A forum visitor was told
"If you have any questions, shout them into the well and they will be answered, except on Sundays"
"So what happens on Sundays?"
"It's your turn to go into the well."

This well is for Chknpotpie.

Feel free to ask anything, and Chknpotpie will be the judge of what he wishes to answer. Shaq, as the nominator, should be the one to start this well, but he hasn't been around recently and it's past time to get Chknpotpie’s well started.

My apologies for usurping your rightful place to start Chknpotpie’s well, Shaq.

Thanks for agreeing to host this well, Chknpotpie. I'll start by asking you to please tell us something about yourself, especially as it relates to Omaha-8 poker, how you got started, why you like this game, and where you see yourself going with it.

I’d guess from your avatar that you are from Southern California. If so, which, if any, local casinos do you visit or frequent?

Thanks again.

Buzz

Hi there!

What inspired you to come up with the name Chknpotpie? Why do you never talk on AIM?! What does your typical day consist of (this can include non-related poker activity too). What is your biggest achievement to date and what are your aspirations for the future?

how come you only play 4 days a month?

Are you going to keep another challenge again? I believe you had one where you would get to a certain amount of money?

Who is your top five players?
Sng or Cash?

whats your storfy? how old is your gf? do you play 8games? what do you think of razz as the "easiest game of the world"?

what are your thoughts about changes with rake in the future?

Yo. Been pretty busy the past month, and had a friend here over the weekend so wasn't able to get online very much.

Chknpotpie=I want to say it combined all my favorite things: chicken, pot, and pie. But chicken pot pie is also one of the best foods eva, frozen or fresh.

I'm always on aim, when I can be..pm me if you have my name sn

Typical day (up until 2 months ago)= Waking up anywhere from 8 to 1 in the afternoon, having a healthy breakfast, playing poker, healthy snack, poker, healthy lunch, poker/rub and tug, poker, healthy snack, poker, healthy dinner, poker or spending time with my woman, maybe some tv if it's Sunday night, nothing beats HBO Sunday night programming. I'm really into not eating crap and taking breaks and exercising occasionally.

Biggest achievement is probably finishing 17th/16k+ in the Sunday Million in December 2008 for 8k. Everything just sort of clicked, and things started making a lot more sense. It was my last semester of school, and had an easier class schedule, although was balancing an internship. So I took advantage with my new bankroll which doubled and newly found confidence, and moved from 1/2 to 2/4, 3/6, and 5/10.

Aspirations for future: I may be one of the few who don't see poker as the highlight of my future. My goal now is to make enough to go to grad school and come out debt free, while balancing poker on the side. I think poker will always be in my life, but I enjoyed it a lot more when it was just a hobby. I'm also one who doesn't plan too far ahead. I think people in general are way too obsessed with planning for the future that they never enjoy the current. I don't want to start thinking about retirement before age 30, that's just depressing. Overused ferris bueller quote that works here: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

This is just a recent development. I've had so much stuff I've been doing the past month and a half. Went to see a buddy in boston for Dropkick Murphys on St. Patricks Day, went to SF Giants opening day and night, some other weekend trips. I also have some side projects I work on. I am planning to play a lot more within the coming month. But I like to take advantage of the time and use it while I have the chance. Ever since I was 5 or so, I've always been involved with sports, school, jobs, that I never really had any free time. And now that I do, I want to enjoy it while it lasts, to a degree.

I might start one next week for inspiration, in which I'll start updating daily like I was doing. This gave me a ton of motivation in which I'm partly lacking now. Yeah, basically I was trying to turn the remaining $150 into 15k in December. I succeeded, but not until early-mid February, cause I was sick most of December/family time.

I haven't played the higher limits since August or so, based on bankroll issues (I'm a br nit). But when I did their was a solid group I didn't want to play against, most of who post here.

As far as SNGs, when I play, I don't play higher than the $16s, cause they don't run often enough, and I 12 table. So as far as the $16s, there's a bunch of regs who play a different style than mine, and there's maybe 2-3 who play one like mine who I respect because I'm cocky and think my way is the best, and don't want to be playing against myself. I'll think about it.

This could be pages, but i'll try to keep it concise. I basically have the token young dude story. In 2002/2003 I saw the WPT on TV, and had play some 5 card draw before, but basically didn't know wtf was going on with these 2 cards. Watched it some more, but never enough to care about playing. Then the opportunity came: In high school, I had a bunch of APs(brag) with a group of 10-15 people. The way it worked at my school, is our goal was to take the AP test, do good, but after that they could care less what we did. So during the last month or 2 of my Junior year we played nonstop for 3-4 periods everyday. Anything from holdem to stud queen of spade in the hole, basically dealers choice. I had to be taught at first but I quickly caught on.

I was always very competitive growing up, whether it be sports, school, or anything with games. So even though we were just ***** around having fun, I wanted to win some monies. One day we were playing holdem and I remember someone explaining bluffing. So I decided to try it out, I bet $.50 with nothing into a $3 pot on a paired board. Up to that point, I had been really nitty/tight never bluffed once, and everyone instantly folds and some dude explains to me that if I want to get any money out of it I probably shouldn't have bet. That was one of those "click" moments when I realized how much psychology was involved and the cards are just another aspect. From then on, I continually got better and began to dominate.

During my senior year, like most seniors, I didn't care too much about my grades (after being obsessed the prior 6-7 years) cause I had already gotten into a bunch of colleges. So, after playing a bunch during the summer, we started playing everyday after school starting in the Winter. We would basically play 4pm to 10pm everyday, sometimes later. The game continued to grow in popularity, especially after the moneymaker boom, and we eventually had anywhere from 6/7 to 20 people playing (1/2 tables) .25/.50 $20 buy in. But people would continually rebuy, and the amount of money on the table would sometimes reach $500+, which was a lot for us back then. I slowly became the frequent winner and would often leave with $100+ stacks from a $20 buy in. My skill eventually came in reading people, and everything in this game was about tells and image, cause we sucked at everything else (bet sizing/odds/etc.). And that's when I heard about online poker.

(continued after lunch)

i'm really anxious to read this well. you remind me a lot of myself so i'll think of some good questions a bit later.

First of all, hello and thank you for your "well".

- Real name?
- How big was your bankroll when you played .25/.50?
- Which kind of game do you prefere? Cash game fullring, shorthanded, HU, sng, etc?
- Did you invest some money for coaching and/or HH review, leak finding?
- Favorite 5 online PLO8 cash players?
- Your VPIP and PRF%? :-)
- Do you use traking tools?

Thanks
A.

Hello Chknpotpie,

Why is your way 'best' in SNG's and how exactly does it differ from the game of the other regs?

Thanks!

Bob

That was just my jab at my cockiness. There obviously isn't a "best" way to play any game, specially because it's constantly evolving over time. But I think I play a high risk, high reward style which requires both a higher bankroll and higher volume. It suits my style/strengths.

I also think you need to have a level of confidence (or cockiness) in order to succeed, and I have no problem showing it.

Continued:

My first online deposit was on pokerroom, when I bought in for $50 and brought it all to a .25/.50 table. I had heard about online poker from some friends who I played with who took a 15 minute break during a home game, won $300, and came back. That was a lot of money back then, and I had to get a taste. I discovered pokerroom and played with some play chips to get the feel, and finally made my first deposit. I had no concept of bankroll management, as I usually cashed in as much as was in my pocket in a live game. So I cashed in and lost it with all with AA in about 10 minutes. I still had no understanding of hand value, as I usually limped hands like Ax and suited hands and what not. It was definitely a different game, but with all the money involved I knew I had to get me some.

My next deposit came a couple weeks later. Having worked most summers making $15/hr coupled with my home game winnings I had enough to make a couple deposits. Seeing the nonstop commercials for partypoker eventually convinced me to deposit another $50. I took 2 buy ins of $25 to a .25/.50 table and lost them both, the last hand I still remember: I had AA on a 349 fop or so. I bet he raised, I literally have no idea what to do, and I remember my heart pounding and being ridiculously nervous. The turn goes check check, and I check the 7 river, he pushes, and naturally I call and he shows 97o. Realizing I needed to improve, I quit for a couple weeks and continued with my almost daily home game.

I soon got the itch again, and made another $50 deposit. Rather than focus on .25/.50 at party (the lowest limit at the time), I went to $5 sngos. These things were crazy, like 1000 chips, blinds went up way too fast, and the play was horrendous. I would grind 1 at a time, and I eventually reached $100 playing abc poker. Variance kicked in however, and I went back down to $0. Tired of party's crappy graphics, no buy ins lower than .25/.50, I went to pokerstars where my brother had been playing with play chips. I told myself I was going to do it right this time.

I cashed in $50 on pokerstars and made a goal to spend it very wisely. I completely changed my strategy, noticing I would lose a lot of hands on crappy Ax and Kx type hands, I told myself I was only going to play hands that I would normally raise. KT+, all pocket pairs, and suited Ax+. I would min buy in for $5 to the .1/.25 game and raise according to my hand value, like AT I would only raise to 70 cents, and AK to $1.50. Not an ideal strategy, but it was a start. I soon went to $150 over the course of 2 weeks, playing an hour or 2 every weeknight. I then entered a $20 tournament (figuring it couldn't be that hard, since I would dominate home tournaments), and final tabled, getting 8th or 9th, pushing my bankroll to $300. I then won a 3+rebuy to the Sunday Million, and cashed in the tournament dollars, pushing it to $500. At this point I felt like a baller. $500 was a good 50-100 hours of playing home games, and I had just done it in about 15. Summer was approaching, and I had no intention of getting a job the last summer of high school. Just the intention of making bank and getting ****faced.

Didn't mean to write a novel, ****. Will continue later.

What kind of notes you are taking on your opponents?

Also, how do you classify your opponents (preflop and postflop) ?