guest post by XDEX7

I do not recall for how long I have been following Tony’s story.  After all, his story is as old as the internet.  I am only going to focus on the last year and a half of Tony’s adventures. Several other people have referred to Tony as “Hero” or “Our Hero” (especially Pete P. Peters) and I plan to interchangeably use Tony/Hero in this post.  The last eighteen months have not been easy but our Hero has been through a lot in his long and strenuous gambling career.  Tony began 2013 with about $2000 to his name.  In 2013, he set out to improve his overall net worth; but before February ended, Tony was under $1000 and had taken up residence at the (truckers gambling spot) Gold Strike Hotel & Gambling Hall in Jean, Nevada.  He spent countless nights playing the Dealer’s Angles Blackjack machine in order to earn free rooms and win some money.  While Tony was struggling in Jean, a late Christmas gift came but it was not delivered by Saint Nick.  In fact, Santa Andy was kind enough to send our Hero money and food.  At the halfway point of 2013, Tony was hanging on to $1300.  He got tired of living like a zombie in Jean and needed a change.  Down to $1000, he returned to Vegas and was relying on Vince for transportation and shelter.  July continued to be a bad month for Tony.  He moved his operation to Southern California in search of “gold”.  In his case, gold stood for a land of cheap poker buy-ins and no machines.  Our Hero’s kryptonite is made up of video poker and video blackjack.  Times were rough because he was down to his last $500 and unable to afford a room; our Hero resorted to sleeping outside for a short period of time in San Diego.  The immense pressure to survive would have forced most men to abandon gambling and look for a more suitable solution; but true to his gambling spirit (addiction?) our Hero did not waiver from his plan.  He returned to the battlefield (casinos) to fight on.  Waving the white flag was not an option and would only have happened if his net worth reached $0.  In September we saw our Hero do quite well on Bovada playing online poker.  He managed to win close to $1000 on the site.  It was a much needed financial boost.  Tony put a nice streak together and finished the year above $2000.  On one hand, he was able to stage a comeback from $500.  On the other hand, he started 2013 with $2000 and did not improve financially.  He had a tough year but in the end was back to where he started.  In January of 2014, Tony was back in California and doing what he does best; he was playing poker at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, buying in for $40, grinding a profit, and then relaxing in a room inside the spa.  Before January was up, our Hero returned to Vegas and upon arrival dropped down to $1500.  Lady Luck knocked on our Hero’s door in early February.  With a combination of winning a high hand promo, receiving a share of a Bad Beat Jackpot, and a profitable session on a video blackjack machine, our Hero and Lady Luck elevated his net worth above $2300.  The good times kept on rolling and by the first week of April, Tony managed to continue his improbable comeback and briefly surpassed the $6000 mark!  He was planning a trip to Kansas to see his family.  It was going to be his vacation but Lady Luck beat him to it.  She left our Hero without a warning and before he made it to Kansas he was down to $3700.  After visiting his family, he was back in Nevada the first week of May and feeling rejuvenated and ready to get back to work (gambling).  The only problem was that Lady Luck was still on vacation.  Without her, Tony only had one way to go – downhill. Before he knew it, he was back down to $1000.  In less than two months our Hero lost $5000!  Fortunately for Tony, after her month off, Lady Luck returned and rewarded him immediately.  The reward came in the form of a Royal Flush promo for which Tony collected over $750.

Recently, our Hero took his talents to Reno and it looks like the decision has brought him some stability.  It appears that Tony has found a city where he feels safe, apartment renting prices are reasonable, buy-ins for poker are low, and he can play online poker.  Tony net worth is back to over $5000!  I do hope that our Hero can manage to stay in Reno for the remainder of the year and accumulate over 500 poker hours in the same game/environment.  Not too long ago, Tony was down and I thought out.  In the past year and a half our Hero has shown great resilience.  We saw him zigzag across the Western United States just like the Pony Express did over 150 years ago.  We saw him increase his net worth while paying for an endless number of motels, cabs, meals, bus fares, kitchen supplies, and hundreds of tee-shirts.  I wish him luck and success on his quest to $10,000. And I hope (when he reaches $10,000) that he is disciplined enough not to let his new net worth trick him into playing the higher limit games.  My suggestion to our Hero is – Put a daily stop-loss at $300.  This would mean that Tony could lose $300 at poker for 30 straight days and still have some money left over.  I believe that he is good enough that he will not have 30 consecutive losing sessions at the poker table.  But the question remains - By the end of 2014, will our Hero find himself closer to $1000 or $10,000?

Good Luck Tony!

I need to practice my tournament skills.

Well for the 3rd time since coming to reno--i played a tournament at the Peppermill. (this happened sunday, not today, just havent got to posting about it yet). it was $40 plus $10 plus $20 rebuy anytime, so $70 was my total investment. it also allowed re-entry if u wanted. I was doing ok at the first break, then everything went to pot later on. the blinds just go up too fast. I've forgotten the key hands because this is so much later after the fact.

I only played it because i was pressured to play it (why i dont know) by the drunk girl on my immediate left in the cash game earlier who was getting into it. the one who said her boyfriend was a cop and was black, and who knew about autism and asked me if i had it, and strangely enough, loaned a stranger $200. i felt quite uncomfortable the entire time, since she knew about autism, but she was really nice--(and did i mention drunk?). she was really worried the guy she loaned the money too wasnt coming back, and wanted to make sure i vouched to the floor about her lending the guy money, and the guy at the other end didnt like her taking money off the table. she was afraid she wouldnt get the chips back.

really strange thing she did which was quite nice, she kept giving others money. twice to women players opponents she wanted to see win, and she had like $800 in chips. she also said she "didnt want to take my money--and that no one is gunning for my chips." when she put my $40 allin preflop early on, i lost with KK to her TT, and she felt really bad and said "dont leave" and immediately handed me $40 in chips to rebuy. i was terrified someone at the table would complain that she cant pass chips and was relieved no one said a word.

was even more relieved once id finally got home, i was worried she would later ask for the $40 back, especially since i left the table a winner. (and for those who ask, yes i tracked my results accurately by considering my buyin $80 instead of $40). she was so worried about the kid who plays in there a lot keeping her $200 i was worried she would ask me for the $40 too, but no she didnt want it. only for me to enter the tourny, and yet we were never at the table together. Told me she could tell i had aspergers and understood it due to family members of hers.

i really appreciated the $40 and thanked her profusely.

after todays win in the $1-2 game, im now up to over $5300, and still holding at $17 an hour. Am pretty sure me moving to reno has increased the quality of my life--and is helping me make better decisions. Talking to Ray on the phone helps too--as far as doing what i know is right. he is thinking of moving out here or maybe to Biloxi after he takes care of medical bills in Oct.

 I dont have all the options to play online that u can find at www.pokersites.com.au but still holding onto my online poker money on Bovada, simply by playing micro low stakes. have $30 there still so i have something to do while online at home. still wished ive cashed out like $50 less.

not sure why some people dont believe me about the $100 i gave back the guy at the poker room cage i discussed on twitter and the RTP thread. my goodwill with the staff in that room (cathy woods and the other 2 guys who run it) is worth a lot more to me than the $100 is, and besides im honest. thats why i wont go apply for food stamps. Besides ive been trying to make changes, because im worried about life after death, and i worry about making God unhappy with me. i feel like ive done enough to destroy and ruin my life--and i feel like now i can do so well off playing poker ill never have to worry about money at all (once i can ever hit 10k again that is).

the only change i think might be good to make is to take 8 hour naps instead of 2 4 hour naps, but the way im doing it now really helps me play shorter sessions--and leave when i should.

the reason i should practice my tourny skills is, theres an event coming up soon, a private tourny for 20 people, with Antonio Estafario (famous Pro). they will draw 19 names out of 100 with the most hours, and those will all be in a private tourny with him as the 20th player. its a FREE event, and everyone in it will get $500 or more.

How to have large wins playing poker. 1. straddle 2. play way too loose. 3. get lucky

i set a record for my longest session here in reno, todays session was 9+ hours, and resulted in a win of $252. Which keeps my hourly at $17, as i pass the 221st hour. and now i really am good and tired, too tired to play on Bovada even with the remaining $39.

when i first arrived, there was no seat open in the $1-2, so i sat a short while in the $3-5 NL while i waited, (and where im not tracking play to avoid mixing up the rate). bought in $200 minimum, (thank God its not $300), and on the 2nd or 3rd orbit got dealt 99 when the button makes it $25. i call, one other guy calls. flop comes 458 and im first to act. i shove into a $80 pot for $160, and thankfully no one calls. then my seat opens and i quit up $50. maybe i should play $3-5 more.

i sit in that game for hours, and its a rather poor game, not much action, and many good players. eventually im down to my last $60 of $270 worth of buyins total after about 4 hours. one big pot i lost i flopped the nut straight, a guy shoves allin for over $100 with 2 pair, and runner runners the flush to beat me. that table sucked.

so finally, since nothing else was working, and id seen a guy win a big pot with 25 offsuit in his blind (the only guy id been able to bluff more than once) and a fairly tight player, i straddled UTG for $5. 3 people limped, looked down and saw 25 offsuit, shoved hoping no one would call, and one guy fairly new to the table called.

flop comes 8TJ spades and i feel im done for, T on the turn, 5 on the river, and i won the pot. he must of had ak or something.

a few hands later, same guy, and he made it $13 and i call with KT clubs. flop comes A45 with 2 clubs, and i tell him ur gonna hate me if a 2 3 or 5 comes. he bets $20 and i call. turn comes 5, i shove, he folds 77, and i show the bluff.

and from then on i couldnt lose. eventually i cashed out $522, which happened to be the high water mark of the day. changed tables once for a better action game, and thats where the last $150 or so of the winnings came. the new table i also got action for raising 52 offsuit first hand of someones straddle and showing it. But truthfully i was much tighter than the players at the new table. I just appeared to be loose.

hows my play?

even after dropping a ton of money tues and wed nights, im still in relatively good shape before i pay the rent today. i can remember not only when i was better, but also when i was a lot worse. (mostly in the 1990s). but then again, i remember being in AC NJ back then with over $6000, and buying in $1000 in a $1000 min buyin PLO  game with a guy named tuna, and a guy named Sklansky. that was when i used to hang out with Mark Bogart the bum, who was a much bigger degenerate than me, and always lost it playing BJ, and needed rooms all the time. i think he died, not sure. wonder if anyone from ac knew him?

Somehow i need to find a way to get money onto Bovada. im down to about $25, and in a $1 PLO high tourny. I'd gladly pay more than the money is worth just to have a way to deposit. if i run out, im totally screwed, and i can only play extremely low stakes, cant even afford $5 double or nothing sngs. too bad they quit taking NV residents. theres so many people constantly rebuying in this $1 PLO it can get expensive too.

i was in for several buyins this afternoon, eventually was forced to use the ATM, and managed to recover and profit $56. Tonight i never was in for as much, although i eventually was in for $89 instead of $40 or $69. won a big pot, and soon after left after folding a hand i was unsure about, and also feeling like i might now have too many chips to continue playing well. Ended up winning $129 tonight. Finally got over 200 hours logged now.

I'm too old to play longer than 7 hours straight anymore--its been a long time since ive had a 7 hour session. all the sessions ive tracked are much shorter--usually not over 2-4 hours. not only that, my play rapidly deteriorates when i dont feel like sitting there anymore.

Nothing like my old AC NJ days, in which my record at the Taj was 52 hours. of course i left broke, looking for somewhere to sleep and panhandle.

but this is the hand i was questioning--and the more i think, the more i feel i did the right thing. i was talking to a good winning regular at the desk as i was cashing out same time as him, and he says i made a good fold that she hadnt raised all night preflop and was no question she had a bigger pair than me.

i am in the SB for $1, and about 8-9 people limp for $2 preflop. (it was a good game). lot of $500+ stacks too. i look down and find JJ and decide i better narrow the field. (mistake 1, should limp, setmine, and maybe win $350 on the hi hand). i make it $20, hoping thats enough, UTG calls, another guy calls, lady on the button goes allin for about $160, and what can i do? how can she have QQ KK or AA if she only limped the button with that many in front of her and didnt want to narrow the field? but she isnt a regular so maybe she plays unnaturally.

i decide to fold, but it makes me feel like im playing scared money so i left on my BB, all the other callers folded too.

vook? Grump? Pokerdogg? Koala? what did she have?

my biggest errors are made when i have way too many chips--and yet people STILL say i need to play more deepstacked.

it sure is nice and cool sitting here in front of BOTH a fan and an AC after carrying tons of laundry home. Also deposited a few more hundred in the bank on the way too.

i can think of several mistakes i made today, and it was the deepest game ive seen in a while with about the maximum number of players giving action with garbage in a while. i was in the game for only $108 ($40 plus $68) and i briefly had a little over $500 in front of me. im happy my win rate is now back over $20 per hour---but i couldve had a much higher amount of chips.

early on, i had my original $40 up to $147, and then lost ALL the chips to the same old man from the other day who came over the top of me for $45 preflop with J9 offsuit and won. he left very quickly after, and i rebought $68 right after that and did well ever since. today i had 88 flopped a set, (get sets way more often with 88 than any other pair) and the flop was 78Q with 2 clubs. lady bet $20, he calls, other guy calls, and i shove, happy to take it down. but then he calls, and only has 69 offsuit, and rivers the straight. pissed me off.

but thats not what im really here to talk about i want to talk about all the errors i make when i have too much on the table, and i know its because the money means so much to me. i was sitting next to a guy from the Detroit/IN area on his way to tahoe, a good player, and we were talking alot about different straddles rules various states around the USA, and he was telling me about the racetrack outside indianapolis and their VBJ. $5 min, and he said there was different types of machines hes seen, and only 1 showed the shuffle.

also the only poker at that racebook is on electronic tables and its too far out to be on public transit.

anyway the first hand i played poorly due to having a large stack was again a hand when i flopped 888. (yes a different hand). the lady whose quite loose and with a woman friend, both older than me, and she and one other old guy gave more action than anyone except the old man who beat me and left.

someone (not sure who) made a raise preflop to $8-12 and about 3-4 called. flop cames T83 rainbow, and i couldnt have asked for much more. (this was before i realized how loose she was). she bets $20 on the flop, all fold to me, and i only call. (mistake 1) she had me covered too. turn comes 4, she bets $35, and i still dont raise. (i knew she would keep betting, and i didnt want her coming over the top if she had 10 10 10) thats dumb thinking on my part.

river comes K and she bets $40. i think a long time, wondering why the K dont scare her, and maybe she was scared, she didnt bet much. anyway i only call (huge err) fearful of losing whole stack if she reraised, and of course, i won the pot. all she had was 10 6.

2nd mistake (well not really a mistake--i did make a good read) im playing against a different old man whose a bit more conservative but claims to not be. he has the whole table covered, with about $650. he makes it $15 preflop, the lady bets $55, and she has about $375 and i have $500

i look down, find KK, and only call, scared of aa, and of course, losing my ENTIRE win back, which was close to $400 (almost 4 days worth of income)--way too much for my comfort level. i didnt want to commit, and see an ace flop. then he reraises another 60 on top, and im sure he has aa then, she calls, and then i call to set mine, but shouldnt.

flop comes 69J with 2 diamonds. he bets $100, she calls, and i FOLD. turns out he did have aa, she mucks on the end (no idea what she has) but he kept betting all the way thru til she was allin, and i wouldve won since the river was a king. and it was a HUGE pot.

i am halfway proud of myself for making this fold, there was a point in my life id been unable to make that fold even putting him on aa. yet seeing the river made me sick, and i left then to go pick up my laundry, thankful to still be winning $275.

im not sure if i deserved to win that much as bad as i feel i misplayed the 888. so whats the solution to avoid all the errs with big stack play? all i know is to leave the game when i have too many chips, no matter how horribly the others are calling down bets with. it was a game u could make a lot of money value betting the pot or more if u didnt get sucked out on.

the good news is as my roll grows, this will slowly solve itself on its own, as the money slowly means less to me than it does now.

how to avoid feeling stressed out when losing.

Tonight (thursday night-the night im WRITING this--not the night u are READING THIS--) was a bit of a roller coaster of a night. i bought in for the usual $40, which grows throughout the night either thru me winning, or adding to the stack. I did good early on and had it up to $192 at one point, and then knocked it all the way down to $38.

a bit on tilt, especially after losing a big pot with KK to AJ offsuit (who shoved over the top of me preflop), i shoved my last $39 over the top of a guy who always straddled $5, and had raised his straddle to $20. all i had was 33, but i was ready to go home and play on Bovada, and if he dont have any pair we are 50-50. everyone got out but him, and hes thinking and hes claiming the way im talking about him having 2 overs "tells him a lot about my hand". and then he shows 44 and mucks. man did i get lucky there. and eventually i built the stack back to $215.

then i lost it again, and rebought for the remaining $138 in my pocket. i was extremely sick and pissed with the hand i lost. for i had KK again, (just call me ROB from now on) and i called an EP raiser to $17. the guy behind me on the button called whod just recently sat and had me almost covered. (i shouldve raised him out). flop comes K79 with 2 diamonds, and the initial raiser bets $20. i put him on a very strong hand, either AK or AA and i dont like the flush draw, so i made it $45. enough to hopefully keep him in WITHOUT him having a diamond draw, and scare the other guy into folding so he "wont get squeezed". instead the other guy calls, original better had AA and shoves into my top set, i go allin over the top, the guy behind me STILL calls, and i fear hes on a flush draw, sure enough, he has Q6 diamonds and hits the turn and i dont boat. i do beat the AA guy for a very tiny small pot of about $30, and the guy who just won a pot of over $560 leaves and quits. all of that money shouldve been mine. thats a huge swing.

somehow i eventually recover, and cash out $290 ($112 up for the night) and still at $22 per hour for 152 total hours logged.

tomorrow i want to visit a cricket store (and possibly a verizon store) and talk about a better broadband plan. seems like the best cricket one is $65 (instead of my now $35) for up to 8GB, but that still isnt nearly enough. and any company other than cricket or verizon id need a new modem and those are very expensive upfront.

i sure cant get credit, due to 2 unpaid bills to phone and internet, one over $300 and 1 over $200, both of which never were paid. anyone else have experience with using broadband modems?

and this is how i know im not "addicted to gambling" for people addicted to gambling need to gamble higher and higher to enjoy it, and me, i need to gamble LOWER and lower to enjoy it. which is a big reason why i buyin $40 even with a $5000 roll, it helps me play a lot more relaxed and less pressure. if i lose twice, im still out not much and one $100 double up recovers me off a 3rd buyin.

think of how much id be on tilt if i lost $200 twice, cant risk that emotionally, so i stick to low starting buyins til im stuck, and im not going to ever change it, as well as its been working out for me. the less money u have on the table, the more fun and enjoyable the game is, and the more well behaved u are. (the less money u have invested on the game that is)--of course u want the biggest stack possible--without having to buy one.

all the times id get really upset--it was all when losing BIG money--mostly always on machines where it was much easier to bet way too big. the smaller im risking, the more i can focus on just making the best play. i imagine once i pass 10k in the next few months--$100 buyin then will seem the same as $40 buyin now, etc. so buyins will slowly grow as the roll grows. eventually it will be fun to test out the $3-5 game here, it runs quite often.

i also wish i had a lot more on bovada too so i dont worry about running out of money there. won 4 out of 4 sngs since being down to $43, and am now at $62. all $5 double or nothing. my win rate in double or nothing sngs is well over 70%.

i will be under $5000 again soon as i pay rent again first thing in the morning, and u wont even have seen this post before i pay it.

another thing that really bugs me--my bank claims it has to send me a new atm card cause its saying my data may be comprised, this is the 3rd time they did this in the last 5 yrs and i just sent them an online message they need a different address for me. this is getting annoying changing my debit card number so much. i wonder if depositing on bovada so many times in the past causes this.

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ok--everything ABOVE this line was actually typed a day sooner, but since the last post had only been up less than a day and had under 400 views, i couldnt yet post it. now it will be okay to post, its about 800 views now and will be 2 days old instead of 1 day old. so it can be time for a new post.

Tonight was the worst night ive ever had in the Peppermill. (at poker that is). loss of $775, all at poker. the worse night was when i lost $500+ at poker and $400 more on VP. tonight i put only a $20 in the VP to cool off, and actually cashed out $26 after briefly running it up to $80+. so i lost NOTHING on VP tonight.

i did have to use the ATM though, after leaving the poker room since i had $0 cash left. i made the mistake im not supposed to make u see--bought in the game for way too much when on tilt and stuck. my system of buyins really wouldnt be so bad if i would always cap the loss at $200.

Had a lot on my mind tonight too, people in my way walking slow who i could tell were high on meth and talking about drugs in food with attitudes on the way to the poker room, having a long wait for a seat, then getting the wrong seat (seat 1) my family in Canada and the way they lie and dont treat my mom right (and i dont stick up for my mom as much as i should) and the way one of Akgals friend (and even people from my blog) talk about her. had a long conversation with AKgal about this friend of hers, and also about another twitter post she found offensive, then i showed her what this guy said directly to my mom on facebook way more offensive than anything i put on twitter. Calling her a retard for her beliefs in God and anti obama posts, and saying she has an iq of under 50, and how she is to blame for how i am. Justin Boucher who supposedly works at the Mirage according to facebook and Akgal. he deleted it all off facebook hoping i wouldnt see it but of course facebook emails me new posts. lying about a stake of course no one would ever give, etc.

far more offensive than anything Josie, Seattle irish, PPP or Koala say about my mom, even though some of their comments arent nice at times either. I really should be there more for my family when someone mistreats them in words. i finally did today to my cousin Jean in canada, who has my mom blocked on facebook. showed mom her replies to me in Pms, and mom said it was all a lie what Jean said to me.

mom deeply cares about their soul, and wants them to be able to see my dad again someday when they die, and wishes they would accept her as a part of the family. she is really hurt by the way they lie to her, block her and didnt want her in their lives after my dad died. she knows a lot of them are athiests even though some of them lie about it.

so anyway i sit in a seat i dont want (only seat open) and buyin for $40 as usual. lost it rather quickly and of course forgot the hand, and offer a guy in seat 2 $5 to move and he accepts and i get to sit seat 2 instead, thinking that will really help improve my disposition and chances of winning. but heres where i make the first error. i didnt have the proper change to buy another $40 or so, so i ended up rebuying $130 since i had no way to break $100 without going to the desk to rebuy instead of from the dealer. if i could, id just bought the $30 and left the $100 in my pocket. i didnt want the oddball $30 in my pocket since i could never rebuy anyway with only $30, so i went ahead and put ALL of the $130 in the game. and that was a big mistake cause it got me buried deeply way too fast. (remember how i said yesterday on RTP to relax, enjoy the game and make it fun for both me and my opponents, i need to keep my buyins low?)

so i have $130 on the table give or take a few bucks, and i get dealt 67 offsuit, a hand i normally dont play. i limp the extra $1 in the SB, and the loose guy in seat 3 makes the usual raise hes been making to $7 (and he soon left broke of course). about 5 people call him, so i do too when i really shouldnt, thats a pretty large mistake. the game was quite loose all night, and more chips than usual were flowing around.

flop comes up 763, and im relieved, thinking nows my chance to get unstuck and ahead. my plan is to check raise enough to get it HU. i check, he bets $35, asian guy in late position makes it $70 i dont like him in, but unless i want to fold, i feel i got no choice but to make it all in. he also goes allin, with nothing but AA, asian guy calls, (who flopped the straight) and both me and the AA went broke that hand.

perfect setup on the flop to bust the guy with the AA, i dont think anyone wouldve folded my hand on the flop. most wouldve preflop, but not seattle irish, who always gave me shit for folding in the blinds. i wonder what grump or vook wouldve done.

added $100 to my stack and lost that too within the first hour i was out $270-275. the first 2 buyins were lost in under 20 minutes according to my phone.

thats when i shouldve left, and went home, played on bovada. but i didnt want to do that, didnt want to write down a big loss, so i pulled out the remaining $500 i hadnt yet deposited in the bank and rebought.

for about 2 hours i was about even or slightly up about $20 off the final $500, til the following huge hand took it all.

Again its a loose game, so i call a $15 raise multiway action with 57 clubs. and since im so deepstacked i dont think its a bad call. im first to act on the flop of 567 with 2 spades. i bet $85, and the black guy on my immediate left whose playing rather loose and winning (he moved there soon as the other guy i told u about went bust on AA) he thinks and calls. (i wanted noone to call). he ends up being the ONLY caller, thank God and he has my $500 covered dammit.

turn comes 2 spades. i dont like the spade. so i check. would u check? he bets $90 and i call. would u fold, call, or shove?

river comes 7, and im so relieved to hit the boat, i check, knowing he will bet, and he bets $200. i shove, he calls, and he has 23456 of spades. i didnt even see the possible straight flush, and he had it on the TURN. id never lost the whole stack if id not hit the boat, thinking i couldnt lose, and if id never bought in $500 to start with. had i made smaller buyins all along, id never had so much on the table. all because my 2nd buyin was $130 instead of $40-50.

so i left, had no more cash on hand to rebuy anyway, and went straight to the atm. took out $480, (thank God my card works, the email from the bank says it wont after july 30 and my new card is on its way to vinces now--i need to immediately update my address with the bank). and thats when i went to the 9/6 JOB VP and sat there about 30 min at the 1c2c5c10c 100 play. id have sat at the VBJ instead if it was in this casino instead of sparks.

then came home to make this post, and sleep a few hours til my 1pm sng for sunday freeroll. 20 of the 40 entries will get paid sunday, $100-2500 and i sure need the money now. its seldom ever chopped, and $2500 for first can sure come in handy. surely i would once per year if i did it every month.

also, i blew up at a spammer. u guys with blogs, u have no business posting the spam comments referring u to someones website. many times the website is entirely inappropriate content, but sometimes its a poker website. this one guy with a muslim sounding name is always posting this comment then a link to his website. take a look, im sure not approving it or the link to his website which i edited out to prevent u from clicking it.
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u see, when u approve these comments or dont immediately delete them once posted, u hurt all of us bloggers by us selling less ads. lightning and the pokermeister used to get ads for their blogs and mine, now we dont, and its because people now think they can get it for free just by linking up spam comments.

are there any licensed electricians reading this blog?

Funny that id be needing help with this when im wearing an orange Tshirt that says union of carpenters local 2008, but ive got a serious issue. this is a pretty old building and everytime i use my new microwave, it causes the fuse box in the closet to blow out, and i have to turn it back on. keeps me from being able to cook. i dont know if the problem is with the outlet in the kitchen, and if i should put the microwave in the front room instead, or just use a different outlet in the kitchen, or if its not fixable.

the manager said it might do that if using the same outlet as the fridge, but it is NOT. i dont see how using the microwave can blow the power, ud think the AC uses a lot more. is it the outlet?

i cant live here if i cant use a microwave, really will be glad when i have the money to rent a regular apt upfront and pay monthly, but i still need about $8000 before i can do that, and that might not be for quite a while. even if my "local carpenters union job" is now paying me $22 an hour. yesterday it was paying me $23 an hour (was $20) but i had a big upswing of $500+ yesterday afternoon. im still in the $4800s.

this is the 4th time ive used the new microwave, and its done it every time but 1. they dont fix nothing around here, and I'm surprised he replaced the fridge. he just claims the building is "old". there are so many apts a short 6 block walk or less from here its not funny. i could move if i had the money. Reno is cheap and much safer than vegas.

also this might not be good for my health, but here lately ive been breaking up my sleep times into 2 4-5 hour sessions per day instead of 1 8-9 hour session. its been doing wonders for my poker game, but might not be so good for my long term health. i really need to start worrying about that a lot more, and still hope my tooth holds out til im a lot better off financially.

Nice to finally be able to read donald duck comic books while eating in bed. got a little over 100 of them ill need to resell once im done. also nice to finally have a 2nd big size rolling suitcase, and to have gotten it secondhand for only $5.

am also hoping to get somewhere in saturdays monthly freeroll, i do have close to the max number of chips so ill be starting with more than many of the field.

worrying a bit of running out of money on bovada, am down to $43 if i bust out of this $5 plo8 rebuy tourny without making the money. only 5 get paid, and i wish it were more spots.

Good news is its been a long time since i rode over to sparks, and played any VBJ. being able to play online from Bovada at home has helped keep me off them.

A new life begins.

I just set a record for the most spent at Walmart in one sitting, but dammit, if im earning $19 an hour at my job, thats a decent living wage, and ill be damned if i dont live at least somewhat comfortably as lazy as i am. I spent $182, plus $10 for a cab, ($7.25 with tip, the guy helped me carry things). so my new roll is now at $3719. And yes, that includes the Bovada money. No reason not to count it since ive never had a problem with one of their checks bouncing, and with it being safely in my bank acct.

the only Bovada money NOT being counted is the $64 still on there to work with. Hopefully nothing happens to it since i probably wont be able to deposit anymore.

Just got done putting ALL the food away thats frozen or goes into the refridgerator. havent yet unpacked the microwave to test it out. i figured lying down to relax (and updating the blog--was of bigger importance).

Its nice to have a room i want to stay at for some time, for this is easy to get back and forth to either poker room, and now i have AC and a microwave both, along with fairly cheap rent still (less than Vegas that is) so no reason to consider moving. Plus i seem to get along with the employees as much as i can here.

So if im going to stay here, (dont see myself being in Vegas anytime in the next year anyway) I figure as much as im earning at poker, i might as well spend some of the money on stuff i need. u see, like i told those guys on RTP--if i am free to use the money on things i need--im not as likely to waste it betting on things thats minus EV, because the money will mean MORE to me if it can be spent instead of just being warehoused for gambling purposes. they made fun of me for thinking that, but surely some of u can see why thats true. still not yet received my packages of over 100 comic books though.

$182--what will that buy at Walmart? it bought a microwave for $49, a $29 set of sheets, blankets, pillowcase, etc. ice cube trays, pans, dishes, trash bags, a pumpkin pie, eggs--which were the first thing to fall out of the trunk of the taxicab and break-- peach juice, frozen burritos, applesauce, dishrags, dishtowels, ketcchup, soap, shampoo, eucerin cream, paper towels, microwave dishes, and a bunch of other assorted food items. i actually thought the cost would be far higher, more like $250 or so, and was pleasently surprised.

if i was to ever move, i would need another suitcase or 2. theres no way in hell id ever be able to take anything out of here.

i was in the game at the Peppermill this morning for $60 in the $1-2 (walked there straight from the bank after depositing the Bovada check) and briefly had it up to $201. i left with only $11 profit, a bit pissed about the following hand.

a new guy whose a $3-5 regular buys in deep, and opens in EP for $6, i know he can have anything from playing with him the other day, two guys call, and i look down to see KK (rob's favorite hand) and i made it $20. the original raiser sure enough folds, and the first caller made it $60. i smell aa, and unlike Rob, i couldnt fold, but to save commiting money if an ace hits, i decide to call and lay it down on the flop if the A comes. flop comes J56, he bets and sure enough i lost my whole stack to his KK. well not my whole stack, cause i had him covered, but most of the profit. (lost $130 that hand)

$3700 isnt much to live off of and play $1-2 NL with, but if u have a long term win rate of $19 an hour it might be ok. Also thanks to lightning for sticking by me. his frequent telephone conversations have proved invaluable help as i try to make a better life for myself and treat others better. my best shot to have a huge upward swing in the bankroll now will be next saturdays freeroll tourny. i understand the freeroll is a 2 day event instead of a 1 day event. Probably due to the extraordinary slow blind levels, and of course ill have more chips than many of the players, (not only at the end, but at the start too) and yes some will have more chips than me too.