Out in 47th of 1315 entries for an even $1000. Need to really work on my short stacking. I was clueless.

I have 12bb left, folds to me in the CO, I have QJs and go with it, but run into A10o in the sb and he calls, the rest fold, and he holds.

Fully caught the tournament bug after a recent hot run. Continuing to stick with my plan: two days of cash grinding per week, but if a tournament is going on that I can attend, let that take precedent. I'm definitely not a huge tournament shark, but I still think the fields are soft enough to where I should prioritize these over my two weekly cash sessions when I'm able. I've booked my room for the PokerAtlas $1.5M GTD in Dallas at the end of August. Plan is to fire in two Day 1 flights and stick around in Dallas for Day 2 and 3 if my crazy run happens to continue. In the meantime, I'm studying 50bb stack opening ranges and relearning short stack play. My shoving ranges this last tournament were horrificly large, I'm quickly learning. Also still using GTO+ and watching Houston livestreams to get back into hold'em. My first strictly hold'em cash game session in over a year will be this Saturday at Legends.

Regarding my Humans of Houston Poker idea, I really just need to either nut up and ask people if I can interview them and take their picture or scrap the idea. Thing is, I'm typically a very outgoing, social guy who has no problem striking up conversation with a stranger. I think when it comes to requesting something of them, though, I get a bit offput about asking for their time.

For the PLO folks that read, don't fret! I still plan on incorporating PLO action into my grinding. Just about 50/50 with hold'em for the forseeable future.

Sounds fun gl!


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Folded a chop pot at showdown and got asked if I was a part of a white supremacy group all in one session!
After checking out the lone hold'em table at Legends, I noticed the biggest stack was $350 and there were lots of $100ish stacks in front of older guys. Decided to stick to PLO for the day.

Down about $180 from my original $600 buy-in, I'm heads up in a bomb pot where I flopped trips on one board and rivered my Qhigh flush draw on the other board (with the Ace on the board for 2nd nuts). I get all my money in on the river heads up vs a Legends regular named Andrew, who I thought said "I have the nuts on both boards." He asked what I had, and I told him I had the second nut flush and trips on the bottom as I muck. He looks at me confused and thien tables his hand for the K high flush in one board (indeed the nuts) but 4th pair on the other board. I mucked a chop. The dealer mentions that he also thought Andrew said "I have the nuts on both boards." The accountability isn't lost on me, though. I just need to table my damn hand and issues like this wouldn't even come up. 9 years of live play and I'm still mucking bad at showdown. I quickly get up. Shouldn't be playing if I'm doing crap like that.

Before that at my first table, I notice the guy to my left (an older white guy) looking at me for the first 5 hands or so without saying anything to me. He finally asks if the lightning bolt stud that I have in my left ear "means anything." I tell him no, it doesn't mean anything, assuming he thinks it means I'm gay.

"Usually when young men have a lightning bolt in their ear, it means something," he continues.

"Well, I just liked it, so I picked it out," I reassure him, keeping it friendly.

Finally, he quits beating around the bush: "The W.O.O.D.S. love the lightning bolt," and looks at me, eyebrows raised. W.O.O.D.S. refers to Whites Only One Day Soon, a hate group that I think mostly exists in the prison system, but clearly is active outside bars as well. "I used to hang around at their little meetings," he claimed aloud. I just said I didn't know that about them.

He asked me one more time if I was positive I didn't know about that. "Nope. I just liked the lightning bolt."

-$600, -rare racial profiling, I left Legends and am spending the rest of the day at home. TCH Spring on Monday to play hold'em - for real this time.

LMAO just laughing to myself thinking "What if I asked that guy to be my first interview for Humans of Houston Poker?"

I can picture it now.......

"are you SURE you've never dragged anyone behind your pickup? You drive a pickup, right? And I know white supremacists like doing that sort of thing"

no updates? you ok?

Hmu if you're ever in Dallas, the degen to reg ratio at the two TCH locations here are pretty good

Yes, all good. I still grind $1/$3 PLO at least twice a week at TCH Spring.

I let the blog go for a bit after I had an uncomfortable situation happen at a cardroom here in Houston. It affected my volume for a bit, but as of mid September, I have been back grinding and studying as usual. Approaching 1100 hours and making a little under $40/hr.

A word to all about poker in Houston: I think the Houston rooms, even the ones operating on a membership basis, are a ticking time bomb. Reckon it's only a matter of time before something occurs at one of these raked cardrooms and they take all the rooms in the area down with it. I don't really have an estimated timeline or anything of the sort but as raked rooms become the majority and membership rooms the minority, the brewing uneasyness of the legality can't be ignored forever. The regulars I speak with are more optimistic than me but I can't help but feel this way about the future of the rooms. Not here to start a debate; just my thoughts.

Future plans for me: mayyyyybe fire the blog back up again? Nothing has become less interesting since my last post, and I liked to have others review big hands. Just a matter of sticking to it. I got a promotion at work on Monday, but it shouldn't affect my grinding much. Still working from home.

Uneventful updates > no updates imo

Any plans to travel for circuits? Next wsop?

What was the uncomfortable situation in houston

Short version: Another player threatened to kill me at the table while playing and I let it affect me for a good while. That was back in early August. Sorry for being cryptic about this in my original message. Just didn't want to discuss.


As far as tournament event travel goes, specifically circuits, I've really toned that down since there are amazing tournies with good guarantees and similar buy-in levels that run here in Houston that I have prioritized over travel.

That said, I do have a few Vegas trips planned at the moment. In mid-December I'm heading out there to check out the WPT event at Wynn (will likely just grind cash), I have an airbnb with some other grinders for Super Bowl weekend (will definitely just grind cash), and then WSOP 2024 is not booked, but I don't see myself missing it right now.

Getting some hands in once again in the PPPoker group ran by the PLO YouTubers. Avoiding the pro who I lost about 700bbs heads up to awhile back and just playing full ring. Dude has a $250K hendonmob with recent results; doesn't mean great player every time, but it does for him. He's an absolute shark and as of WSOP he was up $55000 in the club alone. As for me, I'm up $1K this month after four sessions on the app. We'll continue to grind there a bit and see how it goes. Playing the same style that I do at TCH Spring.

I haven't played live yet this month. Last session was Halloween up at Spring. I went to a buddy's bachelor party in Austin this weekend. Will play again tomorrow, but then will have another weekend off to go to my brother's wedding out of state. Readers, weigh in: is gifting money specifically toward the honeymoon a good wedding gift? Will update tomorrow with live results and HH. The blog's back, but the busy month may result in limited updates. December should be awesome though with the Vegas trip and less travel plans other than that.

totally fine to give money as a wedding gift. most people request $ these days. doesn't matter where it goes. even if you're handcuffing it to the honeymoon, still fine.

-$850 yesterday. Only big hand from last night:

QhJs9h8s in MP. We call a $15 raise and see a flop 5 ways: Jc3h4c. It checks to me, I check, and next to act in the CO leads for $30. This guy in particular I have seen hit quads and a straight flush in the same night, amass a $3K stack, and leave with nothing after playing every hand and pissing it away. He is a gambler. In this session, he raised to $30 preflop in EP with 8523 with three hearts. It folds to me and we call $30. Against stronger players, I muck here.

$135 pot, turn is 9d, giving us top 2 pair. I check to him, and he leads for $75. Don't think we can do anything but call. River 9s. At this point i just think he has a ton of air, or value like 33xx or 44xx. I think he has a lot of leads that are air or that I beat, so I check to him with c/r intentions, and he fires for pot. I shove, he calls, and manages to have JJ38 for flopped top set, rivered 2nd nuts.

The guy who threatened to kill me has been perma-banned from Legends. His tale is a bit more sordid than that from what I hear. He used to pull up to Legends in his sports car, buy in, and try and bum buy-ins off of strangers when he'd lose. Recently, he mentioned to a few Legends regulars that he lost his car and apartment and was now homeless, and sleeping in the Legends massage chair and living there, buying in for $100 at a time.

I want to note that I don't wish this on anyone and hope the best for him. D, if you are reading this (you mentioned you had before), please reach out to me, and I am happy to help you get a resume in order to start job hunting free of charge. That said, it will be nice to be able to return to Legends and feel okay about it. I plan on doing so tomorrow. There is also a flight for a $100K tournament tomorrow at 5 PM. So, I'll play some Legends $1/$3 in the morning, head to TCH Houston for the $100K flight, and that'll be that.

On my way home from my younger brother's wedding now. We had a lovely time. Being around Christian folk makes me realize that I wish I had a strong conviction in something like they do in their love for God!

Great start upon my return to Legends. Booked a $700 afternoon win. The big hand was AA210cc. We saw a flop 5 ways after a $30 raise preflop. Flop came 227cc. I checked in the SB, MP - crazier guy with a wide range - leads for pot. I repot, he shoves all in for about $700 and I snap. A2 is good, and we go ahead and make the nut flush without him boating up. Left for a bit and ate food and drove around, but decided to return to Legends to play more instead of firing in the hold'em tournament at TCH Houston. Currently up $385 in this session. I called a raise from the small blind (button straddle was on) from the cutoff with A876ss. Flop came all hearts. This drunk guy was c-betting everything, so I repot with nary a heart in my hand when he led for $60 here. He folded.

This guy at my table keeps talking to his dead relative out loud in an attempt to get some dead guy luck from him. "I know you hear me, Clyde!" he hollers during a hand. "You know I need some help here."

He confirmed with the table that Clyde is his dead cousin.

About to cash out and book a four figure win here, $1085. Grateful for the rungood and good action today.

Rip clyde

We hardly knew ya

I had the day off of work yesterday having taken off some while ago for my brother's out of state wedding. I decided to head back to Legends around noon since I had done well Sunday and had a table tennis lesson that evening in the same neighborhood. Since my life is pretty sedentary, and I always tend to follow through more with hobbies, I took up table tennis after playing a virtual relaity table tennis game for about a year. Playing in real life has been great fun. I've been taking lessons from a Japanese fellow that used to represent their national team each week in Chinatown a couple miles away from Legends. But I digress!

I won $135 in my session, in for $800. I was sitting on about $525 when this action player in MP raises to $30. I'm in the CO and look down at AAQJhh. To my left on the button is a guy who has a little under 100 and is holding his entire stack in his hand, clearly ready to cross the line with it. I call, and sure enough, that's what he does instantly. MP just calls the $97 with about $175 behind. I shove, and he calls. The board runs out K4525, and AA55K is good. MP has KT83 one suit. Button did not show - guessing QQxx or JJxx.

Before then, I got needled by two guys for being tight, and it affected me mentally. It is again time to acknowledge what a giant wuss I am when it comes to these situations. As if to prove a point, two hands after the needling, I called off $200 preflop with JJT3 one suit against a shove of a guy who just sat down. Love to tout my mental game as a strength of mine, but how good can it be if I let guys like these get to my head and affect my play? Especially at Legends where there are more folks with these kinds of abrasive tendencies, I must take care to have some kind of mental resolve or response to them instead of letting it affect me.

There is another $100K at TCH Houston this week. My gameplan is to grind PLO up at Spring tomorrow, fire in the $300 $100K tournament on Friday, family Thanksgiving stuff this weekend, Day 2 of the $100K Monday if I make it. +$370 so far for November..

I haven't played ping pong in years, but love to play. Let me know next time you come to Dallas and maybe we can meet up for a game. There's a room in Dallas, Peaks, that apparently has a table. I haven't been there, but I see it on Atlas.

Oh, that's an absolute must-visit if true. I daydream about the poker rooms here having a table. Sounds good!

Took a little over a week off. Looking like I'm splitting up with my gf of two years here in the near future. My priorities have shifted within the past two years, admittedly, and I've watched her set goals for herself and for us, and fail over and over. I love hear dearly and she was very loyal, but not my life partner. Time to move on.

Playing my first session in 10 days today; did not end up firing in the $100K at TCH Houston. At TCH Spring tonight, there is a $40K GTD, $135 buy-in, $75 add on. I'm firing a PLO session here now, then hopping in the tournament this evening.

Bluffed in a big spot and got caught. I have $1400, main villain in this hand has about $1600. He had been getting rowdy and showing up at showdown with crap. I have ATT3ss. Main villain from EP raises to $30 off the $6 button straddle and I call from MP. Main villain is in CO. We go 7 ways to a 589 flop, one spade. It checks around. Turn is 3s, giving us nfd. Checks to me I decide to fire for pot with plans to bluff rivers that don't change the nuts. I get 4 callers. River is 2h. I go ahead and fire again as planned when checked to. Folds to EP, last guy I have to get through. He counts out $1130 in chips, and as he's counting, all I can think about is what a terrible bluffing spot this is and how I already know he is calling.

He calls, and I sheepishly mention he's good and turn over my TTxx. He turns over the 89xx for top 2.

My thoughts: Yes, he was weak here on the river, but against players who are not folding 2p against one of the tightest players at the table (which, I knew this about him) its a terrible bluff - let alone into three others.

Don't feel like staying for the tourney. Maybe my mental is off because of the crap going on with my girl. About to head back home. In for $1400, out for zippo

The problem here is the 3 is a terrible card to bluff with a pot-sized bet, just what are you repping after you checked a 985 flop and the 3 hits the turn? The nuts haven't changed, so your bet doesn't really convey a believable story given the board texture.