Bug and Windshield

Do you ever have one of those days when you just should have stayed in bed? Everything you do just doesn’t work out like you planned. Well, that was my Thursday this last week. I ended up not doing well in the tournaments I played and the live session that night was not a good showing. One bright spot was the High Hand I was paid for at the end of the day. I did play a four hour session in the evening and got home around midnight. Playing $2-$6 was not as good as playing the $2-$10. I am getting so I like the $2-10 a lot better. The next day being Friday I spend some time in my office at home working on things I have let slide. Last night I did not do well in the live session and understanding variance in the game and if you are playing long enough things will turn around. You have to be able to withstand the downs and play through them. Understanding that you need to control your chips and not try to catch up and play too loose. Today will be a couple of tournaments and a session of live. The first tournament I was able to get to the final table and went out in 8th place. I got involved with a player that likes to bluff and I had AK and he had A7 and he caught a 7 on the river. I then started my live play and when I finished I was up for the session which made me feel better. In the afternoon tournament they started with four tables. I maintained my conservative play and started to build my chip stack. I was able to make the final table again and this time I was able to cash for $100 in the tournament. This was a good ending to my day and basically made up for the down day I had yesterday. Tomorrow is the start of my work week. Have a fun day…..

Weight Loss Journey

I am going to try and catch up with myself here since I started late writing the blogs about my journey. The area of time I am dealing with right now is mid June . I had continued with the foundation class and completed the trial period. I knew that in the end I would need to come up with something to continue working out. I decided not to continue Foundations and start a schedule for myself of the times I would be in Club24. Between the time of ending the trial membership and starting on my own I came down with a cold. I did not feel like working out since I was continuing to work and I was so tired when I got home. Working out was the furthest thing from my mind at this point. This was the time that I could have given up and not gone back to Club24. I think one of the best things I did was I signed a contract for two years a week back and that was the thing that was keeping me on track. At this time I had stopped walking outdoors so for a week I did nothing. No exercises at all. During this last month I visited with two of my physicians and I told them I was exercising so if I stopped now it wouldn’t look very good for me. It is now the 18th of June and I decided it was time to get back on track and start my exercise program again. I also just had an issue with my diabetes while dealing at the poker table. This just told me I really need to do something about my weight and my nutrition efforts. I wasn’t in a good place in my mind but I needed to do something to get going. I started this and I need to finish. I struggled with myself because of the effort I was having to put in and the rewards I could see. My weight was not dropping as I wanted so the benefits of working out was not there. At this time I am now on my own trying to work through this. My plan now is to start going to Club24 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then get on the recumbent Bike for 30 minutes. My nutrition needs are still up in the air on what I should eat. I should say that when I talk about nutrition I am talking meals. In my mind I need to see meals that I can eat not just items. They have to be easy to fix or buy as our schedules are real crazy and we are not home very much. My attitude to workout has to get better and remember the time it took me to get here. It is not coming off in a week.

Deepstack

The deepstack tournament was moved to Wednesday evening. This is a lot better for me as I can work out and be at the tournament by the time it starts. I won’t be able to do my revolutions class but with the schedule I am doing now it will be fine. We all start with T$20,000 in chips and the rounds are 20 minutes in length. This allows for some conservative play at the start and you can build the chip stack slowly. The buy in for this tournament is $65 and the prize pool is very nice when you get to the final table. There were four tables tonight which means we had at least 40 players. I started on the fourth table, which is the furthest from the final table and we would be the first table to break up when we start losing players. I tend to do well in these types of tournaments since this is what I study, more than playing in the turbos. I started chipping up and was comfortable with my table and the players. I don’t try to pick on any one person but do pay attention to those to my right and left of me. I had one player raise my big blind a number of times. I finally told him that I was not going to let him continue doing that and he slowed down after that. I would raise his bet if I needed to show I would not be bullied in the big blind. The table finally broke and I was moved to the number two table. I continued to chip up and was getting close to making the final table. The closer we got to the final table I started opening up my game to make sure I was one of them going over. The hand that moved me out of the tournament went like this. I had K10 and we had one all in and the chip leader. The flop comes xK7 and I move all in to take the pot and go heads up with the all in person. The chip leader goes all in as well. I then had to hope my kicker was good enough to beat his. I turn over my K10 and he turns over his K7 and I didn’t catch a 10 with the turn or the river. I went out of the tournament in 12th place this week. It was a good tournament and I will learn something from my play this week. Have a fun day…….

Weight Loss Journey

Now that I am through the second week of the Foundation class, I am feeling a little bit better about my progress. Going through the feelings of “I can’t do this” and “ will I die” in the process of the changes I am making. Getting started in the third week the Foundation class changed again. We are doing different exercises and the time is changing as well. We are now doing 30 to 45 seconds of exercise with 15 seconds rest. I would try to keep up with the maximum time working out but with some of them I would revert to the 30 seconds on and take more rest in between. I want to continue to push myself if I can get my body to agree with me. I have to remember this is week number three and I can’t solve all issues in a short amount of time. I did get my assessment done with Club24 and now I have an idea of what workouts I need to continue with. We also discussed nutrition and what I should eat and what to stay away from. Since I am diabetic, I am concerned with carbs more than calories. It just makes things easier for me. I hate diets and if someone starts talking diet to me I run the other direction because I know I will not follow through. I like to eat and there are foods that are comfort foods. I have to break that chain. One to them is when I watch TV at night I will snack. Nutrition will be a huge part of the lifestyle change for me. Since I will be doing foundations two times per week I will need to continue walking outdoors. I am scheduling five days of walking outside and then the two days of Foundations. I will need to figure out what to do when the one month trial ends. Have a fun day……

Tuesday

Today is my Thursday in the work week of life. Tomorrow is Wednesday and I will have two days off after that. I am looking forward to a couple of days of rest. I have to remember that working in the Gaming Industry is still working but I am having fun working in something that I really enjoy doing. Yes, I do have those days that when I sit at the table and I am not in a winning mode I am still doing something that a lot of people would love to do. I get to deal and play poker every day. I am always in a learning mode and reading the board when the cards are laid out. I like the fact that I can look at the cards and can figure out what the person has before the cards are turned over. Does that stop me from putting in the bet that calls them? I like to say I have that special gene that I want to see what people have and it does cost me to see the cards. I must say the month of July was a positive month with my bankroll and my live play. The tournaments I played also wasn't that bad. I am hoping for a good month of August. I hope you are enjoying the Weight Loss blogs as well. It is a little bit different but this is my life. I did play in a tournament on Monday night. This was a $5 buy in with a $500 prize pool and we ended up with 4 tables of players. It was nice to see and I didn't make it very far but that was alright. Our $65 Deepstack tournament is now moved to Wednesday night so I will now have a chance to play this one. I am not sure about tomorrow night yet but I will see. I am working out at Club24 at 5:30 and the tournament starts at 6PM so that creates some issues with the schedule. Well off to bed and Have a fun day.....

Weight Loss Journey

I was so thankful that I had started Foundations on a Thursday. The class is only offered two times per week, on Tuesday and Thursday. This meant I was going to have four days off before I went to the next session. I knew that I was going to need that time. The next week came quickly and suddenly it was Tuesday. I am ready to do the workout and get further than I did the previous class. When this class started, as we all did our warm up exercises, I noticed we were not doing the same exercises as we did in Thursday’s session. It turns out the exercises are alternated so none are repeated two sessions in a row. This session we are doing more step up and not as much squats but the same regime of six exercises at 30 seconds on and 30 seconds rest. This time I made it through the first session and part of the second and then finished up completing the third. I was very happy with myself. I am getting better at completing the sessions. Again, the support from the others was great and I felt accepted even if I didn’t complete the workout. I went back home and started reading the literature I received from Club24. I didn’t see this before but it really makes sense. They have the “Laws of Success.” I started reading each one and they are the laws I must accept and abide by. The four laws are: • ONE: The Law of Possession. I have ultimate responsibility for my success or failure. I cannot blame it on any other person or thing. • TWO: The Law of Effort. I must have discipline, will power, character, persistence, and the commitment to achieve what I want to achieve. • THREE: The Law of Consistency. No matter what my schedule is at work or home, I must follow this routine to accomplish my goals. Basically, there are no excuses. • FOUR: The Law of Self-Efficacy. I must believe in myself and in my ability to make things better for myself. That includes making sure I am surrounding myself with positive people and those who are going through the same struggles in a positive manner. My biggest struggle right now will be the nutrition part of my program. I understand this and will continue to work at making my life better. I am also looking forward to be able to complete the class and will have done each of the exercises in the program. I must make exercising a part of my routine and life. Come join me in my pursuit to live a healthier life.

Tuesday Deepstack

I decided to play the deepstack at a different Casino tonight. I had two reasons for doing this. The first was to play the tournament and the second was to talk to the players and let them know that we changed our Deepstack tournament to Wednesday night so we would not compete with what they had going on in this casino. The staff was nice when we showed up and did not have any problem with us talking about our tournament. When I finally got my seat card and went to the table I found out that I was sitting right next to my poker manager. Something I didn't want to see at all. I tried to stay out of his way but being on his right I was first to act and that was not good on my part to have him on my left. I was very interested in watching him play and how he would play the tournament. Our poker manager does not play in very many tournaments at the casino and he has won some tournaments elsewhere so he has the game. Somebody I would like to learn from. I ended up lasting through about 5 rounds and went out when my set of 8's where beat by a straight. Being in a new spot and new players I figured I did well. Next time. This week I have been working and working out at the gym so not much happening. I have Thursday and Friday off this week and I played all day Thursday at Islands. I ended my day with a cash in the Poker League and next week will be the final week. I know I can't place first but I do have a chance if I play well next week. I needed to win both of these two weeks and get some help from some players going out early. I did get second place and there where some that did go out that I needed to go before me. I have a chance. My live play was good yesterday and I was in profit when I left for home. For the day my bankroll is up $100. Have a fun day......

Weight Loss #2

Since Type 2 Diabetes is a big part of my life, nutrition is very important to me. I will say that I don’t always follow what I plan for eating. At least I mean well. I enjoy food but that is part of what has gotten me to this point. I must set some goals and those goals must be achievable. So this is what I am thinking: • ONE: Lose Weight. I am tired of being tired and, as my doctor has listed in my medical record, obese. • TWO: Gain Strength. I am not so much interested in building muscle as I am in building stamina. • THREE: Decrease use of Insulin. I use an insulin pump that is attached to me 24/7. I want to decrease my dependence on insulin to the point that I am either using two injections a day or even taking oral medication. • FOUR: Decreasing use of other medications. Wouldn’t it be nice to get rid of the pills that mask whatever the problems are and just live naturally. • FIVE: Permanently change my lifestyle. To automatically make good food choices and maintain regular activity would lead to my feeling better about myself. These are achievable goals and I will be working with each one as I continue this journey. My first night in the Foundation class went as I expected. I couldn’t have written a better script. Now that I look back at it I have to smile. As I said in the first blog, the exercises are in stations and you do each one thirty seconds thirty seconds rest between activities. After all six stations are complete, you get one minute to rest and then you start again. This happens three times. I looked at this for the first time and figured “no problem” I should be able to finish this. I started the first rotation and by the fourth station I was exhausted. I couldn’t catch my breath. I was leaning down trying to get some air. I wanted to quit right then and there and not come back. Then I thought “I don’t have an option and I must continue.” I finished the first round and I was headed for water and just wanted to lie on the floor. The trainer had other ideas, knowing that stopping was not the best choice, but I just needed some time. Overall my body was hurting, my lungs needed air and I wanted to drink water and I did not want to throw up on the exercise mat. I elected to sit by the sidelines and watch the group work through the second rotation. My mind was starting to say “It is easier to give up.” I needed to push through this and get the first workout done. When it became time to do the third round I got back out to the floor and completed the stations. So, for the first class of Foundations I was able to do the first and the third rotation and I felt like it was an accomplishment for me. That was more exercise than I had done in a very long time. It wasn’t easy but I felt I accomplished something big. The group there that night really supported me and assured me that “it will get better.” I was doubtful. I was so exhausted and happy to be done and head home. I did have to remind myself that it took a long time to get to where I am today and I would take little steps to get back to something reasonable. I will not give up. My journey is a lifetime and I want to be as healthy as I can be. Yes, I will have struggles and I know that food will be a big part of that. I need to make time to work out on a daily basis. Eat food that is better for me and that will help me achieve my goals.

Monday

The weekend was good and we were able to have the games go as scheduled. The heat seems to bring in the players just trying to stay cool and do something rather than sit at home. I did not play in any of the tournaments and didn't even play in the live games. I have been able to put some poker books on my Kindle Fire and have been reading from that when I get the chance. Now, reading from the kindle is different in that I am not able to mark the spots that I find important but I do like the fact I can carry so many books around with me. I have been reading "Harrington on Hold'em." I have read these books before and now I am reading them again but I do find interesting that some of the concepts I find in the book I have also read in the book written by Annie Duke. I guess it is good to hear the same thing over and over again so eventually it will sink in. I am in the middle of my five days on and tomorrow night I will be playing the Deepstack tournament at the Cable Bridge Casino. It will be interesting going over there since I haven't been there for awhile. I hope I play well. I hope you enjoy the journey of my weight loss as well. These will also be showing up on club24fit.com at some point. At least you will get a first hand look before they go on that site. Have a fun day......

Weight Loss Journey #1

My name is Steve and I am overweight. Seriously overweight. And I really want to do something about that. I am now highly motivated to take advantage of the opportunity to change my lifestyle. First, a little bit of history. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2001. I began taking medication and eventually started giving myself insulin shots. I had worked up to seven shots a day by January 2010 when I was able to get approved for an insulin pump. I was still gaining weight and in May of 2012 I was at 243 pounds. I am 5’6” tall and that weight was just too much. When diagnosed, I attended classes on dealing with Type 2 Diabetes and initially lost some weight but watching what I ate was hard because I used food as a comfort in reaction to stressful work days. Although I left the stressful job in early 2010, I never gave up the comfort food, in part because just not having a job was stressful in itself. I watched The Biggest Loser a number of years and always wished I had access to professional exercise and nutrition help as did the show participants. In March of this year, I decided I would follow a program to bike across America on my stationary recumbent bike at home. I put a map on the wall and put in the miles on the bike. Unfortunately, lack of accountability added to low motivation and I soon abandoned that activity. One evening in May, while watching TV, I saw an ad for Club24. The ad showed people doing the same things that The Biggest Loser participants were doing. I began to wonder if I could do that. Having watched some of the participants on The Biggest Loser laying on the floor almost sick from the workout, my first thought was it would be embarrassing to not be able to do the exercises. I finally decided to check out the program and see if this could work for me. I purchased a one month trial membership and when the person at the desk told me that I could start that day, I was surprised but figured I had to start at some point. The program I started was the Foundations class. This class has seven exercise “stations.” You have seven minutes to complete all of the stations. Each station is 30 seconds for the exercise and you get 30 seconds of rest. Then you start the next one and when you have completed all seven you get one minute rest and then start all over again. You do this rotation for three sessions. What a beginning for me. I am committed to a 13-week program of regular exercise and some changes in eating. Part of that commitment is the accountability of blogging about my progress. My goal is not only to get healthy but to inspire others to do the same. If I can do this….so can you!

Friday

This is my second day off in a row from dealing and it feels good to have the two days to get ready for the five days that are coming up. I do feel like I can take off for an overnight trip somewhere and not have to rush back so I can get back to work the next day. I played in the deepstack tournament on Tuesday night and I did well except the last hand. It is always that way, isn't it? The last hand always gets you. I played in our poker league on Thursday. This is a six week league and we are building points for the final. We just finished our fourth week and I am 13 points behind the leader. I did not do well in this one. I will need to win the next two weeks to have a chance at getting into the money. I have continued on my weight loss journey and the blog posts will be up soon on club24fit.com if you want to follow along in my progress. I am also looking at putting them on here as well. Have a fun day.......

Tuesday

I am working my new schedule of five days in a row and when I get to work today we find out there are five dealers scheduled. I offered to take the day off and that would allow me to play some poker and I needed to visit the Diabetic Learning Center. I ended up playing in the morning $2 tournament I cashed for $40. I was also playing some live and after I was done for the day I was up $5. I bought in for the $65 deepstack tournament as well. Right now I feel like I am playing well and I want to keep pushing the tournaments. I will start playing the deepstack and try to place. The evening tournament was going well for me and I was chipping up nicely. My last hand was 77 and I called to see if I could get a set. The flop came out xx7 and I bet $3000. The other person raised and I went all in. He turned over KK. The turn was a blank and the river was the K. That was my tournament. I don't feel bad about what I did and I would have liked to continue but that didn't happen. I will plan on playing next week. The end of the month is today and I will be interested to see how I did for the month. Have a fun day......

Weekend Review

I know this is Sunday but since my weekend begins on Friday and basically my play will end on Saturday this is the way I see my weekend. On Friday I went into the casino and sat down in the live game. I was able to win a few hands before they started the tournament. I didn't do well in this tournament so I went back to the live game and waited for it to start. During the time waiting for the big 3PM tournament I was able to get my $40 buy in at the live $2-$6 table up to $260. I had my Aces cracked for a nice $100 and then the hands just kept coming to get me chipped up. I am starting to understand what to do with this level of play. It is a river game but if I remain patient I can win some hands depending on the players I am up against. I did have the High Hand for awhile until it got beat right before the tournament started. I do have issues with this and voiced my concern to the poker manager. I know the hands are to go to the river to be considered in the high hand and this person only had 4 cards on the board and he claimed he had the high hand. My complaint was overruled in this case and for $25 and customer service I did not push it any further. I just know I did have the high hand but not the money that goes with it. Again my tournament did not go well and I was headed out to do my workout at Club24. Wow, what a workout when you are upset. I did not feel any pain through that one. I went back to the casino to play the live games again since this was the $50 high hands every half hour promotion. I played for two hours and didn't get one but I did increase my chip stack for $35 and it was time for me to leave. Overall for the night I made $301 and I was a happy camper. My bankroll appreciates this as well. Have a fun day.......

Thursday

I have been putting in the hours working and not playing any tournaments. The schedule doesn't allow for a lot of play time. I am still playing some live just to fill up the table until others show up and then I get off. The last couple of days of playing I have gone away even. Better than loosing I must say. Today was the third week of our poker league. There are fifteen of us playing and it has been fun to earn points and get to the final week which is week six. The first week I wasn't paying attention and just put myself into a hole. I got 5 points out of 15 and that wasn't good. The second week I needed to have a good showing and was able to get 12 points and put myself back into the running. This week I was able to get 13 points and second place. We lost one member so the max in the week now is 14 points. My point total is 30 and the leader has 37 and this puts me into 3rd place overall. Three more weeks to get myself into a better position. We are going to start another poker league in August and this one will run on Saturday afternoons. Having something different is fun for us and our customers. This weekend is big for us as we are going to be giving away $50 every half hour for high hands. Should create a lot of play at the tables. Have a fun day......

Wildhorse Journey

Friday morning I started my journey down to the Wildhorse Casino to play in the Noon tournament. I like the Season Roundups that they put on and the cost is not bad either. This tournament was a total of $120 and we got T$10,000 in chips to start. I would need every one of them before I left town. My day was a tale of three different sessions over five rounds of 30 minutes each. When I start a tournament my first thing is not to play very many hands and if I do I will play only the best hands unless I am in the blinds and it is cheap to see cards. Also when you first sit down and look over the table and are looking for the fish and you don't see one then you are it. At this point they should have put a worm out there for me and I would have taken it. The first hand that basically started the down trend for me was the one I was in the BB. I held 24 and everybody just called. The flop comes AA3 and now what do I do. One person bets I call. The 5 comes on the turn. Again she bets I call. A 7 comes on the river and this time I bet and she calls and she turns ove A7 for a full house and I have the straight. Very nice. After that hand I just went downhill from there. I was at about T$3000 in chips and needed to do something at this point. I kept at it and finally won a hand and during this session I was able to build my stack back up to around T$9000 in chips. Then the break comes and I decide I need to change things up a bit and went out and got my Fedora to hide my face more. It worked for awhile and then the hand that was my demise. I had J10 and the flop came 8Q9. The turn was an x and then the river was a K. I push all in and she calls and she turns over A7. Both hands that got me today was the A7. When I left today I took the long way home just to go for a drive. My other issues was my Blood Sugars. I could not get them to go down today even though I was trying to control with insulin. I am not sure what was happening. I was sweaty most of the day and just did not feel that I was in that much control at the table with my body being tired for some reason. Need to figure this out. I am working out at Club 24 and the Revolutions class is a little bit better this last week. I am hoping I will be able to really get into them and get this weight off. I know that will help the diabetis issue as well. Have a good day.....

Monday

I made it through the weekend working at the casino. Not much to talk about as the days were normal in their routine. I did get to the Club 24 yesterday and did the workout on the treadmill and the recumbant bike. I am thinking I may go ahead and work out six days per week instead of the five I am doing now. This would give me four days of the bike and treadmill and then the two days of Revolutions. I watched the "Extreme Makeover" last night and it does give me inspiration to keep moving and it also lets me know that this is a journey with no end. This will be my life style change and I will need to keep working at this. Nutrition is an area that is my concern and being diabetic I am now watching my Blood Sugars a little bit closer. I have been in the 70's before meals and will need discuss this with the diabetic learning center to see what needs to be done. I don't want to make changes until I know for sure that this is working for me. Monday is my day off from dealing poker and I went in to the casino to play the Noon tournament. I ended up cashing in the tournament which is good as I am getting ready to play in the summer tournament at "Wildhorse Casino". I will be playing in the Friday tournament. My plan is to drive down Thursday evening and then play the next day. Maybe play some live as well. Have a good day......

Thursday

My play today in the poker room was not very good. Today was a day off and I spent my time playing in two tournaments. I also spent time at the live table and did very poorly today. It just seemed that today when I did get a hand to play someone had one just a little bit better. Oh well thats poker, right? Islands Casino started league play today. There are 15 of us playing for the next six weeks to see if we can get the ultimate prize. I really like the format and it is fun to play even if I did go out early and now have five points. There will be five more weeks to get this turned around. I did my workout today at Club 24 and started the Revolution circuit and boy did that workout get me. I felt I needed to get myself into Revolutions and not feel comfortable in the Foundations class. It was time to start pushing myself and trying to make this happen. I am actually anxious to go to the gym now and get the workout done. I am still trying to get the time schedule down for me when I will do my time in the gym. I like the 5:35 class a little bit better than the 6:30 Foundation as for me it pushed dinner a little bit closer to my bedtime. Tomorrow I will be back at the gym and will do my treadmill and bike work out. My legs are feeling it and hopefully I can build some strength and stamina. I know already I feel better. My blood sugars are better before mealtimes and some of that is due to the meals I am eating. I still have to work on the nutrition aspect of this project. My issues being diabetic is carbohydrates vs calories. I have watched carbs and sometimes the calories are forgotten. I need to get some rest. Have a fun day.....

Wednesday

I was asked if I would come in and play the live game on Sunday night. Even though I was scheduled to work the next day I figured I would stick around for a couple of hours. I started my session at 8:30PM and stayed till 11:15. This was a little bit more time than I wanted but I was sort of forced into staying longer. At around 9PM I got pocket 8's and I decided to call the bets to see if I could hit a set. On the flop came an 8 and at that point I am in the pot as long as a flush or straight possibility doesn't show up. Wouldn't you know it the flop came up with two diamonds and I needed to raise the flop to get the diamond flush chasers out of the pot. On the turn was a card that really didn't scare me and no flush available yet. I had two callers so we were headed to the river card. On the river comes an 8 which completed a flush but my quads looked good. Bets were placed and I turned over the winning hand. This gives me the nice size pot as well as the Monte Carlo of $50 and I was also the high hand for the night. This paid me another $100 if it survived for the rest of the game. Now I needed to stick around because if I hit another Monte Carlo I would get $500 for hitting the second one as well as the money for the hand. At 11:15 I was done and since I was having to work the next day my session was over. It was a good night either way with the addition of $150 to my stack. I did end up with the high hand and was paid the next day. I need to discuss the Weight Loss effort and what I am doing. Even though I started this process in May I am now in full swing working out on a daily basis. Right now I am doing 30 minutes of Treadmill and 30 minutes of Recumbant bike on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I am doing the Foundations Circuit training with Club 24. I had time to think about my goals and I wrote them down in my journal. 1. Loose weight. 2. Gain strength. 3. Decrease use of Insulin. 4. Decrease the use of medications. 5. Change lifestyle to eat and be healthy. I have to wonder if these goals are achievable or do I need to be more specific. I will have to think about each one of these and come up with my final goals. At least I have something to think about at this point. I must say I do look forward to getting into the gym each day and get this done. Have a good day....

Playing Some Poker

Now that I will be doing my exercising Monday through Friday it will keep me pretty busy between dealing poker, playing poker and exercise. My plan is to work my shifts during the day and then work out before I go home and have dinner. My playing time will be either Monday or Friday since those two days are my time off. I like to play on Friday since I have done rather well so far. Yesterday I entered into the Noon tournament which had a buy in for $2. I did well and was able to get some cards that I could play and made it to the final table. I ended up cashing in the tournament and was chip leader at that time. The tournament was a $200 quarantee prize pool and I walked away with $50. I was also qualified into the Saturday evening tournament with a $750 quarantee. The next tournament on Friday was the $500 quarantee with a buy in of $5. You can't beat the opportunity with these kinds of buy ins for the cost of getting into these tournaments and the amount of the prize pool. I did make it to the final table again and went out 7th and did not make the cash. I made a tactical decision on the hand I went out on and I think I made a mistake. I will try to not make that one again when I get so close to the money. Today being Saturday I worked all day till 5PM. I had qualified for the 6PM tournament and was pretty tired. I started out and caught some cards and tried to play my AK,AK and A8 and was able to win one of the AK's and lost to KK's with the other one. My A8 had flush opportunities with my Ah and three hearts on the flop. I lost to 1010 when the heart didn't make it. Being tired I headed home. On Wednesday I did my usual afternoon workout with the 30 minutes on the treadmill at 3mph and then the 30 minutes on the recumbant bike with resistance of 8. On Thursday I headed back to Club 24 to start the Foundation workout again. I was amazed with myself being able to jump back into the routines. I am sure in the next couple of sessions I will be ready for the increase of the workouts will be working on my nutrition. This will be a real learning experience for me and getting myself where I should be in my path of getting better physically. On Friday I was back at Club 24 again doing my treadmill and recumbant bike routines. I will be nice to see the weight start coming off. Right now I am tired and must get ready for work tomorrow. Have a fun day......

The News

After the month of the circuit training was done I chose to continue and work out three times per week on the Treadmill and the Recumbant bike. I am not sure about the other equipment but I felt at least I could work on stamina with the equipment. I have been using the treadmill for 30 minutes and then the bike for another 30 minutes and this gives me the hour of exercise. The other day I was asked if I would like to be considered to be a part of a program with Club 24 and have them work with me to loose weight and change my lifestyle. I will be sponsored by Club 24 for the next three months. I will follow their program and will blog about my progress. Needless to say I am very excited to have the opportunity to have someone help me change my lifestyle and be a healthier person. So, that is the big news. I hope you will follow along with me in this endeavor. I have been playing some live poker and the last three days I have come away in the positive. Today I sat down with a $30 buy in and walked away from the table with $85. I am working on going to the Pendleton Summer Roundup in a couple of weeks. I will play in one or two events depending on my exercise schedule with Club 24. Have a fun day....