I’m hoping this thread will serve as my blog more or less. With 2014 beginning I’m eyeing a fresh start and hoping to shake up my life a bit by transitioning into the life of a professional poker player. This will hopefully give me a chance to makeup for my last few relatively unproductive years spent at home in Indianapolis. Since graduating from college 3 years ago I have simply failed to fully reach my true potential resulting simply in unhappiness and boredom.

Some Simple Goals:

-Become a valued member of the LSNL community by both posting and commenting on hands.

-Get out to Vegas in early March and at the minimum stay for the duration of the WSOP

-Fully transition to 2/5 NL by the end of the calendar year.

-Put in some effort to build a professional network in Las Vegas by attending career fairs, contacting university alumni in the greater Las Vegas area, and simply attributing to table talk in a fun and intellectual manner. The hope is that these things will possibly result in finding a career/career path that I will truly enjoy.

For those still reading the rest will be a bit of my background and is without a doubt TL;DR

Just as with a high percentage of regulars on these forums, I got my start during the Moneymaker era. It was sometime in between 2003/2004 that my group of high school friends began playing $5 SNGs. I had always considered myself as a rather intelligent person and trying to outthink my opponents was right up my alley. Although the buy in was small, the competition involved made me truly fall in love with the game. I was terrible at this point in time and certainly not the best player at our table, however, as time progressed my understanding of the game did as well and I began to dabble a bit online. There will be a bit more on this to come.

As previously mentioned, competition is what drew me to this game I now love. My thirst for it I assume comes from growing up playing all kinds of sports and more specifically baseball. I was involved in high-level baseball ever since I remember AAU becoming a big thing when I was in probably 5th or 6th grade. Our teams travelled all over the Eastern US playing throughout my middle and high school years for both AAU and high school and it was an absolute blast. There were many trips and times spent with some great people that I will never forget. I really came into my own with the beginning of my Junior Year of high school when I finally started Varsity. I led our team in batting average that year hitting close to .500 and was riding high. This success continued into my Senior season as I once again hit over .450 and college baseball seemed like a real possibility. Unfortunately, during summer ball in between my Junior and Senior year, the weirdest thing happened. All of the sudden I could simply no longer throw the ball. Too much thinking resulted in struggling to find my release point for whatever reason. Something I had done since I was 5 years old suddenly wasn’t so easy any more. It was my hope that this would pass, however, it was not to be. I had become Chuck Knoblauch. This was and still is one of the worst events that has ever happened to me (pretty weak I know). My mental weakness that caused this brought with it a ton of shame. Whether it was my coaches or teammates talking behind my back, I remember feeling like a failure every night when I’d get home from practice. With this thorn in my side, college baseball was obviously out of the question and poker was there to fill the competition void.

I played online my first year at Indiana University toward the end of 2005 and was absolutely crushing by just playing ultra tight in the $10 and $20 sngs. The game seemed easy but this ended soon enough. The first round of regulations came through and with Party Poker moving away from servicing the US industry it became much harder to win. I was still a winning player but the lack of easy money led to tilt which in turn led to many lost buyins. It was around this time that I achieved my last real “goal.” My application was finally accepted to Northwestern University in early 2006. It had been a dream of mine to attend a highly prestigious university following a hard working high school career. After failing to get accepted following my senior year, I decided to crush my freshman year and give it one more try. While at Northwestern the poker playing continued on a much more limited scale, but once Black Friday hit it basically ceased outside of a few home games.

Entering my senior year of college I was unsure of what I wanted to do and against the will of my parents and many others decided to take a year off. Everyone told me that I’d never return. This began my career at my aunt’s appliance repair company and after being unhappy with my earnings began to play Live poker outside of Indianapolis at a new E-table casino that had just popped up in the Spring of 2009. Right from the beginning I began beating the game for a nice clip and with my success came enough money to pay for my first quarter of school (A requirement my parents had set for me if I wanted to return to school in order to make sure I took it seriously). I made ~$10,000 in ~250 hours for an hourly right around $40. I would return to Northwestern with the confidence that I could beat the game if I ever needed to (very important given my past struggles with confidence) and graduated a Wildcat in December 2010 with my bachelors in Economics. This was and still is my most important achievement to date.

As I said a bit earlier, it is my belief that this is the last goal that I have truly achieved. Here we are in 2014 and I am rounding out my third year as a full time employee. My job pays $32k/year, which I am indeed happy for given the current state of our economy but has left me unhappy overall. Indianapolis is certainly no financial or manufacturing hub, however, I should simply be doing better. It is for these reasons that this move out west is a necessity. The goal is to make it by the end of February/beginning of March as I have two buddies having duel bachelor parties in Vegas for March Madness. This seems like a good benchmark.

My plan until then is to play 1/2 NL at Indiana Live in Shelbyville, Indiana where I cut my teeth in the summer of 2009. Since I have been out of poker for a while it is most important to convince myself that I indeed have what it takes to still beat the game. I will be working a regular Monday-Friday 8-5 schedule so my play will take place during the weekday evenings and on the weekends. It all begins tonight as I plan on heading to the casino following a dinner trip to my favorite Mexican spot until the games dry up Saturday in the AM. Here we go!!

Also, I forgot to thank Aesah, Cushlash, RobFarha, DGIHarris, Bip!, tmckendry, ECGrinder, Pure_Aggresion, LotGrinder and many others as you guys have truly been an inspiration to me. Reading your thoughts and adventures in the poker world over the last year have been instrumental in getting me to where I am today. If we ever get the chance to meet it goes without saying that the first drinks on me.

Interesting story - it parallels mine a little bit.

I played travel ball up and down the east coast too, I also coached for the same program I played for after college and still traveled up and down.

When I was a senior in high school I caught a case of the yips (inability to throw properly) before our season started because our team was ranked really highly and at the time I felt a ton of pressure on me to perform. All these newspaper articles and media stuff covering us. At 17 that was a ton of pressure and it screwed with me for a few weeks, thankfully before the season started.

The desire to win and be better than everyone is something I have instilled in me from sports also. I can assure you if you can keep it under control it's a great thing to have inside you that a lot of people don't.

Best of luck.

Rob, thanks for the post and it is awesome to have you in the thread. I found out a bit later on that this (the throwing) is more common than I originally thought and can usually be ironed out simply through seeing a sports psychologist. I still think a bit too much even when just playing catch with my brother in the front yard which is rather LOL. If you don’t mind, I will probably be PMing you a bit to pick your brain with any lifestyle/living questions that may arise as I prepare to leave for Vegas. We seem to be fairly similar in this area from what I’ve read in your thread. Obviously any poker insight is also greatly appreciated.

Well, I was able to make it out to the casino last night and played a rather uneventful 6-hour session. This was actually a blessing in disguise as the nerves kicked in immediately upon being seated, and it took me a while to get comfortable again. The plan going into all of this was to play really tight for my first couple sessions and slowly loosen up as I progress and notice similar exploitable spots/situations popping up regularly. One thing I remember from my live 1/2 play a couple years ago is that there is almost no need to balance ranges or get creative at this level which makes patience a true virtue. I was rather card dead most of the night so my ability to pay attention through the dry spells was tested and my performance overall in this area was good. Another part of my game that was on last night was simply chasing the action around the room. It gets said a lot on these forums but changing seats/tables when the game is bad is of high importance and one of the easiest ways to raise our hourly. I was able to situate myself to the left of the big stacks at all 3 tables I played at and more importantly got to the most inebriated table at the end of the night. Unfortunately the game slowed down rather quickly following the 3 A.M. last call and I picked up and left around 3:30 a small winner. It still amazes me that Indiana refuses to change this along with no purchasing of alcohol on Sundays. It goes without saying that we are rather archaic compared to the other states.

While most of the night was pretty standard, there were a couple reoccurring spots that I was having a bit of trouble with. The most notable of these involves my limping range. My uncertainty in this area came upon receiving hands like AJ and KQ in UTG and UTG+1 along with small pocket pairs in MP. After thinking on it overnight and this morning it seems that this situation is really table dependent. At a table where there are frequent pre-flop raises these are obviously folds as we don’t want to call and play 4-5 handed OOP. However, when at a table full of limpers it seems these may be closer to a call. This seems especially true with regards to the small pocket pairs in MP. I found a fold with most of these type hands last night since I really want to concentrate on the fundamentals and playing in position as I get more comfortable.. Some advice and conversation on these spots would be greatly appreciated.

Another thing that I want to work on is recording more notes in my cell phone. Along with simply recording interesting spots/hands, I need to keep better track of both my hours and hands played. This was a bit hard with all the table changing last night, but there is no excuse as the PokerTek tables have all this right in front of my face on the statistics page. Hopefully, this is something that will become easy as my level of comfort at the table grows.

With all that being said, there was only one interesting hand that came up during the night. After thinking through it, I'm pretty sure I played it fine until the river so I really only ended up donking off $20.

Stacks ~325 effective

SB Villian- Tight player who hasn't shown down any hands since I sat down about 30 minutes prior. He seems like he knows what's going on and is just playing a tight fit or fold game.

BB Hero A2- I had raised a couple times pre but had not gotten out of line and more than likely had a tight image.

3 limps around to the SB who calls and I check my option with A2

Flop (10):KK5

This seems like a good flop for me and since I am assuming no one has a king. With the nut flush draw and my A high still in play this is a good flop for me to bet at

SB Villain-Check
BB Hero-bet 10
Folds around to the SB who calls

At this point I am assuming that Villain either has a weak K, small pp, or a lesser flush draw.

Turn (27): 6

This is a good blank card for me to keep firing and acquire more information. I think I can get villain off of most of his hands by betting unless he has a K.

Hero-bet 18
Villain-call 18

Villains range is now a weak king and flush draw. I would think he would bet a K at some point in the hand to get some value so I pretty much narrow him down to flush draw here. He didn't seem like the type to try and call me down with a pocket pair in a pot like this.

River (60): A

Another good card for us as I am assuming villain wasn't calling me down with a better A (unless he has A5). It also gives us top pair and what looks to be the winning hand so I decide to look for some value here and want to bet small to get him to call.

Hero-bets 20
Villain-calls 20 and flips K6 for trips and the pot

After thinking through the hand I think that my river bet is bad and that a check would be better. Given that villain is a really tight player I just don't see what he would ever be calling even 20 with. I had already ruled out a pocket pair and if he had a flush draw there is no way he is calling imo so the bet was really unnecessary and I should have realized this.

This is obviously a really standard hand with not much thinking involved but since I am just starting again reoccurring spots like this are very important. It's just $20 but that is not a good attitude to as it's $20 that I no longer have. I strive for perfection and realizing even the simplest of mistakes is what gives us an advantage over the normal regular player.

I am not sure I will play tonight but given that we are supposed to have a decent sized snow this evening the poker room will probably not be as busy as usual. This coupled with the fact that I plan on watching the Pacers/Clippers game tonight while drinking a bit makes me realize more and more that it is not really a possibility. Thanks for reading and as always any comments or criticisms are greatly appreciated. Have a good weekend fellas.

I think the river is a check because his range is either weak K's or flush draws just like you said. And you're not going to get called by worse and only get called by better if you choose to bet the river. I'd just check it down otr and be happy if he missed or be okay with him tabling his weak king.

gl op, subbed and following

Woops, just realized that I mistyped that. He did not have a full house but rather K7o. Even such, I was really surprised that he did not reraise my river bet with trips. Gotta love live poker.

thanks! good luck to you sir

Glad to have you in the thread Don.

As far as poker playing goes, I have not done much of it. We had a pretty decent snow on Monday and since then it has been blistering cold (single digit with a negative windchill) so the rooms will be dead compared to usual. Also, the only night to really play since my last session would have been Monday evening since Sundays/Tuesdays are always dead. That leaves us with tonight and I'm pretty set on cooking dinner when I get work over with and watching basketball all night as we got Thunder/Spurs at 8 and another nationally televised Pacers/Suns at 1030. Pretty sick night of b-ball for those who enjoy it.

I was at this game but it was not on TV so I'm not really sure how many people saw it. This dude is the key to us winning the chip this year and for years to come. Sir Lancelot for Most Improved Player!




As the weekend approaches, it's becoming pretty apparent that I won't be able to play this weekend. I am leaving work early on Friday and heading to Columbus, Ohio to hang out with some college buddies and attend the Pusha T concert that night. My buddy that lives there is trying to get some of the girls he hangs with to come out for it so it should be a pretty solid night. Not playing is making me feel a bit lazy but things just aren't really lining up properly for me right now. I'd like to see as many of my friends as possible before leaving and I rarely get to see the guys I'm attending the concert with so it's not really all that bad. However, when I return grind needs to be on the mind. I'm not expecting myself to put in 30 hours a week while still working, but 1 night a week is simply not enough. With that being said, I leave you with this...

Lack of updates itt.



Things have been pretty slow in relation to poker since this weekend as we continue to be hit hard by cold weather here in Indianapolis. I was in Columbus, Ohio this weekend and the concert was awesome. It took place right across the street from the Ohio State University campus in a small concert hall where the acoustics were incredible. It was literally one of the best sounding rap concerts I have been to.

Stalley also killed it as the opening act as he is from Ohio. He played some of his better early work which was great. Here is some footage from the concert:



For whatever reason they overdubbed the actual CDQ audio off his mixtape which is rather LOL. We went out following the concert in downtown Columbus that night and then geared up for Saturday. We recovered in the morning with some brunch and made a reservation at Mitchell's Steakhouse for their Columbus "restaurant week" (a reduced price tasting menu). The meal was less than impressive but the company was awesome. I also finally got to try a manhattan for the first time and washed down my steak with a glass of Laphroaig 10 (shoutout to my boys in the whisky thread). We finished off the night drinking long islands and dancing with some beautiful ladies that are in my buddies crew and had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, I failed on this front though. Either way it capped off an awesome weekend with a couple college friends that I most likely won't see for a while due to the move.


Now onto the poker. Monday and Tuesday were plagued with negative temperatures and due to them usually not being great poker days anyways I decided not to play. I was able to get out the casino last night and got in a 4 hour session. A rather significant win was the result, however my play was rather atrocious imho. I'll post a couple hands below and hopefully get some feedback. I'm still struggling with paying enough attention at the table which will need to get better as the hours continue to grow. Along with this, it is amazing how nervous every big hand makes me. I am unable to think properly on the later streets when the pot is bloated and my hand reading is suffering. Due to this, I'm both missing some value when I have good hands as well getting it in behind in a couple instances. These things must change and once again I am confident they will as the volume increases. I seem to remember having a break in period the last time significant hours were played which seems rather normal. Thus, my confidence is still high and I'm going to continue playing as much as I can and posting hands.

Here are a couple spots that I found myself involved in throughout the night in the order they occurred.


Hand 1: ~300 effective

7 handed and I just arrived at the table about 20 minutes prior. The villain in the hand hasn’t got out of line and seems rather tight/passive from what I have gathered.

Hero UTG with JJ
Hero raises 15,
Villain in the SB calls 15

Flop (31): Q62
Villan checks
Hero bets 23
Villain calls 23

Turn (72): 2

Villain checks
Hero bets 45
Villain CR to 109
Hero folds.

In this hand the only spot I am wondering about is the turn bet. This seems like a must bet here given that the 2 of hearts is good turn card for me. Seems pretty standard, however, since I am just beginning it is important for me to see if my thought process is correct.

Hand 2: ~300 effective

9 handed

Hero is in the SB with KQ

2 MP calls
Button calls
Hero calls
BB checks (it should be noted that there was a guy between us and I thought he was actually UTG, like I said earlier…simply not paying enough attention)

Flop (10): KK2

Hero bets 10
BB calls
EP calls

Turn (33.50): T

Hero bets 23
BB raises to 75
MP cold calls 75
Hero rr to 175 leaving 109ish behind
BB ships all in
EP calls
Hero calls off 82ish



Thoughts? I am going to x-post this in LLSNL also. Let the hate fly as I believe this hand was butchered. I still am not sure though wrt where I find a fold in this hand. After the BB rr to 75 and EP cold calls? Or maybe I possibly just call instead of reraising to the 175? One thing I am fairly sure of is that I have to call of the last 80 getting roughly 10-1. Or is this just spew? These were the thoughts running through my head following this hand. Unfortunately, it stuck with me for the rest of the session causing me to quit paying as much attention to future hands. I really need to just file the big hands away for the next day and go right back to playing my A game right after the hand.

I was thinking about playing tonight, but imagine the end result for the night will be me watching the Pacers/Suns game with some buddies over a few whiskys. Hoping to get back on the train tomorrow evening after work and play well into the morning. This is necessary as I will be watching the UFC fights on Saturday evening and the obviously the Super Bowl on Sunday. There could feasibly be a little time for a session on Saturday afternoon if I’m feeling up to it so we will see. As always, thanks for reading.

Flat 75 and re-eval on river imo. Live players dont 3b or 4b w.o the nuts/pseudo nuts.

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Hand 1 You could consider checking the turn for pot control.

Hand 2 I think you can raise here pf sometimes. As played standard to gii here, you happened to run into the top of villains range.

I'm sure I'll see you around LLSNL, play well!

I ended up going to the Pacers game last night and it was pretty disappointing overall. The Suns outclassed them in all facets and I don't think we had the lead once the entire game. They have been playing awful the last couple weeks and need to turn it around. Another disappointing thing is the fan support for the games. Me and a couple buddies were able to get some pretty good seats in the lower balcony for $18 a piece due to the place not being sold out. I cannot understand for the life of me why the fan support for the best team in the league is so dismal. I guess it results in us being able to attend a lot of games for cheap though which is kind of cool. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

In other news, I will be playing tonight after work for sure. I was so pumped thinking about it on my ride home last night. My game needs work and I have to fix it. I'm gonna keep my opening range tight and still mostly play in late position, however, I want to start working in some LP limps when there are tons of limpers in front of me. I've been folding good multi-way hands when in this position so I'm going to have expand my ranges a bit when in LP. Another thing I'm going to try and do tonight is not listen to music while playing. I think with the game being new to me again I need to start from scratch and strictly focus on the cards. Let's get it this weekend fellas. Gl to all those grinding!

Well, where to begin. So the above was written only 12 hours prior to getting to the casino and somewhere within those hours it was forgotten. I sat down last night at around 8:30 and had to cut my session short after 4 hours due to playing absolutely atrociously. It only took 3 sessions for me to break down and get anxious which lead to me playing more starting hands and destroying my image. I'm really happy that this only cost me a buyin as it would have cost me more in the past due to tilting. This is simply not acceptable. There were a lot of hands where I tried to justify my play, however, after putting some thought into them I realized that they were absolutely butchered. Therefore, there are not any worth posting really because the several mistakes are glaringly obvious.

I've decided against not playing today and will get a fresh start next week. The plan is to start back at square one by heavily tightening up and playing solid again. I then can continue to make adjustments as I learn more and more. My confidence is suffering, but I'm continually reminding myself that I have and still can beat this game. My play will be better next time. Hope everyone enjoys there weekend and let's crush February!

Keep your head up OP, GL and subbed! Maybe we can cross paths during the series

GL - thx for the recognition in the thread

A fellow Hoosier (... but go Boilers)

Glad to have you in the thread bip! I've got love for the boilers too. I actually grew up in a family of Notre Dame fans so my allegiances are spread throughout the state.

In other news I plan on hitting up the casino tonight. I've been mentally preparing myself while at work and can't wait to get out there. I'm starting back from square one and tightening my game up again while also utilizing the little bits of knowledge I have gained over my first 15 hours. This will be my first session of February so hopefully I can start off on the right foot. Let's get it!

Got back at it last night and it was a success as I netted a nice ~200 bb win. The nerves were finally gone and my focus was really on point allowing a feeling of true comfort to come over me while playing. I can only recall one hand that was misplayed in my 5 hours which feels great considering my first sessions of the year.

The plan for today is a short nap following work. Pacers/Blazers game at 7 PM (Can't Wait!) and then it is back to the casino for the pokers. If all goes as planned I'll be out there by 10:30 and playing til the games break in the AM. I'm going to try and continue where I left off and once again play tight and in position. Keep it simple, breathe, and take my time in between important decision thus minimizing my propensity to make mistakes. These are the keys to beating 1/2 and hopefully will bring me another positive session. Hope everyone kills it this weekend!

Subbing and I'll read this tonight or tomorrow.

Check JJ behind on the turn. At this point there is a lot of Qx in his range. Also, 6x may pay off on the river, knowing it's a showdown, but not on the turn. However, if you have a good read on the opponent you may be able to skew the range to more or less draws and that can change the decision.

On the KQ hand bet smaller on the flop. You'll get more calls for $7 and keep their range wider. Flat the turn and reevaluate the river. That MP call is scary. I think we are ahead of the BB range, but not EP. His range is like 22, TT, KT, KJ, AK, maybe big spades.. Unless you've seen him limp a lot of Kx.

Good luck and stay tight in EP. I consider myself a very good 1/2 player and consider it marginal when I raise AJ and AT up front and the only way I limp them is suited. Folding those hands UTG or near it isn't the worst thing while learning and settling in. I'd rather call call a raise on the button with suited one gappers than limp-call AJo.

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Lack of updates itt.

Sorry for the delay but there hasn't really been too much going on in the poker front. I played last friday and saturday evening and booked winners both nights. I only got ~9 hrs combined and the one thing I took away from both sessions is how much my level of comfort at the table has changed. I feel like I belong there now and for the most part am no longer afraid to make moves. I do what I think is correct at the time, lock in my brain and return to thinking about it later which is where I want to be at. Hopefully this continues and my level of comfort and focus continue to grow. As of right now I'm definitely planning on playing tonight and tomorrow so I'll try and get a lengthy update written after those sessions. Thanks for reading.

Well, I hit a roadblock this weekend and wasn't able to get any hours in. I played 3.5 hours on Thursday night and won about 50 bucks so that wasn't too bad. This weekend's play was cancelled due to getting my exhaust system on my car replaced on Friday. They assured me that it would most likely be done by Friday evening so I was hoping to get some grinding in that night, but they didn't have it finished. I called Saturday and it was till in the shop so no hours then and as if this wasn't bad enough I called this morning and it still was not done. This all leaves me a bit perturbed, but when it comes down to it there is nothing I can really do about it. All this preparation being done so I can leave on time in mid March is becoming a bit of a drag, however, it obviously has to be done. I will hopefully get my car back after work this evening and be set to play Wednesday-Saturday. Getting some solid hours in on back to back days would be great as my confidence and familiarity with the game are much better when I'm playing consistently and not just once a week.

For the next couple days I will be mentally preparing for the grind. Starting today I'm simply going to try and eat better, drink a lot of water/no soda, and exercise in hopes that it will benefit me during my time at the table in terms of focus. Although I know these things are good for me anyway in the long run, it seems like almost every thread I read documents that better focus and preparation is indeed a result of staying fit and eating healthy. So, these are some things I hope to work on and slowly progress at as my poker journey continues on.

GL this week grinders. Let's crush!

Haven't been getting any volume lately but not all is lost. I got the exhaust fixed on my car finally and now only have a couple more things to get taken care of on it before I leave for Vegas so that's good. I've also began working out and eating healthy in hopes that it will help with fatigue and my focus at the tables. I've ballooned up in weight since high school so I really need to be doing it more anyways just to simply take care of myself. Finally, I've been smoking cigarettes since my early college days and this is definitely a habit that needs to be kicked. Yesterday was my first 24 hour period w/o one in a while and the plan is to not play for the first 4-5 days of quitting. I'm not sure how my body will react to it and I don't really want to use it as an excuse for playing bad/being irritable so I don't think any poker will be played over this stretch. Hopefully, I can get back to the grind this upcoming week so my confidence will be on the upswing before leaving for Vegas.

There is less than one month to go now before I leave and reality is starting to set in. I'm excited to shake up my life, scared of failure, and sad to leave family and friends. With that being said, I know this is needed to help me grow as a person and find my way in life so that brings a bit of a calming effect. Enough of this emo BS. GL this week grinders!

Day 1

As I'm typing this I sit in a hotel in Salina, Kansas. My trip to Las Vegas has begun. With 13 hours logged yesterday, only 17 remain and I'm slotted to meet everyone out for the bachelor party tomorrow morning. Friday/Saturday should be filled with shenanigans of all kinds. As previously mentioned, the party is for two of my high school buddies and overall between their two groups we have ~25 people going! This is gonna make it hard to navigate but I expect nothing but absolute mayhem. In these 25 we have a mix of hardcore partiers, older brothers, and some more chill guys so we have all the bases covered.

This is all fun and good but as we know the real reason for the trip is Poker. The last month or so has been a bit hectic for various reasons and I decided to not play any cards for my sanity. Through dealing with mechanics in order to make sure my car was in order, finishing up everything at work, and simply thinking about the trip/major life decision I decided it was better to relax with friends and family. I was amazed at the amount of support thrown my direction by everyone when they heard that Vegas and poker were at the heart of my decision to leave Indianapolis. I literally do not think I heard one person, outside of my rather senile uncle, to offer any negative thoughts on the idea. It was if everyone just believed in me. This made for a great sendoff and has given me even more confidence. Well, enough of the sappy BS.

I'm planning to log between 12-15 hours of driving today then find a hotel somewhere between Denver and Vegas. This will leave my about 3 hours in the morning and I should arrive at the Mirage sometime in the morning/early afternoon. This will followed by excessive drinking, eating, and gambling through Sunday afternoon. I plan on recovering Sunday night where I'll have a spot at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino (formerly the Las Vegas Hilton I believe?) through Thursday morning. I play on trying to find a place to live sometime between Monday and Thursday while also getting some cards and various other errands in. I should be situated by Friday and ready to crush the weekend with some solid hours. We'll see how it all pans out.

Currently, I just smashed some Mcdonalds breakfast and am watching Sports Center while writing this. I should be packed back up and ready to go within the next 30 minutes and arrive in Denver around 4 pm. Let's get it!!!

Also forgot to mention that I've been snapping tons of pics but having trouble getting them on my computer at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to get this fixed once I get into town.

Sitting in our room at the Mirage watching this Michigan St./Virginia game getting ready for the rest of the night. Got a little bit of money on Sparty. Hopefully I'll be able to get a decent sized TR of the drive out here Sunday night when all my buddies leave.

Forgot how awesome and captivating this place is.