ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
75938406	Jan 13 02:26ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #10		$10.00 + $1	30	5	–	You made 4 rebuys/add-ons for $40.00 .
75573207	Jan 13 01:46ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #12		$150.00 + $13	25	13	–
75933696	Jan 13 01:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #1		$24.00 + $2	43	28	–
75929581	Jan 13 00:26ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #1		$8.00 + $0.80	54	18	–
75923174	Jan 12 23:21ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #10		$24.00 + $2	36	3	$110
75190723	Jan 12 23:01ET	$30,000 Guarantee		$100.00 + $9	337	242	–
75573066	Jan 12 22:16ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #12		$150.00 + $13	27	19	–
75915338	Jan 12 22:11ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #10		$69.00 + $6	18	9	–
75912984	Jan 12 21:51ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #1		$10.00 + $1	41	24	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $20.00 .
76018899	Jan 12 21:44ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #7		$3.00 + $0.30	61	41	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $6.00 .
75190320	Jan 12 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	1,237	450	–
73519982	Jan 12 21:01ET	$1K Monday		$1,000.00 + $60	405	4	$36,450
76011487	Jan 12 20:44ET	Satellite to FTOPS Event #13		$10.00 + $1	29	19	–	You made 1 rebuy/add-on for $10.00 .
75143489	Jan 12 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	341	109	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
75899658	Jan 12 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,629	1,476	–
75189775	Jan 12 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	576	240	–
75136036	Jan 12 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	190	172	–	You made 1 rebuy/add-on for $100.00 .
75892478	Jan 12 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	662	87	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = -$2264.10

Today’s winnings/losses = +$36,560

Today’s net profit/loss = +$34,295.90

           What a way to start off the year for me with a 4th place finish in the $1k Monday for an outstanding $36,450!  My first day back playing multi-table tournaments in about 2 weeks.  For some reason, playing big buy-in live tournaments make me feel like I play better online when I come back, maybe it’s just me imagining that but whatever works.  There’s something about the $1k Monday, I believe I’ve only played it a total of 6 times and cashed in it 4 times already, which is an unsual occurance.  I’d like to think my skill level is more advantageous vs. stronger opposition but that’s a big assumption.  Sure, better players are willing to fold bigger hands and you don’t get amatuer calls that suck out by the river, but I’d like to believe there’s more disadvantages playing with better players than there is good.  Anyway, I’ll keep playing them until they’re not profitable and I don’t think I’ll ever go negative in this tourney unless I run super bad the whole year playing it every Monday.  Another great thing, is that I’m already up $34k on the year of 2009, so it’ll take a lot for me to be down on the year from here on out.  As you should know, December was my first losing month in a pretty long time, I believe I lost around $3600 in tournaments and $2k in cash games, so a total of $5600 in losses.  I don’t mind this because a lot of it was due to bad variance, which I think was well deserved after my outrageous winning streak the several months prior to December, and I also didn’t play as much or as focused due to the holidays and planning for my vacations.  Oh but how sweet it is now, variance was totally on my side today.  Not so much in my other tournaments but for sure in my $1k Monday tourney, there were a lot of spots where I got my chips in bad and ended up ahead by the river and I was flopping a decent amount of sets.  Life’s always easy when you flop sets.  Let’s hope this holds up till the end of FTOPS in early Feb…  Expect my ‘Total Spend on Buy-ins’ to increase this month because I’ll be playing in a lot of satellites for the FTOPS on top of my daily buy-in tournaments.  I will be spending at least $2k-$3k daily.  Which reminds me I will post up my FTOPS schedule probably in tomorrow’s blog entry and I’m also doing the same schedule as I did back in Nov. 08′ which is to play the FTOPS and then fly right to Vegas for the Venetian Deepstack Series.  For some reason, the two series coincide with each other on the same month, in every two months.  Which works out for me because it gives me plenty of oppurtunities to make some big money.  I will have both the schedules posted hopefully tomorrow.  Oh yeah, I promised I wouldn’t post anything on my blog that has something to do with my personal life but for your viewing pleasure I will post pictures of my trip to Bahamas and maybe Tahoe, just because both trips were just so beautiful and timeless.  So look out for those this week.  Thanks to whomever above that decided to grace me with this early year present!  Good lookin out

      Where do I begin?  It’s good to be back home and settled after the busy holidays and two vacations to Lake Tahoe and the Bahamas.  I hardly have played any poker since my last blog entry, as a matter of fact I’ve been way behind on keeping up my points for Ironman and will have to settle for Gold status this month.  My OPR stats have dropped dramatically and have finished the year of 2008 in 92nd place out of the 862,428 poker players in the world.  My net worth for 2008 in online poker for cash and tournaments goes as follows:

Total Winnings in Multi-Table Tournaments (excluding losses) = $287,072

Total Net Winnings in Multi-Table Tournaments (including losses) = $143,763

Total Net Winnings in Cash Games = $7,403.75

Total Winnings in 2008 = $151,166.75

      As far as my live cash/tournament results for 2008, I am pretty confident I am negative a few thousand dollars simply because my winnings don’t offset the big buy-in tournament losses.  I can’t remember my live cash game winnings off the top of my head but can remember all my live tournament winnings:

WSOP Event #32 – $1500 buy-in – 87th/2304 players = $5031

Venetian Deepstack Series – $330 buy-in – 15th/273 players = $790

Venetian Deepstack Series – $540 buy-in – Final Table 9-way Chop = $11,500

       Now that the hard facts are out of the way, it’s time to reflect back on this defining year for me.  Back in 2005, in my early days of poker I went on a sick heater on Doylesroom that lasted three whole months, pulling in anywhere from $20-$30k in profits.  With no bankroll management rules and big balls and a lot of luck, I pulled out most of my money and spent it on good times and tangible items and played limits I wasn’t supposed to until I ended up losing the remainder of my profits.  At this time, I was hopping around different jobs trying to make ends meet and still playing poker recreationally on my spare time.  Come September 2007, my skills have improved and have done a lot of studying prior, I decided to make my last $600 investment into online poker on FullTilt.  This time I was going to do everything right, apply the bankroll management rules I’ve been taught and stick with them, reap the benefits of bonuses and rakeback, play smart and effective consistently, keep studying, and play play play!  Till present day I have not made one single deposit back into FullTilt and have turned that $600 into everything I have now.  I started off 4 tabling micro-stakes 6-max cash games and slowly grew my bankroll with the help of rakeback and bonuses, moving up limits when my bankroll rules permitted me to, and logged plenty of hands daily.  Grinded all the way up until I was 8 tabling $1/$2 6-max cash games.  The grind was taking too long for the amount of hours I was spending and so I started to explore in MTT’s (multi-table tournies).  My first decent cash in MTT’s was on April 7th, 2008, a 4th place finish in a $26 buy-in $11,500 Guarantee tournment for $1,199.  From there I was making top 3 finishes in $20-$80 buy-in tournaments for $2k-$4k a piece, and finally won a tourney on April 28th, 2008 in the $18k Guarantee turning my $75 buy-in into $4680. Starting early June I decided to pull out a big portion of my bankroll to move out to Vegas and take my shot in the World Series of Poker.  I was a Vegas resident for three whole months and played mostly live cash games and tournaments for most of the duration.  Overall, for living expenses, partying, gambling in the pit, food, and WSOP buy-ins, my stay in Vegas set me back about $20k-$30k.  Although, I did make some pretty decent finishes when I did play online out there for a few couple thousand dollars.  I moved back home mid Aug. and with no job lined up and a couple thousand dollars in my bankroll I decided to try my hand in playing poker for a living. Shortly after my life-changing decision, my next big cash came on August 16th, 2008 in the $163 buy-in $65k Guarantee, going heads-up against Eric “Rizen” Lynch and getting knocked out in 2nd place for $10,974.  Followed by a few top 5 finishes, I hit it big again on September 24th, 2008 winning the $100k Guarantee Rebuy event for a cool $34,248.  Since then, I’ve done a good job in supporting myself financially and still keeping a lot of my funds in my bankroll.  On November 8th, 2008 came my biggest win in poker to date, setting the bar at an amazing $60,600 in a 3rd place finish in the FTOPS #7 $100 Rebuy event.  This pushed me right into the $100k+ in profits for the year.  At this point, I was truly amazed and proud of myself because at the age of 24 not many of my peers can say they have made six figures in one year all by playing cards.  I well exceeded my own and those around me expectations and finally can say that I have found my nitch in life.  Towards the end of 2008, I blessed my family with luxurious  Christmas presents as a token of my appreciation for raising me and allowing me to be what I am now, I spoiled my friends with a sick cabin and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe for a 4 day weekend, and took my girlfriend with me to the all expense payed trip, compliments of FullTilt, to the beautiful Bahamas for the PCA tournament.  If you know me, then you know that my philosophy on money is that money is no good unless you’re able to spend it on the people you love the most and creating ever-lasting memories with it.  Lastly, I’ve done all this and played with and met some of the top pros and legends of the game with the likes of Daniel Negraneau, Phil Helmuth, Carlos Mortenson, PearlJammed, Michael Binger, Scotty Nguyen, Umberto Brenes, etc…  In a nutshell, this was my year of 2008, probably my most defining, wealthiest, maturing, responsible, best years ever.  There are a few people I would like to thank that’s helped me get to where I’m at:  My family, for giving me a roof over my head and putting up with my naive and immature lifestyle for most of my growing years.  My girlfriend, who’s been there through thick and thin, who’s supported me since Day 1 when I was broke because I was a bad gambler/poker player back in the day and couldn’t keep a job.  My friends, for just being my friends even though I tend to lose contact for long periods of time.  My frat, for introducing me into Texas Hold’em poker and helping me learn by playing home games and having crazy sessions at the casino, also for their support.  My brother and uncles, who teach me the importance of money and the great things you can do with it when managed correctly.  My grandpa, somehow or someway even after him passing away I feel like the reason for my recent success is because of him guiding me or looking after me.  My grandma, for molding me into the caring and generous person I am, teaching me to share and care for your loved ones.  I also want to thank Stoxpoker.com, a lot of my knowledge and success is due to the great teachings from the coaches of this site.  This is not some shameless plug and I don’t work for these people (but it would be cool if I did!), this is simply me showing appreciation to those who have provided me with the information to succeed in poker and even in life.  If you’re thinking about taking poker seriously, this is a good place to start.  There is a monthly membership fee but trust me when I say that it is a good investment and with enough dedication and comittment the investment will pay for itself ten-fold.  Last but not least, my newfound loyal fans, each new person that wishes me luck in the chat rooms, sweats me while I play a final table, txts me good luck, prays for me, reads this blog, and follows my success gives me more and more inspiration to do better and share the knowledge that I have, I sincerely and genuinely thank you.

          Phew! That was a lot to reflect on, guess what’s next?  Time to put up some goals/resolutions for the new year of 2009.  I’ll try to keep it short and list them bullet style:

• Net Profit $500k+ – considering I got into MTT’s very late in the year of 2008, almost half the year in, and was still able to pull in $150k, then half a million should be a daunting yet possible task.  Who knows, I may be able to do it within one tournament.
• Get Healthy and Lose Weight – it seems like with every $1k I win in profits I gain 1/2 a pound in body mass.  They call it the “Poker Players Curse”, I guess it makes logical sense since the more money I make the more dining out and fast food becomes available.  Plus the only exercise I get is sitting on my ass working out my pointer finger to click my mouse 1000+ times a day.  It’s time to eat healthier and get into some physical activities.
• One WSOP Final Table (televised or un-televised) and Possibly One WSOP Bracelet – I plan to play more events and make deeper runs in the 2009 WSOP, as my game has tremendously improved and have gained more experience in live tournaments since this past 2008 WSOP.
• Buy Myself my Dream Car – people hear about my success and see that I’m making all this money yet when they see me drive in my piece of crap car, it’s kind of hard to believe I hardly make any money.
• Rent/Buy an Apartment or Condo – same stigma applies as above, only I still live under my parents roof!
• Have the People I Love Most Not Worry About Money – as of yet I can’t support anyone but myself since my only source of income is poker but eventually I want to get to the point where the people I love most don’t have to worry much about making ends meet.
• Get my Name noticed Publicly in the Live and Online Poker Community – my name is starting to grow and people are starting to recognize me but it would definately be cooler if I was more well-known so at least I would know I made my mark in this world.
• Travel, Travel, Travel! – I want to experience everything the world has to offer, the different cultures, people, food, and landscapes.  Poker already brought me to the bahamas, let’s see where it could bring me next.  I want my passport half way filled by the end of this year.
• Be More Modest about my Success – Sad but true, I sense some jealousy and envy from my peers, and that is the last thing I would want from anyone.  I may have boasted about a lot of my success this past year more than I should have but that’s only cause it’s all new to me and I think anyone would like to share their success stories with the world.  I will try not to be so loud with my money even if that means stopping my random splurges on dinner bills or social outings, even though showing off isn’t my intentions when I do that kind of stuff.  I think some people interpret it otherwise.
• Manage my Time more Effectively – I can admit I’ve done a pretty good job at this, this past year but there’s always room for improvement.
• Diversify my Investments - I plan to open up a PokerStars account in the near future, so that I could build my bankroll and name up on there.  It seems if you want to make it big in the online world, PokerStars is where you have to make it.  Also would like to start looking into other investments that I can make besides poker.  Comment if you have any good suggestions.

        That’s all I can think of thus far, I’m sure I’ll be able to think of more as the year progresses.  Those are all my main goals and resolutions, all sound a little vague and not detailed but I know what I want and expect from myself, so now all there is to it is the follow through.  I can’t hardly wait to find out what this year has in store for me, all I know is that it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride like everything in life is, never constant, ever-changing.  One thing is for certain, is that I can only go up from here.  Thanks again for everyones support and love this past year.  Stay tuned, 4XTRADER is gonna be bigger and badder this year!

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
72659987	Dec 23 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	1,057	439	–
72734539	Dec 23 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	298	70	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
72730921	Dec 23 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,435	949	–
72659654	Dec 23 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	519	79	–
72727337	Dec 23 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	177	58	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
73441875	Dec 23 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	615	414	–
73434802	Dec 23 18:01ET	$21,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,121	576	–
72716821	Dec 23 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	228	107	–
72709820	Dec 23 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	341	319	–
72951868	Dec 19 18:01ET	$21,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,255	460	–
72229918	Dec 19 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	243	222	–
72223016	Dec 19 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	378	52	–	You collected $40.00 for 2 Knockouts.
72942008	Dec 19 16:31ET	$18,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	312	32	$117.18	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
72938841	Dec 19 16:01ET	$22,500 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	425	277	–
70176439	Dec 19 16:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	169	88	–	You made 4 rebuys/add-ons for $400.00 .
70302019	Dec 19 15:31ET	$20,000 Guarantee		$50.00 + $5	545	18	$163.50
70300893	Dec 19 15:01ET	$50,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	392	292	–
72932847	Dec 19 15:01ET	$13,500 KO Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,142	155	–	You collected $20.00 for 5 Knockouts.

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $2384

Today’s winnings/losses = +$340.68

Today’s net profit/loss = -$2043.32

              Tis’ the holiday season, in other words less poker and more time for Christmas present shopping, snowboarding, gift exchanges, and quality time with friends and family.  I’ve only played twice in the past five days and both did not bid so well.  I’ve also been playing $2/$4 cash games to keep up with my Ironman points and that hasn’t been going so well either.  Total I am down about $3k this past week and a half.  The worst part is that I probably won’t be able to recover my losses the rest of this month because I have a Christmas Eve and Day and the day after Christmas I leave for Tahoe for the rest of Dec. coming back just in time for New Years Eve.  Luckily, the one day I ran good this month making three final tables kept me still on point with my OPR stats but it is pretty sad that this will be the first month I won’t be qualifying in the top 200 of FullTilt’s TLB in a while.  I blame all my losses on my lack of focus, it’s hard to pay full attention when you have a million other priorities and plans to do in such a short time.  I can officially close the seal on this month and label it a bust but starting the New Year I’ll be playing in the PCA at the Bahamas Jan. 5th-10th and when I come back, regardless of the results, I’ll be coming home with a new and improved will of determination and focus.  The year 2009 is expected to be a big year with good fortune for me and I’m going to make sure it happens.  Until then, don’t expect too many blog posts until after Jan 10th., I’ll be playing cash games and maybe a few tournaments just to keep up with my points.  Other than that, I’ll see you guys in the New Year, have a happy holidays everyone!

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
70192698	Dec 17 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	1,088	635	–
70175525	Dec 17 21:01ET	$100,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	386	152	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
72017296	Dec 17 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	339	49	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
72013662	Dec 17 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,611	147	$46.40
70191429	Dec 17 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	648	391	–
72010059	Dec 17 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	238	205	–	You made 1 rebuy/add-on for $100 .
72723735	Dec 17 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	746	312	–
71999321	Dec 17 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	239	180	–
71992239	Dec 17 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	361	206	–
72706292	Dec 17 16:31ET	$18,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	263	120	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
72696579	Dec 17 15:01ET	$13,500 KO Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	948	365	–
70300751	Dec 17 15:01ET	$50,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	384	161	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1557

Today’s winnings/losses = +$46.40

Today’s net profit/loss = -$1510.60

December 17, 2008 -  Well it seems like my luck is going to run in a hit or miss fashion, which basically means either win big or lose big, no cashing or nothing in the middle.  I don’t mind as long as the wins make up for the losses and some.  Today I was like 0-10 in races all-in preflop when I held AK vs. pocket pair, this hindered me from making deep in any of my tournaments as I lost those races in key spots.  How do you lose zero out of ten in situations that I’m 46% or more to win?  I know in a bigger sample it’ll probably even out and I’ll win ten coin-flips in the near future because it’s the nature of probability, till then if I have more days like this and I’ll keep losing more money.

December 18, 2008 -  Called in sick today and didn’t play any tournaments, instead I went snowboarding, or attempted to go snowboarding rather.  Don’t tell my boss!

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
70053652	Dec 15 21:01ET	$1K Monday		$1,000.00 + $60	361	9	$7,220
71771611	Dec 15 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	319	174	–	You made 4 rebuys/add-ons for $120.00 .
71767739	Dec 15 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,689	6	$1,743.05
70191267	Dec 15 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	537	335	–
71763999	Dec 15 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	185	33	–	. You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
72484159	Dec 15 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	709	6	$2,201.45
72477134	Dec 15 18:01ET	$21,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,034	218	–
71753026	Dec 15 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	227	197	–
71745825	Dec 15 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	379	316	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $2157

Today’s winnings/losses = +$11,164.50

Today’s net profit/loss = +$9007.50

    Phew! What a day, what a day of poker it was!  Today was a historic day for two reasons; (1) it ends my two week long losing streak, (2) it is the first time I’ve made three consecutive final tables in one night.  All the recent posts of me ranting and complaining about not cashing and losing so much were all made up for in one day.  Despite the fact, that I am still down $3k-$4k since the past two weeks it sure as hell beats being down a total of $14k which is what I was stuck before these three decent wins.  I went on a sick heater in the middle stages of the $40k, $32k, and $1k Monday and got my chips up to the top 5 stacks in the touraments.  Made one final table right after another but caught some bad beats in 60/40 or better situations which deprived me from a top three finish.  I wish I placed higher in my final tables so that I could actually show a profit from the past two weeks but I am not too disappointed in how my results went down, it just feels good to know that I still got it in me and variance was a huge factor in my recent losses.  I always hesitate to play the $1k Monday because $1000 is still a lot for me to spend on one tournament but so far I am still profitable for everytime I’ve played it.  I’ve played it a total of five times and cashed in it twice making at least double my buy-in back and made today’s final table in 9th place, cashing a little over $7k.  So I’m basically 3 for 5 in this specific tournament which isn’t too bad, I’ll continue to play it until I show that it is not profitable for me to play. 

     It’s going to be very busy for me from now till mid Jan. with all these Christmas parties to go to, Tahoe Snowboarding trip in late Dec., and the PCA in the Bahamas a week later.  Hopefully I can still show a good profit for the month of December as far as online poker goes and start the new year off right!  Here are some key losing and winning hands in my tournaments today:

———————————————
$40K Final Table – BB’s Donk Play
———————————————

Full Tilt, 5,000/10,000 blinds, 1,000 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 6 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

SB: 117,580 (11.8 bb)
BB: 1,053,645 (105.4 bb)
UTG: 444,917 (44.5 bb)
4XTRADER (MP1): 285,595 (28.6 bb)
MP2: 166,568 (16.7 bb)
CO: 58,695 (5.9 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is MP1 with
UTG folds, 4XTRADER raises to 30,000, MP2 folds, CO folds, SB folds, BB calls 20,000

Flop: (71,000) (2 players)
BB checks, 4XTRADER bets 46,000, BB raises to 166,000, 4XTRADER raises to 254,595 and is all-in, BB calls 88,595

Turn: (580,190) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (580,190) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: 580,190 pot
4XTRADER showed (a pair of Sevens) and lost (-285,595 net)
BB showed (two pairs, Kings and Sevens) and won 580,190 (294,595 net)

Comments:  This has to probably one of the worst plays I’ve seen at a final table.  I had a good read that this player was very loose and aggressive pre and post flop, so I was pretty confident playing my A8o against my opponent even though he had an overwhelming chiplead.  The flop was very good for my hand and knew he was trying to put a move on me when he 3-bet me, so I 4-bet push with confidence and it turns out he made a horrendous play with K high.  I’m not going to be biased and say that he wasn’t committed to the hand and he did have two overs to the flop, but I still think he could’ve found a fold after my 4-bet.  He has to ask himself what can he beat with K high? only a pure bluff!  Win this pot and make at least top 2 places if not first.  Despite the results, these are the players I usually like to have at a final table but do not expect much of them to make it that far making these sort of plays unless they’re uber lucky.

———————————————–
$32K Final Table – Dominated Suckout
———————————————–

Full Tilt, 20,000/40,000 blinds, 5,000 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 6 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

4XTRADER (UTG): 825,055 (20.6 bb)
BTN: 460,599 (11.5 bb)
SB: 790,526 (19.8 bb)
BB: 506,354 (12.7 bb)
MP: 1,598,372 (40 bb)
CO: 886,094 (22.2 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is UTG with
MP folds, CO folds, 4XTRADER raises to 126,000, BTN folds, SB raises to 785,526 and is all-in, BB folds, 4XTRADER calls 659,526

SB shows

Flop: (1,641,052) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (1,641,052) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (1,641,052) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: 1,641,052 pot
SB showed (a pair of Queens) and won 1,641,052 (850,526 net)
4XTRADER showed (high card Ace) and lost (-790,526 net)

Comments:  Not much I could say about this one, got my chips in as a pretty big favorite and spikes one of his three outs on the flop.  I don’t mind his push with his hand and stack, I would do the same.  It’s just unfortunate because had I won this hand I would be 1st in chips five handed and pretty confident I would’ve taken this tournament down as there were no big names at my final table.

————————————————-
$1K Monday – Definition of Uber Luck
————————————————-

Full Tilt, 800/1,600 blinds, 200 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 8 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

UTG+2: 75,984 (47.5 bb)
BTN: 49,846 (31.2 bb)
SB: 51,317 (32.1 bb)
BB: 47,852 (29.9 bb)
4XTRADER (MP1): 39,035 (24.4 bb)
MP2: 51,739 (32.3 bb)
MP3: 20,362 (12.7 bb)
CO: 30,996 (19.4 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is MP1 with
4XTRADER raises to 4,400, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, UTG+2 folds, BTN folds, SB folds, BB raises to 47,652 and is all-in, 4XTRADER calls 34,435 and is all-in

Flop: (80,070) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (80,070) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (80,070) (2 players, 2 are all-in)
Results: 80,070 pot
BB showed (high card Ace) and lost (-39,035 net)
4XTRADER showed (a flush, Ace high) and won 80,070 (41,035 net)

Comments:  These kind of hands make you laugh out loud when you’re on the winning end and cry out loud when you’re on the losing side.  There’s not much my oppenent and I can do about this hand, both our chips are bound to get in the middle.  Only way is if he flats preflop and gets away on a non-connected board, but even I like to push 30BB stacks in preflop w/ big slick, it’s not a bad play especially deep in tournaments.  Winning this pot put me in good position to make the final table.  This is a good sign variance is on my side now. 

—————————————
$1K Monday Final Table – KO
—————————————

Full Tilt, 2,500/5,000 blinds, 600 ante NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

UTG+1: 32,442 (6.5 bb)
UTG+2: 62,536 (12.5 bb)
MP1: 68,680 (13.7 bb)
MP2: 140,091 (28 bb)
4XTRADER (BTN): 35,304 (7.1 bb)
SB: 284,684 (56.9 bb)
BB: 325,801 (65.2 bb)
MP3: 50,336 (10.1 bb)
CO: 83,126 (16.6 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is BTN with
MP3 folds, CO folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, 4XTRADER raises to 34,704 and is all-in, SB calls 32,204, BB folds

SB shows

Flop: (79,808) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: (79,808) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: (79,808) (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Results: 79,808 pot
4XTRADER showed (two pairs, Aces and Sevens) and lost (-35,304 net)
SB showed (a flush, Ace high) and won 79,808 (44,504 net)

Comments:  This I know is an uncommon yet so classic FullTilt beat, flopping top two and opponent turning four to the flush.  FT likes to build your hopes up and make you think you have the hand in the bag but then strips away all your hope and leaves you in distraught, very classic of FullTilt.  The pay jumps in this tournament was so tremendous that I could’ve waited till the other short stacks busted but as Matt Matros says “Only go for the win”.  So I found a perfect situation and hand to open push with on the button and was a slight favorite but did not hold up.  Soon after my KO, all the other short stacks dropped like flies, which would of jumped my $7200 prize to $25k in the matter of 10 hands, so sad but still good.

69534346	Dec 14 18:02ET	$750,000 Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	3,485	2,926	–
70839497	Dec 14 16:31ET	November TLB Freeroll		Freeroll	198	155	–
72341225	Dec 14 16:31ET	$18,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	379	13	$369.30	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
69546084	Dec 14 16:01ET	$200,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$150.00 + $13	488	337	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $300.00 .
70300462	Dec 14 15:01ET	$50,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	986	255	–
72330066	Dec 14 14:01ET	$27,500 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	2,159	1,468	–
69538250	Dec 14 14:01ET	The Sunday Brawl		$240.00 + $16	1,944	1,024	–
71248794	Dec 11 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	226	117	–
71999323	Dec 11 18:01ET	$21,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,098	491	–
71241625	Dec 11 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	337	75	–	You collected $20.00 for 1 Knockout.

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1588

Today’s winnings/losses = +$389.30

Today’s net profit/loss = -$1198.70

            I apologize for the lag in updating my blog, it’s been a very busy weekend for me and it only gets busier the rest of Dec. and beginning of Jan..  I properly titled this entry “The Last Storm” because I am writing this seperate from today’s (Monday) results which obviously shattered my long losing streak. 

     On Dec. 11th, I only played three tournaments because I spent most of the day studying rather than playing and plus we set up a home game with a couple buddies later at night.  That day marked my 4th consecutive day not cashing in any tournaments and for the massive volume of tournaments I play a day, that is just truely a disappointing and daunting task. 

    December 15th, I didn’t have no time to play any tournaments.  So I played some $2/$4 before I attended a yacht party for the old company I used to trade for.  I literally played for half an hour and lost almost $3k, just amazing how bad I run in tournaments and cash lately.  It didn’t help that I got stacked twice in two of my Deep tables, which are 200 big-blind buyins, so $800 a piece.  Here is a graph of that debacle:

On Sunday, December 14th – I got KO’ed early in all the big tournaments that I played.  I decided not to play the Mulligan or any of the other tournaments later in the evening because I was getting really sleepy as I was playing.  There was only one tournament I was in which was the $18k Rebuy, I pretty much played the whole early stages of the tournament and let my girlfriend play the rest because I was so tired.  I woke up very surprised and proud as there were only 30 something players left and she had a decent stack.  I let her play the rest of it out and gave her my advice on some hands but ended up getting knocked out just before the final table.  So the first cash in four days wasn’t even done by me, kind of makes me wonder, maybe I am doing something wrong?  Anyway look out for my girlfriend, she’s the next upcoming poker superstar, Ms KxL is her FT name .

Other than that, still running bad and losing tons of money but that’s about to change, read the next blog entry!

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
69929136	Dec 10 23:01ET	$30,000 Guarantee		$100.00 + $9	331	282	–
69928208	Dec 10 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	1,050	660	–
69307489	Dec 10 21:01ET	$100,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	370	108	–	You made 6 rebuys/add-ons for $600.00 .
71142394	Dec 10 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	335	122	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
71138622	Dec 10 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,609	783	–
69923620	Dec 10 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	649	69	–
71134902	Dec 10 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	212	166	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
71123941	Dec 10 18:01ET	Turbo $40K Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	257	163	–
71876389	Dec 10 18:01ET	$21,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,108	157	–
71116640	Dec 10 17:01ET	$30,000 KO Guarantee		$120.00 + $9	368	222	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1835

Today’s winnings/losses = -$1835

Today’s net profit/loss = -$1835

            I am officially sad!  When I can’t even get in the money in any of the numerous tournaments I played the past 3 days, it really gets me thinking.  I definately can’t blame all of this on bad variance.  I feel like I’m playing the same way that I was when I was winning but it obviously isn’t outputting the same results.  I’ve learned to tolerate up to several days of losing streaks but not weeks on end.  The plan is to play the rest of the week out and hope that I can recover some losses and give me at least a small sign things are going to look brighter.  If not, then next week I would have to play less tournaments/lower buy-ins and go back to the drawing board to study more than I already do.  I wouldn’t want to bore anyone with my non-stop complaints everyday, so from here on out I’ll just post my results and maybe some hands that I can post to see if I or you can find any leaks in my game.  Somebody say a prayer for me!

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
71790089	Dec 09 23:01ET	$11,500 KO Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	683	450	–
69929070	Dec 09 23:01ET	$30,000 Guarantee		$100.00 + $9	350	76	–
71031575	Dec 09 22:31ET	$18,500 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$50.00 + $5	199	44	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $100.00 .
71782888	Dec 09 22:03ET	Big Double – A		$60.00 + $15	190	156	–
71783107	Dec 09 22:03ET	Big Double – B		$60.00 + $15	170	153	–
71782885	Dec 09 22:01ET	$28,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,230	745	–
69928045	Dec 09 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	1,152	905	–
71016083	Dec 09 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	277	180	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
71012257	Dec 09 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,549	180	–
69923557	Dec 09 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	604	571	–
71008449	Dec 09 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	202	96	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
71760273	Dec 09 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	730	172	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1187

Today’s winnings/losses = -$1187

Today’s net profit/loss = -$1187

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
69927963	Dec 08 21:31ET	The Fifty-Fifty		$50.00 + $5	1,121	930	–
69306452	Dec 08 21:01ET	$1K Monday		$1,000.00 + $60	363	251	–
70889284	Dec 08 20:31ET	$22,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$30.00 + $3	314	107	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $60.00 .
70885366	Dec 08 20:01ET	$32,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1,545	918	–
69923470	Dec 08 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	569	509	–
70881486	Dec 08 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	164	27	–	. You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $200.00 .
71638835	Dec 08 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	637	581	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $1781

Today’s winnings/losses = -$1781

Today’s net profit/loss = -$1781

            I have to say I am starting to get worried, to the point, where I’m asking myself “Is there something wrong with my game?” or “Do I need to buckle down and focus even more?” or “Is it just really bad variance after a few good winning months?”  I can rightfully admit that half the reason for my bad losing streak this past week and a half was because I haven’t been completely focused and determined but the other half of reasoning I know is because of bad variance.  There’s a couple things I need to do in order to get back in track to start winning:

1.  Wake up on my normal schedule of Noon instead of 3PM like I’ve been doing lately, so I can play some of the earlier higher buy-in events.

2.  Focus and be more determined.  I need to stop occupying myself with other things that distract me while I’m playing poker, like talking on AIM or surfing the web.  Determination is another thing, I noticed after I got that big win in FTOPS #7 its hard for me to be determined to win more money, esp. when the prizepools aren’t nearly as high.  I need to play like every tournament is my last tournament that I can afford.

3.  Get LUCKY!!!

        My bad streak couldn’t come at a better time when I have plenty of expenses this month, esp. Christmas presents and my trips to Lake Tahoe and Bahamas.  It makes me pretty sad when I look at my OPR stats seeing that I dropped two spots since last week and not even being on the FT TLB.  It’s still early in the month so hopefully the poker grinch gets off my back or else this just might be my first losing month in half a year!

I’ll leave you with two hands up for discussion.  Please post in comment box if you want to discuss:

——————–
HAND #1
——————–

Full Tilt, 30/60 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

CO: 3,070 (51.2 bb)
BTN: 2,545 (42.4 bb)
SB: 2,725 (45.4 bb)
BB: 4,245 (70.8 bb)
4XTRADER (UTG+1): 3,185 (53.1 bb)
UTG+2: 5,175 (86.3 bb)
MP1: 2,800 (46.7 bb)
MP2: 2,835 (47.3 bb)
MP3: 2,645 (44.1 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is UTG+1 with
4XTRADER raises to 120, UTG+2 calls 120, MP1 folds, MP2 calls 120, MP3 folds, CO folds, BTN folds, SB calls 90, BB calls 60

Flop: (600) (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, 4XTRADER bets 450, UTG+2 folds, MP2 raises to 1,000, SB folds, BB raises to 2,880, 4XTRADER folds, MP2 folds

Results: 3,050 pot
BB mucked and won 3,050 (1,930 net)

——————–
HAND #2
——————–

Full Tilt, 60/120 blinds NL Hold’em Tourney, 9 Players
Hand History Converter by Stoxpoker

MP2: 7,516 (62.6 bb)
MP3: 2,170 (18.1 bb)
CO: 10,610 (88.4 bb)
BTN: 13,135 (109.5 bb)
SB: 5,830 (48.6 bb)
4XTRADER (BB): 15,541 (129.5 bb)
UTG+1: 3,010 (25.1 bb)
UTG+2: 1,698 (14.2 bb)
MP1: 10,770 (89.8 bb)

Pre-Flop: 4XTRADER is BB with
UTG+1 raises to 360, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO calls 360, BTN raises to 1,080, SB folds, 4XTRADER calls 960, UTG+1 raises to 3,010 and is all-in, CO folds, BTN raises to 10,530, 4XTRADER folds

   I know what the UTG+1 and BTN had, since they went to showdown but the results are not important in the correct/incorrect decision I made with my laydown.

ID	Start Time	Name		Buy-in	Entrants	Position	Won	Notes
70768956	Dec 07 21:01ET	$85,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$100.00 + $9	380	48	–	You made 4 rebuys/add-ons for $400.00 .
69420683	Dec 07 20:01ET	$65,000 Guarantee		$150.00 + $13	748	672	–
70757651	Dec 07 19:31ET	$33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a)		$100.00 + $9	279	171	–
69414943	Dec 07 19:06ET	The Sunday Mulligan		$200.00 + $16	1068	52	$555.36
71509734	Dec 07 19:01ET	$40,000 Guarantee		$69.00 + $6	1033	366	–
69297795	Dec 07 18:02ET	$750,000 Guarantee		$200.00 + $16	3517	1,687	–
71502934	Dec 07 18:01ET	$21,000 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	1705	261	–
69414509	Dec 07 16:01ET	$200,000 Guarantee (Rebuy)		$150.00 + $13	494	325	–	You made 2 rebuys/add-ons for $300.00 .
69295787	Dec 07 14:01ET	The Sunday Brawl		$240.00 + $16	1,919	846	–	You collected $80.00 for 2 Knockouts.
71476038	Dec 07 14:01ET	$27,500 Guarantee		$24.00 + $2	2,152	272	–

Total spent on buy-ins (incl. rebuys)  = $2059

Today’s winnings/losses = +$635.36

Today’s net profit/loss = -$1423.64

          Nothing has changed much, still small hints of bad variance but not as bad as last week.  Today it seems like it was just coin-flips that I was losing as opposed to losing 80/20 situations like I’ve been experiencing.  I would actually blame more of poor results on myself today due to restlessness and a couple bad spots I didn’t need to put my chips in.  I also had one of my first misclicks in a loooong time when I called a semi-shortstack all-in with K2o vs. his pocket nines.  Luckily it was only for a quarter of my chips but still made a difference.  Fortunately, I cashed in the Sunday Mulligan so that today wasn’t a complete failure.  I need to shape up starting tomorrow and fix any minor leaks I have.  Another day, another dollar.