Before all the summer poker buzz I thought I would go ahead and outline my plans and such for the year. The truth is in my mind the 'year' in relevance to poker/work starts anew every summer and entails a lot of self analysis and planning.

Last summer I took on a pretty demanding and rather rigid mtt schedule as it was my first WSOP playing tournaments and while I loved it, it had it's disadvantages. I had very little time/energy for the cash games, some of which were incredibly good par normal for Vegas summers. I also found myself stretched a little thin sometimes when schedule would be particularly backed up/busy which makes it hard to keep in top form.

A lot of cash game players despise live tournaments and play them begrudgingly either for the value they see in a particular tournament, the potential of a big score to boost them forward, or because they feel a certain expectation to make an appearance. I happen to love playing tournaments and the competitive atmosphere I feel in them. I like them so much that it can become hard to stay engaged and motivated at the cash games and many times, last summer in particular that has hindered my mobility up the cash chains.

This summer I'll only be taking on tournaments one at a time and more spaced with a few in mind I absolutely have to play then a few that are more touch and go. Even if I play the more ambitious possible schedule it only works out to a dozen or so events of any significance over the entire summer. Other than that I may shoot at the occasional Rio deepstack or like a smaller PHo/VDS event here and there if I feel up to it.

My focus therefore will be largely on the cash games.

So I guess going forward into the summer my plans looks like so:

Poker
* 75%+ 2-5nlh sessions (right now I'm playing very close to 50% 2-5 and the rest 1-2/1-3

* increase 2-5 winrate/hourly (still haven't broken above a $30/hr which I know some people are crushing which is one of the reasons I still find myself playing the 1-2/1-3 alot as it's hard to justify the higher risk/swings for a mere $3 increase in my hourly!) this is actually closely related to the first goal and I think just trying harder to game select and with the summer availability this will be possible.

* take at least 2-3 shots at 5-10 this summer (this one is a more tentative goal because I'm unlikely to do it if I'm not meeting goal 2 and crushing the 2-5)

* cash the Main Event. I was super bummed out I didn't cash this last year, with my edge in this sort of structure I think it's highly probably this year and I def gained some better understanding for the pace/structure and how to go about it.

* after this summer I would like to be traveling to at least one poker tournament a month outside of Vegas, most likely will focus on HPT since it fits well for structure/field/buy in size but may be occasional MSPT/WSOPC/WPTD

* I would like to shoot at a few of the bigger Limit Omaha 8 games...I feel like I have a firm understanding and edge in this game and could expect to be one of the stronger players at any table. We really only have 4-8 and 8-16 available in town both of which I have absolutely crushed, the 4-8 over 150 hours or so and the 8-16 over less than 40...in the summer I see this game running from 10-20 up all the way through 300-600. I would like to play 20-40 posssibly up to 40-80 so would need to expect to sit in with $2-3k a few times this summer and hopefully not get humbled.

Life (non poker)

* get back in shape (this was actually a goal of mine after a rough winter but I've still found it super challenging and made little to no progress)

* eat better (I've come to realize I'm not going to stop slamming cheeseburgers and pizza, but If I can just manage to incorporate more good choices also and more consistency in my diet I think I could be a lot healthier)

* Vacations (here's another one I always say I'll get to and don't, I find it hard to plan recreational time away from the tables so would like to take at least 2-3 weeks this year probably out of country and completely unplugged from poker)

I think that's about it, will do a little poker content update soon with pics ect, oh ya Wynn 250k GTD next weekend, firing 2 bullets and pretty sure I final table it so watch the sweat on twitter @Wheydacheese

Good luck dude! Really enjoy this thread

Great thread and goals/plans for upcoming year sound great. I hope things run smooth for you and looking forward to reading about it.

I haven't read every post on all 129 pages, but I haven't seen anyone else say this yet so I'll say it:

Your gf is effing hot. Nice pull dude. #whocareswhetherornotyouwinatthetableswhenyouhavet hattogohometoeverynight

Def need more gf pics!

^lol thx, coincidentally have some in upcoming update. i enjoy good women, cars, and food in that order; after which i would be content living in a shack wearing 7 dollar sweatpants and a free stations tshirt all day :P

I like your style. 75% of my wardrobe is free swag (Stuff We All Get). Good update on the poker goals and focus for the summer. Hope I run into you at a final table somewhere.

Lol!

95% follow this blog for that reason only.

4% for the pokerz.

1% for hot cars.

I am somewhere in between.

What are your thoughts on a good swap in a bounty tournament? Say 2 people decide to swap 10% of each other, how do you handle the potential bounties won? Just curious as to your thoughts. Thanks!

standard would be to just include the bounties (final total return) in the 10% but between 2 buddies or something you can just keep bounties w/e...or on the other hand if you didn't trust the guy i guess you would exclude bounties b/c you can't very well camp over his shoulder all mtt to see how many bounties he picked up :P

As whey said, decided before what is included and what is not. First of all if you don't trust the guy, no point in swapping action.

I have seen people do both, with bounties and without bounties.

It's someone I trust....I have just never done a swap where there were bounties involved. To be honest, this person offered the deal to me. When they heard I'd be in town and playing the event, it just came up.

They are a better player with more experience in tournaments than I am, and this person has several recent cashes in larger daily events in Vegas, including the tourney at the Orleans. I have no experience in tournaments bigger than the Aria $125 daily. They suggested a 50/50 split on bounties. As I mentioned, this person is better than me, and I know there's a good possibility of them having a deep run in this format. I may get lucky and win a few bounties, and even cash this thing, or I may get knocked out quick and be dead money. I'm just not sure why I would turn this swap offer down?

then don't , I regularly swap with a number of people in town, it's not like super significant 5-10% but makes things more fun and interesting if you or they get knocked out you still have a little sweat and it can hedge variance a tad and it's a fun little bonus when you get knocked out but then make a few bucks whereas you're unlikely to cash 3k or something and be like "dam now I have to give this dude $300" so anyhow it's a fun thing to do.

I just have no experience with swapping so wanted to make sure my thought process was clear and run it by others before accepting.

Hopefully it works out and I can contribute somewhat as well. lol

Had a few days of drama out here surrounding my need to cancel the Cali trip. However, I'm pleased to say the situation had a positive resolution and things have been good this week. I have been pretty laid back and casual about poker this week only really 'working' relatively short live sessions and a few brief online sessions.

Both sessions this week have been at the Bellagio. I played 2-5 one of the sessions and quickly doubled up before the only 2 good spots at the table left together leaving seriously all regs including some decent ones so dropped down to the 1-3 and promptly lost a few hundred dollars in both an tough spot and a pretty golden one, I'll outline both shortly. The second session I bypassed the 2-5 all together as it looks as unappealing as before and jumped right into the 1-3 for an unremarkable +$73 over about 3 hours.

Bellagio with the Spring set up going






A few brief hand histories from the Bellagio this week:

Hand 1: 2-5 Bellagio Stack:$450
I don't even have to go into much detail on this hand it was super autopilot and very fortunate. I raised pre in the cutoff with 7d7h to $20, button called, both blinds called. Both blinds check to me on a 7sKh5s flop and I cbet $20 (I had a reason based on some prior action at table). Button looked like he really wanted to make a play but tank folded, SB folded, BB chk/raise to $100 pretty quickly and I flat quickly. BB had $600 or so behind before hand and was a young recreational player with his friend having drinks. Turn card Td and he just open jams into me, I snap it and he has KsTs so flopped the flush draw top pair and turned top 2, he bricked river and I had quick double.

Hand 2: Bellagio 1-3 Stack:$290
This hand was a good deal more complicated and I got myself in a genuinely difficult spot for a 1-3 game. I was surprised to see a 2-5 reg at the table I know, he may have just been playing down with me but he seemed sort of frazzled so I suspect it was not under the most ideal circumstances... Anyhow, he's a solid player even when rattled so was the only spot to watch out for at the table. He has about $450 behind at this point after rebuying and then recouping some of that. The other relevant player is a shortstack $65 or so super recreational learning to play type Asian girl.

The 2-5 reg on my right makes it $15 from early position. He values position for more rigidly than myself so he's never opening in this spot with a speculative hand. I look down in the cutoff to AsKs and decide to make it $35. The Asian girl in the BB flats leaving herself only $30 or so behind and she can have ATC....probably Ax or something. 2-5 reg flats. Flop 8A9 rainbow and BB leads out her $30 all in. 2-5 reg flats which tells me he's weighted towards AQ/AK/AX here...super small chance he's floating with like JJ hoping I drop off hand and he beats BBs extremely wide range. I make it $85 and he tank flats. Now I know he's minimal AQ, most probably AK. Tiny warning in my head considers AA since I can see him playing it this way to disregard the shortstack pre and keep me in hand and with aggression initiative. If he checks turn I'm probably checking behind and check calling a lot of rivers. However we have played together a fair amount and he knows this and is never missing value with a strong made hand so when he leads $115 on a 5 turn it's a pretty easy fold for me. Sometimes he shows up with AK but I think that's really rare. I expect to see sets virtually always here. River pairs the 9 BB shows weak Ax 2-5 reg flopped the set of 8s...I think 8s were pretty close to bottom of his range with the early open but w/e.

Hand 3: Bellagio 1-3 Stack: $165
At no point would I never normally have this stack size at a 1-3 game prior to a hand but this hand was directly after the last one with the AK < 88 and I had a hundo in hand to top off but hand had been dealt. The 2 relevant players in this hand are the SB with $200 and the BB with around $140.

Folded to me on the button and I make it $9 with A8os. Both blinds call and flop is a wonderful 887. SB actually leads out 15$...I get the impression he was just stabbing at pot with like A7. BB, who is just an awful player but a pretty fun/laid back guy actually raises him to $35 which I am loving and I just flat hoping it lures in SB too but he quickly folds. Turn is a 9 and BB leads out $40. At this point I am very close to sure he has a hand like J8 and is never ever possibly getting off it so just jam the rest in over and he tanks which surprises me. I tell him it's ok to fold sometimes and he laughs and calls flips the 55 and BINK 5 on river. He seemed shocked I had strong hand and kept apologizing but I laughed it off said it was fine...nice hand...ect. This is definitely the player you want to keep playing like always so pisses me off that someone had previously even made him think he needs to apologize when he gets it in terrible.

Snapped a pic of hand #3 for fun


Other than the Bellagio I've taken 'off' this week which means I've put in a few Limit O8 sessions. I just love to play and am such a poker degen that O8 is my recreational activity of choice. I have a few drinks and laugh it up with the elderly folks who I tend to get along with so much better anyhow. My winrate in these games is unsustainably high haha. I actually put a lot of work into the game and feel fundamentally super strong but as it's recreational I also gambolz it up for fun. It's so ridiculously stress free after playing a lot of NLH.

Orleans 4-8 O8 watching the 2015 WSOP ME I never saw


Actually got really low this day like $40 in front so I just raised a kill pot that everyone had flat with some garbage like Ad4sQhJh and somehow scooped a $300+ pot with the Q high flush on a paired board with everyone involved haha



Managed to get in some plo8 on WSOP.com too, It's pretty hard to get games going in plo8 and it's always low stakes but its my absolute favorite variant at the moment so I try to take any action I can find, usually short handed. In this particular hand the guy had me pretty crushed on the flop, I took one more off to his pot flop since it was short handed but was pretty crappy since I had no low draw. When I hit turn pot though he went nuts repot repot ext so we were able to gii. I probably would have played it the same in his spot knowing I had the low draw.



That's about it on the poker front. Found a new BBQ place up the road from me that's pretty respectable. Got this big smothered 'spud' with burnt brisket ends and also this spin on a Philly cheese steak that uses pulled brisket instead




Cali Pizza Kitchen



And of course had to go BACK to Hash House for another Sage Fried Chicken but this time also had this massive and quite good bread pudding



Found this really cool park up near Sunrise up on Stephanie so grabbed the dog and a skateboard and had some fun. I need to go back with a bike and break my arm on these jumps.








Also been spending a lot of time at the pool at the gym I go to and finally getting a tan



Told u guys the hot gf would make a cameo in this update...





Seen some nice cars around town as well

Tesla S



Audi A8 (I think?)



Lotta sweet jeeps...I've been missing my Wrangler and I think I'll end up getting another one soon. I absolutely love driving the 550 e60 but it's different, its a fun engaging drive with the sports suspension and v8 BUT the straight 6 Wrangler was fun in a more unrefined punchy acceleration loose steering...kinda like driving around in a kart/buggy.



The Bim in desperate need of a good detailing


Oh almost forgot...all that poker...cars...chicks...food. I know what you all REALLY want to know...here is the priest deck I'm currently running in Hearthstone although I subbed out both curators and 1 agent for 2 Twilight Drakes and 1 copy of Mind Control.



I think that's bout all I was trying to get in this update. Coming up tomorrow and Saturday I'll be firing 2 bullets with intentions to crush the Wynn 250k GTD you can follow the action live if you so choose on Twitter @Wheydacheese

*I also have a cool project I'll be working on this summer during the series but I'll get into that separately a little later.

hmmm dunno why some of my photos came out small like that, I'll try to figure that out before next update

That's an A7 but whatevs. Speaking of BBQ, have you been to Rollin Smoke down by The Rhino? Legit best BBQ in town and they offer all you can eat (entire menu) for like $32.

Hot chick with smokin' tan in her 20's = leather skin in her 30's. Just sayin'.

We had a hot surfer gal from SoCal in our office, I thought she was in her 40's based on looks. She was 29.

*I was doing the hand histories entirely from memory and made an error on Hand 2...as you can see it was a 883 flop NOT an 889 flop, pretty relevant in this case bc it eliminates the possibility of an overplayed JT beating us on the 7 turn when we rr all in.

I've never actually eaten there but had heard a lot about it all good things and a dude at my table in a WSOP event had some dropped off it was like a massive rack of spare ribs and he said I had to try them so I did and was very impressed, I'll need to go there for the thread.

Her family is French Mediterranean I believe so she gets this with very little effort. +Meteor could destroy the Earth before I'm 40 or Trump could be elected or w/e so YOLO.

that skatepark looks sick

nice pics dude.

This varies, and mainly only applies to people who over-tan way too much, OP's girl is not like that, she should age fine as far as I can tell.

I know you are at least somewhat kidding but no one should purposefully make bad decisions because they think bad things could possibly happen. A meteor is not going to hit the earth anytime soon and even if Trump gets elected which is very unlikely we would still end up surviving his term just fine, just like GWB was not Hitler and didn't end the world either. Personally, I don't consider tanning within moderation to be a bad decision.

def just kidding

that looks more like an rs7, which is fatser 0-60 than their R8 which is more of a track car with mid engine/awd/detuned gallardo v10.



the new performance package on the rs7 is a beast

Made Day 2 in the Wynn 250k GTD Weekend Mtt. Unfortunately went badly towards the end so will only have a rather disappointing 58k/14 bbs coming back to 2000-4000 w/500 ante on Sunday where avg will be around 120k. I would love to have more chips but I've done more with less and it's still enough to play a strong/effective shortstack game.

great updates man, good luck in the Wynn comp!