Jason "mkind0516" Laso Blog

So I headed to Borgata last weekend and this weekend for the yearly Borgata Winter Open. I had a very interesting week. Pre-emptive sorry for ranting at times but I like to get all my thoughts out and had a few interesting notes on the weekend (and my own personal horror movie scene). So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

So I get 51/495 in the $750 w/ 45 paying. Played 12.5 hrs before bubbling. Guy w/ like 75k limps for 3k utg and he had limp/called like 90 times so I make it 9500 w/ 50kish and KK after not having a pair above 4s since 300/600. J73dd flop he donks 12k, I jam for 40, and he calls w/ T9d. 7…8. 110k pot when avg was 80k at 1500/3k. The most tilting part is he started shipping his chips towards me and saying nh b/c he didn’t even realize he had a straight until the dealer told him (he just thought he had a flush draw). I almost punched him in the face but amazingly got out an “nh gl,” before skipping to the parking lot like a happy little boy. I realized after this weekend that I have to be the most leveled person when I play live poker, even if I am completely bonkers online. I’m such a swell guy.

Nevertheless, I’m pretty tilted and consider driving home in the morning but meh’d myself into playing. So I sucked it up and played the 1k the next day. 522 runners w/ 150k for 1st. It was at this point I realized if the 750 had 5 more runners it woulda paid 54 instead of 45 and I woulda min cashed and not bubbled. Yet another tall finger up to Borgata.

I was short pretty much all day w/ a horrible seat w/ this massive lagtard (young kid who was rly good) sitting on my left. Table finally breaks and I hit a big rush at my new table. Have 100k at 1/2k, when the standard mkind cooler happens. Young guy opens to 6k in CO w/ 70k, I 3b otb w/ AKo for 17k, and sb cold jams 78.5k. I had already 3b/f vs the orig opener w/ air on my 2nd hand at the table, and raise/folded vs the sb earlier bvb and he showed 74o. So obv I call and naturally he has KK. I turn the backdoor flush draw but brick.

Old guy on my right starts berating me for calling w/ AK (he was right after all). He then tried to get the floor to ID me (the floor man literally laughed in his face even though this guy was serious) and when he failed said to me, “It’s ok boy, your dreams are my reality.” I suppose if my dreams incl. a 1980s haircut and a t-shirt he got free for buying 5 lap dances at once, he was right. Spent the rest of the day playing unexploitably and finish w/ 38.8k going to 2k/4k w/ 61 left (54 paying). I should also note that I lost my jacket (which had my car keys and ipod in the pockets) during one of the table breaks and had to spend 10 minutes filling out a security form across the casino to get it back. This was not going well.

At this point, it’s 2 am (15 hour days ftw!). I’m in great position to bubble; yet I now have to pay for a room. Problem is the entire city is booked…not one room. I had my mom call every hotel she could. She was super pissed at me for not booking a room earlier but I never thought I would still be in. Finally, she finds this motel on the strip. It’s 4:30 am now, in the heart of Atlantic City. This is a dark scary looking neighborhood w/ lots of ppl u don’t want to run into at night. The thing seriously looked like something out of a horror movie. My room is at the end of the hallway, LITERALLY right next to an alley w/ nothing to block pedestrians from walking thru the hotel. This was downright scary. I get through the night sleeping w/ 1 eye open and keeping the metal luggage stand next to my bed as a weapon. Keep in mind, I’m putting my life on the line in this motel just so I can likely go bubble in the afternoon. Poker is fun…for everyone.

So I survive and get back to Borgata (2 hrs early, so I had to watch Family Guy on my ipod until 2 pm). I have a terrible seat draw. In a tourney w/ like 50% of remaining players over 40, I have 3 guys under 30 on my left and an Asian woman, all with huge stacks (I’m also on table 1, so the table is not going to break at any point). 1st hand of the day I FINALLY catch a break. HJ shoves for 55k at 2/4. Hes young and showed yesterday he can shove light in spots where hes supposed to. BB is sitting out, so I figure hes shoving even lighter than usual and call ai w/ A9o. Ofc he has AK but theres a 9 in the door. After the night I had, I deserved it.

Few mins later another young guy shoves 53k in CO and I reshove AJo from sb and hold vs his A5o. I get as high as 170k as the bubble bursts, but the structure completely goes to hell and the blinds go up to 3/6 w/ the avg at 115k. I then lose 40k w/ AQ on a J high flop to some mega nit before the final hand.

UTG raises to 20k. He’s this mid 20s Asian guy w/ 250k. Hes raising a good amount of pots to all different amounts (some as high as 5x) and has folded to a ton of 3bets (incl. 1 to me when I reshoved 17 bbs on his co raise w/ KK in a spot where I prob shoulda flatted but figured his Asianness would make him call).

**DISCLAIMER: Bluff Magazine nor I discriminate against anyone or race. I am simply using a common live poker location tell, which to be fair, holds true like 90% of the time.**

I have TT utg+1 w/ 135k. Honestly, I felt I shoulda folded because he gave some speech about how he wasn’t folding this time when he raised and he was raising utg (which he hadn’t done yet). But I felt my shove would look absurdly strong from this spot and my hand was decent enough, so I put it in. Folds to the young guy who made my life hell yesterday who has 200kish. He tanks and reshoves. The Asian guy calls the clock on himself and folds (he said he had JJ and I think I believe him). Amazingly, the young guy has AK, but it’s me in a huge flip so u know what happens. 300k pot w/ the avg at 120k. Sigh. I hated my shove in this hand but that AK call was pretty bad once I did vs my perceived range (and this guy was rly good too). Idk what to think about it.

So I got 52nd for $1578 and loads of horrible memories from the weekend. Played 30 hours of live poker and still lost money. Love that poker. At the very least, it’s my 1st recognized cash in a 21+ casino so yay.

I then came back home to start class this week (I’ll save that post for later) before coming back to Borgata today. My original plan was to just watch TV all night and then wake up for the main event tomorrow. I had an excellent PLO session yesterday (which I’ve started to play a fair bit lately), so I was taking great momentum into Sunday. Naturally, I decided to go against my instinct. Genius.

So I head downstairs to play a sng satellite. I planned this trip poorly and didn’t have much cash on me, so I played a $460 sng despite only having $457 on me. A kind gentleman lent me the extra $3 (which I paid back later) so I could play. Played 3 hands in the entire SNG and literally got shown AA all 3 times. Talk about killing momentum. But should I go to bed? Nooooo fn way, gotta get some mo’ back. Bad idea, kid, bad idea.

Since I was cash busto (again rly poor planning on this trip by me), I had to play online. Lets just say I had one of my worst PLO sessions ever. I didn’t exactly play great but I ran pretty lol too. At this point, my momentum heading into the main event (starting in t minus 9 hours) is completely south of the equator.

So my hope here is to make this post (in all seriousness, I’m starting to consider a career in writing, which is something I’ve been told I should do for as long as I can remember), express my thoughts, and sort of cleanse my soul. I’m trying to expel the bad karma and bring back the good vibes I’m gunna need to make an impact in this major tourney this week. So here’s to exercising the demons and running good (at least until Thursday!). And if not…

–Jason

3 Comments

Whaaaaaat up loyal bluff magazine viewers?  So yeah, I haven’t posted in a long time.  Understand that as awesome as my blog is, this is a poker site and I’ve played literally no poker since last summer.  But just for yuks I figured I can spill my guts a little.

So as I last reported, I went back to school last semester.  I only took 2 classes (History and Sociology) but I had my best semester ever academically.  It’s pretty funny to look at my 4 school semesters lifetime:

Fall 05 (Poker interest: minimal): 3.3 gpa
Spring 06 (Poker interest: heating up): 3.0 gpa
Fall 06 (Poker interest: HOT): 1.4 gpa
Fall 08 (Poker interest: none): 3.75 gpa

Notice the trend?  I almost don’t want to go back to poker simply for the sake of my grades.  Regardless, I do sort of miss poker a little bit.  I spent all of last week in Bahamas for the PCA but played no poker (other than a few drunken sng’s w/ friends).  Honestly, it was the best PCA I ever had (this was the 3rd year I went).  I got to enjoy the pool, lazy river, and water slides everyday and didn’t have to stress out about tournaments or poker.  It was very refreshing, even if it was weird not playing anything.

So I haven’t played live since the WSOP ME but I plan to change that this weekend.  The Borgata Winter Open is going on in AC, which is about an hour from my house (actually it’s 60 mins to and 50 mins from because the roads work really weird on the way in from the AC Expressway).  I’m planning on playing the $750 and 1k this weekend, assuming I don’t get lazy, and then going back next weekend for the 3k main event.  Maybe all this time off will have done me well.

Here’s the fun part.  This upcoming semester, I’m taking 13 credits.  By doing this, my health insurance provider considers me a full-time student, which means my coverage is free.  This saves me somewhere in the ballpark of 8k this year.  The cost of these credits is about 2k and since there are 2 semesters in a year, thats 4k total school costs (ballpark).  So I figure to save ~4k this year, which essentially means I’m freerolling the Borgata main.  Awesome.

–Jason

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Lol didn’t even realize I hadn’t posted in 2 months.  Not really too
much to say about things, so I thought I’d chime in w/ a quick

After months of mulling it over, I finally enrolled at Brookdale
University, which I started last week.  My old school (from a time long
ago) took weeks to send my transcript in so I almost wasn’t able to get
into any classes but pulled a few strings and managed to get into 2
once-a-week classes.  The classes are in sociology and American
history.  They are far more boring than any classes I’ve ever taken but
I’m trying my best to pull it out.  Hopefully things go a little better
this time around then they did the 1st time.

I’ve only played one tournament since last posting, which was the WCOOP
5k ME.  I wasn’t planning on playing it but a few friends coaxed me
into doing it.  It sucked, w/e.  Congrats to Cking and Ajkhoosier on
big scores in it.  Alex and I used to talk a lot before he got all big
time on me but he really helped me through some hard times and I
appreciate it.  Carter seems like a good guy too.  Also, I beat him HU
in a tourney on UB earlier this year.  Does this technically make me
the champion of online poker? 

As for my future in poker, I’m gunna pretty much be ghost for awhile. 
I had a good run but I need to focus on my new “job” which is school. 
If things work out as I plan, I’ll return in a part-time role some time
in 2009.  I’m also hoping to attend the PCA as the guest of a friend,
tho I have no intentions of playing.  I think if I get through my first
semester back, I’ll deserve a vacation and it will be nice to see all
my poker homies again w/o having to tool out over the thought of a big
tournament.

As for the other bs in my life, it’s been a really rough two months for
me.  A lot of my friends stopped talking to me for awhile.  I’m happy
to say most of them gave me another chance, tho I certainly burned a
few bridges.  It’s one of my goals over the next few months to really
turn things around and make it up to these people.  You know who you
are and I love u all.  Thx for standing by me, I won’t let you down

 I haven’t played Wii Tennis in awhile, so I’m prob a bit rusty.  I guess
the game gets kinda boring after u start shutting out the highest
difficulty CPU everytime u play.  I’d pay so much money for a Wii
Tennis 2 w/ a tougher ai.  I have been getting into Madden 09 for my new Xbox 360 but I’m sheetsing it pretty hard.  I need some new games.

Speaking of money, I’m getting raped by the stock market right now. 
Granted, everyone with a lot of money in the stock market is getting
tooled on right now, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.  Idk how
much I’m down exactly.  Tbh, I’m too scared to look.  I told myself I
wouldn’t check until after the new president is inaugurated into
office.  And speaking of The Office, season 5 is finally on the air. 
Jim & Pam got engaged which gives my life new meaning. In fact, I
tivo’d tonight’s episode (I was in class obv), so it’s time for me to
go watch it.  Keep it real, America.

–Jason

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Howdy hebrews and shebrews! So the FTOPS is officially over! Sunday basically sucked a huge one. I min cashed the early FTOPS for like $189. Well at least I can say I cashed in a nlhe FTOPS event! Main event was going pretty well until I took one bad beat and then lost a few flips. Was kinda upset over how poorly this FTOPS went (actually, I’ve never had a profitable FTOPS). However, I saw this commercial on TV that really made me feel better about my own life (it also has had me laughing for days):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxMqDxtjw1U

So surely if this guy could put such a positive spin on things, then losing a lot of money in the FTOPS couldn’t be nearly as bad, amirite? Besides, I didn’t even mention the best part about busting the FTOPS main event: IT’S OVER!!! HALLELUJAH!!! YIPPEE!!! I’m so relieved. I basically feel like these guys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McHyLKw5mHc&feature=related

So what now? Hmmm. Well I haven’t play any poker since Sunday and probably won’t be playing much/at all for a while because I badly need to decompress after the last 2 weeks. I really don’t know when I’m going to return or at what capacity. For now, I’m just gunna chillax, do some reflecting, and watch humorous youtube videos. Here’s a terrific one I got shown a few weeks ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVHhjWMpC1g

I’m sure the idea of watching 10, 3-minute episodes of 3 “douchebags” trying to fall in love seems dumb. When I first started it, it seemed pretty dumb to me too. But I watched the whole thing and actually found it quite humorous, so if u have 30 minutes to kill, check out “Douchebag Beach.”

So what else? Still considering doing the school thing part-time. Gotta make that decision very soon. Also, my buddy, Mike Sowers, invited me to join his Xbox360 Madden 09 league. I don’t own a 360, but I have just a hella ton of FPP points on Stars I coulda used to buy one. However, you need to be a “goldstar” on Stars to buy one. I was a goldstar for many years but when you play like 5 tournaments a month for 6 months, you tend to lose that status very quickly. So I couldn’t get an xbox like that and I’m still stuck with all these FPP’s. Not sure if I’m gunna go out and buy one. First of all, my Jewish side will go nuts at the idea of spending $300 on a gaming console. I shook the video game craze many years ago. Before I got into poker, I was addicted to Madden on Gamecube. Swear to god, 4 years ago, 3 friends and I went into Manhattan to play in a Madden challenge that had hundreds of people in it. Btw, I made round 4 before losing in overtime. jksgjksgkjdskj. So I’m not sure I wanna get back into video games. Decisions, decisions.

Also, would like to thank all of my loving, adoring fans for just the phenomenally amiable statements you have left on my comments board. I might not say this enough but YOU (the viewers) are the sole reason I have the 3rd most read blog here on Bluff. You guys are the tops! Tytytytytytytytyty.

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So it’s late Thursday night. The FTOPS is winding down and it has been a disaster (then again, I’ve never had a profitable FTOPS). I have just 3 events left on my schedule: tomorrow’s $216 nlhe, Sunday’s $129 nlhe, and the $500 main event. Saturday is the biggest event (the $2500) but I really don’t think with the way the last few months have gone and the way I feel right now that I should be playing this, so I’m making the mature decision to sit it out. Saturday is also the 100r PLO tourney, where I actually hold my best finish in an FTOPS event ever (got 11th in it last summer), but I just think it’s for the best I rest up for Sunday.

The first 8 events have gone pretty bad. I’m pretty sure I’ve yet to win a race in any of the events yet, which is just nauseating to think about, but it’s been too typical of this year for me to be surprised. In Monday’s 1k, I lost a big flip w/ around 400 left that woulda put me like top 25 in chips and then busted w/ overpair under overpair. Tuesday was the first time I woke up at 1 pm on a weekday (on a day where I didn’t have a doctor’s appointment) in like 6 months, just so I could play the 1/2 plhe, 1/2 plo (HA) tourney. I was super excited for this because I knew the field would be loaded w/ nlhe players and like 90% of nlhe players are just pitts at plo and can’t control themselves in plhe. Unfortunately, the servers crashed so it got postponed. Wow was I tilted. Took Wednesday’s 300r off, for the same reasons as I’m not playing the $2500. I really wanted to play the $500 shootout today, given my nice history in SNG’s, but was unable to because I had a doctor’s appointment…

So anyway due to a doctor’s appt, I had to skip the shootout. Luckily(?) they rescheduled the HA tourney for 3:30 (right when I get home). I decided to fire that up, as well as a $50 freezeout and a $20r at the same time. I was out in the 1st orbit of the $50 f/o when I ran AA into J7o on a J87 flop in a 3-bet pot. Super start to my day. Next up was the 20r. It was on Cake Poker, which I never play on, but I was bored, the play is really soft, and I have some money on there I’d have no problem getting rid of. Basically ran everyone over and had the chip lead forever. Then with 3 tables left, I went into full “mkind mode.” Basically, what this means is, get into 4 coin flips and don’t win any of them. It’s truly a phenomenon how I literally cannot win a flip in anything I play. Sooooo I was out 15th. Awesome. I did find myself in the money of the HA tourney though, which was nice because it was my first cash of the FTOPS. Of course, I busted 1 hand after the bubble broke when I tried a re-steal w/ AKJ6 double suited and ran smack into AAxx, so I min-cashed. Also played the 9 pm $300 mixed holdem FTOPS. Built up a decent stack before…SURPRISE…lost a flip, a 70/30, and a 40/60 to bust. I’m such an FTOPS stud.

I’m fairly certain with the way the FTOPS has gone, I’ll be skipping the WCOOP next month. I really don’t feel like I have a chance in hell of going deep in anything based on this past year, and I honestly don’t feel like dropping 20k to find out. I did book my annual Aruba trip for September. I originally bought a seat into the tournament as well, but recently decided I shouldn’t be playing and have decided to sell the seat and just go to Aruba for….well, Aruba! The last 2 years, Aruba was during the WCOOP, so I had to skip WCOOP both years. Of course, this year, the one year when I DONT want to play the WCOOP, Aruba was finally scheduled AFTER the WCOOP. Gay.

So recently I started watching the show “My Name is Earl.” Originally, I thought it was pretty dumb, but after watching a few episodes and really getting to know the characters, it started to become very funny. I watched seasons 1 & 2 and really enjoyed them. Well yesterday I started watching season 3 online. I don’t know what happened, but for some reason, the writers completely changed the direction of the show and it’s just been awful. I kind of relate it to some world class chef who has this amazing pasta dish that has drawn praise worldwide. But one day, for no good reason, the chef decides instead of using marinara sauce to use ketchup. That’s pretty much what happened to the show: they took out the marinara sauce and replaced it with ketchup. I did read somewhere that the writers were supposedly going back to “marinara sauce” in season 4 (new TV season next month!). I’m going to be really pissed if they don’t because I was really starting to enjoy the show before they did a whole episode about a prison creative writing class, which reminded me more of something you’d see on the Nickelodeon morning lineup rather than on the 2nd highest rated network in primetime.

Also, for anyone into some hard rock, I highly suggest checking out the new albums of Trapt (”Only Through the Pain”) and Shinedown (”The Sound of Madness”). I’ve been listening to both non-stop and am loving them.

Oh and my Wii Tennis score is up to 2054. It’s to the point where yesterday I shutout the computer and my pro score only went up 2 points, yet when I beat them 3-2, it went down 54 points. What a stupid system. But I’m addicted, so what can I say?

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What a difference a day makes!  I decided today to fire up the 2 major FTOPSes (not the HU one, since I have no business in that) and a  couple of low/mid limit stuff.  The early FTOPS went like every other FTOPS so far.  Got it in w/ top 2 vs a set and I was out before antes, like usual.  The later FTOPS went worse but at least I went out in the 1st level so I didn’t get my hopes up (QQ vs AT on T658 board).  So I was left in all the small crap I played.  However, after 2 months and 20 days of not cashing in a single tourney, the tides suddenly turned.  I found myself itm of the Stars $3r.  Moments later, I was itm of the Stars $50/80k guarantee.  And not too long after that, I was itm of the FTP 20r.  So the streak was over!  Now it was time to do work…

It didn’t take me long to bust in the $50 tourney.  First, I lost a huge race on the bubble that woulda made me top 30 w/ like 450 players left (standard for me).  I then lost even more chips re-shoving 33 into KK.  Made a bit of a comeback before getting it in w/ top pair vs a naked flush draw in a limped pot and getting rivered.  So I was out in 339th and earned a wonderful $101.  Awesome.

Next up was the FTP 20r.  I used to play this tourney like everyday when it first started last year.  I don’t think I ever saw it get over $3500 for 1st.  Well today, it was just some short change under 6k!  So this woulda been a nice day to win it.  I was super short coming into the money but just started shoving on everyone and before I knew it I had chips again.  Then, with like 20 left, I was chip leader and got set over setted by the guy in 3rd!  FML!!!!!!  But I held my composure and went on a huge rush to take a massive chip lead into the final table.  Of course, 1st hand of the final table I lose QQ vs AQo ai pre.  Arrrrrrrrgh.  But I somehow make it to HU w/ a nice chip lead.  I managed to get it in w/ A9 vs A7 but lost.  I was short now and on the verge of a loss that I desperate couldn’t afford to take.  But I then did something I hadn’t done in months…I won a race!  Ok sweetest feeling ever.  I think when you only win like 3% of your 50/50’s, it makes that 1-time all that much sweeter.  Moments later, I was all-in w/ A9o vs KTs and held again.  But to ice the cake, I polished him off w/ 77 vs ATs.  So I won 2 flips (which prob means I won’t win another one for the rest of the year) and won the tourney; my first win since March 13th!  Certainly not the biggest win ever but it’s significance might have been bigger than any other.

But the night was not over.  As the celebration begun, I was still in with 40 remaining in the 3r (which had nearly 5k entrants).  First place wasn’t that much more than the 20r ($6900) but it woulda been BY FAR the biggest field I ever won.  Plus, it would be legendary to say I ft’d the 3r, so I was totally focused.  Unfortunately, some Sweedish nutjob, who had raised 4 outta the last 5 hands, opens again to 90k at 15/30k.  I make the super easy high-five the monitor snap shove w/ AJ for 670k.  He snaps me off w/ his AK and I can’t find a J.  So after 7 hrs, I get 38th for $92 (not even double what I spent lol).  So despite being 10 minutes after a win, I was once again on life tilt.

Needing an immediate stress reliever, I hit up some Wii Tennis.  About a month ago in Vegas, I was a total noob at WT.  Yet, one day during break of the WSOP ME, Annette & I got challenged to play against Hevad Khan and Clayton of Leggo Poker.  We got owned because I was so awful, and Annette yelled at me cuz I blew the game a bajillion times.  So I made it a goal of mine to get better so she wouldnt pms on me again.

In the game, when you win/lose, your pro score goes up/down.  As your score gets higher, you play better computer players.  So within a few weeks of practice, I got up to the highest level of computer players (1900-2000 ratings).  My pro score after today’s session was 1885.  I was under the impression that 2000 was the highest you can go but Annette tells me thats the highest the computer can go but a human player can go higher.  Unfortunately, as you start playing the better rated players, you have to win more convincingly or your pro score goes down.  Even if you win 3 matches to 1, your score goes DOWN!  Gayest shit ever and whoever created this system should be shot.  It’s already super hard to beat the 2000 rated players, but when u have to shut them out, it makes life all the more difficult.  It makes it almost impossible to get your score up.  Annette told me that if she loses the 1st game of a match she resets her Wii so she doesn’t have to bother playing the rest out and losing points.  I think that’s extremely low.  What are you proving if you only play games you win by shutout and shut off all other games? Shame on you, Annette!  I play all my games to the end, even if I risk losing 50 points off my pro score despite winning 3-2.  I just have too many morals.

So tomorrow is the 1k 6 max on FTP.  Given my wonderful history in online 1k’s, I hope the electricity goes out tomorrow, my alarm clock resets, and I don’t wake up until after 9:15 (damn you late registration!).  Otherwise, I’m sure I’ll just bust out before antes like I always do and go play some more Wii Tennis instead.

And one last thing: to all my haters leaving comments and such, I just wanna thank you guys for constantly reading my blog and making me the 3rd most read blog on Bluff.  I know you guys can’t resist based on how super awesome I am. So ty all for proving how uber popular I truly am

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Wassup everyone?  So the admins have been hounding me to get more content up.  I’ll be honest when I say theres really nothing happening that I can post about but I can try anyway.  Actually, I was told that appearantly my blog is the 3rd most viewed blog on all of the Bluff website.  I find this pretty cool for a guy who hasn’t won a tournament in 5 months, on a site which hosts the blogs of bigger names and better players.  Yet, for some reason, I’m getting the 3rd most views.  I guess we can just put that up there with the greater mysteries of the universe.

So it’s that special time of year: FTOPS time (actually it’s more like that special time of month since it runs so frequently).  As has been reported, I haven’t been playing much poker in the last 6 months.  There are plenty of good reasons for that which I don’t need to get into.  But I decided that after months of sitting on my ass, I could play a few events.  I decided on 11 events I would play.

So how has FTOPS gone so far?  Glad you asked!  I’m 0/3 so far, meaning I still have not cashed in a single tournament in 2 months and 20 days.  In event #1 ($216 nlhe), I couldn’t get anything going and busted w/ JJ into QQ.  In my next event ($216 quad shootout), things got a little more interesting.  My table got 3-handed pretty quickly with me, Matt Matros, and another guy.  The kicker was the other guy was sitting out the enitre tourney.  So Matt essentially had the button 2/3 hands, which was a massive advantage for him.  By the time the disc. guy was out, I was down 4:1 in chips.  Somehow, I battled back and took a small chip lead before losing the biggest pot of the table w/ QTs vs AA on an 862ss flop, which given the flow of the match was just a massive cooler.  I went out a few hands later with JJ vs A4o allin pre.  I was disappointed but surprisingly not upset.  I honestly think that was the best HU match I’ve played in a long time.  Matt played really well and def took advantage of the total gift of a situation he was given, but I was the star of that match.  But as has been oh so typical, the cards didn’t fall my way and I was out.

That brings me to today’s event: the 100r.  If there was any event in the FTOPS where I was going to end this absurd cashless streak, this was the event.  I was 2/2 cashing in it lifetime coming into today.  At the end of the rebuy period, I was 7th in chips out of the 1500 players still left.  I must’ve had 2 dozen people at that point come to my rail and wish me luck (most of them were shocked I was even playing).  It really felt like a year ago back when I was still one of the top mtt players online, as I had a lot of chips and a lot of people on my rail.  But this would turn out just like any tournament I’ve played lately.  I got into 4 coinflips pre-flop; I lost all 4.  I lost QQ vs 55 ai pre for 115 bb’s.  I had to check/fold KK post-flop in a 4-bet pot vs Sctrojans.  Yet through all of this, I lasted over 4 hours (probably double as long as I’ve played in any tourney in this cashless streak) before busting like 60 spots out of the money. 

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So the WSOP ME has come and gone for me.  First of all, I played day 1 completely hungover (a trip to the hospital later in the week would reveal I actually had a flu), which was a horrible idea.  I woke up that morning and actually threw up one hour before play even began.  I labored through the day.  I actually decided that if I hit 50k at any point, I was going to pack up shop and go to bed for the night.  I was at 44k after dinner break but promptly bluffed off 25k in one pot to a major station, which meant I was going to have to gut it out the rest of the night.  Well despite my condition, I managed to end day 1 was a very solid 42k.  It was actually the first time in my life I made day 2 in a major buyin tournament over $2500, which I guess was a minor moral victory for me (I know Annette was very excited about that).

I was lucky enough to have 4 days off in between day 1 and day 2, so I had some time to rest up and get better.  I still wasn’t in great condition for day 2, but I was feeling a lot better and ready to make some noise.  Unfortunately, I made 3 untimely bluffs in the first hour of day 2 to get me all the way down to 8k in chips.  It didn’t help that I somehow found myself at a table with 3 very accomplished online players (Pechorin, Ahh Snap, and Capn Jackpot), in what was supposed to be the softest tournament of the year.  The table conditions, as well as my stack, forced me to really buckle down.  What ended up happening was me probably playing my best poker in a long time.  I managed to chip up from 8k to 50k without ever being all-in and called.  They then moved my table and I was really feeling good about things.

I got to my new table and was relieved to see nobody I recognized.  Unfortunately, on like my 3rd hand at the table, MP English guy raises to 2500 at 500/1k/100 and the btn flatted.  I had seen the English guy raise the 1st 2 pots since I got there (incl. 4-betting all-in when he got 3-bet on one of them), so I was more then happy to bump it to 9k w/ my AQs.  Unfortunately, he moved in, having me covered and I had to lay it down.  It wasn’t a great start to my new table but over the next few hands I would learn that my new table was just as amazing as I thought it was when I first sat down.  I decided to go into full-fledged “run the table over mode” or as I like to call it, Scandi poker.

Right before the break, I finally pulled off a big, successful bluff.  I raised to 2700 w/ KTo in the CO.  The btn, a mid-20’s Asian guy, gives me the evil eye (I had been raising a ton) and flats.  Flop rolls out J52r and I lead 3800 and he wastes no time raising to 8k.  Given the way he was looking at me, his raise size, and the fact that he was Asian (obv), I gave his raise absolutely no credit.  But rather then just jam 40k over his bet, I decided I was really going to scare him by just calling and then check/raising the turn or leading the river when he gives up.  The turn wasn’t great (another J) but I was committed to my read on the flop.  Besides, there prob aren’t too many hands of his that contain a J.  So I checked, he bet 9k, I moved in for about 28k, and he folded pretty quickly.  This boosted me to around 68k heading to the last level of the day.

Unfortunately, this is where lady luck once again decided it was time to rain on my parade, as she has done seemingly everytime I’ve played poker the last 6 months.  On my final hand, this older guy raised to 3500 in MP at 600/1200/200 w/ about 85k in chips.  He had just raised 2 of the last 3 pots, tho he had raised to 4k both those times.  Folds to me in the CO w/ something like 75-80k and a QTo.  I debate re-raising him right there but instead elect to just flat him in position and play the flop with him.  The flop rolls down 8s9s9d, which was decent for me as I had a gutshot and 2 overs.  He lead out 8k, which was just under the pot size.  Again, I considered re-raising this dry board right here (it’s generally pretty profitable to raise paired board, as at the very least it will slow a player with an overpair down and completely shutout all the random misses he has) but decided I wasn’t ready to commit such a big portion of my stack yet.  My plan was to just call and apply pressure on any Q, J, T, 8, 7, or spade (or if he simply checked to me on the turn).  As it turns out, the turn was the Jd, which was obv a dream card, filling my straight.  He quickly checked (predictable).  I figured if I’m going to bet nothing here, I need to bet a made hand too, so I fired 16k into the 25kish pot.  It didn’t take him longer then 10 seconds to push a stack of chips into the pot, effectively putting me all-in for something like 50k more.  Given my recent string of bad luck, I had that horrible feeling I usually get that I was in big trouble.  However, given the way the pot was played, he could just as easily have QQ-AA or even a hand like AJs.  Basically, I was totally handcuffed and couldn’t fold.  So after about a minute, I made the somewhat crying call and he obv tabled JJ, meaning I was drawing stone dead in a 135 bb pot.  I went from being in complete control of the table with a healthy stack to out in one hand.  Suddenly, I was feeling sick all over again.

I spent the rest of the week hanging out with my friends (not playing any poker, as usual).  Annette, despite having just lost 10k on me, was still very supportive and consoling.  As I’ve said before, Annette is my best friend in the world and she really did a fantastic job making me feel better after busting.  I could tell she was a bit disappointed that none of her horses cashed (I especially felt bad because I know she put the most faith in me), but she was still able to put up a smile and have fun, like only Annette can do.  I took her out to Emril Legassi’s steakhouse at the Venetian to thank her and it was probably one of the best steaks I ever had (she said the same).  We also went on a helicopter tour of the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon that was awesome.  Our friend, Fuyuki, came with us and he got pretty sick on the helipcopter, so he actually threw up twice on the ride (while sitting next to Annette lol).  Our pilot cleverly referred to him as “Puke-ki” after that, so I’m pretty sure that nickname will stick with him for life now.

All-in-all, despite the disappointing main event and catching a flu, I had a nice time in Vegas.  It was great seeing Annette, who I don’t get to see very often.  We’re actually talking about maybe having me visit her at her home in Norway in a few months (since she unfortunately can’t go to Aruba this year, which is actually where we first met 2 years ago), which I think would be a lot of fun.  Thank you for the opportunity, kid, and I sincerely hope in the future you can find better ways to invest your money.

So now I’m back home and will probably just be relaxing and not playing too much (you know, kinda like what I’ve been doing the last few months anyway).  I still probably have around 6 weeks to make a decision about going back to school, getting a job, or giving poker another chance.  Fwiw, Annette thinks I’m destined to be a poker player (even if it takes some time) and shes usually right about these things, so we’ll see.  I’d also like to thank all the people out there that took the time to send me an email regarding their opinion of what I should do.  I’m sorry that I haven’t replied to all of them yet, though in my defense, my hotel room in Vegas had no internet, so I had no way of replying, but I do plan on responding to all of them in the next few days.  I appreciate all the support and will keep you all updated on what I decide to do with my life.  Thanks.

–Jason

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It’s been awhile since my last update.  To be honest, there hasn’t been a ton going on in my life.  However, I’m on the verge of making a major life decision.  I’ll get to that in a second.

As I’ve reported, I’m currently on a major downswing.  It’s been this way since Febuary.  Through running worse then I have in my entire life — it’s like I can’t even win a single hand anymore — I quickly lost the urge to play anymore.  Anyone who looks at my poker db would see how I’ve dramatically slashed my volume in the last few months.  Lately, I’m lucky if I find the mojo to play 2-3 days PER MONTH.  Yes, it’s been that bad, it’s getting worse, and there’s no end in sight.

So what have I been doing?  I went to Vegas earlier this month.  I played a $1500 NL event at the WSOP.  I lasted like 10 hours before losing a race (I can’t even remember the last time I won a flip, seriously).  A few days later, a few friends and I were bored so we decided to screw around in a $100 nightly tournament at Caesars.  It only got like 55 entries, but I did get lucky and win it.  OK, not the biggest win in the world but I was hoping it would be a sign of things turning around (as it turns out, this is my only cash — online or live — since May 21st).  So the next day I played the $1500 6 max tourney at the WSOP.  4 hands (4 hands!) later, I was back in my room wondering where it all went wrong. 

I came home and pretty much have done absolutely nothing for the last 3 weeks.  Last Sunday, I played the 5k tourney at Borgata.  It gave 50k in chips w/ 50 minute levels.  Despite my recent bad luck, I was very excited going into the tourney and was probably feeling better about a tournament then I had in a long time.  However, it wouldn’t take too long to suck the life back out of me.  I ran KK into AA to lose half my stack, and then proceeded to literally not win a single pot from the 100/200 level to the 300/600 level.  Everytime I bet, I would get raised.  Everytime I hit a pair, I would be shown a bigger pair.  Everytime I missed and bet, I got raised by the biggest nits on the table.  I finally connected with a flop when my AQ hit an A45 board, only to be raised for the 736th time.  I had just bled down too much and couldn’t take folding anymore, so I stuck it in and obv got shown AK.  50k in chips and I still couldn’t make it to dinner break.  Absolutely pitts.

So for the last month, I’ve usually been sleeping 12 hours a day and then watching TV the rest of it.  Needless to say, I’ve been very depressed.  I’ve lost a ton of money, all my patience, confidence, and my competitive spirit.  I’ve really come to doubt if I could do this anymore.  I also feel very lonely and isolated.  I’ve been absolutely miserable and the time has come for a change.  I have 3 real options for after the WSOP main event next week:

Option 1: go back to school.  The problem with this is, as unhappy as I am now, I was even more unhappy back in school.  I’m pretty much the stereotypical online player: anti-social, isolated, cut off from the world, bad with dealing with people.  Back in college, I was this way and was miserable.  Furthermore, my work ethic is terrible and I’m beyond lazy when it comes to doing the required work that is necessary in going back to school.  Perhaps going back to community school would be an option but I’m just not sure I can make it work, both socially nor academically.  Going back to school would also prevent me from being able to travel anymore.

Option 2: get a part-time job.  Back in high school, I worked at a Starbucks for 2 years.  Now I wouldn’t say it was the greatest experience of my life.  My greatest memory will always be becoming good friends with a female co-worker of mine, falling in love with her, taking her to my senior prom, only to have my heart broken by her just before I left for college.  I also did not get along with my boss and was suspended for snapping on her, before I quit.  The job did pay decently though, and it would be nice to have a source of income (as small as it would be) again.  It would also fill up about 20-30 hours a week and allow me a chance to be more social and perhaps strike up some new relationships, which is something I desperately need right now.  It would also allow me to be able to continue traveling to live events, which going back to school would not allow me to do.

The other option would be to keep up with what I’ve been doing (maybe mixing in a little more live play).  To counteract my unwillingness to play long sessions and deal with the variance of tournaments anymore, I can mix in a few hours of cash games per week (I used to be a very successful 5/10 player before I became primarily a tournament player.  Games are tougher now, though, so despite a healthy bankroll, I’d probably just stick to 2/4 NL.).  There is some degree of comfort with this lifestyle that I discussed right now, even if it has made me depressed.  The downside is that I would remain isolated and antisocial, which could be fixed by taking classes or getting a job.  I could also seek new ways to fill some time, such as re-joining the gym or doing some volunteer work.

Regardless of what I choose to do, I will likely be taking a nice sized break after the WSOP ME.  To be honest, I probably shouldn’t even be playing a 10k buyin right now.  However, I am very lucky to be close friends with Annette Obrestad, who has put enough confidence in me to front me the buyin. I’ve known Annette for 2 years now and she’s always been like a little sister to me.  So thank you, Annette, I’ll try not to let you down next week.

If you have any advice or an opinion on my current situation, I ask that you please shoot me an email at jslaso@gmail.com.  I’m open to hear just about anything right now, as I’m on the verge of this huge life decision.  Take care.

–Jason

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Wow how fast plans can change!  I just went to hang out with my friend, Jared, when he invited me to come out to Vegas with him tomorrow.  I’m not usually this spontaneous but I decided I’m gunna give it a whirl.  So in 12 hours I’ll be on a flight for my first trip to Vegas as a legal adult.  I’ll be staying at the Rio with Jared and another friend of his.  I’ll be playing event 2 ($1500 nlhe), 7 (2k nlhe), 9 (1500 6 max), and maybe play event 3 (1500 plhe), while playing a few Venetian tournies on the side.  Hopefully, things will go my way.  Gotta go pack now…

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