The Weekly Journals of DavidRoss

Week 34/35/36

Well, Happy New Year everyone. Personally I had a great holiday season, we spent most of it in Montreal where they actually had snow, and if my scale is any indication then I had a really good Christmas. For the first time since starting this adventure in April, I took several days off, and only played sparingly most of the others. I feel quite refreshed now and I’m ready to get back into the fray.

When I left off 3 weeks ago I was heading for Seattle. Of course we got hit with a snowstorm the day I had to drive to Buffalo to catch my plane, and it was snowing in Washington where I had to transfer so it looked like a long day ahead of me. I left home 5 hours before my flight because I was afraid of several things. The weather, customs, and airport security. Fortunately the Bills weren’t playing that day or the line up at customs would have been terrible. More than 10,000 people cross the border on game days. But I was concerned because I’m not allowed to work in the US without a visa. If I were to get a contract in Seattle I would have to get one, and it involves getting the client to write a letter explaining that they couldn’t find an American to do the job, proving I have a University degree, and paying for the visa. In the past I have usually just said I was going for training, but on those occasions I was visiting a company that had a Canadian office. I know several people who have been turned back at customs because they suspected they were going to work unauthorized. So in the end I decided to tell them I was going to Seattle to play in a poker tournament. The Customs guy said “Cool, will I see you on TV?”. Turns out he watches poker on the travel channel every week and he waved me through with no delay. The roads were not as bad as I had feared, and there was no one at the airport, so I ended up over 3 hours early for my flight. Then I got a good break, the guy at the ticket counter told me there was another flight to Seattle through Chicago leaving in 30 minutes. That avoided Washington where it was snowing and got me to Seattle 3 hours earlier. So I got there in time to watch the final Survivor Episode. I’ve been a big fan of the show, but I am getting tired of seeing all my favorites voted off early because they were a “threat”, then seeing all the zero-personalities slip through and win it. The producers need to work on that somehow.

I spent 2 days working in Seattle, but it was clear early on they wouldn’t need me long term. The shop was actually in pretty good shape. I think I was an insurance policy for the new manager who wanted to be sure everything was good before the year end. I got some Christmas shopping done while I was there, and on Tuesday night I went out to Muckleshoot and played cards all night until my flight at 8:30 Wednesday morning. I fell asleep before liftoff, and didn’t wake up until we touched down in Dulles. We were delayed in Washington though and it was 9:00 PM when I finally got back home on Wednesday night.

Muckleshoot was a very enjoyable evening. It wasn’t much to look at from the outside, but quite nice inside. Has anyone else noticed that casino’s are the only place I’ve ever seen all the handicapped parking spots taken? There was a freeroll tournament starting at 7:00 PM that night and all but 3 tables were being used. I got on a list for 10/20, and had to wait 30 minutes for a table to break in the tournament, then they started a new, must move 10/20 game. I hadn’t played live in over a year, and it was very interesting. I only saw 1 guy make a bet that wasn’t legit. Very easy to read, and most of them wouldn’t bet the river for value. They took 4 dollars out of every pot though, 3 for rake and 1 for jackpots, so that’s pretty steep compared to online. I loved the way the card room ran though. Every complaint I have about Brantford (the casino closest to my home) is answered there. Chip runners get your chips immediately instead of buying them at the table and slowing down the game. They gave me a pager while I was waiting for my table, and the food and beverage service was fantastic. The only down side was the smoking. I haven’t been in a building where smoking was allowed in 2 years. No public places in Ontario allow it any more, so that was a shock to my system. Unfortunately I didn’t get much in the way of cards all night. I fluctuated between $200 up and $100 down all night, and finished almost exactly even in the morning. Only 1 memorable hand. I limped in with 66, and the joker who kept raising with nothing raised behind me. 4 of us saw a flop of K 6 4. I bet, got raised on my left, then the joker 3 bet it. BB folded and I smooth called hoping to keep everyone in. Turn was another K. I checked, then it was bet on my left and raised by the joker. I 3 bet and the guy on my left capped it. We both called. At this point I put the joker on a K, but was having trouble putting the other guy on a hand. 44 seemed the most likely to me, and K6 and K4 seemed unlikely, so I figured I was still good. River brought another 6. I bet, got raised and 3 bet again and I capped it. Joker had KQ, and the guy on my left had K4. I did suck out with my 1 outer.

I rented a laptop to take with me and play in the evenings, and even that turned out to be a hassle. I thought I would get the same one I used in the summer, it was configured just fine for me, but this time it was a different machine. When I asked if he had included a network cable in the bag, he told me there was no network card in the PC. SO I had to wait another couple of hours for him to put a card in the machine, and the end result was they were closed for the weekend when I left the store. I got home to load the poker software and discovered they hadn’t included a mouse either, so I had to run out and spend $10 on a mouse. It cost me $10 / day from the hotel to connect to the internet, so I was down $100 before I started playing. I could only play 3 games, and even that was pushing it as the resolution on the lap top could barely fit one table, let alone 3 on the screen. And to finish my complaining, the chair was terribly uncomfortable. Then I lost $1,022 in 3 hours of play to cap off the experience. On Monday night I lost another $60, making me wish I had just left the computer at home. I barely broke even on the trip. Yuck.

Once I was home my luck was no better and I lost 2 of 3 sessions the rest of the week to have my first losing week in 6 months, dropping $1,451 in all. I didn’t play a lot of hours, we had Christmas shopping to do during the days, and Christmas performances at school in the evenings. I also took Saturday night off for a party at a neighbours house.

I played Sunday and Monday at home before we packed up and went to Montreal for Xmas, and in two short evening sessions I won $2,000. I didn’t play again until the Saturday after Christmas, at my sister in laws, where I decided to only play 2 tables again because of the screen limitations. I lost a small amount but still had a nice week with a profit of $1,886.
Finally this week I played once more at my Sister in laws on Sunday and had a nice $400 win. I drove home with my 3 older kids on Monday while my wife stayed behind with our youngest. She came home on New Years eve and we joined some friends for a quiet but late evening. I played full sessions on Monday and Tuesday, only able to post small wins each day though. I didn’t play at all on New Years eve, and then the bottom dropped out in 2004. After a horrible session in the afternoon of New years day I lost $700. I won it all back and then some in the evening session, while my daughter and a friend watched the Matrix, and it’s sequel. I drove her friend home at around 1:00 AM and I was up for the day. One hour later I was down over $700 again, maybe the worst hour I can remember. It carried over into Friday as well as I lost another $1,000 in the afternoon, and only managed to win back $200 in the evening. And on Saturday night I still couldn’t really get going. The same things that happen to us all when we’re losing. Big pairs getting run down on the river, draws that don’t get there, and losing all the heads up battles. I flopped 3 sets on Friday that turned into full houses, and still lost them all to bigger boats. I did manage to win $331 on Saturday leaving me down $387 for the week, and giving me 2 losing weeks out of 3.

So after a really remarkable run through most of the year, it has finished with some tough times. Curious that it would happen while my usual routine was disrupted, which probably played a small part in the results, but not $2K worth. It was nice to take some time off and realize that the world wasn’t going to come to an end if I didn’t play 45 hours in a week. Of course the remarkable 4 or 5 weeks I had leading in to the holidays gave me a nice fat bankroll to rest on, but post Christmas I need to get back to winning. And playing better. I think I’m chasing too much lately. I believe it’s a by-product of running so well for 3 or 4 weeks, you start to believe your card will come every time.

I had a call on Friday about a contract here in Toronto, that will start right away. I will probably hear more about it on Monday. I’m kind of torn. There is no doubt, that I would prefer to keep playing poker. Interesting that when I started this I had no desire to do it full time, and now I don’t want to quit. But I can’t help thinking it would be pretty irresponsible to turn down a good contract offer where I can still play in the evenings. But it will have to be a good offer. I guess what concerns me most is that if I take too much time off, it will be too hard to get back into the job market. And although the poker games are good right now, who knows what they will be like in a couple of years. But I have to be very honest, the last 8 months has been more fun than any other working period of my life. I just love this lifestyle. Except for the losing streaks, but they make you appreciate the winning streaks more I guess. Funny, but after winning over $47,000 in 8 months, when I lose $2,000 in 2 days, I still wonder if this is the end of the line. In the rational part of my brain I know I’ll start winning again, but it seems to get overshadowed by the emotional part of my brain that’s screaming “Your family will starve!!”

Someone asked me if I thought the 6 max games were getting tougher, and I don’t think so. I’m still getting rivered by some awful cards. Last night there were 30,000 people playing at Party/Empire. That’s truly amazing, and still gives lots of game selection. I even saw poker on NBC in primetime this week, where the cast from West Wing was playing a celebrity tournament. If that keeps up we’ll see more newbies in the games again.
One hand for discussion. I’m in the BB with Ac 3c. There is a limp and a raise, then a cold call from the button and the SB plays too. I call and so does the limper and 5 of us see the flop. Flop is Ad Qs 4s. SO now the usual dilemma when you have the A no kicker. I check behind the SB. UTG limper bets and the pre-flop raiser folds. Button calls and the SB folds. I just call, but I did it aggressively (OK I’m a wimp). Turn is the good news, bad news 3s. I check, UTG bets, button calls and I again call aggressively. River is a 5c. I check, UTG bets and now the button raises. Pot is pretty big, almost 13 BB’s, but it’ll cost me 20 to call. I figure I’m beat and I fold. UTG calls. UTG had QT (??) and the button had AT, and my two pair would have been good. Obviously I needed to play this differently. Maybe just betting out on the flop, or check-raising the turn. I hate the way I did play it. As for folding on the end, I still seem to fold a winner every once in a while, but I do think that happens when you play properly tight. Of course in this example, I never gave the guy with AT any reason to believe he wasn’t ahead, so his raise didn’t necessarily mean a huge hand.

Hope everyone else had a great holiday. I missed writing my updates so I’ll start them again next week.