It's Just a Ride

[VBlue]

Introduction

A tale of a man, who was once a boy.  A man who found the dreams of a boy in adult life.  A man with responsibilities just like many other men.  A man with a family trying to teach a boy, but still with so much to to learn himself.

And now, a man with a diary on blondepoker.com/forum.

I play No Limit Texas Hold'em - the Cadillac of Poker.  In 10 years I have gone from weekend player with an interest in the game but little commitment, to having an on-off attempt to improve my game and increase my profitability.

Stripping back my game as a recreational player I built a SnG strategy from the ground up.  I learned a little about equity calculations, CeV and $eV, and ICM. Like many others I put in some hours away from the tables, but I was drawn to play more and study less.  I ground out 20 hours on top of a 50-60 hour working week, playing a bit on my days off and for an hour or two late evening.  I began to understand the game a little more and I felt like I played better than the rest of the table.  So of course I went broke.

I took some time off and then found some spare income to reload.  SnGs felt like such a slog and I broke even after a smallish sample size of 1k games, which I probably played over 60+ sessions in 6 months.  I decided to switch to playing MTTs on a free $100 deposit bonus and out of a small roll on ipoker.  In 5 months I ran my 888 bankroll into $1k. I was running way above expectation.  I played less over the following year due to the arrival of my son, Roscoe.  I finished the 12 months with half my roll.

I started to think about my bankroll.  I had mainly been playing an adapted strategy from my SnG days.  Now I needed to return to a focused way to study pre-game, play, and analyse post-game.

I had some success on the live circuit and made another $1k from only 3 live outings for small stakes.  Busting Neil Channing and finishing 2nd in a tournament that he and Jamie Burland attended was the highlight.  They had come to play our local club game following an Academy day we booked with them.  It seems the tuition paid for itself - although I hadn't paid anyway so the value was insane.

Now I am reading The Mental Game of Poker to give structure and routine to my game and to help deal with Motivation and Confidence issues, mostly the former.  I am also taking a 12 month online coaching course to improve my overall skills.

For those who have seen 'My Name is VBlue and I'm a Pokerholic' - this is a blog that has actually run since Decemebr 2010, although it has only been posted in this forum for the last few months.  I'm not sure what I will do with this right now but this feels like a good time to do this.

The diary is here to keep me on a more regular track with what I am trying to achieve.  I also aim to bring some of my life to the pages.  For Tikay and others who like pictures, I will add some colour too.

I hope you are entertained, feel willing to contribute, and that I can pull some rabbits out of some hats as we go along.

I quote Bill Hicks, who said 'It's Just a Ride'.  I hope I can make this one worth joining.

[tikay]

Good luck with this, & yes, photos take that little bit more effort, but definitely give any thread added oomph, & attrract more page views.

PS - you have a wonderful perspective on life........

[VBlue]

Thanks Tikay.  In reference to my post now to be found in The Lounge and hopefully soon to be buried much further down than the front page, it was a bit of a break from my usual etiquette standards on poker forums.  I had been invited to a stand-up gig by a friend and had borrowed the phrase from him and feeling a little mischievous when I saw the gratuitous post by the FB fan page in question.  I'll keep the darker side of my humour for FB banter and friends.  The shame is I think I had a very valid point to make and I may make it again in future here for some sensible debate.

Glad not to have lost too many before I have even got started, yourself included.

[rfgqqabc]

Good luck with this, & yes, photos take that little bit more effort, but definitely give any thread added oomph, & attrract more page views.

PS - you have a wonderful perspective on life........

Other diarists have even hired Estonian escorts to remain on top in the blog wars. Another posts train pics or ditties about the gold old days.  

Gl with the diary. Really enjoyed the first post

[Derbylad]

I'll be following this one along, GL sir, post MOAR.

[mondatoo]

Absolutely love Bill Hicks, vbol.

[dakky]

Absolutely love Bill Hicks, vbol.

[VBlue]

It's Just a Ride - The Title of My Diary

I have been experiencing a lot of coincidencies today.  It's a shame they are happening away from the poker table.

Today commemorates the 19th anniversary of the death of Bill Hicks.  I'm not going to try to define him - his wikipedia entry calls him "American comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician."  Suffice to say, if you enjoy social-political comedy that challenges mainstream thought, religion, and government, and is well-informed and delivered with both anger and a message of love - then please look up http://www.billhicks.com/.

It's Just a Ride is from one of Bill's most famous quotes and you really have to see his most famous set from 1992 at the Dominion Theatre, London to put it into it's proper context.  He closes the show with it.  The material, whilst some of it is dated due to reference to the first Gulf War and some other historical events such as the LA Riots of the same year, is widely regarded to stand the test of time. 

I first saw the set when I was aged 18 in the year following his premature death to pancreatic cancer, aged 32.  Anarchistic, truth-telling, neo-Jesus prophet figure?  Pot-head in thrall to imbecilic conspiracy theories?  He has been called both, but I'll let you decide.

The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while.

Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid -- ever -- because... this is just a ride.' And we kill those people.

'Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! Shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry; look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.' It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that -- ever notice that? -- and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, because... it's just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings and money. Just a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one.

Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, into a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defense each year and, instead, spend it feeding, clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would do many times over -- not one human being excluded -- and we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever. In peace.

William Melvin 'Bill' Hicks - 16/12/1961 - 26/02/1994 

[VBlue]

Please follow me at Twitter @MarkVBlue if you like what you've read so far.

[kinghawko]

Good luck Mark

[VBlue]

Thanks mate.  How's your boy - have you brought him home yet?

[Raist]

Good luck with this Mark!

[Tal]

Good start to your diary.

Never really been taken by Bill Hicks. Never saw him as a comedian because he would be using comedy to win people over to his rallying call. It was more a social commentary with a mildly revolutionary taint. The riots and the war obviously helped that.

The Republicans had been dominant in the states for so long, someone like Hicks coming along and being popular was probably inevitable. He was very much a gifted persuader and naturally funny.

I just didn't like his message, his manner or his comedy.

[VBlue]

Thanks Tal.

Good to hear a different opinion on Bill Hicks, as most people I know love his work in many ways.  I would certainly call him a comedian first.  He was sneaking out of home, across county lines, to do stand-up as a teenager in an adult comedy club.  I think the construction of his live sets was superb.

Shame we never got to see the rest of his work.

As for the message, I think his is an inherently positive message.  Think for yourself, accept love over fear, question those in authority and with obvious agendas, challenge the mainstream, make heroes of individuals not corporate puppets.

[VBlue]

Dojos, Online Coaching, and Singing The Blues

There are a few different directions I could go in today.  I want to make this diary about who I am, what I do, things I find interesting, etc.  However, as it is primarily a poker diary, I'm primarily going to talk poker today.

The last few weeks I have scaled back my poker activity to a single night per week grinding low-stakes MTTs.  I play on Lucky Ace (the Cassava network that 888 Poker also plays on) and on an ipoker skin, Black Belt Poker.  Last night I just single-tabled as I was watching Everton overcome the mighty challenge of defeating Oldham Athletic in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The Black Belt league is an eight-legged $5 event.  By playing all eight legs I earn about half a month of my reward points, which goes towards maintenance of the Orange belt level.  A top twenty finish on the leaderboard earns more reward points; a top three finish a live seat at the next Black Belt Poker East End Live.

So, I play for the bonuses and with half-a-hope of bagging a seat to what would be my first big UK tour-style event.  My only other live poker has been restricted to pub games, a couple of casino games, and local club games.

Although for a $5 game the standard is much better than your typical low-stakes MTT, I do feel quite comfortable playing these.  There is little to say other than I built a good stack early, despite missing a river value-bet with JJ on a QQxxx board versus a tight opponent who had taking a passive line UTG.  I then had way too much equity in two pots, firstly not to call when set all-in from late position with AK versus 99 from a short-stacked blind position, and then not to shove over the chip-leader's min-raise with 22 from late-position with 11bbs to lose a second race, versus AK this time.

I was pleased to be looking for good spots to steal blinds once I had got a few chips behind me to maintain my position in the tournament and making a few well considered bluffs, albeit in smaller pots.

Online Coaching and Dojos

I have used the last few weeks to start to catch up on some of the online coaching material I signed up for back in September.  The material is delivered monthly, with three fairly short videos breaking each month's content into modules and finishing with a slightly longer interview with a pro to gain their perspective.  There is also a monthly webinar.  Nick Wealthall delivers the main content and conducts the interviews.

One of the other reasons I play a lot of my poker on Black Belt, besides the league game, is the access to training with their stable of pros, mainly Kevin Williams and Jamie Burland.  The 'Dojos' are delivered throughout the year on a wide range of subjects.  I have sat three already this year.  They are also delivered as webinars, with limited places - up to eight for each session I think.  Recordings are available post-session for those who missed out on the live Dojo. 

Two subjects which I thought ran well together were on 'Tools of the Trade' and 'HM2: Dissecting the Data'.  The first of those two discussed note-taking - something which I am terrible at and have long wanted to improve.  Jamie provided a very useful template to have ready in Notepad, to cut and paste into the poker client, and a nice easy system of how to note villain actions.  He also discussed the benefits of using sites such as sharkscope.com and pocketfives.com to get a handle on the quality of the players we are sat with.  Jamie also covered equity calculations, which I have had experience of but do not do nearly as much as I would like - does anyone?

I am only halfway into the second Dojo, so will give some idea of that another time when I have found the time to go back and listen to the second half of the recording.

I also sat a Dojo with Kevin Williams on 'Winning Seats'.  This year I had taken the decision that I want to play an event or two on the UK circuit.  Unfortunately, I am currently trying to battle back from a downswing.  I have turned a profit since I began my coaching late September, mainly thanks to my second biggest score on Lucky Ace when I took down a field of 786 in a $2 for $311 and 26 cents. However, my ROI is now reduced to only 10% over 133 tournaments.  Withdrawing $300 before Christmas, a necessity, has meant that my roll on both sites is now heading towards Brokeville - a dusty stop on the road to riches, where many a gambler wanders empty-pocketed looking for a dollar on the floor to take to the nearest saloon.

With that in mind, satellites are the least of my focus now and I am concentrating on getting through the next few modules of the online coaching by the end of this week and grinding hard next week, hoping to play my best and see some cards fall kindly.

Singing the Blues

If that hasn't been enough to give me the blues, I've had the displeasure of watching Everton concede a goal with the last kick of the match at Boundray Park, for Oldham Athletic to force a replay, as well as two in the last six minutes at Carrow Road, again the game finishing with a last-kick goal for Norwich to take all three points and all but end our push for a top four finish, and possibly European qualification, this season.  This all meant that the FA cup replay was a game we had to win to give the supporters hope that we could finally see Moyes deliver a trophy in his eleventh year as manager.

The result was 3-1 and a quarter-final home tie versus Wigan.  Four wins and four draws against them in the last eight and the Goodison home crowd advantage will mean Everton are firm favourites for a third semi-final appearance under Moyes.  Looking more closely, Jelavic is woefully out of form, Anichebe is injured, and Mirallas scored only his second goal for Everton last night.  Fellaini missed out through injury - our other main goal threat in the absence of the aforementioned.  Our squad looks thin, the team lacking bite, resilience, and a consistent match-winner.  Everton do have a legendary strong team-spirit, some genuine quality and shared responsibility across the first eleven - ten different scorers in ten goals before Baines added his second of the tournament last night.

Right now, I'd take a scrappy 1-0 win over Wigan and a one-outer to save both the football and poker seasons.