At about the 6:15 mark you will see a profile of Dean Hamrick, he is one of the nicest guys in poker and he crushes online as MSUsfinest.

Ok, the 6c7c hand is a bad play but I was establishing a bit of image.

I had a successful trip down in Louisville even though I didn’t get to play as often as I would have liked but I was happy with my play for the most part. I won 11,000 the first session… 1,400.. the second.. 700 the third… and 2,800 the last. The last 3 sessions were such a grind it was sick. I started off big stuck all 3 days and someone grinded back a win. I was never winner until the very end of every session but sometimes you just have to take what you can get. I really wanted to play the 5K NL tourney that started sunday but it was my friends birthday so I ended up staying in town to go out with them. That decision might have cost me alot of money though because I heard the game has been really good the past few days and the tourney field was really weak. However, that doesn’t mean I would have won money but at least the odds would have been in my favor.

I am supposed to head out to Las Vegas Wednesday to hang out with some friends and go to the PGA event but I am not sure if I should go or not. I just bought a house in my hometown of Avon, Indiana and I really need to pack and get moved over there. I guess there isn’t too much of a rush though since I still want to paint and do some other things. I almost hate to leave because I of the PLO game here in Louisville. I have won my past 8 sessions and even though I don’t really care about how many times ive won compared to how much money ive made, it is still good for my confidence and temperament.

I hope everyone else has been doing well and incase you have wondered… I still cant win online.

Matt Humphrey

humphreyin@hotmail.com

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

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about this but it was buried amongst a bunch of other stuff.  So this time I am going to give it the proper amount of attention.  So a few weeks ago my wife says “you know that new all gals radio station, they have been raving about The Strip Club”, previous to this little tidbit I thought the shows were all about shopping and feminine protection.  Of course I had to play it cool, otherwise I would be blowing my golden opportunity.  So I said “go on”, meanwhile my heart was racing trying to figure out if she would be getting the lap dances or if I would.  She said it was new and on the East Side of Saint Paul, OK, whatever, when do we leave?

The first time we were there we could not get a table, so we sat at the bar and amazingly it was an OK time.  I did figure out though that I was being set up, both guys and gals work at “The Strip Club”.  Ok, whatever, a little emasculating but I am sort of a freak like that.  After a few drinks and a little conversation we decided to dive into the main course, which definitely exceeded my expectations.  THERE WERE SO MANY COUPLES OUR AGE IT WAS UNREAL! So we did not feel so out of place.  As we left both of us had a devilish grin and we knew we would be back soon.

Which brings me to last night, on the last occasion we went on a Friday and it was packed.  Last night was a Wednesday so there were less couples and we got a table easily.  Immediately a very attractive gal came over to see if she could serve us in any way.  I have to admit, even after the second time my adrenaline was rushing and I could tell that my wife was also a bit excited and freaked out at the same time.  It was time for some wine to get this party started (for her not me, but her relaxing helped).  Gradually things became a bit less awkward, there were less men this time too, which was a good thing from my standpoint.  After about 2 hours of people watching it was time to go home.  But we will certainly be back soon.  There is more to the story but unfortunately my time is short.  Maybe I will give another update tomorrow.

I have written about Nick in the past and I likely will write about him a lot more.  He runs cardschat.com which is likely the best run forum online.  The classic sniveling and arguments that typically make up a poker forum do not happen at CC.  Most online forums begin as a community but then as they become more popular negativity begins to take over as a disconnect happens between users.  CardsChat is a reflection of Nick, he is pretty low key and that is how his forums are.

Nick is also 19, he can not even get into a bar and in case you have not figured it out he has been running things since he was about 15.  I do not know about you guys but when I was 15 I was thinking about who I was going to take to the homecoming dance.

It is not uncommon in poker for young people to do well because the game requires a fresh mind.  Looking at the results from every major tournament you can see what I mean.  In the poker industry however young people have not historically done well.  Part of the reason is that there are a lot of negotiations that need to happen.  In Nick’s case though he has a thriving community that is loyal to his cause, card rooms see that and want to be a part of it.  Nick does not need to yell, he let’s his actions do the talking.

As you can obviously tell I am impressed.  Nick is a tireless worker and his blogs and poker strategy sections are some of the best on the internet.  Unlike a lot of things in this industry where people pay each other to recommend them, this is unsolicited.  Virtually everyone in my family and everyone I know has heard about Nick.  If you are looking for a great poker site that is refreshingly low key in a world of flash banners and stupid prop bets check out www.cardschat.com.

because PPP thinks the guys at Facebook are douchebags.

Andreas looking overly happy.

Bobby and Derek

Pete looking infinitely less scared than he was.

Mostly it was all dudes but there were a few gals on the trip.

Diego

We didn’t really get to see any Lava flow on the trip but the Volcano is pretty impressive in its own right.

Monkeys

 

Commando ziplining with the guys from PartTimePoker

I have been very sick over the last few days, so that is why I have not been able to update my blog.  I did start a new facebook page so feel free to look me up using Paul Nobles or beaniepoker@hotmail.com (that is really my spam email, I do not check it often) for email. 

I have spent a lot of time watching the NBA Playoffs, for some reason this year has not been that great.  I am loving the New Orleans series but it looks like the Lakers are ordained this year.  There really needs to be an investigation into that Memphis trade, for them to get Pau Gasol for a couple of balls and an IOU is criminal.  The Hornets have been a lot of fun but it would surprise me if they beat the Spurs, I think it will come down to game 7 and the Spurs just know how to up the intensity, I doubt the Hornets will.  I do not think the Lakers will struggle with either of these teams though. (having Phil Ivey played up on the TNT telecast, he was courtside at the Lakers game,  was kind of cool, really shows how far poker has come and how big of a star Ivey has become.)

Daniel and Doyle have had a few back and forths about political issues.  One of the reasons why I like reading Daniel’s blog is that he speaks his mind so freely (so does Doyle apparently).  Occasionally though he comes off like a pompous ass, which of course is the danger of speaking your mind.  Apparently Daniel is a monster supporter of Obama, which I am as well but honestly I would vote for Hillary, I know I am not supposed to say that but really, I could never see myself voting for McCain, maybe the McCain of 2000, but not this guy.  Anyway, Doyle brought up some questions about Obama that a lot of people are expressing and Daniel basically dismissed him as being a silly old man.  Right, because that is the best way to show you are right in an argument.  The most interesting thing about what Daniel is doing is that it is supposed to be antethetical to what Obama is supposed to be about.  He clearly is not taking the high ground when it comes to his support.  To be so vehement about your support only gets you the people on your side, it does not sway anyone to see your point.  Do I wish Hillary would drop out? Yes I do.  But she is not going to do that and some people’s concerns about Obama are legit and will need to be addressed if he is going to win the White House. 

By the way, McCain will not have the same problems Hillary is having in terms of race baiting.  You can best believe it is going to get ugly.  Hillary has stopped just short of using the “N” word but she has definitely played on the fears of the unenlightened.  The same type of people that come out in droves against Flag Burning and Gay Marriage.  Not all of Hillary’s support comes from unenlightened people but a lot of it does.  To cater to the least common denominator of our society is reprehensible and that is exactly what McCain is going to do.  He has to, because it is his only way to win.  If Obama can win taking the high ground that says something about us as a country.  The fact that he has come as far as he has with his message is remarkable and already says a lot about who we are.  Soon though he is going to have to steal the attention of the American public again, McCain is doing a decent job of that right now.  I hope when Obama begins to gain on him and this goes negative that it does not divide us too much.  They are trying to put Obama in a box where only elitists and black people vote for him.  By the way, when they say elite, do they mean smart? When did smart become so bad? Personally I would like my leader to be pretty damn smart.  Any coal miner in a union voting against the “black guy” come November deserves to lose their job because as Ronald Reagan proved unions are enemy #1 of the corporate agenda.  Not to mention Social Security, anyone with an income less than 100k as a family and working class whites.  Anyone who thinks they are a “working class white” needs to realize that your experience is not far different than “working class Latinos” and “working class African Americans”, there is another word for all of you in corporate vernacular, expendable.  So in November you are going to have to decide whether you are going to give the smart black guy a chance, the guy that represents your interests. 

You would have to be pretty foolish to vote yourself out of a job but sadly I think many people will.  The good news is, those people are increasingly the minority.

I know this is big on the political talk but I just needed to get some of this out.  Why does Hillary’s camp keep making a point of saying they are out spending us “3/1″, “5/1″ or whatever.  How dumb are these people? In a sense they are saying our supporters do not support our candidate financially.  That is the sweet spot of the high road by the way, people buy into that type of message and want to support that candidate.  Both my wife and I have contributed to Obama and will continue to do so in the next round.  When Hillary says that she can win how much debt will she need to accomplish that goal? Apparently that is one of the cost of courting the unenlightened.  They are broke.

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 

I detailed why the suckers are leaving in this article. Well it might be worse but what I think is most interesting is that it does not need to be. Let me give you two examples.

My Father basically represents every casual poker player there is, recently he had some trouble getting money off of a site. That is not what is the interesting part though. At the end of what he considered to be an ordeal (actually just a major inconvenience) he sent them an email saying that he thought his situation was treated poorly and he doubted that he would be playing on that particular site any longer. That of course is his prerogative but that did not need to be the end of his story.

I am a grizzled old vet of online poker. I understand that the circumstances have caused major inconveniences for the cardrooms. For me and the friends I know the most important thing is to play against bad players, sometimes the fact that money is a bit tough to move around actually can make the games a bit better (so can bad software but I digress). I was using epassporte which is no longer available. So when I was asked for my ID and a utility bill it annoyed me a bit that I would have to take a trip to Kinko’s but I get it, not a huge deal. The huge deal came in the tone of the response I got, or the lack of tone. Not only am I a great customer if you define great customer by someone who starts games and keeps games going but I actively refer people to rooms where the games are good. I can not imagine that card rooms would want anything more than I can provide them as a customer. So while I will trekked to Kinko’s all I could think about was how unhappy it made me to have to do this.

The two scenarios are tied to each other in the fact that the customer service departments of online poker rooms are making enemies when they could simply just say “you are right”. That is all my dad wanted and all I wanted was someone to recognize that what I was going to have to do is a bit of a hassle. Now I get it, these people’s jobs are not easy and I work with a lot of people on their customer service systems but something is very wrong when customer service departments are picking fights with customers either intentionally or unintentionally. Let me give you an example of a sample letter that I bet they get a lot:

“I could not be more upset, after numerous faxes and emails I have finally gotten things resolved and to be honest I do not think I will be playing at your room any longer. The way I have been treated has been poor and I can not believe you can run a business the way you are.”

Trust me, I am a consultant that deals with customer service, that is about as nice as they come. So you can imagine they get a lot harsher but even with that said there really is only one acceptable response. Here is an example of what that response should be:

“I am looking over your file and it does appear you have been inconvenienced in a major way. That is a short coming of our current situation. At this point excuses are of no value to you so I and XYZ poker room will not be giving you one. I will speak for both myself and XYZ in saying that you are right. No one should have to go to the lengths you have. I completely understand why you are making the decision you are and I would like to say personally that I am sorry. Both XYZ and myself failed you Mr. Customer.”

Do not ask for their business because that takes away from the sincerity of the situation. When you let people down you might want to consider whether or not you want to further continue brooming them, after all, if you were in their situation would you not have similar feelings and emotions?

I am not picking on Customer Service representatives because they have a thankless job. I am picking on the company owners that barely know their Customer Service managers and certainly do not answer incoming emails. They should, because I do not think they have any idea how their customers are being talked to. When they built the business they are in they likely could not have envisioned the success they have achieved in such a short time. They did dream once though and in that dream they likely did not figure that their extreme growth would cause them to let down customers so acutely.

Let me make this clear. The customer service departments at these companies are not at fault it is the leaders of these companies that are absent and negligent. It is time to quit the excuses on why you can not do something. No one is to blame, not the UIEGA, not payment processors. So coming in with an iron fist approach will not work. You will need to profoundly change the environment that these people are working under. All people want and expect is someone that seems to care and right now no one seems to care at all.