Date:                  2012-01-12 11:36

 Location:             Borgata   Casino  

 Game:                  $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:                3h 0m 

 Buy in ($):            $500.00 

 Cash out ($):         $1170.00

 Return ($):            $670.00

 Win rate ($/hr):      $223.33

 Session Notes:    

Click here to view the embedded video.

6:00 AM START ….

9:00 AM QUIT ….

A run good day.

Date:                    2012-01-11 11:31

Location:                Borgata   Casino

Game:                    $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

Length:                  6h 0m

Buy in ($):              $600.00

Cash out ($):           $571.00

Return ($):             -$29.00

Win rate ($/hr):     -$4.83

Session Notes:

Fascinated by the Youtube phenomenon.  It has totally changed the music industry — what we used to call hip hop underground is now Youtube. It makes sense because it’s a performance-based medium. Trying to understand how to manipulate it is a science unto itself.

I understand why my son rarely watches TV but will surf the web for hours.   I spent the morning some of the underground Philly rappers videos.  How the game has changed.

6:00 AM START ….

12:00 PM QUIT …..

Came back from all-in a couple times to break even for the session.

 Date:                  2012-01-10 11:47

 Location:              Borgata Casino

 Game:                 $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:               6h 30m 

 Buy in ($):           $600.00

 Cash out ($):        $0.00

 Return ($):          -$600.00

 Win rate ($/hr):    -$92.31

 Session Notes:    

Bad Beat story number blah-blah-blah. I don’t like listening to them so I won’t write about mine. What is interesting is that the guy mutters to himself “you’re probably good” before he calls the all-in bet for all of his chips and sucks out on the river. Then he tells me “the game ain’t a fair game”.

It’s not chess — it’s poker. Luck is luck even when it’s against you. I’m sticking to my strategy so I have to live with the rest.

5:00 AM START …..

11:30 AM QUIT …..

 Date:                  2012-01-09 04:00 

 Location:              Borgata    Casino 

 Game:                  $2-5  No Limit Hold 'Em 

 Length:                3h 0m 

 Buy in ($):           $600.00 

 Cash out ($):         0.00

 Return ($):            -$600.00

 Win rate ($/hr):      -$200.00 

 Session Notes:  

The hardest part of playing poker is making the correct laydown. After the flop (and sometimes before) you wind up guessing and sometimes the thought process goes out the window. U’re just not sure what’s going on and u have to make a judgement based on incomplete information.

It happened to me today twice and my experience (which usually helps me in those situations) didn’t kick in. Making mistakes is part of any game and I’ve learned not to beat myself up about to much (although it’s impossible not shed some agony over it) and still try to have a productive day.

4:30 AM START ….

7:00 AM QUIT ….

Back to sleep. This is my answer for temporary depression.

Date:                    2012-01-08 08:22

Location:               Borgata Casino

Game:                    $2-5 No Limit  Hold 'Em

Length:                  2h 30m

Buy in ($):              $500.00

Cash out ($):            $982.00

Return ($):              $482.00

Win rate ($/hr):        $192.80

Session Notes:

Yesterday I heard the best album of 2011.  It’s by a kid from Toronto named The Weeknd.  He’s a 20 year Internet sensation.  U can download his material for free from Soundcloud.com/theweekndxo.  He has a couple of other releases House of Balloons (his first mixtape) and Thursday and Echoes of Silence.  Every so often an artist comes along that has his own sound and just stands above the rest of the world.  This dude is the truth.

It actually got me a little depressed for a second because his marketing approach is giving his stuff away for free and if he is giving his shit away why am I trying to sell mine.  I must have played the first song  HIGH FOR THIS at least 35 times since last night.   The games done changed.  This kid is blowing up cuz he’s that good.  And it all organic —  meaning it’s happening cuz people are feeling him and he’s doing consistent, credible work not becuase of marketing and promotion.  All that being said I’ve been re-tooling my whole marketing approach since I heard his stuff and how he’s getting it out there.

I’m glad my baby-making days are over cuz this is some baby making music for your ass (lol).

Click here to view the embedded video.

4:30 AM  START …….

7:00 AM QUIT …….

Had to hit a two-outer after the guy tried to trap me in a hand ……

 Date:                  2012-01-07 07:00 

 Location:              Borgata    Casino 

 Game:                  $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:               5h 0m 

 Buy in ($):            $500.00 

 Cash out ($):         $752.00

 Return ($):            $252.00

 Win rate ($/hr):      $50.40

 Session Notes:

Keeping the blog up to date is hanging around my neck like an albatross …. It should be easy to manage now but when I get behind it its like a dark cloud. It is definitely the measure of one’s consistency (as a writer).

Friday nite action table this morning and one guy in particular played every hand and either outplayed or outflopped me the whole morning until he left. He had alot of chips and I had position on him — had to fold a pair of aces to him twice after the flop when it was heads up (one time I’m not sure about – still going over that fold).

6:30 AM START ….

12:00 PM QUIT ….

I got ahead $600 and didn’t cash out — my Achilles heel.

 Date:                  2012-01-05 11:00

 Location:              Borgata Casino

 Game:                  $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:                6h 0m 

 Buy in ($):            $1000.00 

 Cash out ($):          $1432.00

 Return ($):            $432.00

 Win rate ($/hr):      $72.00

 Session Notes:     

I got a little stubborn today and bought in for more than I normally would. I lost on a big hand with top two vs a set and I was disgusted about so I kept playing.

That’s probably the opposite of what I should do. It was actually a lack of discipline on my part and I would’ve felt even worse about breaking my own rules if I got stuck for all of it.

I got lucky that didn’t happen.

 Date:                  2012-01-04 05:00 

 Location:              Borgata    Casino 

 Game:                  $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:                4h 0m 

 Buy in ($):            $600.00 

 Cash out ($):          $0.00 

  Return ($):           -$600.00

 Win rate ($/hr):      -$150.00

 Session Notes:   

Today sucked. Not only did I lose at poker (because I lost my focus about leaving with the profit) —– I had one of those days where I got absolutely nothing accomplished. Chasing car insurance, random phone calls and I had plans to finish some music.

Losing is already frustrating — not being productive drives me nuts. Between the blog, music and book project I can never finish all the things I have started or at least that’s how it feels.

I’m starting to realize I’m working in a vacuum too. Meaning u need to be your own promotion team when it comes to music out there otherwise no one is really getting to hear your stuff.

So I just don’t have time to have days where I dont get anything done at all.

 Date:                 2012-01-02 05:00 

 Location:             Borgata  Casino 

 Game:                 $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:               13h 0m 

 Buy in ($):           $500.00 

 Cash out ($):         $1661.00

 Return ($):          $1161.00

 Win rate ($/hr):     $89.31
 

 Session Notes:

5:00 AM START ….

6:30 PM QUIT ….

with a half hour lunch break …. the house was packed as they say from the official New Years Holiday …. I don’t really have any resolutions but I am going to work on one part of my poker game that would make me the most money — that’s my goal for the year. I can’t get into what it is because anyone reading my blog could exploit it.

I wound up hating the fact that I was in there all day …. all my sessions have been 4 hours or less for a good while now.

I watch Youtube all day on my Ipad and I’m looking at all these producers ( the underground cats like All Arounda, Johnny Juliano, DJ London, and the more famous ones like Kayne, Rodney Jerkins, Timbaland and Ryan Leslie) making all these traks for different people and I feel like poker is such a waste of time for me. I got caught up in it when I should have never stopped making music. Que sera sera — no regrets. Just look forward. By the way Ryan Leslie is the baddest cat out there right now on the producing tip in my opinion.

 Date:                  2012-01-01 07:00

 Location:             Borgata   Casino

 Game:                  $2-5 No Limit Hold 'Em

 Length:                4h 30m

 Buy in ($):            $500.00

 Cash out ($):         0.00

 Return ($):          -$500.00

  Win rate ($/hr):     -111.11

 Session Notes: 

The cards don’t know what the date is so you can’t get into omens too much. Losing on the first day of the year is just like losing on any other day of the year.

I need to a ) adjust my schedule and b) adjust my play and c) recognize how hard theses games are getting sometimes. Some of it is just bad luck though; I’m running into big hands with big hands in bad situations.

However it need to be pointed out that in my last two losing sessions I got ahead and it did occur to me to leave but I chose not to.

7:00 AM START …

11:30 AM QUIT …..