Won 38k!! Had a really good Monday(45k) but lost today (-7k).  I played a lot of 25/50 cap and some 50/100 PLO as well.  I leave tomorrow for Louisville and I am excited to get back to playing some live poker.  The games should be pretty good the next few days because of the Kentucky Derby.  I talked to Robert Willaimson who said him and Phil Hellmuth will be in town and want to play some big PLO Saturday night maybe.  If so, then I will have to take it easy during the race so I will be ready to play some high stakes PLO that night…. I guess there are going to be a lot of celebs and poker pros in for the derby and they are also hosting a charity poker tourney at the casino.  Wish me luck…

Matt Humphrey

Humphreyin@hotmail.com

First off I wanted to thank everyone for all of their emails… it’s nice to see that so many people read and follow your progress.  I really haven’t played much since my end of last week mostly because I hung out with friends all weekend but also because I wanted to start my weeks on Mondays for now on.  I probably lost around 8k this weekend playing and ran really really bad in the cap games but it was bound to happen at some point. 

I am still playing some of my best poker but it really is hard not to open up my game too much when I feel like I am running good.  When things go well you sometimes feel like you can do no wrong.. which is true for poker and life in general.  Just as long as I keep starting off my sessions tight and then adjust accordingly the game then I will be fine.  I have played about 3 hours today and won a little over 7.5k.  There was a really bad player sitting at 50/100 CAP PLO and i played him for a little which is where most of my profit came from (6,700).

I am going to head to Louisville on Wednesday to play some in the PLO game down there (10/25)(50 straddle).. golf with a friend on Thursday.. play Friday down there.. and then Saturday is the Kentucky Derby.  I can’t wait to go since it will be my first time and it should be interesting since me and my 2 friends have NO WHERE to stay.. anyone have any ideas?  All the hotels seemed to be pretty well booked for up to 40 miles away.  So I am guessing our plan will be to go to the race then out to 4th street for the rest of the night.  So with all that information it won’t take a genius to realize I won’t have as much time to play online this week as last.  Today, Tomorrow, Thursday and some of Sunday.  I still think i should be able to win around 20k though which would be great and hopefully another 10k in the live games(however, usually it is either win 30k or lose 15k) …lol. 

I am going to try to talk about one hand every post from now on out but today I will just leave you with the biggest pot I’ve ever lost… luckily for me it happened like 6 months ago..  http://www.pokerhand.org/?2513213

Also, if you don’t get rakeback right now then email and I can help you out.

Enjoy Your Week and Good Luck,

Matt Humphrey

Humphreyin@hotmail.com

I have been playing a little more poker lately.  At this point I am so far out of the poker loop that it is almost scary.  I have been playing a lot of Limit Poker lately which is my strongest game.  It has been interesting one of the guys that I did not think was very good and that I have a significant edge over has been playing 200-400.  There are times where I play Heads Up well but I think I am actually a lot better 3 and 4 handed.  The person I am thinking of is a friend so I have stayed away from playing him.  The funny part is he likely thinks the same thing about me so I highly doubt he would mind the action.  Lately though I just can not muster the desire to play anything more than games that are basically just killing time.  I will say this though, Limit Poker on Cake has to be about the easiest games on the internet.  While I am about break even I do not think that is indicative of my win rate there over time.  The only problem is I am playing 20-40 and the games I would want to beat are 50-100 and higher.  I am sure some of the players are similar but usually that changes the lineup significantly.

It is interesting that the sites have started this nuclear war of high stakes poker, essentially causing a lot of players to go bust.  Personally I do not think there should be any game higher than say 10-20 NL online and 50-100 for Limit Poker.  The reason is simple, it will keep more money in the poker economy.  Sure a few players will miss the nose bleed stakes but what is happening now is people on tilt are essentially just blowing out.  I doubt any card room will make that change but it would be smart if they did and likely better for the long term health of poker.

This probably should not be the third item in a rambling blog but here it goes.  In the next month my hand replayer/stats analyzer should show its face.  It has been a long time coming but I think we finally got this right and if we did it should change poker in a major way allowing people to share hand histories easier and even allowing them some robust stats analysis.  We are still trying to nail down how we can make money off of it but I am pretty sure if we do it right that will not be an issue.

I ended up losing about 10k last night before I went out but still had a pretty good week… won 10.5k on UB…won 45k on FullTilt… here is a screen shot of my pokertracker…
 

Good Luck,

Matt

Wow, what a rush… It has been a while since I have been on a heater like this and I really needed it for my confidence.  I am up 13k on UltimateBet this week and 55k on Fulltilt.  A pretty GREAT week and way ahead of my goal of winning 30k for the 3 weeks.  I am so excited for my trip to New Orleans and for the upcoming WSOP because I have finally started to remember so many of the little strategic things I have forgotten along the way.  The best part of it all is that I don’t feel like I have been running all that great… I am sure I have ran above expectation to some point but I know I have had some pretty sick beats in large pots that could have made the week a whole lot better…. but that is just like a poker player to remember the bad and forget the good.  Today is the last day of my “week” since I got here last Tuesday so tomorrow I will post some pictures of my pokertracker and my final results.  I can’t figure out how to use it for UB so that stinks and I also played alot of my PLO on a friends computer but at least I will have SOME IDEA at what BB/100 I am running at along with which limits I have won the most. 

Tonight we are going out for Emily’s B-day dinner then maybe out after but I am not sure, so that should be a nice break… and then I will finally be back home Thursday.  Going out Friday to the Indianapolis Indians game and Saturday me and some friends are going to a bags(cornhole) tourney.. TOP PRIZE……wait for it…wait for it.. 500 smackers!!  Hope everyone else is having a great week too!!

Good Luck,

Matt

Well I finally feel like I am back to playing great poker.  I realized I was playing too many hands out of position, not re-raising enough, and calling too light on the flop.  It feels so good to put in enough time and energy and actually be able to figure out what I was doing wrong- and then apply it.  I have been on a pretty good rush on FullTilt.. up about 23k this week and up about 2k on UB.  However, I wasn’t just playing 2/4… I have played almost exclusively 5/10 and I have played some short stack 25/50; which was probably a bad idea but every time I have gotten it all in, I AM WAYYY AHEAD.. so I am up pretty good for the short stacking 25/50.

I am really enjoying my time out here in Vegas.  I am not sure if I could live out here exclusively or not but I might look into getting a place out here and keep my place downtown as well.  One thing I don’t like about being on the road is that the only time I eat is during a meal, that means like NO SNACKING and every meal is like a stomach stuffer, which is fine but its not very good for the diet. 

I am going to try to play one of the NL events at Caesars before I leave but I’m not sure if I will have enough time since Emily is getting into town today and I don’t wanna leave her hanging.  My friend Jeanine Deeb is a half Lebanese and I guess we are all going to a Lebanese restaurant Tuesday for Emily’s birthday which should be interesting… I really have no idea what I will find there to eat.

I’ll be home on the 24th and probably stay there until I head to New Orleans for the WSOP circuit event.  Hope everyone is having as good of a week as I am…

Good Luck,

Matt

This is a summary of a typical conversation that I have often, it is not verbatim but it is close. Yesterday a friend Instant Messaged me and said “I am done with XYZ poker”.  Now I knew that this guy used to play fairly small but once they won a tournament everything changed.  All of a sudden $20 sit and go’s did not cut it.  He was up over 10k after the tournament win.  So my next question was never really asked because I knew the answer.  He did not cash out and now he was done.  He went broke.

That really showed them.

Just a quick update.  I ended up playing some online poker today once I arrived since there wasn’t much else to do …..and I am glad I did.  I started off playing 2/4 PLO on FullTilt but the games weren’t very good and it was a MAJOR grind, I ended up losing around 300-400.  Then I got onto UB and played some 5-10 PLO and played for about 3 hours and won close to 10k.  I will give exact numbers at the end of the challenge.  I will probably keep playing on UB since it is going so well on there and the games seem to have A TON more action.  Anyway, me and my friends Pat and Josh are about to head to Bellagio to eat at Noodles then maybe some poker.  I hear they have a pretty juicy 25/50 PLO game thats been going.

Good Luck,

Matt

I fly out tomorrow(the 14th) to Las Veags and will be staying for about 10 days (home on the 24th).  I actually feel pretty energized about getting out there and being in some warm weather.  I probably won’t play that much live poker which may sound weird, but I just feel like I play better online when I am around a few other people playing online poker at the same time, which is one of the reasons for the trip.  Somehow it keeps me from going on tilt as easily when I know other people are judging me.  Another one of my vain qualities….lol.  I post-poned my 2/4 PLO challenge because I still wasn’t ready to play all that much but I am going to start grinding it out again Wednesday once I am settled in at my buddies house.   My goal is still to try to win 30k in 21 days but I have realized I will have to put in more time then I thought because the games seem to be playing a little tougher.  I am excited to get back my confidence though and it kind of feels like a fresh start.

It should be a pretty fun trip this go around.  I get to see my friend Jeanine Deeb on Friday who will be there until Sunday.  She is always a fun time and likes to go to the pool and bars which is a nice break from playing poker 24-7.  Then my friend Emily is coming out Sunday for her very first Vegas-experience.  She is coming because of her job but I am sure she will still enjoy it.  She will only be there for like 3 days, but one of those days is her birthday!!  Anyone know any good spots to eat for a veagen? LOL

I am pretty excited about this trip and the warm weather!! After this I will be off to New Orleans to defend my WSOP PLO title…lol.  Golf, Gambling, Poker, Warm Weather, The Pool…. someone needs to smack me next I start complaining..

Wish me luck

Matt

PS  I wanna get 20-1 that I can win a bracelet this year at the WSOP.  I never play tourneys and I am only going to to play 5 events.  Email me at HumphreyIN@hotmail.com if you are interested.  Good Luck.

By its essence this is not a poker story.  So keep that in mind.

I have the utmost respect for people that work with their hands.  It is something that is very hard for me to do and every time I attempt it I end up breaking something.  I have talked about this in the past but let me bring it up again, I am a big fan of buying “life hours”.  I have an assistant that works 8 hours a day, 40 hours a week.  I have someone who cuts my grass, which normally took me an hour a week.  Just right there I have something like a 27 hour day.  Trust me, it is more like 32, if you factor in business contacts I have to think I am already at 48 hours.  But I digress.  One thing I have never had is someone that can do all the stuff around my house that baffles me, well yesterday that guy showed up and he changed my life a little bit and I hope I changed his a little bit too.

Part of this story is that if you want to be good at poker you need to practice and learn, that requires time and effort.  Time and effort are tough when you are occupied with a lot of silly things that you are not good at.  Pay people to do those things, even if it just buys you vacation time or a weekly massage.

When he was done painting we looked around the house to see what else might need some fixing.  This was about the time price came up, he and my wife had agreed on a price but he decided now that we were talking about it that he did not do as much work as she originally requested.  When the subject of price came up he dropped his pants and gave me “a deal”.  I paid him $20 more an hour than the deal he gave me.  A $220 tip so to speak.  Well not really because I think he charged me too little.  I told him why I did it, the reason was simple, what made his service remarkable to me is that it allowed me to not do it.  If he was a cracker jack box, that was his free prize to me, not “the deal”.  In fact, “the deal” actually works against our future relationship.  Let’s say I have a 2 hour job, to call him up at $25 an hour or so would be just embarassing; I would not do it, but if he charged me $75 I would call him all the time.  His “deal” was actually costing him business. 

So I told him that I would make some calls on his behalf to my friends that also “buy time” and that he should charge them at a similar rate.  I do business with people I trust and I tell everyone about them, in a lot of cases because they did business with me in the past.  Socio-economically we are all similar because we are all using the same formula.

I am not sure if I changed his life or not but I sure hope I did because he is a good guy and deserves to charge more.  His services are better than the people he competes with.

I loved Memphis coming into the final four.  I never really bet sports because I enjoy the games so much without having to do that.  If I was going to bet though I wanted Memphis winning both games.  Once I procrastinated that I felt like I missed an opportunity when Memphis won the first game.  Then tonight they had the game locked up with under 2 minutes to go only to spit the bit at the free throw line.

Boy was Kansas impressive though, from 1 to 8 or 9 they had to be the best team in the country.

First off, how about a little bit of an introduction for those who don’t know me….. Matt Humphrey, 24, Indianapolis, Indiana… I started playing poker when most other people my age started playing, around 2002, however, I never really played much online until just a few years ago and I have never been that big on any kind of tourney.  I play almost exclusively Pot-Limit Omaha but I also like mixed games and NL tourneys as of late.  I have went from playing some of the smallest games online(.5/1 dollar PLO) to playing the biggest(200/400 PLO) in a short amount of time and right now I have been focusing mostly on the middle limits because I have different goals for myself than I used to, which I will talk about in a future blog.  I play under the name HumphreyIN …say hi if you see me sitting.  If you ever have any questions or just want to discuss a PLO hand then you can email me at Humphreyin@hotmail.com.

I hope to use this blog to post about hands and talk about “poker life”.  I used to write a blog but it was mostly for friends and family to let them know how I was doing and where I was traveling to next but in this blog I hope to talk about a few hands that I played and also post some results from my poker tracker every week.  I also might look into posting a video or two on this site with Beanie’s approval of course

Starting Sunday I am going to play 2/4 PLO and NOTHING ELSE!!!  I am going to try to win 30k for the month which may seem high because of the small limits but based on my past results I think it will be obtainable.  I also usually only play 2 screens but I think I will try to get back to 4-tabling instead.  I am going on a hiatis for a week and will be back grinding it out starting Sunday(the 13th).  I haven’t been very focused as of late and now that I have some goals to make I think I will be better off now.

“This one step — choosing a goal and sticking to it — changes everything.” 
Good Luck This Week,

Matt

First off I thought the movie was a joke.  Did not even come close to Rounders.  I walked out, not sure how it ended but I fairly certain I could come up with 2-3 plausible endings likely better than whatever they came up with.

We are coming up on the WSOP and I am telling you, what happens at the WSOP blows that movie away.  Mostly because of the online poker players that descend on the area.  It is not a secret any longer that the online poker players are better than the live poker players by the only criteria that matters.  They have more money.

Last year the ShipitHollaBallas rented the Playboy Suite and the number of prop bets and stories of people winning or losing fortunes so out shines a couple of MIT guys.

The typical arguments are silly.  If you win playing poker pay taxes on that money and you will sleep easy.  But poker players are not the people making all the money in poker, obvious to almost everyone it is the poker sites themselves.  These poker sites offer all kinds of promotions from deposit bonuses to World Series seats.  In fact, their business model is dependent on them being able to give these benefits.

I do not mind the idea of a tax on deposits (the poker rooms will likely reimburse you), the payment processors would work similar to what we have now.  But if the UIEGA has proven anything it is that you will not need a processor if you do not want to use one.  Processors would just make it easier.

Personally I would like to see all television ads related to poker companies banned, similar to the way Google does it for alcohol.  Or television does it for cigarettes.  This does not get brought up a lot in discussions because card rooms hate this idea.  They figure they need that to bring in new customers.  Television is a marketing solution for lazy marketers.  It makes sense that the only people to find online poker should be people looking for it.

Of course less poker advertisements on television will cause less poker on television.  Which, believe it or not, is a good thing.  Our opponents hate poker on television.  In fact, most of us do, when was the last time you saw something interesting in a broadcast.  The WSOP main event is good and High Stakes Poker is good, if all the other die a slow death no one will care.

And that is sort of the point.  The UIEGA was really about sports betting, seeing Bodog ads on ESPN and BetOnSports parking outside of stadiums was just too much, especially when legislators knew they were not getting their cut.  That was the final straw.

We do not need to be regulated, we just need to quit pissing on the wrong boots.

I grew up with my dad working a lot.  When he came home he seemed under appreciated and he was not passionate about his job.  That motivated me as an adult (and even as a kid).  I knew I did not want that for myself.  So I learned things, I immersed myself into business concepts and I worked my ass off.

I am an Obama supporter but I would vote for Hillary, all the Democrats saying they will not is baffling me but whatever I am too disillusioned at this point to continue to care about things out of my control.

It saddens me that the Clinton’s tax return is being made into a bad thing (and Obama supporters should know this was all politics, so our guy is a little evil), that somehow being for poverty means that you should live in poverty.  I was under the impression this was America where you can boot strap it.  Where a black guy and a chick could become president.  Obama knew that working class people would be bothered that the political establishment was doing so well in the private sector.  I have to admit it was shocking for me.

In the words of Hillary Clinton “shame on you Barack Obama”.

Making money is the American way it is those incentives that wake me up at 6:30 in the morning to watch poker training videos while my opponents are in bed asleep.

I have a belief that jealousy is a product of emotion that comes from not being able to do something.  There is almost nothing with money that I am jealous of because I know how to get it, if you do not know how to get it, well it makes sense that you would be jealous of people that do.  An easy question would be “Why don’t you have more?”, that is also simple, I do not need any more than I have and it is hard work.  Being brilliant comes with a cost of time and freedom, it costs your family, it costs the communities you support.  Money buys you things it does not make you who you are.

But Jealousy of money can make you who you are and sadly many Americans feel left out.   If you feel left out you are and you are missing the point.  It is the person in your mirror that controls your destiny.  Bill and Hillary did not start with 109 million, they earned that money because people think they are interesting.  All of the nits will argue that money came with strings or other such nonsense.  Money is what moves people in a free market economy.

It was a dirty savvy political trick.  I am not sure if I should be happy or sad.