In the next few days I am going to try to sit down and think about some goals I want to accomplish, some short-term, some long-term.  After reading my old blogs on blogspot.com I have realized that I used to be really focused and committed to making lots of money and having pride in my play.  However, when I play just to be playing.. I tend to struggle.  I have been doing really well playing live poker again in Louisville like always, but just not taking online seriously enough for some reason.  I think my last 4 sessions in Louisville were 11,000..3,500…7,000…and 1,300.  I have probably made about 3,000 online TOTAL during that time which is absolutely ridiculous.  Especially since at one point i was up about 30k last week.  I did run really really bad but it still didn’t have to be that bad.  I really need to work on my attitude sometimes when playing online… i just expect to lose every big pot I play.  Poker is hard enough, you don’t need to worry about all of those other little things or it makes it almost impossible to win. 

The point of this whole thing is to remember to take pride in what I am doing.  To remember that I want to be known as a great player and that day in and day out I need to PROVE I am a great player.  And as of right now I am not.  Because it takes alot more than just playing correctly to be a great player.

Tomorrow is the start of the WSOP-Circuit Event in Louisville so I will be spending alot of time down there the next two weeks.  I will probably play a few tourneys and hopefully we will get to play PLO everyday and if not then at least 30/60 stud. 

Good Luck,

Matt Humphrey

Humphreyin@hotmail.com

I haven’t been playing much online lately but have been traveling to play more, which I enjoy.  I have been playing in some small games around Indianapolis and also going to Louisville.  The Louisville PLO game has changed recently to 5-10 blinds(it used to be 10-25-50 dollar straddle.  The game seems much easier and you can still get some pretty good wins.  They have been playing 2/5 PLO in Evansville, Indiana every Monday and Wednesday and I have heard it is the best game in the country right now.  Evansville is where I first started playing poker so I understand how bad the PLO can be there sometimes. It is weird because usually this time every year the farmers get their money and the games  get really good. 

I have been hearing alot about the new Horseshoe casino near Chicago.  They have been playing 100/200 NL omaha which is a pretty dumb game actually but I guess the action is out of this world.  I will try to update my results on how I do the next few weeks.  As for Louisville I played it Friday and won 11k.. I played about 10 hours and never really had much going for me.. up about 3k most of the session then made quads and won a big pot. 

I will have some friends in town this week so I’m not sure how much I will be able to play but after that I plan on getting on the road and making some good money again.  I enjoy playing live soooooooo much more than online.  I struggle taking online serious anymore because i have just been having the craziest swings ever.

Update coming soon.

I know, I know… its been waayyyyy too long since I have blogged but to be honest, I haven’t had much to say. 

I just started playing again earlier this week and feel so much better about my vacation away from poker.  I think 3 weeks is the longest I have went without poker since I first started playing.  I still don’t feel like traveling to play much unless its just for the day.  Beau Rivage is having a tourney at the end of this month and I must be crazy to not go.. the action there will be really great and it was my favorite city to visit so far.  The food is amazing and the people will tell you stories forever about the history of Biloxi.  They would be mad if I didn’t mention that they “were the ones who got the storm, new orleans just got the flood”.  I can’t tell you how many times I heard that while I was down there and they all have their won reasons why they got 0 help and New Orleans got all of it.  Well actually most of them share the same opinions on it but I’m not going to say what they are on here. 

As for this week of poker, it has gone really great.  Low stress and good money.  I put 2k on 3 different sites and have done good on all of them.  I think I am up 14k on Cakepoker this week, 4k on UltimateBet and 2k on Fulltilt.  For the first time in my life I haven’t had the desire to play in the really big games and just concentrate on making good money every week in the middle stakes.  I probably wont have any 50k weeks for a while but I also wont have anymore -100k months…. at least I hope not.  I am really enjoying the balance I have found in life recently and even though it takes a little big more discipline, I can still be just as lazy :) 

I hope everyone is doing well and congratulations to my brother Adam who just got married and my brother Jason who recently had the first Humphrey girl in 3 generations “Lily”. 

Good Luck,

Matt Humphrey

humphreyin@hotmail.com

If you still aren’t getting rakeback email me and I can help you out.

I haven’t blogged in a while and I am sure it isn’t hard to guess why that is…. I CANT WIN!!!! Or at least that is the way it feels right now.  The real reason is probably because I have been playing in games too big and have refused to move down in limits…  It seems like in the old days I used to never get punished for making a bad bankroll decision, but now, if I play too high or take a “shot” at a big game then I always end up going off for a big number.  I am going to try to get back on the grind and regain my interest in poker again.  Just try to grind out 500-1000 a day for a while.  I can do that by playing 2/4 PLO everyday for about 3 hours.. so it isn’t too much to ask.  It is just hard for me to do that because of how competitive I am…. I see these big games going with bad players and I KNOW I CAN BEAT THEM but that isn’t the point.  I am really starting to realize that I care more about the money now than I do about being great.  Which is fine but that means I really just need to grind out a living for a few more years and give up on the idea of being a multi-gallizonaire… at least for a while.  The good news is that in PLO it usually doesn’t take me much time to get back on my feet.  I had alot of stressful things going on in my life while I was out in Vegas, family and friend type stuff, and I know I should have been tougher but it really did effect my poker. 

As for my Vegas trip… I played golf a few times, got to see alot of old friends, and proceeded to lose about 100k and to be honest, it couldn’t have been much worse.  I lose the 3 biggest pots of my life…. In one pot I was a HUGE FAVORITE.. having the guy draw to a gutshot 3 that wasn’t a spade.. and in the 100k pot i flopped top two and a gutshot and lost it 2 times to aces and the nut flush draw… there was a side pot and I only got 3/4ths of that because the kid made a straight both times….  The thing about it though is that I KNEW the game was too big and that there were alot softer spots around the casino.  It wasn’t that the big was tough, because it wasn’t… it is just we were playing 100 dollar straddle on the button and people were re-straddling 200 and 400 and sometimes 800 dollars…. that means we were just GAMBLING.. and with stack sizes around 5000.. that means there is almost NO PLAY….  I guess you live and learn though from the mistakes you make and I think I have finally learned from mine.  I am ready to live the good life from poker, not the easy life.. I am going to have to really get motivated again and constantly remind myself of what I want out of poker…..

-200k later I’m ready to grind

Wish me luck,

Matt

I have gotten a lot of emails lately asking why I haven’t been blogging and the only reason is because I just haven’t had much to say….even though I am sure a few of my readers could argue that it has never stopped me before…haha.  I have been on a little break from poker the past few weeks and I am loving it.  On Tuesday of last week I headed to Las Vegas to watch a friend of mine play in the World Series of Golf.  It was only the 2nd year for the event (10k buy-in) but I think it will become really popular next year when they don’t restrict the amount of entries to 80 and I also heard a rumor of bumping up the entry fee to 200k?  He won his first match to get us our money back but then a few things didn’t go our way so we will have to wait until next year for 250k.  It will be aired on CBS in June sometimes.  After that I came back to Indianapolis on Thursday night.  All of my friends are really into golf and I decided I am done being terrible so I joined the country club by my house.  Four of us went golfing Friday and I was brutal as normal but Sunday I improved dramatically so maybe there is a little hope?  One thing is for sure though and that is that I am going to get my moneys worth of golf if I can get decent… I just LOVE being outside.

I am getting excited for the upcoming WSOP.  I always seem to have really good trips when it is going on and I think there should be a 25/50 PLO game just about everyday which will be awesome since lately it is hard to find a game anywhere, above 5/10 at least. 

This week should be another fun one with the Indy 500 coming to town.  Friday is Carb-Day and then we usually camp out Saturday night for the Sunday Race.  The weekend is usually a blur but a fun one :)  Until then I am just going try to enjoy this awesome weather and relax until it is time to work hard for a few weeks straight.  I will probably just play it by ear on how long I stay because I am going to have a few weddings and birthdays that I am going to try to be home for.  However, I really wanna give myself a shot at winning a bracelet too since I know they mean a lot to my family.. not to mention the money

I hope everyone else is doing well!!! 

Matt Humphrey

humphreyin@hotmail.com

There have definitely been some bumps along the way but I am having a good week so far heading into the weekend.. I was up 38k at my last post and then went on a pretty big downswing.  I ran good at 50/100 but ran so bad at 25/50 cap it was unbelievable.  As of right now here is where I’m at for the week: +44k on UltimateBet.. +15k on Fulltilt.  I am happy with my week for sure  I really should have done better on FT.. When I was running bad I added to it by tilting when I should have just quit.. dropped stakes.. and regrouped.. instead I blamed it on bad luck and allowed it to give me an excuse to gamble too much.  One day I will solve that problem and be a MUCH better player because of it..

I still have Saturday and Sunday to close out my week but I doubt I play that much.  It is 3:30 right now on Friday and I still haven’t decided if I am going to go back down to Louisville with my friends for the derby or not.  I feel worn down and might end up just staying here in Indy for the weekend.  If that is what I end up doing then I will probably get some extra time to “work”.  Sunday blog coming soon…

Good Luck,

Matt Humphrey

humphreyin@hotmail.com 

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 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

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.

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