27 hour grind session

  "Sometimes you're flush, sometimes you're bust. When you're up its never as good as it seems. And when you're down, you never think you'll be up again. But life goes on"
-Blow

   I've been grinding extremely hard, in my opinion, the last few weeks, and its been going great. I ended last month on a great note. I was down all month long, and was close to having 2 losing months in a row, yikes! I had a great end of the month run, and finished with a total of $9,500 for a nice profit. I grinded for the TLB weekly, and put in more volume than I had liked to at the end of last month. It most likely cost me money, just trying to get my mug on the bottom of the lobby, stupid imo. I was running about 20 tables on avg, and was not playing very well doing so. I ended up getting 3rd in the weekly, and was overall happy about it.

  The 27 hour grind I put in was on a Thursday. I started the day at about 12pm, and went deep into the next day, before heading out for New Years. I had some decent scores, and made some profit. I final-tabled the $109 turbo twice placing 6th, and 9th. I had some good scores in that week, and it definitely saved my month. Almost took down the TLB on Saturday on New Year's day placing 15th in the daily 40k. I was so damn close, and had a pretty damn bad beat. I know SNG wiz was shaking watching that, as he went on to win the weekly.
 
  This month I have had a ton of deep runs only to come up short. I got 189th outta 37 thousand people in the 1/4 mill on Sunday. I flipped my top 15 stack with a top 10 stack AKvs33, obvi a 3 came on the flop. That tourney is so sick, and I was playing great. I really thought I'd be the last man standing, but the cards have a mind of their own sometimes, and things didn't work out. No sweat off my back, I know this year is going to be amazing for me. Its amazing how far I've come in just one year of playing poker professionally. I've met some great people in my travels, and experienced some things in one year I never thought I'd be able too. I'm very excited for what 2011 has in store for me.

  I'm currently booking my tickets to Mexico, and trying to figure out some travel plans. I'm meeting up with some people in Mazatlan on the 20th, to stay the week in a time share. Its going to be a blast grinding on the beach, and having a couple beers. Last year AceQuad won the Sunday Mill when he was down there, I'm hoping I can do so this time! I hear there is just something about grinding on the beach, laptop in hand, palm trees on side, and a cold Corona in your hands. Should be a great experience. Extremely excited to get out of this Northern MN winter. See you at the tables all. GL everyone (except lol, cigaro).

Follow my Twitter @ http://twitter.com/#!/BlakeWarner11

I've been listening to a ton of Kid Cudi lately, and this might be my favorite

-Blake

Unexpected Destiny

Can't sleep so I suppose I'll write, and I'll do so a little better than I have in the past.
   
        This month of poker was abruptly interrupted by the death of my Aunt Penny. Sometimes in life you just need to step back and realize how to appreciate people, and things for that matter, that you're fortunate to have in your life. As I sit and ponder life, I wonder why there are so many unanswered questions. I wonder why the world isn't perfect, and I wonder why people are dealt the cards they are. Is it all luck, or simply by chance. I'm very naive, like most people, when I complain about the littlest of things. The complaining is usually followed by a small regret of stupidity in my mind. I feel complaining is a product of being a bit cynic at times. I realize what I'm doing, yet I still do it. I know you hear it all the time, but most of the things we complain about don't really mean a whole lot when it comes down to it.

       My aunt's death hit me a lot harder, because of the tragedy in how it happened, and because she was an amazing person, and gave so much to people in need. It makes me wonder why I'm not more like her, I mean, I was partially raised by her. My recent downswing, coupled with the death of my aunt, really had me feeling like poker was going to have to go on the back burner while I gathered myself. I played a bit right after it happened, at my cousin's (danwrnr) house, but my results were very weak, and felt it was probably best I studied up and came back towards the end of the month with a much fresher mind. It's so weird for me to see people playing day in and day out with nothing affecting their play. I could never do that, and I only wish I was on that level. For me to play at my best I feel I need everything just right, probably why I take the breaks I do. I'm trying harder and harder every day to overcome that, but it's just too difficult. I get discouraged quick, and realize my play is therefore being affected. I was never one to see this flaw at the start of my career, but now it's quite clear to me that breaks are much needed. I obviously know that most people aren't like this, but some of you may be able to relate.

      I feel like, because of this, maybe poker isn't the best of career choices for me, but then I weigh it out and realize what other job can I take a break from when things aren't going well for months at a time... Hmm.. I still haven't found a legit answer for that one, but maybe the answer comes within myself and I should just suck it up. Today is Sunday, we've got some of my favorite online tourneys running today like the Mill, and the TT. I think it's the best time for me to start back up, and grind.

      It's 3:10 am right now, and I'm driving to Minneapolis in the morning. I'm going to try to be there before noon, but if I can't fall asleep soon it's going to be tough to play after the couple hour car ride I'm going to be enduring. January will be a big month of travel most likely. I plan on helping my brother Clayton0719 who just won the nightly 70k to move into his new place in Florida. Then from there I plan on flying to Mexico to meet up with acequad and a few other people, but I'm equally excited to crush, and get my legs back. Last night was Christmas, and I hope all of you had a great one, I know I did. Realize the things, and the people you have in your life, and don't take any of them for granted. And of course GL to everyone (except lol, cigaro).

-Blake

November in the books

I decided not to go to the PCA, or even try for a package, with the USA-COOP running I simply couldn't fit it into my schedule, and didn't have it in my priorities. Last month I ended down money just barely, probably about $200 or so. I had a pretty good 18 man session at the end of the month that helped a lot. Today I loaded up a few tourney's, mostly turbos, and some player capped MTTs. +$1800 or so on the day, and for the month. Cut the grind short because it's my brother's bday, and we're going out for a few drinks soon (SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS) . Anyway, I've been playing very well lately and going deep in a lot of MTTs, but things aren't panning out in the end. I broke about even in the COOP, in the $320 6 max I got 31st for about $1600. I'm really becoming numb to "beats," they get easier and easier day in and day out. They're obviously a part of the game, and learning how to control your emotions are even a bigger part of the game. I try to feel the same while I'm playing from start to finish, and not let the cards or my play affect how I feel emotionally. If you look at my recent results you'd understand why I'm getting use to them. I feel like I'm playing to the best of my ability, and I feel like I know where I'm at in almost every situation. It's just a matter of time before I start crushing. I also feel like I've been basically living in Minneapolis as of late, and it feels like when I'm back at my house I don't actually live there, and it surely doesn't really feel like a place I can call home anymore. I'm going to kick back and chill at my place for the next week and see if I can make some deep runs before I head back down to the cities for a couple weeks. I know December is going to be waaay better than November was, (besides the weather) mark my words on it. I donno what my future holds, but this northern Minnesota winter shit won't be happening too much longer. It was -10 degrees Fahrenheit when I went to bed lastnight. I HATE IT. I'm outty. See you at the tables all. GL everyone (except lol, cigaro).

-Blake

A Break in the Action

I haven't played much at all this month, and am actually on track to lose money this month for the first time since starting my poker career. Although, I do have half the month left so I'm not too worried. Both online, and live have been virtually nonexistent. November might be trending like this for many years to come. There's a reason for this though, as November comes around its been a family tradition to hunt whitetail for many years, and I can't find much time to play as of late because of it. I played a session last night of some smaller buy-in MTTs to get in the swing of things again. Results were decent, I went deep in the $11RA, only to bust in 46th out of 1155 people to this crazy crazy play by a villain holding 77 in the BB, after I already 3-bet a person from MP! Whats his thought process here? Lets think about this, we're not very deep, as the later in tourney's you go the blinds kind of catch up with you, I've 3-bet a very select range of hands to this point, he shoves his tourney life which is probably around 27 or 28 BBs. I mean how often is this guy ahead of me with the 77 here, and I was way priced so I'm obviously not folding. It really would have been a better shove if he had 78s or J10s because of the way the hand was playing. In the $5R+ I got 91st outta 2678 players, and in the $8.80 I got 69th outta 2223 people. A bunch of deeper runs that don't mean anything besides giving me a slight boost of confidence. I feel I'm playing great, and another decent score is in my near future! On another note I'm trying to eat shrimp Cajun Alfredo right now, but can't, because as I glance at my 52inch Panasonic I see models throwing up. WTF? Why does this kinda shit make TV? A. who cares about these people that are putting themselves in this predicament? B. Why does this need to be shown on TV, don't people become bulimic because they're not only starving for food, but also attention? C. Can they at least not show the vomit, the remote is so far away. Anyway I digress. Another thing I really don't agree with is Pokerstars signing these so-called "pros". I don't understand it, I mean I'm sure some of these players are good players, and a lot has to do with marketing reasons and such, but really? Please, if you are reading this take a look at some of these guys? Show me what they have done to make their case as a "pro"? I'm not saying these guys are bad at all, and I'm not saying they're not worthy of the job, but what I am saying is that there are much better players that qualify for the job in a much better way, rather than half of these Pokerstars "pros". If you go ahead and actually find the time to waste reading some of these team Pokerstars "pros" bio's they actually get quite amusing, when it never lists a big score or any kind of cash game play, but list where they're from and how they started playing. It doesn't make sense to me, and really hurts the online poker community imo. Anyway, lots of grinding in my near future! I really want a PCA package, and whenever I put my mind to something pokerwise I've been very fortunate, and I hope this time is no different. I'll be leaving for Minneapolis again Friday night to meet up with AceQuad for the weekend grind, its really nice to be around someone with such good work ethics as himself. I might play some live cash early next week since I feel its been quite awhile since I've really tapped that resource, and I'll be in the area. If your an online player that grinds with music I strongly suggest making a play list on YouTube of your own. Mine contains almost 200 songs right now, ranging from Sublime, to Ray Charles, and is the best thing I've EVER invested my time into! See you at the tables all. GL everyone (except lol, cigaro).

Check out this great new site!  http://www.pororeport.com/

-Blake

Rambling Rambling Rambling

Not really in the writing mood so like most of my other posts this will be short and sweet. Maybe I should start writing these in better paragraph form? Screw it, I kinda like the rambling on. So, Live game has been just about non existent since my last post, which is fine when I can make enough online to support my spending habits. People are addicted to many things in life, I'm fortunate to only be addicted to one thing, money. The only goal I have at this point in my life is making money. Obviously that's pretty vague, but its the truth for the most part. My goals may change over the next few years, actually I know they will change, but until then all I'd like to do is make money. I need to make money to support my habits! I think the spending habits I've acquired are simply a product of poker in a sense. You can work a dead end 9-5, 40 hours a week, and have a secured check every two weeks. But its the high risk, high reward why most of us poker players choose not to. I feel a 9-5 is simply too easy, and repetitive. I also think most would agree, why waste your life doing something you don't want to? I do something I love, and feel I'm pretty good at it. I play poker, at most, on the weeks I'm really grinding live/online 40 hours a week. I usually do pretty well for myself, and make enough that I have little to no worries in my life. Its just so hard not to spend spend spend, when I know if I really had to grind out something to make a profit I would, or if I really really needed money all I have to do is sit down and play a game that I love.  Back to poker, I just chip chopped first place in the 3r+ for 11.5k. That score felt really good since I felt I was running like shit the past month or so. I've just been focusing on MTTs as of late, have had some descent results, been fairly deep in a lot of tourney's, and feel/hope its only a matter of time before I bink another! Side note I've been pretty much living in Minneapolis the past month, with my good friend Acequad. He's a machine, he doesn't sleep, rarely drinks, plays nosebleed mixed games, and is insane on the felt. Plus he's got a mean punch! Lets just say don't door his 30k Subaru WRX STI and laugh about it! Anyways...  I rented a suite in the great city of Duluth for the night, not a big fan of drinking and driving. Its Halloween, and I'm a breathalyzer! Its so cheesy, but I'm just looking for a fun and SAFE time! Happy Halloween everyone! GL at the tables! (except lol, cigaro)

-Blake

Haven't ate Ramen in months

  FIRST,  I'd like to say I've been getting a number of emails about coaching, and I regret to inform most of you I'm quite full at the moment but will be taking on a couple new students soon. (If I didn't email you back I'm sorry I've been busy with other projects) Thanks for all the support guys!

http://twitter.com/InTheMoney11

  -So lately I've been staying on my grind like a skateboard. I've been down to Minneapolis quite a few times in the past couple weeks. Times started out rough,  I had about 1k hands in at the 5-60 spread limit level and was down about $2.5k, yikes. I ran so bad that I don't care to elaborate much on it. But the 2-60 game I'm killing, and making up for my losses in the 5-60. I realize these stakes are quite low, but the biggest game in MN is 5-60 and it seems like its so profitable that I try to get on the table whenever its going (which isn't very often). Avg buy-in at this level is about $500. So its a decent game, but just plays so tight its almost too easy to bully these live fish time after time. They simply don't understand simple math, ranges, nor care to improve their games. Their play is always the same, and the faces at the table never change. Always the rich guys that love to spew. Its kinda like a circle of life at these tables. I grind all week online (when the weather permits) then take off and drive 2 hours to Minneapolis for the weekend. I sit there grind 2-60 in until a bigger game opens around 11pm-12pm, and keep in mind the 5-60 doesn't always get going, but when it does I try to feel out the table for the first hour or so, find ranges, play into my image, and then after an hour or two I like to open up and 3 bet more often to balance my ranges. Most of the time these guys show up after working all week, they give me their money, they leave, another guy shows up, he gives me his money, I go to bed for the night. Play again the next night, and the circle continues. I drive home about 2 hours, party with their money, then grind online for the rest of the week. Had a 1k day online yesterday which was nice, after a 9 hour session. After my session I did some studying with Simakos for about 2 hours. We pretty much just tuned-up our games, and didn't help each other that much, but it's always good listening to different points of view. Like they say, "even a donk can teach you something about poker". GL at the tables everyone! (except lol, cigaro)
 -I leave you guys with yesterdays graph

Running with the bulls

Hey Hey Hey, won 2.5 buy-ins in the last cash game, crazy soft of course. Putting some major thought into my next couple of months, and the end of the year for that matter. It sounds like Vegas will be getting put off for awhile. Probably moving to town for some better internet connection. A move is def +EV right now, the internet I currently have is horrible and goes out almost everyday. I can't grind as much as I'd like online with the poor connection, and it really ways on my conscience day after day. There is so much money to be made, and if I'm not playing I'm obviously missing a lot of chances. Up about 1k this month, and looking forward to the rest of the month and some big cashes. Been playing a little bit of cash online, I'm really getting the hang of it I think. Everytime I play I seem to improve and learn something new. With my live cash game background you would think I'd catch on right away and crush, but its just not like that. Its a different animal in so many ways. Its kinda nice though, right now, learning this new animal that so many people are making a living off of. I feel confident at just about any game. If I get bored I just change it up, MTTs, SNGs, or cash. I'm profitable in all of them, although MTTs are my least amount of profit, and that's simply because my sample size is very small. As soon as I move out I'll be putting in major volume in the SNGs/MTTs. I wanna see how profitable they really can be if I dedicate myself. The amount of games I'm putting in right now simply crushes my morale. If I'm running badly and can only play 1k games in a month I simply won't make enough money to keep up with my massive spending habits. Lately, since I've been running bad in the SNGs, I've been playing HU cash on Fulltilt, and a little on Stars. Its a big help to my wallet, and if the internet goes out while I'm playing its not really a big deal, as compared to if I had 2k in equity running and it went out. Might take a run down to Madison this weekend, and play the 2-5 NL there. I was told it runs 24 hours a day, and is very juicy. Its quite a drive though, but its definitely an option for the coming weekend. If I were to drive down there I'd probably grind around 30 hours straight. It just wouldn't make sense to drive all the way down there, and only see a small amount of hands. Perhaps I'd stay for a week or so, who knows. I'll keep it updated. See you at the tables all. GL everyone (except lol, cigaro)

-Blake