Happy New Year

I will be playing a great deal of poker the first four mouths of the new year. I hope to increase my skills at live play, especially at no limit tables at the Oaks and Casino San Pablo. No limit is the most challenging game in poker, and because it's the most popular I feel I might be able to create an edge with it. We'll see. There are a lot of weak players at the Oaks. We'll see how much money I can make, if any.

I'm reading Dan Harrington's book on no limit cash games. It's very good, some great concepts and ideas. I'm enjoying it very much.

Over New Year's I stayed at Gwen's. I've been in Seattle since Dec. 23. I'm ready to go home and get to work. I've been eating non-stop since I arrived, so I feel quite bloated. 2009 will be an interesting year.

I'll have to think about my predictions for the year and my resolutions with poker. I'd like to carry out my goals through the end of the year. I have a lot to look forward to and a lot to learn. With the freedom I currently enjoy, it should be interesting to see how far I go this year with my projects and goals and schedules.

Chapel

It’s funny, the writing process. How ideas develop. Mold. Change and transform into something else. I’ve been tinkering with the first chapter of my Chapel of the Chimes novel, knowing a few things that the main character could do in there. What I didn’t realize is my main character is actually going to be a detective of sorts. That was a surprise, and yet the details I’m setting up in chapter one make it so. Julia Milan is a detective for the dead. Interesting, seeing as she’s only 14. She has the rarest of gifts. She can talk to the dead and interact in the spirit world. Very few people can. Only a handful on the planet. They have life energy. There is an opposing force, a death energy which is intent on eliminating these seers. I see a larger storyline here. A rich and wonderful ghost series. My particular contribution to the world of story.

Mondays

I had one of the more profitable low limit sessions online yesterday, winning around 70% of my hands that went to showdown. What a treat that was. Out of 680 hands I was dealt pocket kings 9 times. What’s even more amazing is the kings held up 6 times. I have such bad luck with kings.

I’ve been playing a lot of heads up sngs on PokerStars lately. I like heads up. It’s a lot like learning a language. I’m playing small stakes sngs, but still it’s good training. Tonight I’m playing an hour of limit and an hour of heads up. I wish I had more time to play tonight, but I have so many other things to take care of.

I met with Ziegler this morning and that went very well. Talked about my upcoming China trip, stuff with Becky, and Jeff & Laura.

I’m still thinking about the incredible 100m run of Bolt on Saturday night. That was incredible. Breaks the world record and slows down before the finish line.

I begin a new three-week diet through the cholesterol research institute. I’m glad I’m back on a healthy diet. I was eating way too much junk food these past two weeks.
Writing: Hitting Chapel hard and getting Retro off the ground. The days fly by

Poker Thoughts

I wrote again today. I’m devising ways to make the process more enjoyable. The best I’ve come up with is kicking the critic out of the room. I read the first 40 pages of Jim’s new romcom script. It’s not working for me, though it’s very well written with some great description. The dialogue, however, feels stiff. Tonight is poker night. I’ve cashed the last three weeks running. I love it. I’m ahead in my head-to-head against Craig and close to the lead in total points for the season. I’m looking to mix things up again tonight. I have a much tighter image than I deserve. People don’t like playing pots against me. I spoke with Chris on the phone last night and we talked for two hours about family, women, etc. He’s such a great person to talk with. He reminds me that Becky is not Linda. I plan to remember that. I was thinking of giving Becky a call tonight and setting up something new. I enjoy talking with her. I read a couple of poker articles this afternoon and one of them talked about playing in the here and now, not thinking too much about the past or the future. Bad beats should be eliminated from one’s memory. Play each hand separately while using the information I have of each player to make the best decision. If I can master this one concept I will be a deadly force at the table. I’m committed to working on it.

Just Another Tuesday

I finally purchased a Yamaha silent violin. I bought the SV 150 model which has a few neat features, sort of like an electric organ. The violin has 25 sound settings. They're great! Another great feature is I can play MP3s with the violin. This will make practicing so much fun!

I'm re-reading two limit poker books: Small Stakes Hold'em and Winning in Tough Hold'em Games. Both books are fantastic. If I can incorporate the ideas and strategies of these books and play thousands of hands, I should be a very strong player.

Only one month before I leave for China. I'm beginning to get very excited about this trip.

I received an odd email from Becky last night. She apologized for not having written sooner, but said things were very busy for her. She hadn't read what I had sent but said she would get to it. It made me feel I was quite low on her priority list. I should probably take her email for what it is and move on. OK, I'm moving on now.

I studied some of my poker games over the weekend and need to stay in heads-up matches even when I've been dealt all kinds of bad luck. In this one heads-up match I had AA with 2600 chips against my opponents 400 and all the chips got in with his K9. Of course, he turned a full-house. Then we got all the chips in with my KQ against his KT and he flopped two pair. I was done with the game and pushed all in every hand after that, running into his AA which of course held. Frustrating.

If I can remove emotion from games like and still play my best, as if I were a machine, I'd be an effective and dangerous poker player.

Tough Weekend in Poker

Showed my first Eerie St. Theatre last night. Ronda & Biff, Richard, Neil and Rosanna were here. Watched "Planet Terror" and "Fido," two quality zombie movies. "Planet Terror" is so brilliant in so many ways. Great details and quality lines. Best line: "It's a no brainer."

This weekend was a bit tough in the poker department. The only bright spot was making winning a satellite seat to next week's VIP freeroll for Platinum members on Poker Stars. Other than that, I lost across the board with bad cards and even worse beats. Brutal.

My apartment's clean, and I'm hoping to keep it that way for a while.

I look forward to getting a lot done this week.

Collage of Stuff

My lucky ways continue at Craig's, my Wed. night poker game. I had 88 against John's TT and hit an 8 on the river to knock him out. I also knocked Craig out with my 33 against his A7. I got all the money in against Stanley heads-up with 77 against his A3 but the flop came AAJ and I was pretty much done. I've been in the money the last three weeks, and up $350 for the season. My side bets against Craig and the field also look good as I'm the point leader so far. Nice.


I'm working on "Chapel" and it's coming along. Getting the ideas on paper. Hard work.

For the next three weeks I can eat whatever I want, then I go back on a special diet for the cholesterol research study I'm participating in. I've been a bit crazy on the junk food, but I guess that's understandable, seeing as I haven't had any chocolate in over 3 weeks.

Tonight I meet up with Becky. This should be fun. I enjoy her company. It's really great that we've reconnected.

This weekend I'm putting on my first Erie St. Theatre in years. I'm showing two films, "Planet Terror" and "Fido." Can't wait! I'm also planning to play several poker tournaments this weekend. I also hope to watch a lot of PokerXFactor videos as well. I've fallen behind in my poker apprenticeship.