Running better than a Kenyan marathon runner. No defects.
I stripped it down. No doors. No top. Rainy days drive my truck, nice days drive the jeep. The kids love it.

In the parking garage now, and getting ready to walk down to battle. It wd b nice if I was fortunate enough to b at table when bbj hits. $210k. Don't count on it though, only been in the room once or twice n last 15 years when it has hit.
Lost -$268 yesterday, it's been a break even week up to today. Time to get in the black.

good to hear about the jeep, that's always a worry when buying it from anyone regardless if it's a dealer or private owner. Funny thing is, my wife has me on the hunt for one. I'm sure you're not ready to unload it yet since it's a new purchase and the kids love it! But on a side note, do most jeep owners ride around from spring to fall? Is it a winter-type vehicle?

@bluffedorbblufed I see no reason why u cdnt drive it all year. If it has gd heat u shd b gd. I had a soft top n the past w great heat and it stayed pretty warm. Plus the 4wd comes in handy in the snow.

Today: Scooped up a nice win. +$677 on a short 3hrs 43mins. Hated to leave the table, but hv a tennis match to go to.
Big hand of day was when I had trips and smone bluffing into me. Dub up.
Gd to end the wk n the black and on a positive note. This weekend will b much more enjoyable now. B back to felt monday.

The seat has EV that is much > $0 even if you don't cash

The soft top was my concern but thx for the info and nice run on your short sesh today...now its family time and that's the important part.

That's surprising. I've seen it twice and I've only played there about 40 times. (Variance, I know.) Of course it was only aces full of queens or better back then (nine years ago),which is how I won 7k!

@bigsoonerfan congrats on the $7k! I feel I need to hit the large portion of the BBJ just to get even for all the $$$ I put in that luck box over the years. I'm not a fan of the BBJ!

Actually I decided to take off Mon and Tues to work on a little project. Call me crazy, but I digging a big hole in my back yard for an inground trampoline. This is what I hv so far -


Today:

got there around 9:30a and played 1/2nl until 1p. I was up as much as +$150, but usually hovered around my $300 buyn all day. Ended up losing -$81. Not too many interesting spots to discuss, pretty abc table.

1p to 6:15p played $2/5/10. The table was full of regs which is pretty standard on Wednesdays. The first table (main game) is usually the toughest. So tough that some players think about getting up & waiting an hr, so they can b moved to the "must move" table. I usually don't mind to tough aspect because I love the competition, but def easier money to b had on 2nd/3rd tables. I am starting to gather some info/player history from the group of guys which is helpful the more I play w them. Each wk I gather more info and it has really help me make easier decisions. *It's all about knowing up player.
Won +$1,139. didn't win any huge pots, just a lot of nice size pots that added up.

Tons to do on the home front, so just a short 1/2 session today. Made the most of it. This pic is when I was up about $700, but shortly after this I had my Aces < set for couple hundo. Ended up winning +$546 on 3hrs 43mins.
I hope the run gd continues. Slowly building the roll for the big Friday game. Getting closer.


Http://twitter.com/rayzrayl

A couple of years ago I won a Midwest Regional tourney and sold my main event ticket an hour before it started for the full buy-in price. It wasn't hard then and I wouldn't think it is now.

I like the idea of the in-ground trampoline. Looking forward to seeing how it comes out.

@bahbahmickey last year HSI had a pretty gd promo and I ended up w 6 or 7 main event seats. Sold each one for about $500+ profit. Ended up making $3k pretty easily.

@urban surfer appreciate it. It's a lot of work, but I think it's gonna look sweet. My next vid will b an inground trampoline tutorial. Every now and then I derail this thread from poker to random things going on n my life. The inground trampoline is one of those things right now.

Today: no poker, paid bills, went to grocery store, worked on trampoline, chilled w fam, went to Lowes...banged my left leg on the flatbed cart, played tennis under the lights, got the win, 2014 record 50+ wins and 7ish loses, looking for 5.0 usta ers...need better comp, ate 4 pieces of Papa Johns, carried girls to bed, and now getting ready to watch Rounders w my lady...she never seen it.
Tomo and Sunday: trampoline work both days and church
Monday: Making room for poker. Got to build the roll, so I can take a shot in the 5/10/20 in a few weeks (hopefully). If the money is right, I can't decide to take a shot at the "Friday big game" before the WSOP circuit (Oct 2), or after (Oct 15). I'm kind of leaning towards after. I want to play a lot of events, so I wd hate to lose a few $k n the big game right before the wsop. I may see how I do in the tourneys and decide from there. If I brick everyone, then it's back to square one...building the roll all over.

The journey is half the fun.

You are an awesome dad, trampolines are badass!

sounds awesome with the inground tramp, safer if not however im a fish at these things, but how will you avoid having huge monsters starting to live beneath the trampoline?

@pure-aggression I try. But I'll b using this too. Need to perfect my kick flips, so I'll b jumping on there w a deck board...never too old

@touch of Evil great point!! I guess Bear Traps goin in today. I shd prob dog a few inches deeper for gd measure. Now I need to make sure when the kiddos bounce they aren't hitting the bear trap at the bottom. Ouch! That **** wd hurt!

That fat kid on the block , use him as a failsafe measurement

Butterfly, if you are ever trying to get rid of a ticket for a tourney that is being played on the weekend let me know.

Btw, some girl I was friends with in grade school had an inground trampoline and it was pretty badass. One of my best friends lived a block from her house and we always hung out with her. I think it was more because she was really attractive & cool, but either way the in ground trampoline was a solid bonus to hanging out with her. I wish I could pm you the address so you could go check it out, but I don't remember it and they don't live there anymore.

I don't remember the tramp ever having problems but I'd be more worried about having sitting water in there than an animal.

BS !! (little joke there) I have been reading your stuff for a while now, and this is the craziest, most foolish thing I have heard you say.

This tourney is played on a single day. If it were played tomorrow, it would cost the same, have the same players, the same everything. In other words the "EXACT SAME EV" for playing it did today, yesterday, and "Last month".

It is crazy to be soooo locked into having a winning month that you will forgo Plus EV spots. If the tourney is NOT Plus EV, then play or don't, however you want. But you felt like it was worth it, then because of two coolers, decide NOT to play?

Have not really read anything in here that made me think you would not 'make it', till now.

the thing is even YOU know how lame it is. You will come back on this thread and say something like, "Yeah, I know, I am addicted to winning. It is irrational. I know, it IS all one long session" but you will not change.

Until you do.

Then one day you will start to let go of thinking in terms of months. Then you will start to let go of individual sessions (which it seemed you did after gettting right back on the horse the day after your two sick beats) and then, finally, you will also start to let go of individual hands.

The sick beats ? You made money on those hands. Every bad call made by your opponents --- you made money on those.

You just have not realized it yet.

Unless you are running way below EV, you are ahead of the game, right? Those calls you never saw what they had, but you won? All the times you made the exact same hand in the exact same situation, only this time their two outer did NOT get there?

If they have equity, and THEY lose, it is they who got the bad beat (in a way) until they finally DO hit the two outer, and collect for all the rest of the times, right?

So, to summarize.... it is one long session, and it is a good spot you should take it. Whether its a hand, a game that particular day, or a tourney that month!

And when they hit the long shot, they have paid for it with Sklansky bucks. And you won already.

which

PS I remember Limon in one of his posts said something like "When I make the prop bet, I have already won! The odds are with me!"

yes there is tons of ways water can **** up, water amassing -> eroding will take place and stuff like that, make sure you look up precisely how to do it so you dont need to go back and redo, i can imagine plastic with a water redirect-option or sth, and a lid when not in use.

No BS!

First off, nice post! Lots of quality points!

Ur r correct in saying its one long session, but having these winning months means a lot to me. I rely on poker as income and I need to hv winning months to provide for a family. Of course I could still provide if I had a string a losing months w a nice little emergency fund I hv. But booking solid winning months makes my life easier and me happier. You make a great point though noting that I gv up a lot of +ev spots for the sake of booking win months. In the back of my mind I realize this, but don't care too much about it. +EV spots/+EV tourneys come and go like a booty call. So if I miss one for the sake of keeping a winning month in tact, I don't fret much. I always know another +ev spot/tourney will always b around the corner.

For me, winning months does so much for my well being mentally/physically/emotionally/socially. It's a zen thing. I'm happier all around. I walk w a lil pep in my step, the skies r bluer, smiles on my face, I see clearer, the food taste better, the roses smell better, etc etc. everything is just better. It just feels great. It feels so gd that I'm willing to forego +ev spots to keep the winning months in tact.
For me defining poker success is not how i do on a particular day, but more how I did at the end of each week, each month, each year. I have always taken poker month to month, and booking solid months is a success.

I understand I may play it a little on the safe side, but when u have kids, fam, and responsibilities it's hard to take risk even if it is +ev.

Furthermore, I want poker to b fun for me, and not smthing negative. When I book winning months it's fun, so I try to keep it that way. When it becomes stressful, or not fun, then poker wdnt b for me anymore. If it ever came to that, I'd wd gv it up n a heartbeat. I plan on playing poker for a long time, so I just have to do what feels right for me. My plan of action maybe different from other people, and what works for me may not work for others. Vice versa...What u mentioned in your post may work for u, but mayb not for me. Doesn't me I'm right and ur wrong, or ur right and I'm wrong. It simple means, people r wired differently. I'm more of a go w the flow and build the roll kind of guy. While trying to keep the stress levels and the worries to a minimal. On my own terms and own pace. No hurry. I don't really care about the rings, bracelets, etc. I just care about earning money each month.

Appreciate all u said, and u r correct, I am addicted to winning. Winning makes everything around me that much better. I try live a zenful life w little stress and booking wining months provides that for me.

October is a different beast though. With the WSOP coming to HSI, I will be taking more risk which could ultimately lead to a losing month. Definitely playing most if not all of the nl tourneys.
-You may say..."well why wd u do that if booking winning months means so much to ya?" -My reply wd b..."the WSOP at HSI is once a yr and it's my desire to give it my all. So much I'm willing to even risk zen."

Great post and great insight, I hope I answered ur question. Actually not sure if there was even a question ...Anyways my response.

RAYZ

BS! (butterfly symmetry) -

I am pretty sure we all 'get it' about winning sessions, weeks, months and years. And am glad you realize the artificialness of it.

Also, you seem very happy with the way you do it, so who am I to try and persuade you.

I will also mention that some successful pro's even go along with this. Either implicitly, or explicity. I was surprised when Bart Hanson, who was agreeing with Limon that "I always play the best game in the room" did a 180 just one week later and said "I decided to play 5/10 instead of the 10/20 because it is less stressful, almost impossible to have a losing month, and I STILL make 75% of my win rate. I just don't feel the added stress is worth it!"

So, the only real question I have is:

Tournament is on Sunday Sept 30 and you decide NOT to play because you don't want to devastate a winning month's total if you brick. But if the same tournament was on Sunday Oct 1, you would play. After all its a +EV situation for you (and your family)

At end of month of October, has not this tourny impacted your winrate the same?

which

PS I am also addicted to winning. I think many of us are, but not as honest about it as you. I checked my poker app and win 70% of my sessions. I feel terrible when i lose a week, and wonder why should I feel so bad? My leak for sure

sick trampoline idea

We getting deep here, but I like it.

Opportunity Cost: $ vs. stress. There is always an opportunity cost to everything.

I wd hv to agree w this guy Hanson. Although he may feel this way because possibly he cd b under rolled for the bigger games. A bigger bank roll decreases the stress levels. But I get the gist of what he's saying. Stress has a price. It's all about the opportunity cost.
My best example is...It's kind of like the opportunity cost of smoking cigarettes. Meaning, perhaps some smokers wd rather live a life that is a little more stress free by smoking, in exchange of giving up sm years off their life (death by result of smoking). Pros vs. cons. I don't smoke, but just an example of opportunity cost.
...Hanson wd rather move down in limits to save some stress in his life. Sure he cd potentially make a higher income playing the 10/20no limits, but is it worth the stress? Stress has a price. I can relate to what he is saying. I cd play 5/10/20nl every day if I wanted to, but wd I b happier? Wd my life b more stressful? Wd it b worth it? Not sure. I know w my current br it wd b really stressful. *Once I had a higher br then of course the stress wd decrease. W my br, I enjoy playing 1/2 and 2/5/10nl the stress is minimal, and life is much better. Sure, I cd prob make more $ if I moved smwhere to play 10/20nl daily, but wd I b happier? Going back to my "smoking example"/opportunity cost...I wd rather make $50k/yr and b happier living a zenful life being over rolled than making $75/k yr w tons of stress being under rolled.
*All this changes w bank roll. As I continue to build a bigger br then the stress will def decrease in the bigger limits. Bigger br = less stress. Smaller br = more stress.

To answer ur question, "Wd I play in a tourney on Sept 30th if I knew it cd result in a losing month if I brick?" The answer is No. I wd prob skip the tourney to save the winning month. I touched on this a little bit in my previous post. A winning month just does so much for my psyche/well being. So I wdnt want to risk that. I wd most likely skip that tourney on the 30th. "If the same tourney was on Oct 1st wd I play?" The answer is Yes. Silly, but true. If I bricked a tourney on the 1st day of the month I feel I cd still salvage a winning month by playing just straight cash.

Second part of ur question, "Has not this tourney (whether Sept 30th, or Oct 1st) impacted ur win rate the same?" Answer is Yes, but impacts my psyche/well being differently.

Glad u brought this to the thread, haven't really elaborated much on this topic. Thanks and gl. Don't let those losing weeks affect u. U mentioned u feel terrible when u have a losing week, and it may b a leak for u. Hmmm... Well..Just look at your results monthly instead. For me, its a lot easier to deal w. The short term will break ur soul in this sick game. Variance will slap u silly if u look at it short term (days, weeks). On the flip, variance is my biotch when I look at at in longer terms (months, years).

Just record that tourny as part of the next month instead. Problem solved and money (or at least EV) gained.

Or book the tourney when it finishes and not when it starts (assuming it ends after midnight).

weaksauce. im calling you out. you can do better. dont be scurred! if you are scared just go with it, have a losing month, who cares? play more cash games, let it motivate you. cant stop wont stop.