Poker, Poker, and more Poker

Wow. Can't believe its been over 2 months since I blogged! Honestly, I considered quitting blogging after I parted ways with FeltStars, as that was the primary reason for me blogging anyway. After thinking though, I decided that I still have a lot of poker stuff on my mind. Not only poker stuff, but life stuff such as juggling an extreme passion for poker with a balanced life outside of poker, including a wife and child. Anyway, I will dedicate future blogs to life outside of poker, but as far as this blog goes....its all poker today baby!

Recently I have been getting friend requests on Facebook from local players. Some of them just want to talk poker, some ask for advice about living the life of a poker pro on the "grind", and others have inquired about poker lessons. I just want to say that I have really enjoyed talking to all these people and becoming more active in the Gulf Coast poker circle. I have even bought pieces of some of these players action in the upcoming Gulf Coast Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage. Before you ask, NO I don't randomly buy action, but these were small pieces of these players that I purchased, and they did send me results history before I decided to do so. It has been rough for me the last few years with all my poker friends still living in Vegas, and I think it will be nice to make new poker friends here.

It seems like since Black Friday a lot of pros have decided to get into the business of teaching poker. Let me just say that I am all for this. I think teaching is one of the most rewarding jobs, and what better to do than to teach a game that you love. Of course I do feel that you need to be qualified to do so. Unlike being a school teacher, there is no certification to teach poker. I would advise anyone who is looking into lessons to make sure that their teacher has good enough credentials to justify the costs. One of the best ways to learn cheaply is to join a training site, although with online poker leaving the US market these sites are kind of in "no mans land" right now, unsure whether to continue making videos of online play or to transition to teaching people to play live poker. For those asking me personally about teaching, the answer is yes I would be willing to teach, and no there is no exact costs to my lessons. The price would vary based on your skill level and amount of hours you're willing to commit to. As a blanket statement, I'd say that my lessons would range from $100-$150/hr based on the afformentioned criteria. I honestly never thought much about coaching until I did a 3 part video series featured on CardRunners with one of their teachers John "Nicolak" Kim. John is a friend of mine who asked me to play him heads up $5-$10 NLHE over 2 tables for a video. After we finished, he felt that the thought process and level of thinking that we both exhibited would make for a great dual commentary video, so that's what we did. Anyway, I have several offers/projects in the works that involve coaching, and am looking forward to broadening my poker horizon past just playing. If anyone is interested in private or group poker lessons via skype, email me at bootnteepoker@yahoo.com and we can work something out.

When I'm not busy being a Dad (and that keeps me VERY VERY busy) I have been splashing around a bit in the cash games at the Beau Rivage. I must say that I really love that room and the way they treat the players there. The games there on the weekend have been great. We've been playing a lot of 5-10 NL with a $20 button straddle. Lately we have started playing a round of 5-10 with 20 on the button NLHE and a round of 5-10 with 25 on the button PLO. A few weeks ago when some of the guys really felt like gambling we kicked the game up to 25-25 with 100 on the button PLO. Needless to say this game played HUGE. I was pretty much a nit and played very few hands. Well, I actually played very few hands because as soon as we kicked it up I started getting dealt hands like 249J and 268Q, etc. Anyway, I really enjoy the biggeer games that have been running and hope they continue to run for a while.

I also started talking to the regulars about getting a mixed game going. It would be nice to play a 10 game mix or so once every few weeks to break up the monotony of NLHE. I proposed HORSE plus 2-7 triple draw, badugi, NLHE, PLO, and NL 2-7 single draw with a 50bb cap. I thought this game would play great at $75-$150 limit and 10-25 blinds in the big bet games (NLHE, PLO, and NL 2-7) but ultimately I think playing $50-$100 with 5-10 blinds in the big bet games and an optional $20 button straddle would be better to possibly draw random weekend warriors into the game. I'd love to hear anyone who regularly plays on the gulf coast opinion on this and also please let me know if you'd be interested. There are a few players at the Beau (4 or 5 of us) who are willing to play this up to $100-$200 limit, but I think for the game to really go that $50-$100 is the way to go, then if everyone agrees we can always kick it up later. Once again, email me if you'd like to play this, or let me know if you see me at the Beau. Also, it doesn't have to be a 10 game mix, that was just my suggestion for games. It can always be tailored to the players in the games wants as far as game selection.

The last thing I'd like to mention is the upcoming Gulf Coast Poker Championship tourney series at the Beau that starts on August 26th. This tourney series has some very good events including 6 max KO, heads up, PLO, half and half, turbo events, PLO rebuy events, NLHE rebuys, and an affordable 3k buy in main event. Since I missed the WSOP this year due to the birth of my son I have decided to make this my world series. I am planning on playing a full slate of events during this series and really have high hopes for myself. The series runs from August 26th-September 6th.

I was unsure at first if I wanted to keep all of my own action in this series or sell any. I had considered posting on Gulf Coast Pokers Facebook page that I had pieces for sale (find them at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gulf-Coast-PokerNET/491654645370 and click the LIKE button) but before I even made this blog I sold a chunk to some friends and traded some of my action in this series for a friends action in the Epic Poker League tourneys (Go Joe). Anyway, I may consider selling a few percent more of myself in this tourney series for sweat equity if anyone is interested. The total cost of the buy ins are $10,635 I will be selling at approximately 1.25 to 1, so $130 buys you 1% of the total package. Email me at bootnteepoker@yahoo.com if interested and I will send you the schedule I am planning on playing. Unless we're good friends I will need the money upfront. Also, if anyone is looking for a good investment (my opinion only), my friend Joe Tehan still has shares of his Epic Poker League package available. You can find his thread on 2+2 at http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/184/staking-selling-shares-live/napt-wpt-champion-looking-sell-action-epic-poker-league-1073475/. I believe he is willing to sell shares for individual events but those don't include any freeroll equity.

I guess that's all for now. Hopefully I can start to blog again on a more frequent basis. Expect news from me soon about coaching opportunities as well as hopefully a good tourney series at the Beau. Oh yeah, and LSU football is only a month away, so remember..GEAUX TIGERS!

Til Next Time....