September: Flawless Victory (2015)
Traveling to Maryland Live was an idea up in the air for a while, but there was never any need for it to actually materialize since there was no reason to leave the great games here in Tampa...that was until this month. Right now is considered the dead season for Florida games, which after putting in long hours during both the beginning months of the year and the most recent ones I can clearly see the stark contrast of. This month there would frequently only be two 2/5 games running in Tampa (not just Hard Rock) at midnight on a weekday. After making enough 45 minute round trip drives to the casino to play fruitless <1 hour sessions I decided enough is enough. I planned a trip on the spot and was on a plane within 8 hours.
There has been so much hype leading up to this trip and although I had very high expectations I can honestly say that it did not disappoint. I cannot properly express how his well this casino is run. Food is phenomenal, dealers are professional and efficient, promotions are very reasonable, rake is low. If you are playing 6-handed or less it is only $4 rake per down and the first down when the table opens is completely free. On Saturday night there were three 5/10s, one 10/25, and two 25/50s, all of which had a list. This place is the perfect definition of a poker mecca.
The trip went well and I ended up leaving +3.5k over 24 hours. Because I did not get in a lot of volume with droolers most of my winnings came from exploiting regulars in short-handed play. It was a huge confidence boost being able to exploit winning players who were seemingly solid and the strategy aspect of it was incredibly stimulating as I'm so used to being able to print on autopilot against massive fish as my mind wanders elsewhere. Very tight daytime games that I wouldn't even bother with in the past are now perceived as lineups worth sitting.
Upon returning from Maryland I returned to the exact situation that drove me to leave in the first place so I immediately started planning the next getaway. I had been looking forward to attending the Beau Rivage series this month but because I waited list minute to book a room the rates were just too ridiculous to make the trip cost-effective, with the average night being nearly $200. I'm sure that despite these rates I could still turn a nice profit on Biloxi but having to overcome a large deficit from the get-go just makes the trip an unenjoyable experience. It is surprisingly very hard to find a good traveling companion because nearly everyone just isn't motivated enough to follow the best games or they are too unreliable since they aren't actually good players and might be broke when the trip rolls around.
One of the things I loved about this trip was I was forced to have a proper schedule and practice proper life balance. For about a week I would wake up around 9am, read until 11am checkout time, grab lunch at Chipotle, grind all day but with a good amount of breaks in-between, have a nice dinner, then get to bed between midnight-2am for a good night of rest. You hear the importance of being balanced all the time but until you actually do it you cannot fully grasp just how beneficial and crucial it really is. Back in Tampa I am constantly in a delirious state as I feel my life is just jumping from one session to the next with very little sunlight in-between. Having to pay for a hotel forces me to get a good night of rest during natural sleeping hours in order to get my money's worth and that is something that just cannot be substituted.
My time in West Palm went very well as I left +4.3k over 30 hours. It was an enlightening experience and somewhat of a history lesson. Playing in their unique 5/10 300 cap game which no one else offers anymore makes me realize just how much poker has evolved. Back in the day long before my immersion into the Tampa scene these unreasonably small caps were the norm and now 5/10 is a $2000 or $2500 max buyin. Shortly before my Florida days two 10/20 NL games used to run regularly in Tampa. When I first stepped foot on Tampa soil the PLO games were almost nonexistent but now they dominate the scene. It is amazing how much can change in such a short period of time which leaves me constantly wondering what lies ahead. The uncertainty of the future stresses the need to be financially prepared for the worst.
This was yet another month of me donating to tournaments and at this point I feel that it is actually a sign of a gambling problem because I cannot stop playing them despite knowing I shouldn't. Obviously if I had been lucky enough to make a life-changing score I wouldn't be going off on this rant but the bottom line is without being results oriented it just isn't a wise decision. I have an elite hourly playing cash games which simply cannot realistically be achieved in tournaments long-term even for an elite tournament player. Not only is my 2/5 hourly much higher than what a top pro could realistically achieve long term in these sub $1100 fields but it is also comes in at significantly less variance.
I often complain about horrible tournament players receiving undeserved attention and sponsorships while the truly skilled cash game players fly under the radar and never receive the credit they deserve. However, this is a two way street. Flying under the radar as a cash-game player means being able to avoid taxes so it doesn't make sense for me to envy tournament players who cannot dodge the IRS. You can't have one and not the other. Recognition and taxes go hand-in-hand.
Dan Colman is my role model. If some fish went on a tangent about how dark of a game poker is everyone would be quick to dismiss them as just another bitter loser. However, when the guy who is at the absolute top of the poker world says this and does so in such an articulate manner, it sends a very powerful message. To do this knowing full well that it would cost himself millions in sponsorship deals makes him all the more respectable as he proved he is NOT a slave to the almighty dollar.
Many people respect Dan Colman due to his insurmountable achievements, but I respect him because of who he is as a person. Like everyone else I dream to have even a fraction of his success, but I now believe I would be better served striving to imitate his mindset. There is obviously nothing wrong with tournaments in themselves but the point I am trying to stress to myself is that my obsession with them is a sign of a deeper, underlying problem. I shouldn't seek validation and chase this fake glory, especially when it makes no sense from an opportunity cost perspective. Dan Colman spoke about this after winning the One Drop but I feel this portion of his statement was overlooked.
Excerpt from Colman's OneDrop post-win Statement
As for promoting myself, I feel that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated. I am not going to take part in it for others and I wouldn't want it for myself. If you wonder why our society is so infatuated by individuals and their success, and being a baller, it is not that way for no reason. It is there because it serves a clear purpose. If you get people to look up to someone and adhere to the "gain wealth, forget all but self" motto, then you can get them to ignore the social contract which is very good for power systems. Also it serves as a means of distraction to get people to not pay attention to the things that do matter.
Excerpt from Olivier Busquet's reply to Lon McEachern
Furthermore, he is extremely disturbed by out money-obsessed and celebrity worshipping culture. He doesn't like the idea of celebrating many personal achievements, especially ones relating to financial success. He feels that it promotes hyper-individualism, consumerism and materialism and that those are overall pretty corrosive for our society. Finally he feels that many winners pursue the attention and glorification associated with winning out of self-centeredness and a desire to feed their egos. He has been actively trying to do the opposite of those things and this was an example of that.
This was one of the best months I have ever booked and undoubtedly the smoothest. I don't even have many noteworthy hands to go over because I never got into any disgusting spots. My losses were far and few between with the largest one being only -340. Although tournaments did not go my way I really have no room to complain about anything. I am grateful to be in the good financial position I am in now which 6 months ago was unimaginable.
