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Random Thoughts From A Seattle Poker Pro 2010-05-17 11:26:00

Alex Fitzgerald — Mon, 17 May 2010 11:26:00 +0000

Miles

Alex Fitzgerald — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:23:00 +0000

Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica

I guess I've learned my lesson. Just did it with a few hundred, not a million. Would've sucked to have done it after a million.

It gets tiring being that kid who just always gets chips together in the money of huge events and gets nothing with it. I'm pretty young but I've been putting hours for years. You want to succeed more and more.

I worked 15 hours today. I felt more on point after taking three days off then I could ever ask for. I had a good time seeing my girlfriend in San Jose and spending a day with her here at my house in Guanacaste. I was pissed before I chilled for a couple days, knowing today was going to be 12-16 hours a lot. I played fluidly today. I think this is one of my best played tournaments in my life, and I'm going to review it for Pokerpwnage. Just irritating, finishing 30 somethingth, first being $1,100,000. That's life changing money right there.

I have big dreams. A friend of mine whose been very successful has told me that's what winners do, dream big. I have big plans. So big I'd be embarrassed saying them aloud. I saw them all so close today, having chips deep in the money of another SCOOP. I thought this was the one. This was my time. It's hard to get that worked up then come down again.

I think it's necessary to stay positive but the crash is amazing. I keep looking back at my laptop thinking the table will be back up, I'll get another shot. It's wasn't real. The RNG screwed up. We were joking. Go. Go.

But hey we watched Band of Brothers recently and saw the ones where they find the nazi death camps. Real powerful shit. Reminds you of how exciting and loco fortunate a time you're living in right now, to be safe where you're at and chasing money. Those people had real adversity, you just click buttons. You're not fighting for your life or considering real life-and-death decisions. Your problems are nothing, in a real world sense. Your advancement will happen eventually, just be happy you even have a life where you get to go after your dreams, and not serve in war. So many kids I knew had to go to Iraq, and so many I knew felt confused by the reasons. What a far more difficult time that it is in someone's life, just so I can be safe to sit around in a country just friendly to the USA and not have to worry about problems. They contribute that security, or are being told they are, with years of their life, I can't deny that. Who the hell am I to ever complain? I'm chilling and playing cards for a living, it's not the worst position I could be in, by far, even if sometimes it gets very frustrating or I have financial fluctuations.

I can't believe how ridiculously much my life has changed. Just in the time now where I need to kick it into gear. Apply everything I've learned traveling the whole world for years learning from great players. It's

It's all good, it's just variance. You see how you had a bunch of chips and you freak but a large portion of the time there you can run bad and bust. You can't destroy yourself every time that happens. I took 30k for my work, till 3:30 AM or some shit, from 11:00 AM I started the previous day. I busted with like 10 minutes left till break day 2. Poor Ben and Angel were up the whole time railing me on the big screen, tired as hell. I felt like I played as good as I could, maybe a few spots I could revisit but when can you not?

I just gotta be positive and hope I'm getting focused before the series. I feel on my game. It just sucks, getting that close. Putting so many hands in. But I gotta take it as a start. It's better than nothing. It's one step toward a greater goal. Big tournaments are coming.

I will go crazy if I keep stockpiling the close calls. Every MTTer has them, and regardless of how I've run I can only focus on my future, my goals now, and what I've learned.

I'll be working tomorrow, maybe not in donkaments, paperwork, HU cash, and watching The Pacific. Thank you to everyone who railed me and cheered me on. Hoping to be back at it, cash and tournaments. Gotta grind through the series now. Do or die time now.

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admission of failure (nath)

Bond18 — Mon, 17 May 2010 06:02:13 +0000

I blew it today. No bones about it. I ran well and played well (and developed a pretty solid strategy for the format in the meantime) in today's early mini FTOPS event, a rush poker rebuy. I had some basic strategy for rush tournaments down-- specifically, I planned to just fold marginal spots, to 3-bet liberally, and to avoid the hell out of anyone who had me covered until/unless i had the goods. Then I blew it. With 22 left and $2M in chips (good for 6th place at 12k/24k blinds), I opened 76s in the CO (when I should have "quick folded"), the button (who had a history of using his stack to 3-bet light) reraised, and I (instead of 4-betting to take it down or folding) called. I then check-called his bet on an A72 flop. I thought for a while after a 6 turn, and led 400k. He raised somewhat quickly to 880k, and I (instead of stopping to think about this piece of information) insta-jammed. He called and turned over A7. The river was an ace and i busted in 22nd. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Brick city.

AJKHoosier1 — Mon, 17 May 2010 02:32:15 +0000

So SCOOP has finally come a merciful end. Sunday was a total brick of a day, due to a combination of things.

I got semi-deep in the early SCOOP 2k and made a cold 4b shove with T8s vs a very aggressive player who at the time I was not aware was a reg, and was then told afterwards. If I had known it was the player it turned out to be, I would've folded, so I'm a little bummed about that.

The 10k Main got off to a good start and I won a huge pot with AA to get up to 30k. Unfortunately nothing went right after that, and I ended up busting AA<88 on an 872 flop.

I got deep in a couple other random tournaments, but ran KK<AA and AQ<AK, etc at bad times.

SO... that's it. Gonna take a little time away from online MTTs and get geared up for the WSOP. My online makeup is the biggest it's ever been, so it'll be good to play some live poker. Definitely sick of playing online after a grueling few weeks of bricking FTOPS/SCOOP, many times in heartbreaking fashion.

Will probably take a couple weeks off from blogging as well, but will be back with a WSOP preview.

Till then,
AJK

More absolute brutality…

AJKHoosier1 — Sun, 16 May 2010 03:09:58 +0000

Man I played my heart out today, thought it was one of my best days of poker ever to go along with what I thought was a nearly flawless performance in the 1k+rebuys...

Got down to final 11 in the $5,000 PLO 6-max, only to have this happen: http://www.pokerhand.org/?5439252
Got down to final 6 in UB 300, only to lose AJhh to A9o all in preflop to an offsuit gutty on the river

Right now after getting screwed on the river in another pot, im down to a very short stack nearing the bubble of the $2k horse. I am due an absolute absurd amount of karma so maybe I'll catch some heat and make a run. If so, I'll post an update... if not... back for more pain tomorrow.

-Alex

Really tough beat and then some…

AJKHoosier1 — Thu, 13 May 2010 08:42:53 +0000

Sigh...

Another especially brutal session, although I guess when they're all 'especially' brutal then I should stop using the word 'especially.'

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5432190 this one for top 3 in chips with 80 left in the 1k rebuy SCOOP

then, 10 hours into the tournament, i busted the low stakes 10r version of the same event on a 1m chip flip. a couple hours after that, my horse lost an enormous flip with 30 left in the huge 30r mini ftops.

keeping my head up, i know i have to start holding up in these huge hands eventually - maybe even sucking out every once in a while? who knows.

gonna take a day or two off and get back to the tables for Saturday afternoon SCOOPS.

till then,
alex

The Pain Of Losing Feeds You

Alex Fitzgerald — Wed, 12 May 2010 19:03:00 +0000

Playa Flamingo, Costa Rica

Phone calls. Emails. More emails. To institutions. Businesses. Individuals. Nobody's getting back to me. This really isn't the time to not be liquid. I'm never working with people after this. There will be a twenty part screening process. Even then you'll get dog tagged.

I'm about to do a hand history with my horses. They're on a heater. Tens of thousands in a couple days. The fact that's just a good start is crazy to me now. We're operating at such a high (read: expensive) level now. Trying to be more than just a standard grinder takes time. Learning about people takes time when you grew up doing nothing of value. There should be concrete in my brain.

Ben and I laugh about how painful it was watching a horse of mine deep in a major. We don't take over for horses, because karma's a bitch.

"But yeah, but it's like watching a pile of money on fire, and you're holding a fire extinguisher."

Yeah, I laugh. But it's sad. I wish I was a cheater. Maybe I could've guided one of the countless deep runs, when I've been forced to watch my horses who put in a ton of study get into a spot that took me three years to understand...and...I can't say shit. I just have to read cracked.com or something.

Still whiffing SCOOPs, it's getting frustrating. I don't like losing. I've been doing too much of that lately. Money makes life fun. It's what builds castles and protects you. It gives you freedom.

It keeps taking the ups and downs to make me get it. If you like yourself between both times you got it. This game takes you through so many swings it almost requires a delusional level of self-confidence.

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Big Things Are Happening

RyPac13 — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:03:06 +0000

Hi Everybody,

It's been awhile since my last blog post.

Briefly, I've decided that my future blog posts will focus more on poker strategy blurbs. I want this blog to have a purpose, and I feel one of my strengths is articulating poker concepts in a coherant way at a very fast pace. On the other hand, one of my weaknesses is articulating it to such a degree that it is acceptable and relevant enough to post in a full article on the site. In turn, this makes the prospect of me writing full articles on the main page poor, but makes short strategy blurbs a seemingly natural fit.

Big Things Are Happening

RyPac13 — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:03:06 +0000

Hi Everybody,

It's been awhile since my last blog post.