Pokerings

Hey guys, sorry for what seems to be the spurratic updates, I really should post more and im going to try to do better when it comes to that.

Lately ive really been hitting the tables hard. October was a really rough month for me and november started out on completely the wrong foot. In fact I was sort of angry, I lost a bunch playing heads up against a fish in the last couple hours of October, but holdem manager will only let you view your month according to EST, so it was officially November, So my month kicks off with a huge downswing. Doesnt seem like much but I really wanted a fresh page so to speak. Regardless I knew I wanted to just grind it out lower more and sort of make profit over time, which I have done quite a good job of since. Played a ridiculous amount of volume but hey thats sort of what I do and its working so why not keep it.

A few hours ago i was going to go to bed when i saw some good 10/20 games running, so I thought meh why not Ive been doing well lately and Ive got the roll to play in it why not go ahead and play it, so I ended up 3-4 tabling it on ftp and stars and just trying to play good. Did ok but was a complete cardrack, but just didnt get action. Oh well happy to be up from it and it was a good experience.

Ive also been playing a bunch of plo. Its definetely a learning experience, Ive got a friend who is quite good at plo that I talk to a bunch. Really analytical guy so it really helps give you a good base of understanding for the game. Still a ton to learn though for this but i have no rpoblem dedicating an hour or two a day to take care of it.

On the final poker related note, Ive been staking people agian. Staking is sort of an interesting deal, in theory, and usually in practice, it is profitable. Hoever sometimes it seems like people downswing and its very difficult for them to be motivated to play, which is bad for you as the staker. Weve had a few guys recently go down a bunch at 1/2, so overall im actually down a bit from staking. That said I really enjoy working with these guys on their games, and as long as they stick with me we will work it out and im sure we will get somewhere.


Anyway so off of poker, Ive been really getting healthy recently. About halfway through August i got back from Europe and I weighed in at 6'3 245, which is pretty heavy imo. Ive got a pretty wide body structure so its not THAT bad and most people normally dont think im that overweight so its something that never bothered me too much. Regardless, I decided I was going to change it so i ran every day and cut out the carbs and the pure amount I was eating. Since then ive been running or to the gym almost every day (would honestly say 9 out of 10 days[with the exception of trips ie las vegas and barcelona]), and have a much cleaner diet. Today I weighed in at 210, so im down 35 pounds and I would imagine have gained a lot of muscle out of. Im proud about my gains frankly, and its something I really should have gotten under control earlier then now but there is no time better then the present.

I had a log going in the health and fitness forum, where I tried to get advice, and to say the least, it was very confusing. People often disagree with each other and I sometimes disagreed with people, but there were a few posters who i managed to get something out of that have really helped me out in aspect of my life. However the reason i stopped posting was because I decided I didnt really want to go the route that was being recomended to me and I didnt want to update my log every day saying, hey guys still not doing what you wanted me to. Sort of mean to ask for advice and then just do something else anyway. My goal, and what has been recomended to me, is to get into lifting ASAP, but I have a few problems. First, i am extremely unflexable atm, which is tough for some of the lifts. Second, some parts of my body dont seem to work well (my shoulders just dont get far enough back to rest the bar well on them for a squat, my wrists always feel sharp pain when i bench, I cant do pull ups or chinups yet without help) etc etc etc, so i decided to get a personal trainer to help me get to these goals.

This is obviously a controversial issue but im happy with the decision I made, like my trainer, and he knows my goal is to eventually get on starting strength. I like the workout routing and on the off days i just do running and biking at the gym, so I think regardless ill be fine as far as how healthy I am. Always feels good to drop weight and start to look better in the mirror =p.

On another note, I feel my life is sort of one dimensional atm. Basically every day consists of playing poker, working out, and then playing more poker until I fall asleep lol. Its sort of nice because it allows me to save up money and get into good shape, but honestly it gets sort of boring some days. I dont really know anyone well in this area (San Jose just fwiw), and I dont know what I am going to be doing as for school or not next semester. Either way, the only real days i do something different is when I travel out to the indian casino with some other 2+2ers or travel somewhere. Ive been playing more guitar lately which interests me but I need to find friends who arent 8 hours + away from my location imo.

Finally I am not sure what I want to do about school yet. Frankly 0% of me wants to go back to school for any reason that is education related. Of the part of me that wants to go back to school, 10% is for the degree, 20% is so im doing something productive with my life, and 80% is because I want the social intereaction. I dont see myself giving it any sort of real effort and would expect to barely pass my classes and just try to earn a degree. Thats not really what I want though, I would rather be a lawyer. Thats always been my life goal, and it was hurt by me only getting into my safety school. Now I have a messed up college gpa, a meh hs transcript, and no want to really even do law.

What else would I do with a degree? Nothing. You see something I have learned, is there isnt only 1 path to make money. I mean I always wanted to be a lawyer, lets look at why.

1) You make good money. Not that im amazing at poker but I think they are comparable and within a couple of years poker would take the lead without me becoming an exceptional lawyer.

2) Its challenging and there is competition. This is something I really enjoy. I love playing against other people to try to win. Hard to explain why, I dont fully know myself. I just like winning and it drives me to do my best.

3) Its prestigious. Poker playing isnt nearly as prestigious, but it comes with its own set of connotations, one of which is money (however some of the others arent so glamorous).

4) I never thought there was anything else I could do that would fulfill the first three.

Thats sort of the funny thing, in this year and a half journey poker has put me on, I sort of didnt realize waht I was losing during it. You lose what ideals really mean. I mean I can say I made xxxx and i can expect xxxx and this has xxx value all day in poker. Every day ONE NUMBER matters. How much are you up or how much are you down. Thats how you view your day. Thats victory or defeat.

When your playing micro stakes, IE when i doubled through somebody at "the deuce" (1c/2c) over 18 months ago, it felt so ballin to make $2 playing poker. I had $60 to my name lol. My real life networth wasnt rolled for NL $2. I was 18 and had no idea about anything financial related.

That feeling is gone. Because $2 will never be something significant again, in the same way $200 will never be what it once was. In the same way $2000 wont be etc etc.

So what it does to you, is you sort of forget why traditionally high profile positions are even valuable. Because if its about the money why not start now? Education costs money, and it will take years for you to make the money you want. So what should you do?

The answer, Is whatever you want to do. So what do I want to do?

And i can say without any doubt that I have absolutely no idea anymore. I will say I enjoy playing poker currently and I enjoy becoming healthy. People like to ask what will you be doing 10 years from now, well frankly it doesnt matter. I dont know and if there is nothing I want to do why should I let other people decide? For now, im gonna just keep doing my thing and go from there.

~Doug