If anyone still reads this and would be interested in donating some $$$ for a great cause, would be great appreciated.
On Sunday, October 16, the CHOC Walk in the Park will take place at Disneyland® Park and Disney’s California Adventure Park®. Over 14,000 men, women and children of all ages will join together, each with their own “reasons to walk” for CHOC Children’s and CHOC Children's at Mission Hospital.
Teams play a critical role in the Walk and I encourage you to get involved by joining my team and making this the biggest and best CHOC Walk ever.
Please join our team and the community as we make every step count for kids at the 21st Annual CHOC Walk in the Park.
Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Children's Hospital of Orange County
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http://www.chocwalk.net/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=478689&u=478689-302997564
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Erik
Monday, October 3, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
One Month Later (still in limbo)
My life since Black Friday (from the 2+2 thread):
Basically I've just been a stay-at-home dad since all of this went down- taking care of the kids, getting stuff done around the house, etc. I haven't really played poker, aside from a couple home game and some micro limit stuff on Cake, but I have been doing some reading and HH analysis to try to tune up my game. Whatever I decide to do long-term poker-wise, it's unlikely that it will involve the extreme multi-tabling I'd been doing in my SNE chase, so it will be in my best interest to focus on my table profits rather than rakeback. I'm also planning hit up the local casinos over the next month (Commerce and potentially the shit-hole, rigged tent casino known as Hawaiian Gardens) to get as much live practice as possible prior to the WSOP. I've got a backer for at least the $1,500, but would like to plat the $5k as well assuming I can find a couple more backers. If you're interested in taking a piece, just leave a comment on this post.
No big decisions yet on how to move forward long-term. Black Friday essentially killed my plans for the next few years, so I'm taking some time to figure out my next move rather than make any quick decisions. At this point, there's a very good chance I'll go to Canada for at least few months (without the family) to determine whether a move would be worth it given the changes to the online poker scene since BF. As far as a permanent move out of the country, it's a tough decision- I own a house here, my wife has a career, all of our family and friends are here, etc. Commuting back and forth a few months at a time is an option, although that has plenty of drawbacks and, with the associated costs, may not even make sense financially compared to sucking it up and re-entering the workforce. I'm still hoping that someamazing acceptable legislation will go through to allow me to continue making a good living at poker from my home, but it's not looking to0 likely that that will happen any time in the near future.
On another note, I'm incredibly impressed with Stars' customer service throughout this entire mess. They've proven yet again how superior they are to any of the other poker sites and most companies in general (fraud and money laundering allegations or not). Timeline of events following Black Friday:
Basically I've just been a stay-at-home dad since all of this went down- taking care of the kids, getting stuff done around the house, etc. I haven't really played poker, aside from a couple home game and some micro limit stuff on Cake, but I have been doing some reading and HH analysis to try to tune up my game. Whatever I decide to do long-term poker-wise, it's unlikely that it will involve the extreme multi-tabling I'd been doing in my SNE chase, so it will be in my best interest to focus on my table profits rather than rakeback. I'm also planning hit up the local casinos over the next month (Commerce and potentially the shit-hole, rigged tent casino known as Hawaiian Gardens) to get as much live practice as possible prior to the WSOP. I've got a backer for at least the $1,500, but would like to plat the $5k as well assuming I can find a couple more backers. If you're interested in taking a piece, just leave a comment on this post.
No big decisions yet on how to move forward long-term. Black Friday essentially killed my plans for the next few years, so I'm taking some time to figure out my next move rather than make any quick decisions. At this point, there's a very good chance I'll go to Canada for at least few months (without the family) to determine whether a move would be worth it given the changes to the online poker scene since BF. As far as a permanent move out of the country, it's a tough decision- I own a house here, my wife has a career, all of our family and friends are here, etc. Commuting back and forth a few months at a time is an option, although that has plenty of drawbacks and, with the associated costs, may not even make sense financially compared to sucking it up and re-entering the workforce. I'm still hoping that some
On another note, I'm incredibly impressed with Stars' customer service throughout this entire mess. They've proven yet again how superior they are to any of the other poker sites and most companies in general (fraud and money laundering allegations or not). Timeline of events following Black Friday:
- April 15th- Shit hit the fan/no more poker/FML
- April 16th- Call from Stars filling me in on the situation and confirming my money was safe
- April 20th- DOJ press release on domain name use agreement with Stars and FTP to facilitate refunding players
- April 28th- US cash outs available
- April 30th- Submitted cash out request (couldn't bring myself to do it immediately- I've been playing on Stars for 7 years and spent a long time building that roll)
- May 3rd- Money in my account (ship it!)
- May 6th- Stars credits account for partial progress towards my next Milestone Bonus
Friday, April 15, 2011
Well on to new things
Looks like the future online poker is gonna be up in the air, so maybe it's time to go back into the real world. Fortunately, I have some leads to get a job somewhere so I'll do that (and could always apply to Business school in fall because I got a decent score on the GMAT). Unfortunately, I have a significant sum online so who knows whats going to happen to that. Hopefully something can resolved in the next two - four weeks or so and I can get a better understanding of what can be done.
Time for a beer or two.
Time for a beer or two.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Grinding VPPs is still better than the alternative
The shit show in the previous post reminded me of how much "real" jobs suck. I might be grinding VPPs all day, but this job is still a hell of a lot better than any corporate job I've had.
1. I don't have to work for assholes or morons (except for myself obviously).
2. No commute (except the 10 feet from my bedroom to my office).
3. My work attire consists of a t-shirt and boxers. I can count on one hand the number of times I've put on anything nicer than jeans in the past year.
4. Lunch breaks typically consist of either : 1) watching Justified, Lights Out, the Borgias, and/or Shameless or 2) video games (I'm waiting for the game LA Noire to come out end of May).
5. Any money I lose or make is on me. I don't have to bust my ass making money for a cheap bastard who *might* give me a 7% raise if he's feeling generous at the end of the year.
6. My schedule is up to me. Obviously chasing SNE at low limits means more hours of poker that most people would like to play, but at least I can put in the hours when I want to.
7. At least a month off per year.
Obviously there are some downsides, such as:
1. No guarantee that I'll make money every week, month, or even year. That being said, I manage my bankroll very conservatively and cash out at least a minimum amount every week regardless of how much I make or lose.
2. Taxes suck.
3. Uncertain future of online poker. If shit hits the fan and online poker is temporarily or (unlikely) permanently banned, I won't exactly have solid career experience to put on my resume. That being said, I can always become a trader andsupplement lose my income grinding busto stakes on my nights and weekends.
4. No health insurance/401k/other company-provided benefits. Fortunately, my wife works just enough hours to qualify for benefits, so it's not an issue as long as she doesn't quit her job any time soon.
5. My son got up on the pool table. When I told him to get down, he told me "Fuck You". Guess I should watch my mouth.
Granted, my perspective might be a little skewed since the 2 jobs I've had since I graduated college involved working for 2 of the worst bosses you can imagine:
Boss #1- corporate equivalent of the biggest assholes at the tables. Berated his employees and anyone else he came into contact with all day long. One time, be backed out of his driveway full speed without looking, straight into a truck belonging to a repairman working on his house. He then proceeded to berate the repairman and blame him for the accident, stating that it was his fault for blocking the driveway.
Boss #2- worse bankroll management than Lucas.
And for anyone who cares, here's this week's graph. Overall I'm pretty happy with my play recently. Still tilting some, but doing better than I was a couple months ago. I'm happy to be playing 3/6 again and getting more VPPs.
1. I don't have to work for assholes or morons (except for myself obviously).
2. No commute (except the 10 feet from my bedroom to my office).
3. My work attire consists of a t-shirt and boxers. I can count on one hand the number of times I've put on anything nicer than jeans in the past year.
4. Lunch breaks typically consist of either : 1) watching Justified, Lights Out, the Borgias, and/or Shameless or 2) video games (I'm waiting for the game LA Noire to come out end of May).
5. Any money I lose or make is on me. I don't have to bust my ass making money for a cheap bastard who *might* give me a 7% raise if he's feeling generous at the end of the year.
6. My schedule is up to me. Obviously chasing SNE at low limits means more hours of poker that most people would like to play, but at least I can put in the hours when I want to.
7. At least a month off per year.
Obviously there are some downsides, such as:
1. No guarantee that I'll make money every week, month, or even year. That being said, I manage my bankroll very conservatively and cash out at least a minimum amount every week regardless of how much I make or lose.
2. Taxes suck.
3. Uncertain future of online poker. If shit hits the fan and online poker is temporarily or (unlikely) permanently banned, I won't exactly have solid career experience to put on my resume. That being said, I can always become a trader and
4. No health insurance/401k/other company-provided benefits. Fortunately, my wife works just enough hours to qualify for benefits, so it's not an issue as long as she doesn't quit her job any time soon.
5. My son got up on the pool table. When I told him to get down, he told me "Fuck You". Guess I should watch my mouth.
Granted, my perspective might be a little skewed since the 2 jobs I've had since I graduated college involved working for 2 of the worst bosses you can imagine:
Boss #1- corporate equivalent of the biggest assholes at the tables. Berated his employees and anyone else he came into contact with all day long. One time, be backed out of his driveway full speed without looking, straight into a truck belonging to a repairman working on his house. He then proceeded to berate the repairman and blame him for the accident, stating that it was his fault for blocking the driveway.
Boss #2- worse bankroll management than Lucas.
And for anyone who cares, here's this week's graph. Overall I'm pretty happy with my play recently. Still tilting some, but doing better than I was a couple months ago. I'm happy to be playing 3/6 again and getting more VPPs.
Monday, April 4, 2011
One Time!
So I just finished up my session with an email from Pokerstars:
Hello iiimJEEESUS,
We have received a complaint regarding your use of inappropriate language at our tables. After reviewing the chat log (see below), it was decided to suspend your chat privileges for a period of one month. Your language was highly offensive and completely unacceptable.
Our goal at PokerStars is to be a fun place to play, where everyone can feel comfortable. Foul language and abuse of other players takes away from everyone's enjoyment, and therefore will not be permitted.
Please note that you may not be the only one receiving a message such as this. When we receive a chat complaint, we review the entire chat of all players at the table. If any other players at the table were in violation of PokerStars' chat rules, they were also warned or had their chat suspended.
Your chat privileges will be automatically reinstated in one month.
Regards,
PokerStars Support Team
---
899676956 iiimJEEESUS nice hand you piece of garbage fed 1 4/4/2011 7:54:17 PM
So I sent them a quick response:
To Whom It May Concern,
This latest chat ban is ridiculous. Fedigan has insulted races, sexuality, gender, and everything else known to man. I beat him in a pot and I simply called him what he has referred to me several times as, which is "a piece of garbage". When I reported Fedigan for similar acts, I was told by your Pokerstars support team that I could simply "turn off my chat if i was offended". Therefore, I was under the impression referring to someone as "a piece of garbage" was allowed. I now know that such language is unacceptable and am asking for a smaller chat ban (1 week or so) or to have my chat reinstated immediately.
Please note, I am on pace for supernova elite this year (240,000 vpps) and have paid approximately $40,000 in rake so far, and as such, I deserve special consideration.
Thank you.
Hello iiimJEEESUS,
We have received a complaint regarding your use of inappropriate language at our tables. After reviewing the chat log (see below), it was decided to suspend your chat privileges for a period of one month. Your language was highly offensive and completely unacceptable.
Our goal at PokerStars is to be a fun place to play, where everyone can feel comfortable. Foul language and abuse of other players takes away from everyone's enjoyment, and therefore will not be permitted.
Please note that you may not be the only one receiving a message such as this. When we receive a chat complaint, we review the entire chat of all players at the table. If any other players at the table were in violation of PokerStars' chat rules, they were also warned or had their chat suspended.
Your chat privileges will be automatically reinstated in one month.
Regards,
PokerStars Support Team
---
899676956 iiimJEEESUS nice hand you piece of garbage fed 1 4/4/2011 7:54:17 PM
So I sent them a quick response:
To Whom It May Concern,
This latest chat ban is ridiculous. Fedigan has insulted races, sexuality, gender, and everything else known to man. I beat him in a pot and I simply called him what he has referred to me several times as, which is "a piece of garbage". When I reported Fedigan for similar acts, I was told by your Pokerstars support team that I could simply "turn off my chat if i was offended". Therefore, I was under the impression referring to someone as "a piece of garbage" was allowed. I now know that such language is unacceptable and am asking for a smaller chat ban (1 week or so) or to have my chat reinstated immediately.
Please note, I am on pace for supernova elite this year (240,000 vpps) and have paid approximately $40,000 in rake so far, and as such, I deserve special consideration.
Thank you.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
First Quarter Progress
Well 1st quarter is pretty much over and I'm slightly behind pace at 222,174 VPPs for the year. I'm going to pick up the pace in April (not lying this time). I don't really have a choice since May-July is gonna be really busy (lots of weddings and, more importantly, bachelor parties and, even more importantly, WSOP).
April needs to be a 6-figure VPP month. My goal is 108k VPPs- an average of 4,300/day on weekdays and 2,500 per weekend.
In other news, I've started full-stacking again and am considering upping my limits. The VPP rate at .5/1 and 1/2 is shit compared to 2/4. I've definitely got the roll- just need to not run like shit and/or play like shit. I also put in a marathon day yesterday/today in hopes of hitting a milestone hand (obviously failed at that).
Some stats:
April needs to be a 6-figure VPP month. My goal is 108k VPPs- an average of 4,300/day on weekdays and 2,500 per weekend.
In other news, I've started full-stacking again and am considering upping my limits. The VPP rate at .5/1 and 1/2 is shit compared to 2/4. I've definitely got the roll- just need to not run like shit and/or play like shit. I also put in a marathon day yesterday/today in hopes of hitting a milestone hand (obviously failed at that).
Some stats:
- Hands played this year: 615,415 (on my desktop- not counting the day or so I've put in on my laptop)
- VPPs/hand: 0.36
- Hours played: 520
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Great Day
Ran 1k under EV today, about 8 days behind SNE pace, got fucked in the $5 PL rebuy 3 times for chip lead stacks (finished 8th for a shitty $150 payday as opposed to $1.25k for 1st). The jackass's in that tournament were ridiculous. It was like they were all finger banging themselves with horseshoes and then proceeded to win / split every all in vs me.
Need to take night off, regroup and get back to the grind tomorrow. Just did 12 hour self ban so that will help.
Need to take night off, regroup and get back to the grind tomorrow. Just did 12 hour self ban so that will help.
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