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/
11/29/2012
11/20/2012
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.
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.
11/10/2012
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.
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.
11/08/2012
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.
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.
11/05/2012
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.
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.
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.
11/04/2012
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.
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.
11/01/2012
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.
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.
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