I've ordered Deep Work as well! There would seem to be parallels with the solo time spent practising a musical instrument; the same could be said about the practice of writing, which is seemingly more productive if one hibernates.

Awesome, thanks, bobbou. It's funny, I feel like I have "autonomy, mastery, purpose" etched into my brain as much as anything I've read in a book. Dan Pink really knows how to drive the main points home. I expect you'll like Deep Work a lot, too.

Excellent, and very good to hear from you, DrTJO! I miss reading your thread and am selfishly hoping your PGC adventures continue.

I think that's 100% accurate as to deep work and music and deep work and writing. The book The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle convincingly takes that view. That book is a very interesting read for anyone interested in how to optimize the process of improving at any given skill or task.

I'm surprised that Tampa made your short list but not south FL. Then again, I'm unfamiliar with the PLO scene down there, but there is constant action here at Tampa Hard Rock (5/5 all the time, 5/10 on weekends, and a bigger private game sometimes).

Admittedly I don't know much at all about the FL poker scene. I actually tossed Tampa into my list at the last second whereas the other cities were included after careful deliberation. However, as you mention, I do know that Tampa's known for having plentiful and good PLO action, I also know the cost of living is very reasonable (almost 1:1 to where I'm currently living), so I decided to include it. Right now I'm not considering south FL an option b/c I think it would be a bad cultural/crushing life fit for me.

Current spectrum of probabilities: Los Angeles 50% Baltimore/DC area 20% Phoenix 15% San Diego 10% Tampa 5%.

I had kind of a moment while waiting in a drive-thru line last night where it truly "hit" me how seriously I should consider moving. I started thinking through the logistics, could I move before WSOP? How would I get all of my stuff across the country? How much would it all cost? I started envisioning all the steps I would need to take. Then I started thinking about all of the things that I would miss here. I reached a level of more serious consideration of moving than I had previously. I could make a decision as soon as this week.

By nature I'm very much a creature of habit and inertia and big changes are a struggle for me, especially when I'm comfortable with where I'm at. But I made a big, dramatic change a few years back leaving the firm and I think that decision will prove one of the best that I've ever made. It might be time for another big change.

Los Angeles is the most appealing option to me right now because it's promising across a variety of different factors: great poker scene and I've noticed PLO has been more popular lately, constant availability of big games and greater diversity of options amongst poker variants, weather is amazing, my sister is going to be there at least another year and I have some other friends who live there, it probably has the best non-poker professional opportunities (especially if I want to do something writing-related), if I wanted to return to school the academic options are generally the best among the cities I'm considering, spiritually it's intriguing as people tend to be much more interested in mindfulness and eastern philosophy, it's only a 3-4 hour drive to Vegas, the women are more attractive and there's a larger % of single women my age, there are a lot of neat cultural things going on, etc.

The biggest downsides are: cost of living (1.5:1), brutal traffic, compared to some of the other options the moving process would be especially expensive and burdensome, like any new city I'd be worried about making new friends, I'd be especially far away from most of my family and friends, the poker scene has an oddly negative vibe to it and isn't near as friendly as what I'm used to, I'd most likely have to get my nl game back up to snuff and shake off the rust, etc.

Depends on what you're looking for man. Many people that aren't from here complain LA has all those things, plus the people here are way more direct/rude than other parts of the nation. I'm sure your sister can help you out and tell you more about than I can.

In regards to traffic.. I think it isn't that much of an issue if you are playing poker full time. It's pretty optimal to have a poker schedule that involves driving between noon-3pm and after 1am. Traffic doesn't play much of a role at those times. In LA it really depends.. but I'd say something like ~25-40% increased travel time v no cars on the road at non-peak hours, and ~150-500% during peak hours.

I think LA is probably the best play in your spot (given info I have from this thread). Also, I think you are probably better off making the move to LA instead of dedicating mental energy for hours over days when the differences are pretty marginal. I suspect a small increased effort in your dating/friendship life is going to make more of a difference than which major US city you choose (Esp if its DC area v LA).

Thanks for your thoughts, tmckendry, always appreciated.

I agree that traffic would probably be less of a problem for me than the majority or maybe even the vast majority of LA residents. The near 24/7 availability of games allows for a lot of schedule flexibility, so I'm sure I'd figure out a way to make traffic as little an annoyance as possible. When I visited LA last January, my schedule restricted me to driving to the casino around 3:30 pm, when traffic sucked and it usually took me around 50 mins to travel 15-16 miles. However, driving back around 9:00, it could take as short an amount of time as 28 minutes to get back to my sister's apartment.

I'm proceeding right now as if I'm going to be moving although I have't committed myself to it. I've been doing research on apartments & neighborhoods and have received a decent amount of help from my sister as well as 2p2. Apartments (or, at least, 1 BRs, I don't want a roommate) are a little pricier than I hoped but still affordable. I'm also making notes as to all the logistics I'd have to worry about in the event of a move. In addition I've been keeping a close eye on what's going on at the LA casinos poker-wise so that I'm aware which games/stakes I'd want to play and could jump right into them.

It might make sense to try to move by June 1 to conserve costs for the WSOP. That way, I'd have my own car on the west coast (saving me a lot in not having to get a rental car) and could have more flexibility to come and go from Vegas as I pleased during WSOP. If I go that route I'd want to travel to LA by flight some time beforehand to scout out apartments; my sister offered to help me and save me a trip but given she has two infant kids now and I may be living as far as an hour away I don't want her to do too much on my account. I'm also toying around with the idea of traveling out to Vegas in June as currently scheduled by flight, driving a rental car to LA to scout out apartments for a few days + then booking something, and then making the long drive from Ohio some time in July.

I agree that more effort on the dating front would yield better results than the mere act of moving. Regardless of whether I move or where I move I plan on doing a lot more in general and making my life less monotonous and solitary.

not sure how much they are but you could just pay one of those services to drive/tow your car to vegas for you. or offer a friend a place to stay a week and some meals or something to drive it out there for you and meet you out there.

Late to the party, but this **** legit made me laugh out loud. Slowly catching up, but enjoying it so far.

Also, the episode of LATB you were on Jan 2015 was mid-dated in the archives (Feb 27 instead of Jan). I made a comment, hopefully they'll fix it.

Thanks for the ideas. I wasn't aware car transport services like that existed.

*edit: Also, how about a PGC update for your fans?

Thanks for checking out the thread; welcome to the party! Funny you mention that about that LATB episode, I noticed I couldn't find it a few months ago when I was thinking about buying the video. Thanks for bringing the issue to their attention.

I just went back and checked for my other appearance from mid-late January 2014 featuring a lot more interesting hands (which involved me, anyways), and it appears to have completely disappeared. Bummer. Fortunately, I own that one.

Might be interested in staying in a WSOP grindhouse this summer if anyone is interested and has/knows of an opening. I just went through my WSOP expenses for each of the last few years and it's amazing how much I saved in 2014 by going that route.

Ideal house would be a quiet house with 3-4 dedicated, trustworthy grinders each with own means of transportation to get around Vegas. The "quiet" part is the most essential to me, would also need to have my own room.

Getting pretty excited as I'm taking another look at this summer's Vegas tournament schedules.

Excitement level power rankings for $565-$1500 WSOP $1500 events (not including generic NL/PLO events) that I can envision myself playing: 1) $1500 Eight Game Mix, 2) $1500 PLO8/O8/Big O, 3) $1500 Stud8, 4) $1500 NL/PLO, 5) $1500 Dealer's Choice, 6) $1500 Summer Solstice, 7) $565 PLO, 8) $565 Colussus II, 9) $1500 HORSE, 10) $1500 NL Six Max, 11) $888, 12) $1500 Monster Stack, 13) $1500 O8, 14) $1500 Mil Maker.

There are also a lot of neat other events going on around town and there's a decent possibility I end up playing a ton of PLO, PLO8, and Big O tournaments. I think my edge is largest in those variants as far as tournaments go.

Assuming I'm going to be in Vegas to play for any given tournament, the tournaments I'm most on the fence about playing among those listed above are the Dealer's Choice, the NL Six Max, the $1500 O8, and the Mil Maker.

The Dealer's Choice sounds like a lot of fun but I'm not sure how +EV I'd be. I'd probably sell a decent amount of action at little or no markup as I haven't played a couple of the games and have played less than an hour of several other ones. As for the Six Max, it's weird, it was the tournament I was most excited to play the last couple of years, I really love playing short-handed tournaments, I cashed it last year (w/ a pretty extensive TR posted in here) and I stone bubbled it the year before that, but my interest in it has dwindled a bit. Part of it has been that my nl game isn't as strong right now as it was at its peak, while I feel like my PLO game is stronger than ever. Not surprising as 70+% of my cash game volume over the last 1.5 years has been in PLO. I think I'm annoyed by the possibility that I'd play that particular tournament at less than my A game.

The $1500 O8 and the Millionaire Maker just don't interest me much but I included them b/c I could see myself potentially playing them. I continue to think fixed limit O8 is one of my weaker games and I'd more interested in playing the $600 O8 tournaments going down at other venues. As for the Mil Maker, it's only a little more appealing to me than a generic $1500 NL, which I don't typically play.

I helped organize a 20-40 HORSE game at a local club the other night. We ended up getting a great turnout and a solid game. It ended up being a lot of fun and it was satisfying intellectually in a way that NLHE and PLO haven't been for a long time. I was the biggest winner (+$1k) but didn't feel like I played that well. It was the first time I had played LHE, razz, stud, and stud8 in close to a year and I felt quite mentally rusty. Most of my profit came from LHE and stud8, whereas I lost pretty big in stud. In all the stud games my ability to form a quick mental snapshot of the upcards and their significance was absent after not having exercised that particular mental muscle in forever. We're going to try to keep the game going once a week until the WSOP, which would be perfect to refamiliarize my brain with these games.

Last weekend we had really good PLO games three nights in a row but I ran pretty bad, mostly in the form of running way below EV in allin pots (~$5k below EV). Fortunately, the damage to my BR was minimal as I only lost ~$1k over the three nights. I'm pleased that after a couple of frustrating nights on Thursday and Friday I was still able to play my A game on Saturday and book a big winner that turned a big losing weekend into a mild one.

I've been making some progress on the "crushing life" front in that I finally started a new hobby, yoga, signing up for a nearby studio's two week unlimited deal for new students. I purposefully picked the studio's least intense class for my first session but it was still quite intense, probably too intense; turns out this particular studio's mission is to cater more to experienced yoga students. I sweated more than I've sweated in years (partly b/c the room was a hot yoga room), and the soreness stayed with me for days. The second session was similarly challenging. Nevertheless, it felt physically and spiritually rewarding both times and I'm hoping to keep at it.

I've also been reading a ton and am on pace to exceed my goal of 25 books for 2016 by a comfortable margin. Among the aspects of my post-firm life that I'm happiest about is my freedom to prioritize reading.

Oh yeah, I have a beard now, for the first time since 2009. It just sort of happened without much conscious intention and then I felt pot-committed. Not sure I'll still be rocking it come WSOP-time but for now I'm enjoying the new look.

Finally, I read some articles on The Atlantic's web site today that I recommend reading. The second article in particular is worth a read, disturbing and eye-opening.

Why So Many Smart People Aren't Happy (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/...-happy/479832/)

Human Extinction Isn't That Unlikely (posits that we're more likely to die in a human extinction event than a car accident) (http://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...likely/480444/)

The Secret Shame of the American Middle Class (also eye-opening; cliffs: Americans are terrible with money, half of Americans would struggle to have $400 available in a pinch) (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...-shame/476415/)

Actually, the beard sounds like a good strategy to help combat the Arctic temps at the Rio during WSOP. Have you picked your sled dog team yet?

A big tournament series just started up at my main room. This weekend's $300 event ended up having one of the biggest turnouts ever for an Ohio tournament and ended up doubling the $100k gty.

I may do a more detailed write-up w/ some HHs later (spoiler: tourney isn't over yet), but the cliffs, in chronological order, are:
-Pretty humdrum first few hours. Lost 1/3 my stack in a cooler where me and villain both turned straights. But then won a decent pot on a bluff to get back to starting stack then kept chipping up from there.
-Won a huge pot with Q2ss on the BB in a multiway pot.
-Got dealt AA at the perfect time after an open, flat, and 20+bb squeeze and held against the squeezer's 88.
-Got dealt AA utg an orbit later and triple barrelled putting effective stack allin on river on KJ743 runout against BB defender and took out a sizable stack.
-After the second AA hand, I became the chipleader with 25% of the field left.
-Made a couple of different mistakes preflop in a hand and lost over 1/3 of my stack as a result, AQ < KK. One mistake was under-counting villain's stack by a decent margin. The other was not folding given the circumstances. Might write more about this one later.
-Bagged average stack heading into day 2 w/ 14% field left.

Restart is in a couple hours. The structure for day 2 is great, so I'm hoping for big things, especially given I'm on my home turf and know this field pretty well. ~$37k up top.

Lol, true, the Rio is so very cold. The year Negreanu went on a twitter crusade about it was especially bad.

gl gl!

Your recent poast re Atlantic articles reminded me of a website/app you might enjoy: http://longform.org/app/. Lots of good stuff from all the best publications.

Busted halfway ITM, a familiar story. Thought I played pretty well, but I couldn't overcome going 0/3 in allins. HHs of the most notable hands (feedback welcome):

Pre-ITM

HH1: 79 players left, 63 paid. I have 110k at 2k-4k-500. It gets folded to me in the CO and I have K9o. BTN is an older lady w/ a 27bb stack who desperately wants to make the $ and I expect to be folding a huge % of hands if I open. Blinds each have ~8.5bb. I open to 8k. BTN folds. SB folds. BB shoves 34.5k. I need 35% equity to be neutral EV. I call. BB has TT and I don't get there.

HH2: 74 players left, 63 paid. I'm on the BB with As3h and have 74k at 2k-4k-500. BTN opens to 12k for the full 3x. SB folds. I ask BTN if he can move his hands so I can see his stack (125k). As he reacts I get a strong sense he's going to fold to a shove. In addition, I have a blocker to a strong Ax hand and if he wakes up with a pocket pair I'll still have 30% equity. I decide it's worth the risk and I shove. He tanks for a min then folds, open mucking an ace.

HH3: 68 players left, 63 paid. Blinds 2.5k-5k-500. HJ shoves 34k. Folded to me on BB and I have A7o (115k stack). I call. He has QJdd. I lose.

HH4: 66 players left, 63 paid. Blinds now 3k-6k-500. Utg+2 shoves 59k. Folded to me on BB; I have 120k and pocket fives. I fold.

HH5: 65 players left, 63 paid. Blinds 3k-6k-500. I have ~100k. BTN is older guy (200k) whose limping range is demonstrably weak based on history. BTN open limps. I have 56o in SB and BB is older lady who desperately wants to make the $ who has 14bb. I feel like it's +chipEV to shove any two cards given I am pretty sure a shove gets through 75+% of the time. I ultimately elect to fold.


ITM

HH6: Halfway ITM. First hand at 4k-8k-1k. I have 67k in SB. I peel my cards and I have TT. Folds to BTN who open jams 175k. I snap call. BB folds. BTN has JJ. I lose. I'm out of the tournament.

Thanks, bob! I'll check out that site, sounds like my kind of thing. And nice, interesting interview posted today!

All of these were good.

Although the mathematical probablility that we'll kill ourselves (and a lot of other species) off is disturbingly high the third article stuck with me the most. I've been involved in the poker/gambling world for a long time now, and in this world $400 (or $1k) is not much money, not enough to get very excited about winning or losing.

But this article reminded me of a remark I heard at an underground poker table in PG County Maryland some 20 years ago. I was sitting next to a guy we called "Charlie Pipe", the nickname due to his penchant for calling a bad beat "taking the pipe". He was something of a "wannabe" and talked so much that we all kind of hated to sit next to him, but he was "good for the game" as they say. This night a losing reg lost his last $500 and they wouldn't give him more "book" so he left. Charlie piped up with "you know, $500 is not much money here but it's really a lot of money in the real world".

And so it is as the Atlantic article vividly illustrates.

I've pared my mag subscriptions down to one, but this post reminds me Atlantic is worth the price and I probably should reconnect.

Finished 3rd in a $235 PLO tournament for ~$2k. It was an interesting experience. I could have chopped and been given first place 3 ways as slight CL but I asked for decently more than ICM and the other two players seemed like they were about to agree then balked at last second. Ended up busting in gigantic pot for chiplead as a big favorite. No regrets. Will write more later.

Thanks for checking the articles out. Charlie's quote is spot-on; it's always interesting to me how casually someone will loan someone $2k at the poker table when such a request irl would be perceived as asking a gigantic favor. Obviously there are some legitimate cultural reasons for that discrepancy/gap between the poker world and the real world, but I've heard so many stories of people getting stiffed that I'm surprised by how easily money flows among regs. There is less than a handful of people I would ever lend to and none of them have ever asked. I try to take the policy that I will almost never ask for loans and almost never give them.

That's a good policy to have, IMO. With the qualifier "almost never" of course

I never loan money within the confines of a casino. Ask me for a reasonable sum outside the casino and odds are good I'll help you out.

Yesterday was Day 1A of the biggest local tournament of the year ($1,115 buyin; likely $75k+ up top).

It's been kind of a whirlwind week between lots of poker and other obligations and not much sleep. On Tuesday, the above-mentioned PLO tourney ended up going from 3pm-3:30am and after that I needed a few hours at home to unwind and let the adrenaline run its course. The next day, I played a 7.5 hour session of 20-40 HORSE which went deep into the night (brag: booked another solid win). Between those two nights, I didn't get much sleep. Thursday night, I had a family event all night that precluded me from being able to play poker, which was fine since I felt like I needed a day off to rest anyways. Unfortunately, despite going to bed early by my standards (2:30), I woke up at 8 and couldn't fall back asleep, despite feeling completely exhausted the night before.

I felt way more mentally foggy than I would have liked, but I decided since I was awake prior to the start time (11:15) and wasn't sure what my sleep situation would look like Saturday (Day 1B), I'd play and try my best to maintain my A game throughout.

Looking around, it was apparent immediately that this field was the toughest of any tournament my home casino has ever hosted. Lots of Ohio/Midwest crushers. Fortunately, my starting table was one of the better ones and I was one of only two or three pros seated there.

First couple of hours, not much happened. I didn't really get any hands, but I managed to chip up just a bit above starting stack. Then, at the 100-200-25 level, the following hand occurred:

HH1: Blinds 100-200-25. My stack is 21.5k from 20k starting. UTG is an older Asian player who has played very few hands, so I've pegged him as tight. He raises to 550 (stack 28k). Folded to me in HJ. I have AdKd. I 3bet to 1450. SB is a good, tight player I've played with before. He flats. UTG calls quickly.

Flop: KxTd8d (4775) Gin! SB checks, UTG checks, I bet 2300. SB flats. UTG raises to 10,000. Oh hell no.

I start thinking about his range. I have the nfd, so I know he doesn't have that, and I doubt he's raise-calling many two diamond hands from UTG, so it seems like his only diamond holdings are QJdd and J9dd but both seem rather unlikely given the tight player profile. I'm also skeptical he has KT, although he might have T8, but that also seems unlikely. It looks so much like a set.

Can I really just fold here? I want to. I start agonizing, now a minute into the tank. I'm ready to throw the hand away. Then I envision myself sitting at my seat after mucking wondering for hours whether I made an absurd fold. I think of all the combo draws I dominate, and a small part of me whispers he can have AKo even though I'm very skeptical that's the case. I realize if I shove (the only non-fold move), I only need 37-38% equity given the size of the pot for the shove to be +chipEV, and against a set, the worst case scenario, I still have 31%. I finally decide I'd just feel too silly folding this even though my instincts are screaming he has a set. I slide my stack forward. The pro next to me who's been watching the hand says, "aces are no good" before I turn over my hand. I tell him I would have folded aces a long time ago.

SB folds quickly. UTG snap calls. He has a set of eights. I don't get there.

I sit there in a daze. The very unlikely event of busting really quickly into a very deep tournament I've been waiting for for a year has manifested itself. This sucks. Despite not feeling great mentally, I feel like I've been playing well and I'm still not sure about the sleep situation for Saturday (Day 1B). I decide to go ahead and fire another bullet.

HH2: My new table is the worst in the room, but I've been getting dealt hands and applying pressure successfully in spots I haven't had hands. My stack is up to 30k from 20k starting stack.

Blinds 150-300-25. It gets folded to me in the SB. BB is a player with one of the best tournament pedigrees in Ohio. I've never played with him before, but I've known his name for a long time and based on the little I've played with him at this table he seems very solid.

I peel my cards, KcQc. I open to 900. He defends pretty quickly.

Flop AcTd8s (2000). I bet 800. He calls.

Turn Jc (3600). The ultimate gin card. I bet 2500. He tanks for a good while. It looks like he's contemplating raising. Please, please, please, please raise, I think. I find myself wondering what I'm going to bet upon either a brick or a club, deciding I'm going to bet pretty huge. Finally he calls.

River Ax (8600). My mental fogginess has caught up to me because I have no clue how to respond to this card. I got so caught up with pleasant surprise at the turn I failed to think much about villain's range. Finding myself unsure what's optimal, I check. Villain checks back pretty quickly, then mucks after I table my hand. Immediately, I feel like I made a big mistake by checking and it seems like a clear b/f spot. Given how strong my line looks, I don't think villain can ever raise me w/ worse or bluff raise me; I mean, it looks like I have a full house, not broadway. And, if he has an ace, I should be able to get a large bet paid. I also should have a splashy image given I have won like 5 out of the last 15 pots. The hand bothers me as I continue to play, as I'm upset I got caught offguard by the ace river and potentially missed getting a large bet's worth of value.

A couple orbits later, I get moved back to my first table. A few hands later the following hand occurs:

HH3: Blinds 200-400-50. Table is 7 handed. My stack is 32k. UTG is a decent player who won a small tournament recently (stack 38k). He raises to 800. I 3bet to 2300 with AsKs. Everyone folds to him. He calls.

Flop 9s8d4s (5550) He checks, I bet 3100. He raises to 10,000. Suddenly I can feel my mental composure disintegrating. Such a similar spot to the other hand. I mean, really? I want to fold, and it strikes me that had I been well-rested I would fold just as I may have HH1, but my sense of being "over it" is so strong folding feels out of the question. I jam, thinking against some parts of what his range should be I have decent fold equity; I can get TT-JJ to fold, probably. And, I'm doing well against combo draws like JTss. But, again, I feel convinced he has a set, possibly top two this time, and I dread seeing his hand. He snap calls my jam. He has 89hh for top two.

The turn is dealt. I realize instantly it's a spade. Sweet! Wait, no. Oh no. It's the 8s. He has a full house. I'm drawing dead.

My second bullet is down the drain in less than 6 hours of play in a very deep tournament structure. I'd been waiting to play this tourney for a year and heading into it I felt like my tournament mindset was very solid. I was excited and felt like I was well-situated to pursue a big score. Now I'm out for two bullets in record time. Unreal.

I decide not to fire another bullet, either yesterday or today. Which is really unfortunate, as I am familiar with a huge % of the field and it will be another year before my casino hosts another tournament of this magnitude.

On the bright side, I had cashed enough in the other tournaments to offset the $2200 loss of the two bullets. And I've had a really nice run in cash lately over each PLO, NL, and HORSE. 2016 overall has still been great for poker results.

I probably won't play another tournament until the WSOP, but I feel like I'm ready to make some noise when I do.

Rough spots DJ. Think you played both fine.

Are you going to be selling action for WSOP?

Thanks, Doc. I've run the spots by a few tourney pro friends and they agree that H1 and H3 are pretty gross spots. I wish they hadn't occurred during the biggest local tourney of the year, but so it goes sometimes. Poker is a series of decisions and some of them are tougher than others.

My plan was to win this particular tournament and then have all of my own WSOP action.

Now that I know I won't be binking a big score pre-WSOP, I plan on selling some action for at least the early $1k+ events. I don't intend on creating a comprehensive WSOP package; instead, I'll probably create smaller packages as necessary as the series progresses. The first package will probably include some combination of the $1500 Dealer's Choice (at no or minimal markup), $1500 HORSE, and $1500 NL 6 Max.

My current plan for this summer is to focus on non-nl events while still playing some of the highest value nl events.

I'm hoping that no one who has been active in this thread gets shut out of action. I try to give priority when possible to past investors, irl friends, and 2p2ers who have posted in here.