I have been thinking about what topic I would write my next strategy article on and have several ideas that I want to work on. But, for my second article I decided I would try to expand on the first article. I enjoyed all the comments that the players left and tried my best to reply to all of them. A few of the comments were very well thought out and helpful. A few of them gave me some ideas on how to expand on the topic. I decided I would branch off of a few thoughts left in the comments and delve into the reasoning behind our actions.
I was asked to write two articles a month and considering I am new to having a writing deadline, I thought I should get something started. I was winding down my session and had one turbo MTT left. I was in push/fold mode due to my stack, and with the use of a shove chart, push/fold does not require much thought. So I opened text edit and began to write. At first I just rough draft style threw down a few ideas and then before I knew I had two paragraphs. At this time I started doing some proof-reading and began trying to think out the rest of the article. I instantly had a few ideas and then its like before you know it there is four or five paragraphs. I started with the intention of getting the article maybe twenty percent along and within a couple hours I was done. When you're writing about something you truly enjoy it seems to be near effortless at times. Anyway, I am not sure when it will be out or even if it will get approved, but if I was to guess I would think to keep an eye out for it somewhere around the first of next month. Hope you enjoy it.
The poker chat had a quiet day but a few of us managed some deep runs. I think I have several active students with impressive determination that should have no problem reaching their goals. I know we all have those moments in our lives where we start doing something and midway through we lose desire and interest. With poker for most people as you improve there is lots of instant gratification and improving becomes addictive. And when talking poker those improvements can also mean dollar signs. If I was to try and offer advice to players wanting to start improving I would try and stress that they will get out of it what they give to it. There isn't a poker video or lesson that will make you a champion. But both of those things can give you the tools needed to improve if you work at it. Hard work and dedication will pay off ten fold.
LONG LIVE ONLINE POKER!
If you are interested in taking lessons or need any information contact me at variance101@gmail.com and/or visit http://variance101.com/# and http://variance101.blogspot.com.
Once upon a time, long ago, when I had two legs and enjoyed hearing pool balls smack the back of the pocket, a friend of mine that goes by the name Cam, drove us over to OKC for a Midwest Tour Pool Tournament. Most of these stops start with a one pocket tournament on Thursday that ends Friday, And then they have a 9 ball event that starts either Friday night or Saturday around noon and goes through the weekend. At this certain event the pool room owners were putting up a $10k bonus if anyone could win both events. I cashed in the one pocket but was sent to the bleachers by Buddy Hall who is an absolute legend. Buddy wasn't able to win the tournament though as Cliff Joyner one of the best one pocket players ever took it down.
So the trip started good with a cash in the one pocket and now its time to play the 9ball where I felt I was much more competitive. I breezed through my first few matches even though a couple were tough and I was feeling really good. I was a bit of a long shot to win it because all the top talent from the Midwest was there. I was a solid player but may have been in the top 15 to 20 at best out of the field, so the action was tough. We were down to 8 undefeated players and I had to play the best player in Oklahoma. His name is James Walden and he was a beast. This man could run out for days and make it look simple. It was a race to 9 and he won the flip. James won the first two games and then we had a safety battle in third game. I got control of the table and left James hooked. He was on the 6 ball but could not hit it cleanly. James tried to kick at the 6 but missed and I got ball in hand. I ran that rack out and then began to plug the table and rack. This tournament was a winner break, rack your own structure with the players splitting the quarters. As I began to plug the table I turned and saw James siting in his chair and he was leaning forward reaching out handing me a quarter. I grabbed to quarter and racked em up. After I racked I went around and went through my break routine and then proceeded to break and run out. As the 9 ball was falling I sat my cue down and began to plug the table only to look over and see James sitting there reaching a quarter out to me. I grabbed the quarter, racked the balls, and then broke and ran again. I did this eight times in a row until the match was over. At this point in my pool career this is by far the best performance I had displayed in a match in a big tournament and it was in front of a lot more people than ever before. James was from OKC so he was a legend there. When the last nine ball fell the crowd erupted and a huge swarm of people came to congratulate me. I probably shook 200 hands and was just on a cloud.
My next match was against a solid player form OKC Mark Demick. The only thing is that even though he is a solid player this was going to be my easiest match out of my last three. I was ready to go, or so I thought. I was so drained or still on that cloud or something. Instead of riding the momentum of that great performance I kind of withered up and lost 9-5. It was still an amazing experience and it was great to play so good in a key spot, but I sure wish I could have kept it going. It's funny but the part I remember the most is looking over at James and seeing him never get out of his chair but just lean forward and hand me a quarter 8 times in a row.
Cliff Joyner won the 9 ball tournament too and got the 10k bonus. What a great player.
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