I haven’t blogged in a while because I’ve been so busy playing poker. My only recent excursions beyond the online tables were the NAPT shootout at the Venetian – lots of ESPN airtime for the VictoryPoker boys — and an appearance at the WPT championship. I lasted until day-two on that one before losing most of my chips to David Benyamine. I made a hero call that was incorrect. I miscalculated how he thought about poker and probably just went a little to in depth with my thinking.
Cash games online have been up and down. I’m pretty much even over two weeks of massive hours. But I’m really happy with my performance at 8 game rotation. I ended up winning $250,000 on PokerStars, playing $100/$200 and $400/$800 rotation before losing it back. I had never before played it for significant stakes, so I find my short-term results to be encouraging.
What’s been great about getting into 8 game rotation has been the learning process. I have been studying up on how to play all the games, and I am really enjoying the need to think deeply about every hand as I develop correct strategies. For somebody who’s done pretty well at no-limit and pot-limit poker, starting from the beginning on new games is humbling and all-around self-improving. More and more of the big action is going toward 8 game rotation, and I’m hoping to be successful at it in the long term.
Away from poker, I’ve been working out a lot with my trainer Dave. He’s a great guy and his website is www.forgetthegym.com. As you might be able to tell from the name of his site, part of Dave’s strategy is to work out in places other than the gym. We spend two days a week at a park near my condo, and it’s the kind of workout that I haven’t had since my days of playing high school football. Dave has me jumping hurdles, we toss around a 70-pound punching bag, and I do sprints while he holds me back with the help of a harness.
One day I brought my friend Luke “Red Line” Kim out with us. For the first 10 minutes, he kept up just fine and I thought he was in pretty good shape. Then, right after the 10-minute mark, Luke practically passed out, he turned white as a ghost, and curled up into a fetal position. He reminded me how difficult it is to get into good shape and stay there. Thanks, Dave!
Maybe a workout video will make it up to VictoryPoker.net, where there is an ever-growing library, including submissions for a contest we just launched. It’s a competition to become the next VictoryPoker pro. Based on submitted videos and an Apprentice-style final match in Vegas, we’re going to award $100,000, a new car, tournament sponsorship, and an apartment on the Strip to the player who best embodies what VictoryPoker stands for. Check out the details at http://contest.victorypoker.net/victorypoker/.
If you haven’t had a chance to view the From Busto to Robusto documentary that was done on me, it’s something that you might enjoy at http://robustothemovie.com/?page_id=53. I thought they did a great job on the movie and I answered questions about it on PokerCurious.com: http://www.pokercurious.com/interviews/view/andrew-good2cu-robl-interview/. I appreciate that the Busto to Robusto documentaries provide real, warts-and-all looks into the lives of online poker players, but I wouldn’t have minded being the pro in the series who gets all the glory. Of course, though, it didn’t work out that way. My documentary showed the stress and the losses that sometimes come with being a professional gambler. People who don’t understand my world have commented on how rough it looks. To them, I say this: Don’t worry. I’m doing fine. And in case any of you want to come down to take a shot at my bankroll, you know how to reach me.
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