Balance

During the day I read other blogs. I will read some poker blogs from people that will write about their lives and how they are dealing with the life of poker. This past couple of days I have read from two of them about having balance in their lives.

At that point you can't help but think about your own life and what you are doing. Balancing your poker life and your home life is something that we do on a daily basis. I think back at having a job that requires me to be their working for the bottom line of the company. We basically sell our time for a paycheck and by doing that we give 100% of our energy for the company to make money.

We also spend up to 40 to 60 hours per week doing this. Hopefully you are making enough money to survive all of your bills and setting money aside for the day you can retire.

I went through all of that and when the job was gone I had to think about who I needed to work for and how things would get paid. My wife works hard at her job continuing to work for the company. Myself, I also work but now I work in an industry that allows you to earn on your skill as well.

Dealing the cards in poker has been good and does bring in a little bit of money. It is not the 40 hours per week but it is fine. Where I put my other efforts is in poker playing in the cash games. I am not at the 8 hour per day but will play in 4 or 5 hour sessions two days per week. I am hoping I can get that up to the 40 hour per week. Right now the important part is building the bankroll.

Back to the beginning. Balance in life. For me poker is where I can earn some money whether playing or dealing. Family is also important to me and sometimes I don't feel I spend enough time seeing them. My parents are important as they are going through the senior years with health problems. There are so many things that pull on us that balance is important. Friends, Families, Jobs and our life beliefs need to be thought about on a daily basis.

Have a fun day......

Monday

Today is my day off. I have already been to the casino and played the live game this morning. I also played in the morning tournament. So much for the day off.

I was going to play live last night and ended up staying home watching a movie with my wife. It is nice to sit at home and just do nothing.

It really bothers me to sit at a table and listen to people berate the dealers. The last time I checked the dealer doesn't control who gets what when they deal. It is even worse when a dealer is doing it to another dealer. It just lets other people watching this think they can do the same thing. Just not right.

I am getting ready to start my second week riding the bus to work. I have enjoyed the time and letting someone else drive in the traffic. Savings for the month should be about $100 if not more. Will have to keep an eye on that to see what I am actually saving.

Have a fun day......

Weekend Work

Having only one day off at a time during the week does make it feel like your never off very much. Don't get me wrong I really enjoy what I am doing and it is a fun group of people I work for and the players themselves are nice.

I decided to ride the bus yesterday and I knew it might get real close at the end of the day to catch the bus home. I didn't realize how close. I had the opportunity to play in a $1000 guaranteed tournament and I couldn't pass that up. The buy in was inexpensive enough but the structure was a little quicker than I like. I would have liked a few more chips as well. Want, want, want, or is that whine, whine, whine.

I was knocked out of the tournament and as I was walking out of the casino I looked at my iphone for the time. I had four minutes to catch my bus home or wait another thirty minutes for the next one. I got out of there quickly and ran to the bus stop. I did say ran to the bus stop. I haven't done that in a while. I got there with a couple minutes to spare and was able to ride home.

Riding the bus this week was my first experience of using the transit system in our community. I have had a good experience. I bought ten passes and figured if it worked out for me I would buy a month pass. I have decided to go ahead and buy the month pass since the times work out for me and it is nice to just sit for the thirty minute ride and let someone else do the driving. Just like having a limousine taking me to work.

Another plus will be the amount of gas I will save. I have been trying to find ways to cut expenses and this is one of them. One of the side benefits is the fact I am unable to just stop at the restaurants I like to frequent for lunch before I go home. That will save me money as well.

As I have said in the past I watch Live@thebike for live poker commentary and learn from players that play the game for a living. At least some of them. Others play recreationally but they are playing for a lot bigger money than me. I like to sit and chart the hands that are being played by certain individuals. Where they are in position and watch the bet sizing as well. Sometimes watching and charting these individuals I can pick up what they are doing and then try some of them myself. Always learning.

I am going to try something for the month of February as well. I am making the month of February my weight loss month. I would like to get under 200 pounds. I really don't have far to go to reach that but with a little bit of work and determination I can do this. I have been reading Jillian's book. She did some work on The Biggest Looser and I am reading about her life and what she has learned. I enjoy those types of books instead of a diet book saying you have to do this and that and thats all. I understand it is a change of lifestyle.

I have a number of projects I am working on and finding time for them all is one thing that keeps my daily book busy. Well, off to work I go and hopefully play some live this evening.

Have a fun day......

Day Off

Friday was my day off and it was time to clear my desk of the mail that was sitting there. Paid some bills and just basic stuff.

It is nice to get one of these days and my schedule allows for one, working 2 straight and then working 3 in a row. Today is going to be long since we are going to have a 10AM, Noon and then a 3PM tournament. We will go from one to the next and we will be busy.

I started walking yesterday. I walked down to the drug store and back and then in the evening I walked about a mile. I got home and went right to the recumbant bike and put in a 3 minute 25mph ride. I want February to be my big weight loss and I will put the effort into eating better as well as the effort of exercise.

I did stop by the Casino to deliver seat cards that I had purchased for the poker room. Someone had already taken a card and we needed to get it replaced. Glad I had purchased 50 extra cards. I ended up sitting down at the $2-$6 spread game for $40 and ended up loosing that buy in. Mornings are not a good time for me to play and I need to recognize that and stay away from the game. Evenings are better for me and I can concentrate on what I am doing better.

Today I am back taking the bus to work. I like the time to sit and let someone else drive plus I am saving some money on top of that. Anytime I can save money I can put it into my bankroll to help it grow.

Have a good day......

Big Win

Today is my day off. Time to get some of the stuff done for my parents and clean up the paperwork on my desk. This afternoon I will be visiting my Mom in the Alzheimers unit. She is not getting out of bed anymore and the pain meds were increased. As I have said Cancer and Alzheimers together just doesn't and won't give her the chance.

I did my usual dealing yesterday and got through the two tournaments we had during my shift. I am fortunate to have this position and to be able to do what I enjoy doing. Island's Casino is a great place to work and is very friendly. It just feels like an extended family and we are there for each other.

After my bus ride home I got myself prepared to go back to the casino and play some live cash. I like to play on Monday and Thursday night since they are the two evenings I can spend some time.

When I arrived at the Casino they got a $2-$6 game going before the tournament started. These are just short little bits of time to take up some time before the tournament starts and a way to get some rake for the casino and tips for the dealers. When the tournament started I was down $6 and that was fine. I had bought in for $40 and would hold that for the live game that will start after the tournament.

When the live game got going we started it at $2-$10 spread. I immediately bought in for my usual $100, which made my buy in at the $140 level and of course down at $134 from the last game. I immediately took the stack above the $140 level and was just playing the usual cards and playing my game.

I never dropped below my buy in amount for the first 3 hours. I wasn't going up much and not dropping a great deal either. Twice during this time I got pocket Aces and they were both the black aces and I needed the red aces to get the Monte Carlo, and of course getting them cracked, would mean $100 for me. The pot was nice either way.

Then I changed my seat to see if maybe things would change a little bit and I would also sit next to one of the other dealers and we could just talk while playing. At the 4 hour mark I started to see some hands that were playable for me. One in particular was an A8 suited. The players all called around which made it easy for me to just call and see a flop. The flop came x8x. The 8 was the highest card on the flop. I decided to bet and see if I could isolate one player. The next card came x which was a low card again. Another raise and the pot started growing. The river was low again and I figured I was good with the 8 with Ace kicker and bet again. The villain showed pocket 10's.

I did play a couple more hands and lost them as well. I don't get upset but I was a little frustrated. The other players could see what was happening and I was sure that is why I was now getting callers with anything I did. I looked at my next cards and I see KK's. Now this one I was hoping would hold up for me. I raised and got 5 callers. The flop was good for me with one of the cards being an eight. No flush possibility. No connection for straights. On the turn another 8 showed up and now if anyone was playing with an 8 in their hand I was done. I ended up being all in for the river and another low card came.

When all of the cards were shown or mucked I was the winner of the pot at about $200. My pocket K's held up. At one point one of the players asked me if I was upset or tilted. I told them no I was fine with whatever happened. Poker gives to you and sometimes takes it away. Tonight it was my turn to get the big pot.

It wasn't too long after that that the table turned to a $2-$10 Spread Kill game. There were about 5 players at the table that were playing big amounts of money for just about anything. That was my clue to head home with my win. It was now 11PM and I was getting tired as well. Playing for 4 to 5 hours was enough for me.

Now tomorrow I will be back to dealing the games and my next live game will be Monday.

Have a fun day.......

On the Bus

Yesterday was my second day riding the bus. It is going well. I know one thing it will take care of and that is eating out after work. When I get on the bus I am headed home. I will not have the opportunity to head somewhere else before home and eat. I will miss my sushi or chicken wings. Of course I can make plans and ride the bus extra if I want
either.

I dealt both tournaments yesterday and it went well for me. I try real hard to keep the game going and not have any mistakes. Reading the cards on the board is a little slow for me but I want to make sure I am giving the chips to the right person. I hate killing cards until I am sure of the winner. That is another skill I am working on. Watching the cards and being able to guess what the players are going to turn over. Sometimes they surprise me. That is when I learn a little bit about the player. I can use that later.

Today I will deal again and then tonight my plan is to play some live. I will take the bus to and from work and then after dinner take the truck back to the casino and will play late tonight.

I am starting to study the Introduction to Betting. It starts out saying every bet you make should be made for a purpose. To get your opponent to fold, call or raise. In my game I am trying to take the limp out of my game and raise if I am going to play. The plan is to thin the field and play against one or two players instead of the table. Decision after that depends on texture and if I hit anything on the flop.

Have a fun day.....

Have a fun day......

Tournament Play

Yesterday was a short day for me. I dealt in the first tournament and then we waited for the signups for the $25 deepstack event. We didn't get enough players so it was called off. We did get a live game going and I opted to sign out since the amount of dealers there were not needed.

Remember that yesterday was my first day taking the bus to work. It went well and I am going to continue to use the bus during the week. It will save me money and it was nice not having to drive to work.

I signed up for the evening tournament which was the $65 deepstack. The people that play this tournament are different than the players during the other more inexpensive tournaments. This one for me is a game checker to see where I am at in my game.

I did well in the first three rounds collecting chips and then the cards turned on me and they went cold. After 2 1/2 hours I was out of the tournament with about 30 players remaining. It was just not happening for me tonight.

Today I am back at the usual tournaments dealing. I would like to get into a live game since I haven't played in a while. My usual time was Monday and I was busy surprising my wife with her ride in the Limo.

Have a fun day.......

Surprise!!!!!!

It has been about a month that I have been planning this surprise for my wife. I have been wanting to get a Limousine to pick her up from work and then take us to dinner.

It finally started coming together about a month ago. I have a poker friend that owns a Limousine service called "Wine, Cheese & Me". If you go to the website at www.winecheeseandme.com you can see what they have to offer. The price was good as well. It was last week when the calendar was clear for Cindy and I and I told them it was a go for Monday evening.

On Sunday night I told Cindy that I needed her car for Monday as I was going to get service done on the vehicle. She agreed and I took her to work the next morning. Afterwards, I took the vehicle to Red Lobster and let the car sit. Thanks to my Son and his wife for picking me up and getting me back home. At around 4PM I was able to exchange the cars and have my pickup at the restaurant.

I was picked up from our house at 5PM and then we drove out to Cindy's work location. I called her and she came out and noticing the Limo she learned it was hers. It was a good surprise for her. I enjoyed the look on her fellow worker as she was surprised as well. She tried to take a picture but I think it was too dark to see anything. This will have to be in our memories.

We ate at Red Lobster last night as that is one of our favorite places and then headed home in the pickup. What a day and evening it was.

Love you sweetheart.

No poker yesterday as it was a personal day with family for me. Today I am back at dealing. I may play the $65 tournament tonight. We will see how the day goes.

Have a fun day......

Tournament Sunday

I dealt the Noon tournament and when that was done I then sat down and alternated dealing in the live game. We start out with four dealers in the morning and then when we get through the tournament we go down to two dealers and wait for the 3PM Player of the Week tournament to start.

Our other dealers started coming in and I was asked if I wanted to deal or play. This tournament is nice as it is the Player of the Week and the money is good if you can get to the final table and win. I, of course, like the opportunity to play, so I asked to be let off and join the game.

The last two times I have played in this tournament I have gone out in the first round. By not following my own strategies and getting impatient. This time I had goals to meet and I played aggressive when I had to. Being patient was one of my goals as well. My usual goals are to get to the final table, get into the money and then to win the tournament.

I had one person who would continually raise my blind and I had to put him to the test. I re-raised and he would back down. That did help for future play. I did make it to the final table this time. The villain was on my right just where I wanted him. I started chipping up and with one of the plays he tried to get me off my hand with a T$3000 raise and I called him and won the hand.

I was second in chips to the villain on my right when it was proposed to chop at 5 players. It was put on the table to give the chip leader a good part of first place money and the rest would split. I wrestled with the decision on what to do. I decided to go ahead and chop. I was unhappy the villain got a bigger share but happy for the rest that did get money.

I did win one portion in that I told the group the part of the chopped pot was to go to the dealers along with their tips. I always want the dealers to get a good share as well. We do have people that won't tip so anytime a dealer can get into the money it is nice to get the players to put more into the pot.

The other part of the problem was the villian thinking he was a better player than all the rest. I was feeling like I could play with him and was not scared to put everything at risk to force him into decisions he didn't want to make. I will definitely do it again when I have a chance to play him.

I probably will not be playing the live game tonight. I have a surprise set up for my wife and will be anxious to see her face.

Have a fun day.......

Long Day

After spending 12 hours at the casino on Saturday I was exhausted. I drove the truck home watching the road for ice and when I made it I was not going out again. Home sweet Home.

It was another typical ordinary day. Arrive at 9AM and get the tables set up for the tournament that starts at 10AM. After that is finished we quickly got the tables ready again for the Noon tournament. We finished this one at about 3PM just in time to get the next one started.

We were able to finish this tournament around 5:30 and at that point I was off the clock and getting myself ready to sit down at the Omaha table to learn a new game. I have tried to learn this game in the past but now we have a dealer who has worked at Foxwoods and has dealt this game. She is very knowledgable. She gave us the basics but no strategies.

When 6:15 rolled around it was time to get a game going to see if we learned anything and also to get our feet wet. They started a $2-$4 Limit game and we have seven players. Two people sat down at the table with rather large stacks and they hadn't been at the learning table. We were hoping for a friendly game and being able to ask some questions after the hand played out.

The two individuals that sat down with large stacks immediately started bullying the table. The older lady next to me was so nervous with what was happening she got up and left. It wasn't too long after that I was getting frustrated watching these two players just raising and bullying the table and seeing their chip stacks rise. I thought it was going to be a fun table not just giving our money to these two guys.

I finally got up and another person followed. The game died a little after that. I ended up going over to the $2-$10 Spread game and figured I would have the opportunity to earn some of my money back I just gave away. I sat at the table for a couple of hours and yes I did go away from the table in the positive. Thank goodness for a game I understand. I will try to learn Omaha but will pick my games by who I see at the table.

Today is another day and will start the process all over again. We don't have the 10AM tournament on Sundays and will start off with the Noon tournament. There is a 3PM Player of the Week tournament that is a good one to play due to the added money. After that a day off on Monday. I would like to play my usual Monday night but we will see if that happens or not.

Have a fun day......

Pet Peeves

I am a Spring and Summer type of a person. The last couple of years I have been having some issues with the heat but overall I like that time of the year. Having grown up in southern California I like the desert and not having a lot of rainy days. I would make a great snowbird. Travelling from casino to casino playing in live games and doing some tournaments. It would be fun. Now back to reality.

When it snows I will take it easy while driving. I really hate it when someone in a big pick-up goes tearing by me throwing snow all over and having disregard for everyone elses lives. Just because you have a big vehicle doesn't give you the right.

The other one is the fact our interior roads do not get scraped. Once I get out of the residential areas it seems to be fine but just getting to a main road is hard. If you can't get the people out of residential then you have no one driving the main roads. Every year it is the same thing. We pay the city taxes and what do we get in return. I figure they are thinking that if they wait long enough then they won't have to do them.

Tonight our Casino is putting on a class for Omaha. This should be fun. I have been wanting to learn this game. There are casino's I have played in that only have an Omaha game going and this would allow me to at least play a game and not have to wait for the NLHE game. There will be a game afterwards for the students.

I am now off to work for the the next two days. My Mom is now in bed and sleeping a lot. She does look comfortable and I hope the pain is no longer hurting her. I love you Mom.

Have a fun day......

Let it Snow, Not!!!!

Well, now that we have the snow we need the temperatures to warm up and bring in some wind and then we have a new problem. This is true, we are supposed to get some warmer temperatures now and add some wind. We will see if that happens.

I did get to work yesterday and it was amazing how many people showed up for the 10AM tournament. We had a good turn out for the Noon one as well. Just goes to show that poker players love the game.

I was thinking about how I am doing now that I have been there three months. It seems like it has been longer. I am feeling more comfortable at the table and not as stressed about dealing the cards. I feel my speed is starting to improve. Seeing and reading the cards is getting better and I am starting to handle the chips better with the all ins. Working with the chips in making change during the hand is also getting better. I am watching the hands and moving chips. I call it multitasking and it feels better. I know I have a lot of work yet to get where I want to be. I want the skill level to improve and I feel it will get there.

On the downside to all of this is my time at the tables playing. I try to play on Mondays and Thursday nights. Playing live is where I want to put my efforts. Learning the skill of live is coming along well for me. I can usually hold my own at the table. I am getting more comfortable playing the $2-$10 game. We have stopped the $1-$6 game and will not play it at the tables. It is either the $2-$6 or the $2-$10 now. We have some players that I am getting used to too.

I am not sure what to do about tournament play. I would like to pick one tournament with a good size buy in and with the opportunity to cash and play that to see how I will do. Still working out which one I will play.

Overall I am feeling good about where I am at. Bankroll is intact and now I need to just get it to grow some more.

It would be fun to travel the poker circuit and play. What a dream.

Have a fun day.......

Snow is Here

Remember the picture of my truck the other day? It was looking rather dark outside and could snow at any time. Well, it picked last night to come down with the white stuff.

It is snowing hard and it is not done.

I dealt the usual games yesterday and then came home. I did not go back out to play. It was nice to sit at home and just do nothing.

I am looking at taking the bus system to work. I am trying to cut my expenses and that is one way to do it. The other one is to not eat out as much. That one will be hard. Then to add some exercise to the mess. I read about people living on less and I need to cut it down a bit. I already do at times but now I need to get really down to business.

I need to get out there and clear the snow off of the truck so I can get to work. I do not like being cold.

Have a fun day.....

Big Tuesday

Today is the day we have the bigger tournaments. At Noon today we will have the $25 and then at 6PM will be the $65 tournament.

I enjoy dealing the first one due to seeing a better player. I will watch their play and notice the cards they are playing when they are turned over. Of course that does help me in the end when I do get to play.

Last night I headed down to the casino to play some live. I did my usual buy in and started doing well. My chip stack was growing for the first hour or so and then the cards went cold. I was not getting anything to play and then when I tried to manufacture something it just didn't work.

I did stop play at my designated hour this time and was down half of my stack. I had an hour picked out as well as a dollar amount I would end my session with. I ended up reaching the time and I was $5 under my cutoff in money. I did have fun and that was important.

I have been working on my WSOP Academy book studying what I learned and going back through the information. I have finished the part of Pre-Flop play and will work with that in my games. I know decisions are important and also what to look for. Always learning.

Today we are supposed to have snow. We have had wind and I wonder if we are on the edge of the storm and it will miss us altogether. That won't make me sad. I would like to see some warmer weather and know that March is right around the corner. It would be nice to get our heat pump off of emergency heat.

Have a fun day.......

Not Again!!!

After dealing the Noon tournament yesterday we waited around for the player of the week tournament to start at 3PM.

We usually don't get a lot of players for this tournament. It is one of the better ones to play. Yesterday was the most players I have seen sign up for this tournament. Maybe the word is getting around that the money in the pot is better than some of the others. You pay less if you qualified during the week and the opportunity is there.

I try to play this tournament if I am not needed to deal the game. We have 4 dealers on up to the tournament and then at 3PM we add two more dealers. This way we can start to let dealers go home that have been here if the players don't show up. With 24 players signed up we used three tables and only needed 4 dealers.

I paid the buy in and took my seat in this game. Remember last week when I went out early? It happened again. For some reason I must be having a brain fart since I am playing early hands. On the third hand I had AQ. I called to see the flop along with everyone else. I should have raised but didn't. It was too early in the game for me. Not a good decision on my part. The flop comes 8Q3. The person on my right puts in T$1200. I thought about it and figured he had a Q with a small kicker. I had the Ace and so I called. Another player on my left went all in. If she liked the Q then I must have both of them beat. We ended up getting all of the money in the middle. The guy on my right turns over 83 and the person on my left turns over Q10 and then my AQ. I keep saying I should have raised pre-flop.

I deserved that one. I am still thinking about playing the Tuesday night tournament which is the better one. I need to just stick with my game plan and not get anxious to play the hands early. I might play the live game this evening as well. There is a lot of things to accomplish today. Seeing my Mom and taking Dad to the doctors office.

Had game night at the poker managers home last night. We had BBQ and then played a couple of games. It was fun and was nice to be able to visit outside of work. It is a good group of players as well as dealers.

Have a fun day......

Weekend Work

Lately the weekends have been nice. I think the people that are coming in are more relaxed and a little bit more patient with all that is going on around them.

We tend to get a live game going and it will go most of the day. We will put in about 30 minutes apiece and just keep going. We will sometimes end up more in tips playing the live game than what we would have gotten by putting on the tournament.

It is interesting to see who will tip the dealers and who will not. I wonder sometimes why they do that. We will have someone at the table and they will be winning but we don't see any tips from that person. Someone else will win and will always send a toke our way. When I play I will always send tokes toward the dealer even if I didn't win the hand. We all work hard in the box trying to keep the game going.

I played some live yesterday just to make sure we had five players so the Monte Carlo's were available. We had one person that was raising and going over the top on just about every hand. Now, I don't mind loosing some money to the players but when I am a butt in the seat and trying to keep the Monte Carlo's going for the rest of them it is sort of counter productive to keep raising and pushing to get people to loose their chips. I finally got up from the table and wouldn't sit down again. One of the other dealers did the same thing and the game finally died.

I understand we are going to have one of our dealers teach the public how to play Omaha. I will definitely be one of the students. I have tried to play the game and so far have spread $300 to the other players. My education in the game I hope will help me. I don't think I could deal the game but would love to learn to play.

Now we are in the new year we are starting to get tax related mail. I hope for a better year tax wise and maybe get some money back. The last couple of years we have been on the other side of it.

Just about time to head off to work. Got to get stuff together.

Have a fun day.......

A Way to Make a Decision Hard

Having Friday off was nice. I could have a chance to do some stuff around the house. Not. I ended up spending most of my day at the Casino.

Every morning they have their $2 tournament and I decided to go early and get in some live play and then play the tournament. When I arrived they did have a game going but then I found out that on Friday's they do not have the morning tournament. I sat down at the live game and figured I would stay till 11:30 and then go pick up my Dad for lunch.

By the end of the session I was up $70 and I needed to go pick my Dad up from the Assisted Living home before they went into their lunch process. We ended up going to Olive Garden since he enjoys the soup, salad and the breadsticks. When we got done with that we went back to his place and relaxed for a little bit before going to visit Mom.

The visit with Mom went well as she now looks like she is pain free. A little bit more out of it but without the pain of cancer bothering her I think she is fine. She is changing so much with her facial features and the edema is getting more in her hands and arm due to the pressure of the tumor. I will leave it as that.

After getting Dad back to the Assisted Living Apartment I went back to the casino to play in their 3PM tournament. I did get to play in that and made it into the middle of the tournament before I went out. I only played 3 hands through half of the tournament. This just makes me think that I am throwing money into tournaments and I don't like the return. I know I said I would do them for fun but how much fun do you have when your sitting there and not able to make plays.

I was walking out of the casino and ready to go home when I ran into one of the dealers that works the night shift. He mentioned to me that I might want to stick around since the game that is getting started is going to be juicy. I remember the saying if you can't find the fish at the table then your it. I made a you turn and headed back into the poker room and sat down at the live table. I stayed for 3 to 3 1/2 hours and it was a good session for me. I was up $90 when I left. I was up $130 but leaked some chips back to the field.

Overall it was a good day at the table for $160. Now it will go into my bankroll and it is growing. This makes me rethink my thoughts on live play and what I was going to do. Decisions, Decisions.

Have a fun Day.........

Thank Goodness for Friday

It is nice to have a day off from dealing in the tournaments. I do enjoy my chance to learn the skill and will keep at it as long as they will let me do this.

I have been getting better with the all-ins from the table. Understanding how and when to do the chips. I do like it when you have one going all in and just having one caller. Yesterday I ended up having more than one caller and I was able to get the chips broken up properly.

I was dealing at the final table when I had four go all in with different amounts. We were talking big chip counts and one small stack. People continue to throw out numbers to me when I am trying to do it on my own and then I go into mind block with numbers. One of the players said "just let the dealer do his job". It was nice to hear that and even though the others wouldn't listen we had a chance to talk about it when they were gone.

It is hard when you have people continually tell you want you should do. I can block most of it but when it concerns time then it gets harder to hurry and think about what you should be doing.

I did have a chance to sit down with the poker manager and talk some strategy. I appreciated the time and hopefully this will get me back on track to the final table again. The concepts are there just need to work the table. After being out of tournament play for awhile it will take a bit to get myself back to the thought processes I need to have.

I have spent so much time at live play that it is hard for me to go back and forth so I will slow down in live and play more tournaments again. I will try to play the higher priced tournaments since the money at the top is better than the smaller tournaments.

I enjoyed helping a player a few years back understand poker strategy and theory and it looks like I may do this again. I enjoy helping others gain some knowledge and play better. We will see what happens.

Have a fun day.......

Helping Others

One of the things I really enjoy about poker is the ability to talk to other players about strategy and theory.

I am not an authority on poker but I have done a lot of reading on the strategies and I enjoy watching others play the game when I can. I watch Live@thebike and listen to what the announcers have to say about how players are playing. I attended the WSOP Academy and have even hired two coaches to help me get better. Putting those things in practice is a lifelong journey for me. To me it is like playing golf, when one item works then something else doesn't. When things come together you have one heck of a night and you can celebrate.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to feed a friend some information on my strategies I had learned and we have made a friendship that is still going today. In fact we played at the table together the other night. I understand his game and yet he understands mine. We can sit and discuss hands just as if it was a few years ago again.

Now I have the opportunity again to help someone. I hope it goes well. He is a good player and very methodical in his play. Maybe I can help him with the thought process and the questions he is asking himself. One of the things I would like to do is possibly coach someone in the future. For now I will keep learning and developing my skill with dealing and watching the players and the cards.

Yesterday was a very good day for me dealing cards. I even had one player compliment me on how far I have come in dealing the cards. It means a lot to be given the compliment and keeps me on tract to keep getting better. I know I will have bad days but I still enjoy the job.

Have a fun day......

Tournament Time

I have been putting a lot of time in live cash play and have not played tournaments very much if at all. This last week I got myself more involved with tournaments on the lower end of the buy in. Looks like things might change a bit here.

I bought in to a tournament yesterday and was out within the first few levels. I have been doing that in the tournaments and was questioning myself on why. I was playing good cards and I thought my bet sizing was right.

I came back home and opened up the book "Decide to Play Great Poker" by Annie Duke and went to one chapter only. It brought back to my memory of how to play tournaments. When you first start a tournament play tight and then when the Antes start you can loosen up. Changing your game is important not only for you but for the others to be thrown off on how you are percieved.

The tournament last night was a $65 buy in. We started with T$20,000 in chips. The caliber of players was different than what we see during the day. We had 50 players start and I played with these folks for 4 hours. I went out in 22nd place. Not bad for a first time back at the deepstack tournament. I played some good cards and made some good bet sizes.

I will be getting back to studying my books on tournament play and may play live during the day for fun and start using my money to play tournaments once or twice per week. Of course dealing tournaments is still the job. I just felt good about where I was at last night and knowing I can play with this group.

It can get frustrating but I will put myself in a position to do well and play the way I should.

Have a fun day......