Week 43: 10/21-10/27

1.) 0 mins of meditation

2.) 0 mins of yoga

3.) 18.88 hours dedicated to Poker Yearly Goal: 1278.81/2200


Where to Start?

As evidenced above, very little poker was played. About 90% of the time spent on poker was coaching and a bit of studying, I played very little. I mostly spent my time with Victoria while we waited to hear for her surgery date. The fire I had the previous week to grind some poker was completely gone; I had zero desire to play and in general have felt fairly anxious even thinking of grinding.

I am not going to beat myself up for this obviously. Spending time with my wife and family just seemed to take precedence.

With everything in limbo, we got the call from the hospital and got the news that Victoria will be going through a valve sparing procedure on November 15th, it is open heart surgery.

Procedure

It's about a 3-4 hour procedure, followed by two days in the ICU and then another 4-5 days in the hospital. Immediately after the procedure, she will be on a ventilator (and this will probably be hardest party for me and family) to help her breathe until she can breathe on her own after a day or two.

Thankfully, the doctor doing the surgery is top of the line and specializes in Marfan patients; there is less than a 1% of complications.

Recovery

Extremely fatigued for the next few weeks, can't drive or lift. Will have sleeping pattern of a baby. She'll be out of work for about 2 months. 6-8 week recovery time for the sternum to heal, and she won't feel herself for about a year. Unfortunately, her work policy has her use all her sick days and PTO before using any family emergency time off. As a result, we are most likely postponing the honeymoon to a later date.

Thankfully, we won't have to cancel the wedding but she probably won't be a 100%.

Scramble

With the surgery date known, we had to reschedule her bridal shower (orig. the 16th) and were lucky enough to be able to move it to the 3rd, and I'm still able to go to my bachelor party. With all this news, we've also fallen a bit behind schedule as far as wedding, although that's the furthest thing from our mind.


Mental Game

I'm anxious, and obviously pretty scared. I can only imagine how Victoria feels; in general, I'm trying to keep her upbeat by focusing on the positive and she's doing great in that regard. I definitely think it's important that I keep a cool head during this process, which I think I'm doing, although to be completely honest I am probably more nervous than I let on (Blessing of having a blog that is mostly unread from family members )

The Beauty of Poker

Playing a game for a living is awesome. Of course there's cons to it, dealing with financial stress etc etc. But the flexibility this game gives me to take as much time off as I need to is such a great thing that I really take for granted sometimes.

I think this process definitely opened up my eyes as far as how lucky I am to have a job where I can take off any time I want; and this is especially true during her recovery. I've always said that Id probably play poker for 6-8 years overall; but the flexibility the game gives me (+ I still enjoy the heck out of it) makes me think I'll play it until I don't enjoy it anymore.


God works in mysterious ways...One Big Silver Lining

I come from a Christian faith so when I was younger I always heard the phrase 'God works in mysterious ways' or 'It's a blessing in disguise' from my Mother. Usually this phrase followed an act or event that was bad, but I can't help but keep replaying the phrase in my head.

This is something I've said to Victoria in regards to the surgery, using my reasoning as getting it over with...won't have to get the procedure when we have kids later through IVF...will soothe your anxiety etc etc.

And then we got a call on October 25th from her cardiologist at about quarter past 4, saying if the procedure goes well, the surgery (which we assumed she wouldn't have to get til her 40's) will allow her to get pregnant and carry her own child.

Life's funny like that.

Wow. Congratulations!!

great news about her being able to get pregnant man.
Wonderful to hear


take a few weeks off dude and get your girl through this, money aint everything .

again prayers and wishing you two the best.

Have always came back and read over this, truly inspiring stuff on and off the felt. GL and glad you are keeping your head on straight, well done my dude!

Best of luck, experiences like that only makes us stronger and more connected!!

Thanks man, always nice to have a PGC legend drop by

Thanks again Barney, yeah the back half of November there will be probably zero poker played as I'll be in the hospital for a week, and then mostly spending time w wife first 2 weeks of recovery.

Thanks man, I try to stay as level headed as possible; and tbh when ever I'm going through a rut or being hard on myself and flip through this and my earlier PGC to kinda put in perspective the progress I've made.

Yep, couldn't agree more.



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I have my bachelor party this week with about 10 of my closest friends this weekend in Montreal, will be really nice to kick back and have some fun.

Going to try to put in a few hours with the Poker, definitely want a few decisions back last few sessions, but in general playing fairly strong poker.

One of the more satisfying feelings in poker, (at least for me) is working on a topic off the table and seeing tangible results on the table. Just need to not level myself sometimes

And looking for some advice ITT here. For Victoria's recovery, the doctors suggested propped upright like on a recliner, so any great recliners advice, have done a bunch of research but if any has suggestions with personal use I could def take their suggestion

Week 44: 10/28-11/3

1.) 0 mins of meditation

2.) 0 mins of Yoga

3.) 10.55 hours dedicated to Poker Yearly Goal: 1289.36/2200


Poker


I played very little this week, and in general for the month. Played about 25k hands for the month which is probably my lowest in quite some time.

I also ended up down -16k for by far worst weekend of the year and probably up there with the career. I think play was fine, but mixing 1k/2k games and it will happen.

November will be light, but going to try to play when I can and given the downswing will probs drop the 2k for now, also did some meditation today and def made me feel great.


Bachelor Party

Was a ton of fun and much needed weekend away, besides getting very intoxicated (still paying for it). Went for whiskey tasting, knives and axe throwing, and did a rage room which was a ton of fun. I have no pics currently but will share as they come around.

Also got private strippers for just the right amount of degeneracy. We had to leave at 4AM to get back to NJ for the bridal shower, unfortunately border patrol thought I was smuggling (in reality just incredibly tired from a long weekend) and spent 45 mins searching an empty car.

Bridal Shower

Really well done. Wife was happy and distracted (which is best thing right now). We got an absolutely absurd amount of gifts and now our living room is full.

In general, a -16k week would really suck but just being around our closest friends for the weekend + all the support made it a pretty good weekend.

Mini Coaching Hiatus

Will be taking off all of November re: coaching to spend more time with Vic, just want to give a shout to the BTS community for making it easy and the support they've given me too!

Poker hands

1.) Horrific c/b by reg on river, YES I AM SALTY

PokerStars - $10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: $565.17 (VPIP: 51.62, PFR: 5.68, 3Bet Preflop: 1.55, Hands: 379)
CO: $1,367.06 (VPIP: 25.11, PFR: 19.92, 3Bet Preflop: 8.65, Hands: 64,494)
BTN: $1,022.00 (VPIP: 31.47, PFR: 20.74, 3Bet Preflop: 6.10, Hands: 36,237)
SB: $1,617.03 (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 20.46, 3Bet Preflop: 8.61, Hands: 136,079)
Hero (BB): $1,366.64

SB posts SB $5.00, Hero posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has J Q

fold, fold, BTN raises to $25.00, fold, Hero raises to $120.00, BTN calls $95.00

Flop: ($245.00, 2 players) 8 Q 9
Hero checks, BTN bets $100.00, Hero calls $100.00

Turn: ($445.00, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, BTN bets $200.00, Hero calls $200.00

River: ($845.00, 2 players) 3
Hero checks, BTN checks

Hero shows J Q (Flush, Queen High)
(Pre 70%, Flop 42%, Turn 32%)
BTN mucks T J (Straight, Queen High)
(Pre 30%, Flop 58%, Turn 68%)
Hero wins $842.00


2.) Got overzealous here in general vs good reg, I don't think it's the worst play though.

partypoker - $20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: $2,526.07 (VPIP: 30.55, PFR: 23.96, 3Bet Preflop: 9.91, Hands: 13,808)
MP: $1,930.43 (VPIP: 33.68, PFR: 18.32, 3Bet Preflop: 5.50, Hands: 3,775)
CO: $2,266.50 (VPIP: 31.41, PFR: 23.76, 3Bet Preflop: 10.77, Hands: 27,923)
BTN: $3,003.52 (VPIP: 29.25, PFR: 23.50, 3Bet Preflop: 11.31, Hands: 53,671)
SB: $2,084.00 (VPIP: 26.78, PFR: 19.90, 3Bet Preflop: 8.07, Hands: 14,569)
Hero (BB): $2,415.25

SB posts SB $10.00, Hero posts BB $20.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $30.00) Hero has 5 6

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $50.00, fold, Hero calls $30.00

Flop: ($110.00, 2 players) 5 2 8
Hero checks, BTN bets $55.00, Hero raises to $180.00, BTN calls $125.00

Turn: ($470.00, 2 players) 9
Hero bets $562.00, BTN calls $562.00

River: ($1,594.00, 2 players) Q
Hero bets $1,623.25 and is all-in, BTN calls $1,623.25

Hero shows 5 6 (One Pair, Fives)
(Pre 34%, Flop 49%, Turn 18%)
BTN shows 9 T (Flush, Queen High)
(Pre 66%, Flop 51%, Turn 82%)
BTN wins $4,836.00


3.) Weak reg doing things

partypoker - $2 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $559.44 (VPIP: 26.84, PFR: 20.74, 3Bet Preflop: 8.55, Hands: 5,923)
Hero (BB): $235.37

SB posts SB $1.00, Hero posts BB $2.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $3.00) Hero has 8 9

SB raises to $5.00, Hero raises to $21.00, SB calls $16.00

Flop: ($42.00, 2 players) 2 8 A
Hero bets $13.69, SB calls $13.69

Turn: ($69.38, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, SB bets $35.00, Hero calls $35.00

River: ($139.38, 2 players) 4
Hero checks, SB bets $69.44, Hero calls $69.44

SB shows 7 7 (One Pair, Sevens)
(Pre 54%, Flop 9%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows 8 9 (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 46%, Flop 91%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins $277.76


4.) Another over zealous bluff

PokerStars - $20 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $2,000.00 (VPIP: 26.72, PFR: 19.37, 3Bet Preflop: 7.99, Hands: 8,145)
UTG: $2,000.00 (VPIP: 31.66, PFR: 16.50, 3Bet Preflop: 5.48, Hands: 2,019)
CO: $2,211.38 (VPIP: 32.89, PFR: 23.52, 3Bet Preflop: 9.74, Hands: 8,959)
Hero (BTN): $2,134.25
SB: $2,071.12 (VPIP: 34.11, PFR: 20.15, 3Bet Preflop: 9.95, Hands: 1,684)

SB posts SB $10.00, BB posts BB $20.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $30.00) Hero has J T

fold, fold, Hero raises to $50.00, fold, BB calls $30.00

Flop: ($110.00, 2 players) 6 K 8
BB checks, Hero bets $53.25, BB calls $53.25

Turn: ($216.50, 2 players) 7
BB checks, Hero bets $160.00, BB calls $160.00

River: ($536.50, 2 players) K
BB checks, Hero bets $399.75, BB calls $399.75

Hero shows J T (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 40%, Flop 5%, Turn 9%)
BB shows Q K (Three of a Kind, Kings)
(Pre 60%, Flop 95%, Turn 91%)
BB wins $1,332.50

Week 44: 11/4-11/10

1.) 0 mins of meditation

2.) 0 mins of Yoga

3.) 12.35 hours dedicated to Poker Yearly Goal:1301.71


Poker Hiatus

Fairly evident, but I have been playing less and less poker the past few weeks. In it's absence, I've spent a lot of quality time with the wife and doing things a bit out of the ordinary as far as our everyday life.

We go to the hospital Thursday morning and I should be there for the next week, when my wife comes home I'll start easing back to my normal schedule. Thankfully, even with v little volume the past 2.5 months I've had a very successful 2019 so the time off hasn't bothered me at all.

Additionally, I probably won't post in the blog for the next 2 or so weeks but will update appropriately; I appreciate all the support I've gotten from everyone!

GL at the tables everyone

Gl bud

Gl man, hope all goes as smoothly as possible.

thanks for the recommendation here! (yes I am months behind on catching up on PG&C's)

also +1 to the reminder that there are more important things than money

The surgery went about as smooth as possible. Wife’s going to make a full recovery and the surgery went as smoothly is possible.

Very thankful for all the support I got through here, friends and family, and through social media. Also obviously grateful for how great the staff at the hospital was, even letting me stay a bit past visiting hours!

She’s still struggling moving around but lot of progress last few days and she’s cleared for discharge, and we’ll be back home tomorrow.

Once her healing progresses a bit further, I’ll refocus on poker

Glad to hear it man, hope the full recovery goes smoothly as well and you guys can get on to happier things asap.

Awesome news, great to here. All the best over the coming months!

Happy to hear that man Must have been a hell of a sweat, don't even want to imagine going through such thing.

yessssss <3 <3 <3

Woohoo! Means I get to wear my kilt to your wedding...

great news!

Thank you buddy, yeah it's a big relief to put this behind us.

Thanks buddy Same to you

For sure, my wife has anxiety so it was tough for her. I'm fairly reserved so the anxiety didn't kick in really til the day of the surgery. The surgeon called in to let me know how it went and it is by far the most nerve wracking 30 seconds of my life hearing how it went.



I will actually give you a 1k freeroll if you wear that there...

Thanks my dude.



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After 6 days in the hospital, there is really no place like home. I caught up on a lot of sleep last night which is great. Vic still needs a lot of help moving around/ with pain so I'm in a faux assistant role with her. But my mother-in-law is with us right now so it's making it much easier and will let me play poker...

Which I'm going to hop on today, I've been missing the game quite a bit so maybe by her next nap I can get back to it

hell yeah!!

great news man.

Very happy for you guys!

Glad to hear everything went well . Hopefully smooth recovery

Very happy to hear everything went well!!

Thanks everyone so much for support. I haven't updated mostly since I haven't had much time. The recovery is going well, but it's a sloooowwww recovery and the wife is completely dependent to do pretty much everything still.

I will continue with the recaps on Monday, very happy to get through this year alive and I will definitely have a few posts summing up the year and some big changes I'll be taking in 2020.

I haven't had a losing month this year, so hopefully I can get through this month for an accomplishment I would definitely feel pretty pleased about!

Sick hand with A8 on 85654 if you remember. I'm guessing SB calling reduces his river value since SB will have 77 or pair+open ender there.

Board pair reduces value combos and you block top boat is that why you called?

Pretty sick to see a fish spazz into 5 people with air though...