I've Got Dreams to Remember

I can’t remember a time in my life where I’ve been more frustrated and tired. I constantly feel like I’m stuck in this rut in life, and most of it has to do with my job. I never thought it would be half as hard as it has been to find a good job. I guess I’m fortunate in a way, because I’ve had a job since before I graduated that has paid the bills…but I didn’t go to college to make $12/hr. I’ve got to find something that challenges me and allows me to earn more money at the same time. It just seems that nobody will give me a chance. All I want is a chance…

I guess in life you can’t rely on people to give you opportunities, and I’m fine with that. I have no problem with making my own opportunities…the problem is that I don’t always know HOW to create my own opportunities. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about trying to start a business, but I can’t figure out what kind of a business I would like to start…or even how to go about starting one. I think I’m going to do some research and find out some stuff about it. I’ve got to do something. It doesn’t make any sense to sit around and complain about not being happy without doing anything to fix it.

On to more exciting things, or at least less depressing things. I’ve been playing poker quite a bit lately online, and I’ve been doing pretty well. I’m starting to get that feeling again that something good is going to happen…like me winning a big tournament. So I guess we’ll see what happens, I’ve been right every time I’ve gotten this feeling so far.

I’ve also started to try to qualify for the WSOP Main Event online. I have only tried a few supersatellites, but I haven’t had any luck lately. I still have quite a bit of time, but I’d like to be able to do it ASAP, if I’m able to do it at all. Only time will tell I guess.

I’ll leave you on that note…wish me luck trying to qualify for that damn tournament!!

"Recognize that everyday won't be sunny and when you find yourself lost in the darkness and despair, remember its only in the black of night when you can see the stars... and those stars will lead you back home. So don't be afraid to make mistakes and stumble and fall cause most of the time the greatest rewards come from doing the things that scare you the most. Maybe you will get everything you wished for... or maybe you will get more than you ever could of imagined. Who knows where life will take you, the road is long and in the end, the journey IS the destination."

The Mixed Tape

What's up? I found this band through the T.V. show One Tree Hill and I think this song is pretty sweet. Check it out and vote for it on T.R.L. Kinda cheesy I know, but I like their music so I figured I'd help the cause and post this bannner. UPDATE: I bought their CD "Everything in Transit" the other day, and I can't stop listening to it...pick it up, or at least check it out on amazon or something...Talk ta ya later!!

Sophomore Slump, or Comeback of the Year?

You’re probably wondering what’s up with these titles I’ve been using lately…they’re titles from either Fall Out Boy songs, or Episode titles from a few TV shows I like. I like them because their kinda crazy, plus they’re way more creative than something I could come up with. So I try to find something that is close to the subject of my post, and I use it. I’ll keep using them mostly because I’m entertained by it and I like the challenge of trying to find one that matches the content of my post.

I’ve been officially been playing poker tournaments regularly for a year and half, calendar time. I’ve really only been playing for about 15 months, because I’ve only played in one tournament in the last 3 months or so. So I figured I’d try to analyze how far I’ve come, how much money I’ve made, and some of my goals for the next year. So here goes nothin.

In the past 18 months or so, I think I’ve evolved from a very novice and inexperienced tournament player into an experienced player that has formed a solid tournament strategy. I’ve come to understand some poker theories that are more complex than anything I ever thought I’d be able to comprehend, although I’m still in the process of learning how to apply these strategies in the correct situations. I think I’m on my way to becoming a good player, and now that my little sabbatical from poker is over, I’m ready to start devoting more time to poker again. In the next year or so I hope to continue to improve as a player and continue to learn more strategies and how to correctly apply them. I also hope to improve on becoming better at reading players, and trusting these reads.

The past year was a pretty profitable one for me poker wise. Just counting tournaments, I’ve probably won about $2,500-$3,000. This isn’t a huge amount, but for the tournaments I’ve played in, I would say it’s pretty successful. If it wasn’t for a few untimely bad beats in big situations, I probably would have made close to double that. But that’s poker, what can you do. One of my biggest strengths in tournament poker is cashing in a high percentage of the tournaments I enter, but I want to improve on that as well. I am going to try to become more aggressive in the later stages and build a stack that can help me win, not just cash. I’d accept a few less times in the money for a few more higher finishes.

I have a couple of goals for this upcoming year of poker. The first one is to try to qualify for the World Series of Poker Main Event. There are online satellites everywhere, so I’m going to try my best to qualify. If it doesn’t work, I guess I’ll just gain a lot of tournament experience, so it’s really a win win situation.

I also want to become a better cash game player, whether it be limit or no-limit. I sometimes struggle in cash games with making good decisions, so I need to improve upon this in order to increase my bottom line. If I can cut down on the bad decisions I make, this will allow me to save $, and in poker $ is just as good as $ won.

That’s pretty much it for this one. I guess the question is, will I have a Sophomore Slump, or will it be the Comeback of the Year? Stay tuned, I guess we’ll find out together.

“Don’t be afraid to be great.”