Are you ready?

I am not sure if anyone will really notice, but I have done some work to my blog and my website. Not a bunch of huge changes, more of some updating and tweaking. My van has been out of commission since Saturday so I have had some extra time to kill. Luckily though, I will be attempting to get my van fixed tomorrow.

I have not been doing a whole lot, just mostly relaxing and watching sports. But, I am excited about the WSOPc in January. This stop at Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK draws a huge crowd and they have the ability to handle it, it's a pretty sweet place. Oklahoma is lucky to have several decent Casinos with nice poker rooms. In Tulsa we have three Casinos that offer poker including Hard Rock, Riverspirit, and Osage. Hard Rock and Riverspirit are quite a bit busier than Osage but three options is awesome. Along with those three in Tulsa I can travel less than two hours and be at Cherokee Siloam or Roland, Riverwind in OKC, or Downstream near Joplin, MO. Within three hours we have Choctaw Casino in Durant and Winstar Casino in Thackerville. Several reasonable options for Oklahoma.

I know I appreciate living near several Casinos with poker and I wouldn't want to lose the ability to drive fifteen minutes to play, even if it is usually 1/2 no limit. Our 1/2 no limit has a $300 max buy-in which allows for a decent game. I believe there is only one Casino around here with a $200 max on 1/2 and that is Downstream near Joplin, MO. But, to be honest that is possibly my least favorite room and I don't go there much. They do hold a couple decent tournaments a year so I will give them another chance to impress me.

I sent in a new article to pocketfives.com today and I am really proud of this one. Keep an eye out for it and please leave a comment after you read it. I will admit after my first couple articles I began to get a little nervous thinking I might run out of things to write about, but amazingly enough the topics keep coming. I hope some of y'all enjoy my articles and are able to gain something from them. I have enjoyed getting better at writing and I have a deep love for poker and improving.

Variance101 is still slowly growing and getting positive feedback. The activity in the chat has picked up a little and I think some of my constant reminders of thoughts to keep the improvement up is sinking in. We had a few awesome hand discussions in the chat today along with a couple of links posted where a #TeamVariance101 member commented on a hand post in the pocketfives.com forums and we would follow suit. Talking poker is by far one of the best ways to improve.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information visit http://variance101.com/# or email me at variance101@gmail.com. 

Happy Holidays

How about I give y'all a little update of my past few days. Friday I played a $60+$10 live mtt at Hard Rock Tulsa that had 58 players, I went out 6th with AA, meh. Saturday I went back to Hard Rock for a $120+$10 and built up a nice stack early before a buddy got it in real bad and then hit a 5-outer. Also during that MTT I had my hand killed by a dealer for having my phone face up when the first card came off the deck. They have been tweaking the phone rule and its in the hyper paranoid stage right now. To be honest I am not sure if it will get any better or if we will just all have to adjust.

Saturday night after being at home relaxing for a while I decided to go get some food and my van took a big shit. I just recently had a belt start squealing a little and had called my friend with plans to see him on the 26th, but my van had other plans. Needless to say I will be relaxing and watching some sports as I don't see me getting out much until I can get my van fixed.

Sunday while chatting in the #TeamVariance101 chat on Skype I got the urge to fire at a couple online MTTs. I'll be honest ever since Merge stop allowing player to player transfers I have not been to keen on playing online in the US. I haven't given up all hope on Lock and Bovado, but Merge is on really thin ice and I would not trust them right now. I happened to have enough on Lock to fire at the $11 10k and the $109 100k so thats what I did. I built decent stacks in both early before running into a couple coolers. I put on my best short-stack ninja gear that lasted for a while but in the end I came up short. It was fun to sling some chips around though.

I feel my poker game is in a great place and I have been talking a ton of poker the last two months. I have been working with a few local live players and we have been talking a lot of poker. I also have been spending a lot of time thinking of ways to help them improve which is still thinking poker and it all helps me too.

I hope all the poker grinders are doing well and have a place to play. I sure hope the online scene for the US straightens out, but I am not sure when that will happen. Hopefully most of y'all have live MTT series within a reasonable distance you can travel to like I do. Let's all finish off 2012 with a bang and start preparing for an amazing 2013.

I did some work on http://variance101.com and set-up the mobile version too, so if you have some time check it out. Happy Holidays everyone!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Upswaanngg!

The last month or so I have had some of the most productive and satisfying times of 2012. I was able to win an event at the Hard Rock Poker Open in Tulsa, OK and 3-way chop another. I also stone bubbled the 100k gtd. and felt I played really well. Then comes the Reindeer Games Series in Siloam Springs, OK and I was able to get 5th in the first event and 3rd in the Main Event. To bubble the 100k, get 5th at Siloam, and to get 3rd in the Main, the villains had to suck-out as I got the chips in good every time. I  feel I have been playing fairly well and I am confident in my game, planning, and decision making.

My next trip will be the WSOPc in Durant, OK at the Choctaw Casino Jan. 10th through the 20th. There are several well structured ring events that I plan on taking advantage of. I will be putting a package together over the next couple of days so keep an eye out. This WSOPc stop in Durant has been very successful over the last two years and gets huge turnouts for all the events. I plan on continuing to prepare and improve and put myself in a spot to do some good.

Variance101 is still going pretty good. I am hoping my recent successes along with the successes of three of my local students will open a few players eyes to coaching in the area. I was contacted by a couple players that wanted to get started and plan on working with them soon. I truly think it would amaze almost every player I come in to contact with how much they could improve their profit by limiting a few mistakes. When taking poker lessons most players are not taught how to play, they are simply taught how to make a few better decisions and limit mistakes. Mistakes like paying bad prices on speculative hands and flatting, especially out of position, can be avoided. With knowledge of a few simple default rules that we can learn not to break, a player can instantly be playing a couple levels better. Then when they learn to have a plan and think ahead a little more the game becomes a lot easier.

Good luck to all the grinders out there. I have a few friends that traveled out of the country to play online and I hope they are doing great. I also have several friends grinding the US online scene along with some live series and I also hope they are doing great. Lets all continue to improve and hopefully we all have an excellent improvement based routine to keep improving in this ever evolving game of skill.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Rolling with it

I have been fairly busy this week. Tuesday I drove about an hour and fifteen minutes away to the Oklahoma/Arkansas border to play the first event of the Reindeer Games Series at Cherokee Casino in West Siloam Springs, OK. The first event was a $100 re-entry event with a $10 add-on and I took 5th for 1k. Wednesday they had a $100 mtt with $20 re-buys and I chose to stay in Tulsa. Thursday they had a $150 entry partners event with a $20 add-on and my partner and I got 10th but no money. Tonight, which was Friday they had a $230 re-entry 15k gtd with a $20 add-on. They called it a deepstack but then gave us 8k in chips and surprised us with a $20 add-on for the other 7k to make it a deepstack. The structure was decent, they only skip about four important levels. I went out with 3 tables left in a hand where we got over 40bbs a piece all-in pre. I had QQ and the villain had J9o, he made a straight. Although I wasn't able to do well I was still happy because my good friend Tim got 6th for $1300 and really played well, congrats Tim.

Overall the tournamnets have been decent, but Thursday when they made both partners do a dealer add-on for $10 to make it $20 in add-on for a $150 mtt, and tonight when they got a $20 add-on for a $230 mtt and the fact there was nothing posted anywhere really had me annoyed. That is just way to much for that size of a buy-in. I asked one of the managers why it was $20 and he said that last time it was $15 and they had a problem and needed to make it an even number this time, so they chose $20, how covenient. Dealer add-ons should be in relation to the buy-in and the fees. In my opinion anything under a $500 buy-in should never have more than a $10 dealer add-on. For buy-ins between $500 and $1,000 maybe $15, and $1,000 and above maybe $20. But, I could also make sense of the dealer add-on never being more than $10 and then the winners will probably start tipping a little more again.

I made a post on twitter that also posted to Facebook about my disgust with the overcharging on such a small buy-in and I was surprised at the mixed responses. Several obviously understood my points and supported me, but a few bias Casino workers only saw the good of padding their own pockets and I don't think put any thought to the fact that they should not be overcharging their customers and run off more players. I just applauded Hard Rock Tulsa for their improved structure and reduced fees during the recent Hard Rock Poker Open, as they built the add-on into the prize-pool and reduced it a little. I praised them and offered several tips that I think will help drive in more business for the next event. I am all about Oklahoma poker and I will speak my mind and try to help where I can. We need to stand up and let them know that this overcharging should not go on.

Variance101 is still going strong, I have given a couple lessons this week and spent some time working with a couple live players as well. The variance101 poker chat is still alive and well and I stop by there a few times a day to try and get my poker discussion on. Also keep your eye out for a new article on BRM that should be published on P5s soon.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Reindeer Games

Today I will be heading to West Siloam Springs, OK for the first MTT of the Reindeer Games Series at the Cherokee Casino. Today is just a $100 7pm MTT with 1k added money so I doubt I could reach the all time winnings list if I win, but that doesn't mean I won't be trying. Obviously I would be happy with a win, and any profit is great! I also plan on playing a $230 15k  on Friday, possibly a $150 double stack on Saturday, and a $330 25k Main Event on Sunday. There is even a chance I go Thursday night with a friend to play a $150 entry partners MTT where two players, play one stack, alternating every thirty minutes. This series is being held on the Oklahoma/Northwest Arkansas border and although it won't be huge, they do a good job running the events.

I have been fairly busy this week giving lessons and talking poker. I have given lessons to a couple of #TeamVariance101 members, but have also been working a lot with three close friends and we have been talking poker non-stop. In my opinion talking poker is by far one of the best ways to improve. I actually went over the same HH with three different guys mostly recreating the same discussions that I felt was very valuable. Some players get caught up in the fact that review takes so much work and they would rather just play. But, if we can find the time to do some review and talk poker, the playing will get easier and easier and should definitely be more profitable.

I finished another article yesterday that should be published on pocketfives.com pretty soon. This most recent article touches base with a point made in a previous article about how BRM, Variance, and Emotion all tie together and then I expanded and talked more about BRM. I personally don't know where other writers draw their inspiration from, but for me personally I have been writing about things I have been encountering or going through. This last couple weeks I have had BRM discussions with several people and they seem to be making the same common mistakes, so I thought I would try and help.

Best of luck to all the grinders, and have a Merry Christmas season!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Hello All

Sorry for not blogging much these last few weeks. I have found myself without as much to say. One of the main reasons for my lack of posting is that I haven't been playing very much. I did play a live MTT series recently and was able to have some mild success, but for the most part I have not been playing much. In May I started back grinding online and that lasted a few months, but when Merge removed the ability to make player to player transfers I found myself deciding to take a step back. I still have a few funds on Lock, but I play on a Mac they do not have a true Mac Client. They are Mac compatible but they are skating around the issue and running Lock through a windows program on a Mac which requires excessive double clicking. It is still playable but a little annoying.

I do plan on making it to a couple more live series in the future. Next week there is a small one in West Siloam Springs, OK called Reindeer Games, and in January I plan on going to the WSOPc stop in Durant, OK. I will be putting a package together for the WSOPc stop so keep an eye out for it. I mostly pimped out my last package on Facebook, but I will make sure to say something in my blog so anyone interested will have the chance to email for the information or to buy a piece.

Variance101 is still going well. I do not have as many students as I would like or could handle, but business is slowly growing and I am getting better at poker and coaching everyday. I had an amazing two hour lesson with one of my most promising friend/students last night. I am so impressed with how far he has come in a few months. Granted he already had a solid base and a good table presence, but after getting him to understand more about the mistakes we can't allow ourselves to make, getting him to think things through and have a plan, and a little help on sizing and value this guy is crushing. Amazingly enough when a player takes poker lessons they are not coached on how to play poker, they are coached on how to make less mistakes and get more value and equity out of their stack and plays.

I would like to wish a Merry Christmas Season to all the poker players out there. Remember, in poker you will get back out of it what you put into it. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Good luck to all the grinders, make sure you are giving your all!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

#Grinding

The last week has been full of lots of poker as I grinded almost every day in the Hard Rock Poker Open in Tulsa, Ok. I was able to start the series off with a bang by winning the 1st $230 event on Friday the 23rd of Nov. for 5k. I was also able to chop a 10am $60 event 3-ways for about $500. Unfortunately that was the end of my cashes as I made two other final tables but failed to make the money and I stone bubbled the 100k guaranteed event over the final weekend. Overall it was a decent series and I was glad to make some money.

On top of having a decent series I was also happy to engage in a few decent poker conversations. I was also pleased to meet a few players that had been reading my blog and articles and talk to them in person. I am still surprised at the level of play I see at these live events. It is amazing how many players have been playing for years and have never seen a shove chart. These players are usually the ones paying more than 5% of effective stacks to call with speculative hands, and opening into shortys and being surprised when they shove.

I think ego and a lack of any kind of continuing improvement work are the main reasons behind the level of play. So many players feel they play decent and are content with that. If they only knew how much they could improve after even just one lesson.

Variance101 is going well and I have a few lessons booked for this week. The poker chat has been active and several players have been making deep runs whether it be online or live. Thank you #TeamVariance101 you are all doing a great job.

Variance101 is still going strong. I have picked up a few new students and the chat room has been active. If anyone is wanting lessons or has any questions contact me at variance101@gmail.com and visit http://variance101.com/

Hard Rock Poker Open

The hard rock poker open started last Friday with a $230 at noon that got 77 players. I was lucky enough to start the series off with a bang and I won the tournament for 5k. I played a $230 with $25 bounties on Saturday and Sunday but did not make the money in either. Tuesday I decided to get up early and go at the $60 10am mtt and was able to chop it 3 ways for a nickel. Pretty good start for the series and the best tournament doesn't start until Friday. Friday is day1a of the 100k guaranteed which has a $340 entry. I will be firing both starting days if necessary and I am hoping for a good run. I have also played 3 of the 7pm $130s making one final table but going out before the money. All in all a god series so far and I am hoping to finish strong.

Variance101 is still going strong. I have picked up a few new students and the chat room has been active. If anyone is wanting lessons or has any questions contact me at variance101@gmail.com and visit http://variance101.com/

Update, and selling shares info for Hard Rock Open

In case any of y'all have yet to notice, I haven't been playing much. I did play an MTT on Lock a couple days ago and managed to make the FT but was only able to secure a 4th place finish. It was kinda fun to put a small session in and grind though. I am still not sure exactly how much I will be playing online in the near future and have been kind of playing it by ear.

On the live side of poker I haven't been playing a lot either. I grinded out enough hours to make one of the freerolls last month but could not close the deal and exited after a couple hours of play. Luckily though, we have a MTT series coming to Tulsa and I will be trying to sell some share so I can play. I will post the info below.

I hope everyone is doing well and continues to improve. I have still been giving lessons and gained a few new students this week. The lessons are going well and I really enjoy helping players improve.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Below is the information for the MTTs I will be playing in the Hard Rock Open.

Nov 23 thru Dec 2 Hard Rock Poker Open

I am selling shares of myself for the upcoming event, details below.

11-23 12pm $230 +$10 nl

11-24 12pm $230 +$10 nl w $25 bounties

11-25 12pm $230 +$10 nl w $25 bounties

11-30 12pm $340 +$10 nl 100k gtd Day1A

12-1 12pm $340 +$10 nl 100k gtd Day1B *optional will refund if Qualify Day1A

Total $1420 after mark up the total is $1775

Selling pieces at 1.25 mark up

1%=20

5%=$90

10%=$180

20%=$355

30%=$530

Contact me at variance101@gmail.com or call or text if you have my number to buy a piece. I will be selling 50% of the action.

Whatever percentage that is bought is what will be received of my total cashes. Whatever amount I cash if you bought 10% you will get exactly 10% of what I cash for. If I cashed for 5k and you had 10% you would receive $500. No other charges or fees.

Never give up!

I went to play live poker tonight for the first time in a week. I hadn't played since a week ago Friday, but not from a lack of motivation. I started back playing live a few weeks ago and have had a hard time getting things going. I feel I have been playing really well, making good decisions, and have made several good lay downs, but sometimes all that is still not enough. It seems it has been my time to be on the bad side of variance and all I can do is try to keep grinding along and hope it turns.

Unluckily for me I am not in my best financial state at the moment and I started this recent live grind with only a buy-in. I started off fair and got up to a few buy-ins but was not able to keep building. I will say I have been careful and have not had any big losers, just some nasty hands and coolers at inopportune times. Tonight I actually had a decent few hands but was not able to turn them into much. I also had KK three times and once had to fold them to AA, but made a good lay down. I had a few other spots go awry but no need to explain. I will say that tonight was a fun night for me other than losing, as I played along side a good friend on his birthday for a few hours, and talking poker and stuff with him was great. Happy Birthday Cody!

Tomorrow I will be playing a 15k freeroll at 10am. I qualified for the freeroll by getting 40 hours of live play in a month. We have two decent casino's here in Tulsa and they both offer this promotion, it's not to bad to be honest. Hopefully I can catch a small break and do some good today, I could definitely use a BR boost.

Variance101 Poker Coaching is doing pretty good, I picked up a couple new students this week and have some interest from a few others. One of my new students had two very good lessons within the last week and I expect him to be crushing the tables soon. I really enjoy coaching and am excited to see the progress of my students. I have a lot of respect for anyone that decides to get coaching, it is a big step and usually turns out to be a very lucrative decision. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say that getting coaching was a bad idea for them. I know when I got coaching I was amazed at how much I didn't know and was like a sponge for all the new information. I will say, for the most part coaching is not about anyone teaching another how to play, its more about the coach helping the student reduce mistakes and errors. Most people would be amazed at how often players pay a bad price, pick a bad spot, or not get the value they should. Poker is an amazing game and we can get back out of it, what we put into it. So the best advice I can give is, get to work and give it your all.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Follow through?

Where is all the follow through? I was kinda shocked earlier as I was scrolling through the blogs on P5s  when I noticed how many people had started a blog and then gave up on it before reaching much more than ten posts. I suppose blogging is just one of those things that sounds cool and lots of people want to start one, but following through takes work.

I was blogging everyday for almost a year when Black Friday hit, and then I hardly blogged for thirteen months. For me I had my reasons, personally I like blogging about all my online play to have a way to look back and see how far I have come. At first it wasn't easy to blog everyday, but it was something I wanted to accomplish so I stayed at it. I will admit that for a while one of the reasons I blogged everyday was just to stay true to the commitment and some of my posts ended up being simply daily updates, but I did have some posts I was proud of.

When playing live I found myself just going to play and grinding without ever finding the time or need to blog. I am not exactly sure why, but I am glad that I started blogging again in May and I plan on trying to keep it going whether I am playing live or online.

To get back to my point about following through, I noticed that poker can be an outlet for lots of people. Sometimes when finding solace in poker a player may have a good run and find themselves with some new found motivation. I think often during this motivation they may start playing more and possibly start a blog. I also think this is around the time some players begin to think about taking lessons and improving. But, one thing I have noticed is, a small percentage keep it going. Whether that is the grinding, the blogging, or the improving, it seems that very few find enough motivation and determination to follow through and not get sidetracked before reaching their goals.

I suppose the point I am trying to make is, if any of y'all have got the motivation to blog, or improve and for any reason are not following through, I just want to know why? Was it ever something you truly wanted, or was it just something that passed? If the blogging or improving is something you wish you would have stuck with, I suggest you get back to it and never give up.

Good luck to everyone, I hope you can get the most out of yourself!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Remember, remember, the 5th of Nov.

I got my online poker grind on yesterday for a little while. I wasn't necessarily planning on playing as I had been up a while before I started, but ended up at my computer around 2pm and decided to play. Luckily for me at the beginning of October I cashed out most of my small Carbon BR to take care of a couple things and am not stuck with money on as it seems they are going through a funk. I am not exactly sure what is going on but I know some guys had trouble depositing then I heard they suspended all p2p transfers. Money was already hard to get off, if we can't sell to other players I can't imagine that being good.

I ended up cashing in 1 out of 6 MTTs. I had a little less than $9 and some FPP points so I decided to get it all in play. I played an $11, two $5s, and a $3 MTT. I also used the last of my FPPs to take a single shot at the $11r deep. The $3 MTT had no guarantee and was a very small field and I ended up winning it for $21. I used $10 to add-on in the $11r deep and also registered another $11 MTT. I went deep in a couple but my only cash ended up being the win in the $3 MTT. My results were less than stellar but it was fun to grind after taking almost three weeks off from online.

I am not sure about my online poker plans for now. I am considering putting a little on Lock to grind, but I do plan on trying to qualify for the live free-rolls again this month. The best thing might be for me to do something I have always struggled with, and find a balance between the two. I usually end up going hardcore at one or the other, we will see. Qualifying for the free-rolls and finding time to maybe at least grind Sundays online might work. A lot of my plans are still in the air but I should know more after this month. Let's hope this month goes well.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

I am adding a pic of my $3 MTT win, but I am not adding it to my final table stats as it was a non guarantee MTT with very few runners.

Poker, poker, poker

Poker, poker, poker, poker, poker, poker, poker, poker, poker. I love poker, it is an amazing game. I really enjoy how the players can be from all walks of life and attack the table with completely different styles. I personally like the competitive atmosphere poker provides as well. I have always thrived off competition and improvement.
Online poker seems to be in some kind of a funk as Merge has cancelled player to player transfers and I heard of some players having trouble depositing. I know Revolution is still going though. I truly hope we can legally play in the US before long. This bs has gone on long enough.
I only played online one day in October as I have been playing live. As I mentioned in my last blog I have been trying to qualify for the monthly freerolls locally which are pretty decent. It's not the best grind but it can be profitable. So far I haven't been able to accomplish much except get some hours in, but I will keep grinding. I took a couple horrid beats Friday nights and decided to take Saturday off.
I plan on chilling and watching football most of today, I hope the Dallas Cowboys can beat the undefeated Falcons, that would be sweet. Throughout the week several of the guys off ESPN picked Dallas to beat the Falcons, let's hope so.
I picked up a couple new students this week and had a real good lesson Friday night before I went to play. I really think this guy can be a solid player, he reminds me of the way I played before taking my first lesson. He has a very solid base just needs to be told a couple things that is almost impossible to know until you are told. I could tell that he was understanding what we went through and I bet he has already put it to good use.
I have been thinking about doing a group poker training class for some local live players. There are several players that I know would like to play a little better around here. I am thinking if I could sell a group of 6 to 10 and do maybe one or two 3 to 4 hours sessions on my poker table I could really present some things that would help. I am tossing the idea around in my head for now, we will see how it plays out.
I hope everyones grind is going well, best of luck to all.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Where have I been?

Wow, I have been slacking on my blog. I seem to blog the most when grinding online poker and only played online one day in October. I cashed out some money to take care of some things and to play live  and then kept playing live. There are two decent casino's with poker here and both offer a 15k freeroll every month for the players who log 40 hours of live play. After playing a couple days I realized I was almost half-way there and decided to get qualified. I got to 40 hours at one casino and then started in at the other one.

I ran into a couple obstacles on my path to the 40 hours at the second casino and ended up coming up short. My first day chasing the second 40 went great the first 4.5 hours, but the last .5 hour was terrible. I was up a buy-in and then we consolidated tables. I ended up at a table where a guy with about $1500 was open shoving all-in in the dark about 7 out of 10 hands. Apparently he had been doing that for hours and was in the game for a few thousand. I got it in ahead against him four times only winning the second one. I wanted to keep playing as this was a dream situation but was not rolled for that kind of gambling so cut my losses and left 2.5 buy-ins loser. I went back the next day winning a buy-in, lost 1/3 a buy-in the following day, and then had one of those nights that require a day off or two after. I only lost 1.5 buy-ins but it was ugly. Obviously its just variance and I laugh about it now as I write this, but I am sure we have all had those nights.

So I decided to take a couple days off and then got hooked on SOA and watched 3 seasons in about a week. It's a good show though, haha. Now it's a new month and I got started on my next 40 hours last night winning a buy-in. Online poker seems to be in a bit of a funk at the current moment so I think I will play live another month and the re-evaluate. I plan on trying to make both freerolls this month because truly they are decent incentives to get the hours. One of the casinos average around 100 players for the freeroll and the other around 60. It's a pretty decent shot at up to about 4k.

I did pick up two more students this week and am still enjoying giving lessons. Even though I am not playing online as much I am still working on my game, talking poker with friends live and in the chat, watching training videos, and writing strategy articles. I actually just finished my newest article this morning and it should be up this weekend.

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the grind. I know I have been seeing lots of players making way to many mistakes way to often, so my advice to everyone is do what you can to try and improve and always be working on your game.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Yes, #Igrind

I took Sunday off and enjoyed some football and then the premiere of the new season of The Walking Dead, what a great show. I am still putting a bit of focus towards live play right now but plan on grinding some online too. I went to play live Monday and enjoyed a solid seven hour session clearing two buy-ins. That was my eighth live session in three weeks and I feel as if I am playing well and adapting my play to a style that is effective.

I am kind of amazed at the play live as so many players are likely to limp, then call after a raise and a re-raise. They sure like to see flops. To bad that everyone misses the flop the majority of the time and they end up check folding on the flop way to often. Another thing that happens way to often is poor stack management. I see so many players call off half their stack and fold. I also see players bet 70% to 90% of their stack and for some reason leave a pointless amount behind. I am sure all of y'all have seen these same plays and I bet you scratch your head as well.

Playing live is a lot slower than playing online but there is some things that help make the speed not bother us. The social aspect can be nice as its good to be social and not always in front of a monitor. Also the fact that when you win you get the money right then. Online poker in the US is not at its best moment and right now to cash out money its either a 4-6 week wait or you have to pay a vig and sell to another player. Some other things I enjoy are being able to get reads by being able to see your opponents, and the level of play is a bit softer than online.

Overall I think there are benefits to playing online and live and both have their advantages. I feel lucky as I am able to play both right now as there are two decent casino's with poker where I live and several others in driving distance, and we can still play online on a couple sites. Hopefully online poker will get  regulated and we will have better sites to play on soon. When that happens I imagine there will be another poker boom and all the players that have put the time in to improve will be ready to get that money.

Good luck to all the grinders out there, remember you get back out of poker what you put in, so get to work!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

No really, #Igrind

Friday I relaxed for a while and then watched the Cardinals make an amazing comeback on to advance.  After the game I decided to go play some 1/2 nl at Riverspirit. I have been relaxing quite a bit and have not been playing much. I have only played online one day this month but I have played live a few times. But honestly, I haven't even been playing much live.

I started playing online again in May after 13 months away where I played all live. I was doing well at live and was making money but due to some unforeseen expenses that came after a downswing I was left with a short BR. Once short and a little frustrated after a long downswing I chose to check the traffic online and was surprised at how many players were online. Obviously this was before Lock left Merge and the traffic was nice. Since then Lock left and the traffic was split between Merge and Revolution and the guarantees began to drop and just kept dropping.

I was still happy to have a place to play and kept grinding. I was also giving lessons, blogging, and writing a couple articles a month for P5s. Online poker wasn't anything like it was before Black Friday but it was good to be playing, coaching, and improving. The last six months being back playing online was really good for me as I have improved a lot between playing, chatting with good players, doing review, and giving lessons. I am very happy that I checked the traffic that day and came back to online.

Unfortunately though online poker is in a bit of a funk right now as the traffic seems lower than ever and it seems most people are having trouble funding their accounts as it seems the sites are not taking any Visas or debit cards like they were. I will say I do not know anything I am just talking about what I noticed. I am going to be paying attention to what goes on with the deposit options and will continue to play some, but for the immediate future I may continue to play some live. I have always had success playing live and have a real good feel for players and plan on putting some time in and building up my BR a little.

One thing that has amazed me as I was grinding live recently is just how many mistakes the above average players make. It seems that they all just want to see the flop. I have seen so many players limp, and then called after a raise and a re-raise just to miss the flop and fold. Another thing I see a ton of is players calling off 20% to 50% of their stack and then folding on the flop. Also it seems that position is just not very important to any of them.

Around here the level of play is decent but it seems a huge majority of the players live in their own bubble and have never worked on their game. And then the few guys that win fairly often and have a clue are really just a little more aware than the rest but also seem to have never really worked on their game. In my opinion that is the biggest difference between online players and live players. Most online players have done something to try to improve.

For the most part live players just show up and play and slowly improve by trial and error and experience but usually have major leaks. And online players seem to have their mistakes pointed out more either through the table chat, by talking poker with friends, or by posting a hand in a forum. Online players are also often a member of P5s or 2+2 and are trying to improve in some way not just showing up to play. I guess in a way I am saying it is easy for a live player to show up and play often and win or lose and never really examine their play, but most online players think about their play afterwards whether it be a specific hand or a full review. I would think if someone was able to do some research where they compared they play of one hundred random online players verse one hundred random live players I think the online players would have less leaks.

The online poker experience which includes playing, talking poker in a poker chat group, P5s and 2+2, and the ability to do review is by far better for trying to improve. I think both live and online are great and there are benefits to both, but when it comes to improving the fastest way would be by playing online, reviewing your play, and using the forums.

I have some things I want to talk about regarding decision making at live 1/2 nl but I think I will save that for next time. I hope everyone is doing well and I wish all of y'all the best of luck crushing tomorrow whether it be online or live. Good luck and get that money!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

#Igrind

Today I slept in and watched some Monday Night Football choosing to continue to relax another day. I feel as if I haven't been playing much online but truly my reasoning is fairly simple, I cashed out a chunk of my BR and went on a small downswing with what was left. I have a little left online but am in the process of trying to get a backer and try that route so I have been getting rested and refreshed so I can hit the ground running when the backing deal works out. After Maximus 2 was over it seemed that the online traffic was a bit withered so I took some money off and decided I would start adding a little bit of live play back into my schedule. The live play is going okay as I am up about a buy-in after four sessions, but I am truly ready to get back to online.

When I started playing online again in May I started with a $200 deposit and have been playing on that since. I have sold some funds and traded some but have been grinding all from the $200. I also have been playing solely online and have had all my focus on playing, coaching, improving, and writing. The last five months have been incredibly beneficial and I am so happy I started playing online again. After Black Friday I played all live for 13 months and my game leveled out some. I was still getting better and was improving at getting live reads but I needed more work on my game and coming back to online has helped me realize that.

As soon as I started back playing I found myself talking over a hand in a poker chat and was so drawn in with the back and forth between me and a couple solid grinders. It was exactly what I needed. There are several decent players where I live but I don't think many have the same drive to improve as I do so when I was playing live only, I wasn't talking enough poker or working on my game near enough. Since coming back to online I have been talking a ton of poker between two poker chats, the forum on P5s, and giving lessons. In my opinion one of the most important tools in improving at poker is talking poker with other players. Just don't let it be at the table while you're playing.

I had a chat/interview with one of the guys in charge of the backing deal today and it was interesting answering some of the questions. I was just honest and I think that is all we can do. I didn't try to sell myself I was just real. I have never been staked to play online, all my play has always been on my own but I am eager to give this a try as it will also come with coaching from one of the top online players in the world and I am all about improving.

If for any reason the deal doesn't work I will start rebuilding my BR off of what I have left online and grind on. I am also going to try and add a little bit of balance to my life and spend a little more time with friends and continue to try and go play live ever so often. I have also been slacking some on my writing but as you may be able to see I am ready to pick that up some too.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

In poker and in life, you get back out of it what you put in!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

"This is how we do it."

I haven't played online since Wednesday but have played some live. Thursday I went to Riverspirit Casino here in Tulsa, Ok and played about five hours winning one buy-in. Friday I woke up early and drove to Joplin, MO to play in a $250 satellite for a $1100 seat into the Mid-States Poker Tour Main Event at Downstream Casino.

They were awarding a seat for every 5 players and the satellite had fifty entrants so there would be 10 seats. I got off to a slow start but had a nice stack by the time half the players were gone. The structure was pretty fast for 30 min levels as the blinds doubled often. Another odd thing was the fact that the ante didn't kick in until 300/600/100 and then the ante stayed 100 until 1500/3000. Downstream has never been known for running things well. Needless to say I lost AK to TT all-in pre to a rivered T with 15 players left but had the villain covered and held on until shoving A9s from the HJ with 10bbs and the BB woke up with AA leaving me in 13th with no seat. I feel I played well and did what I could.

After busting I went to wish a friend good luck that was playing Day1A of the main that was starting at 5pm right as I busted the satellite. He seemed ready to play and has been having a great year with very few tournaments played and I expected him to do well. As he began the Main I went to eat and then back to the poker room to play some 1/2nl for an hour before entering  the 7pm satellite. As I got chips for 1/2 I tried to sign up for the satellite but they said it was going to be held in the ballroom where the Main is on the other side of the casino. So I play 1/2 for about 45min and the cashed out $10 winner and took my long trip across the casino through very thick carpet and got to the ballroom. Once there I try to sign up and I am told they changed their mind and the satellite is in the poker room. A few months prior I was at Downstream for a satellite and they did the same thing, I was not happy. But, it goes to show what I was saying about them not known for running things well. I have a friend that was furious about some of the shady maneuvers envolving the guy running the tournament and how he was doing table assignments for Day 2 in a closed office alone with friends in the tournament. When confronted his excuse was, "This is how we do it."

After busting two satellites I decided to come home and spent most of Saturday watching College football. Today I thought about playing online but got caught up in NFL Redzone and decided to watch NFL and continue to relax.

I have been a little disappointed in the guarantees since Maximus 2 as they seem to keep slowly dropping. I wish Lock and Merge could have worked things out because when Lock left the player pool took a split that it can barely afford. I will say I am happy that there is a place to play even though it does come with some risk. But it is nice to have a couple sites that still offer service to USA players.

Good luck to all the grinders. I hope several of y'all had a great Sunday.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Forever and always

Wednesday I cashed in 2 out of 10 MTTs and 0 out of 2 satellites. I was able to make one final table but went out early finishing in 7th place. I have been taking some time off and enjoyed my short session. I feel I played pretty well and was happy with my motivation, focus,  and emotional control.

I have been adding in a little live play after playing only online since May. The live play has been going pretty well and I feel very comfortable there. After black friday I spent thirteen months away from online poker and truly it wasn't the best time. In 2010 I finally realized I needed to take the steps to improve and did exactly that up until black friday. After black friday I played live and traveled around playing live series but my game stayed about the same. Online I was around several great players talking poker and on training sites always trying to improve but when I played live I didn't have the same resources of good players to talk to and my game suffered. At the time I didn't notice it as I was happy and confident after my recent improvements and was doing rather well.

It wasn't until I got back to playing online and working on my game again when I noticed I had a lot more work to do. Luckily being around several great players in a chat group, training sites, and hours of work I have managed to get back to improving my game and I feel a lot better about where I am and am still trying to improve daily. Poker is forever evolving and the only way to keep up is to constantly work on our game and try to improve.

I am taking today off online and am thinking about going to play a live session. This weekend I think I am going to a live series Main so wish me luck. Good luck to all the grinders, keep working on your game and reach your goals.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Keep on keeping on

Lets get caught up. Thursday the 20th I cashed in 2 out of 13 MTTs and 0 out of 1 satellites and broke about even on the day. I took Friday off and played Saturday cashing in 2 out of 14 MTTs and 1 out of 2 satellites. I also had been trying to get some money off Carbon although the reason wasn't from having to much online, I simply had some things i needed to take care of. I was able to sell some Carbon funds to another player for a fee and got what I needed off in two transactions.

Saturday I ended my session a little early and decided to go play live for the first time in several months. I played a lot of live poker 2005 to 2010 and then focused online 2010 until Black Friday. After BF I went back to live until May 2012, and since coming back to online in May I have played all online. After playing nothing but inline for the last few months I decided I would go play some 1/2 nl at the casino.

I ended up being stuck most of the night and then finally got winner as our table was breaking down after a seven hour session. It's amazing to me how many players live play a limp, flat style of play. They hardly raise but never fold. Its pretty awesome watching it for hours. I also get amusement out of the table talk and the one or two professors at every table, so funny. For the night I played about seven hours and won half a buy-in and was happy with my play.

Sunday I cashed in 2 out of 16 MTTs for another disappointing day full of the best MTTs of the week. I had a few deep runs but couldn't get through the big hands and both my cashes were of the minimum variety. Overall I feel I am playing well and enjoying talking poker and working on my game but there is some small frustrations that come with downswings. Truly though I have no worries as I am as relentless as they come and will power through and get mine.

Monday I had to run some errands but decided to play a short session after. I cashed in 0 out of 7 MTTs and 0 out of 1 satellites but again felt I was playing well just wasn't able to manage a cash out of this short sample.  Tuesday I played around the same schedule as I had something to do early and was able to cash in 1 out of 9 MTTs and 0 out of 2 satellites. Still a disappointing day but again I felt I was playing okay and losing a lot of flips.

After a mildly disappointing few days i decided to take a few days off and relaxed away from the game until Thursday night when I went to play 1/2 nl at the Casino again. I played for several hours staying about $50 winner the whole time but played no big hands. Friday I went to play 1/2 again and was small winner the first half of the session before a couple small coolers and then grinded a short stack a while before losing JJ to K8 on a 9 hi flop to a rivered straight. It was a decent night as I felt I played well but you can't win every session and I decided to call a night.

Saturday I was fully engaged in the Ryder Cup but did manage to play the 2 Freerolls I was in on Carbon. One was a 10k guaranteed nl MTT and the other was a satellite giving away 125 $109 tickets. I cashed in the MTT but not the satellite and decided to watch golf and football instead of register more MTTs.

Feels a little meh posting a bunch of days with no good scores but truly this is juts part of grinding and all we can do is keep soldiering on. Poker is wild as every player hits the upside of variance at different times and all we can do is work on our game constantly, keep emotion out of our decisions, and not give up.

Good luck to all the grinders out there, keep fighting hard until you reach your goals!

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.

Seabiscuit n gravy

Sunday was the last day of Maximus 2 and I fired at all of the last four events. For the day I cashed in 2 out of 19 MTTs and didn't really have any deep runs. Overall I am happy with my play it was just one of those days. I took five days off before Maximus 2 began as I was trying to get recharged and past a small downswing. I started back playing the Friday before Maximus 2 and ended up having four positive days in a row. I was very happy to string some positive days together and was ready to try and ship a Maximus event. I had three deep runs but finished in 10th, 10th, and 11th. Overall it was a decent series and I was able to make a profit even with bricking the events on the last day including the Main.

After a good series but a rough last day I decided to take a couple days off. I took off Monday and Tuesday and mostly relaxed and watched movies. Wednesday I woke up with no intention to play but after cleaning my apartment for a couple hours I ended up at my computer and decided to play a session.

Wednesday I cashed in 0 out of 8 MTTs and 0 out of 2 satellites. Obviously no cashes isn't great but it was still a decent day. While playing one of my students watched me play for an hour or so and we were able to talk about a couple hands which is always good. Later on that evening he won a MTT on Lock, and it couldn't have come at a better time as he had been on a downswing that I think was starting to affect his drive to play. I just want to tell him, excellent job shipping that MTT bro.

Tomorrow I am giving a lesson in the mid-afternoon and then plan on playing a session. I am kind of excited as this player has improved a ton and I can't wait to talk more poker with him. It's really cool seeing players improve and then improve some more. Good luck to all the grinders out there, if you put the work in you will get the results.

If you are interested in taking poker lessons or would like any information, contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.