs and the C/L with 12 left and the board rolls out JQT69 to bust me... sigh

 This is after losing for a week straight over an average sample when 1st place would have snap got me out of MU. I didnt even flinch, immediately opened 2+2 and started reading some strategy posts in MSMTT forum.

I truly wanted to make this thread not as a rant, but to remind us all that we must learn to completely remove any emotional attachment at all to short term results no matter how bad the beat is.

I can only imagine how great of a poker player Spock would've been had he been a real alien with his intelligence and complete removal of all emotions that Vulcan's had. He would have literally been the best player in the world.  lol

Well, as real humans unfortunately we do have emotions but with a lot of effort and hard work we can learn to control them and not allow them to effect us.

Thanks for reading and gl on & off the tables  :)