Welcome mobsters, if you are reading this blog for the very first time, I thank you for your initial interest. I think that if you give it a little time, you will find something that will peak your interest.
I am a semi-pro poker player and an author. I am currently working on several projects for publication, and will be discussing them on occasion in this blog. If you are a fan then I warn you, from time to time there will be spoiler book ideas discussed.
Section 1: Poker Tips & Concepts
Poker is a game of skill which also has by its very nature an element of chance. Most card games have this duality. Poker however, depending on which variation you play, can have a lot more of the luck element involved according to some poker schools of thought.
I would like to believe that, No Limit Texas Hold'em requires much more skill then luck in order to be a winning player over the long haul. If you want to win consistently you must learn that, most of the time the right move to make is to fold. Knowing when to fold is what makes a fish an average player, and a good player great. In no limit texas hold'em we as players need to make the best decision based on our cards at all times. More often than not folding is the best move.
Always ask yourself what cards can make my hand better, and how good will that make my hand. What will my hand strength be compared to what someone else could have based on the community cards in play? Will I most likely be ahead or behind if I make my hand?
Learn how to count your outs and then calculate the basic odds on completing your hand. I am talking to those players who of course want to win more then they lose, calling stations never seem to care.
Until next time
Section 2: "Ronin's Bankroll Management Challenge"
Well this section is going to be familiar to the forum regulars as I have been running this section for awhile in the forums, It is about the single most important skill a poker player must have in their arsenal in order to be a successful winning player.
Bankroll Management has been estimated to be the single most neglected poker skill by almost 95% of all players. Countless books have been written on the subject, and yet most players most often just ignore the rules of proper bankroll management. I too fall into this trap at times.
This section is intended to show how proper bankroll management can ensure that and good poker player who approaches his bankroll and poker play from a solid and disciplined position can succeed.
It also is intended to help me to remain focus and discipline in my own bankroll quest to succeed.
The 1st part of the year in 2014 will see me discussing heavily the results of a combined staking run between myself and a fellow mobster. (His name will be withheld to keep people from asking him for stakes which he does not need the grief from)
The next 60 bankroll challenge will begin Monday January 27th, 2014.
Day 1, Monday 27/01/2014
Well day 1 of the challenge was a true test of my resolve to play within the rules.
I had a very bad start to the challenge. There was a point when I was down $12.78
I took a full 1 hour break before going back at it.
Day 1 of the challenge left me down just - $2.36 US
Day 2 of the challenge left me down just - $0.67 US
Day 3 of the challenge and I finished up $1.18 US
Day 4 of the challenge and I finished up $3.85 US
Day 5 of the challenge left me down after $38.62
Well day 5 is now over and it has been a painful day, I am glad it is now over.
I took a shot at moving up levels and lost 3 all-ins in a row.
The first 2 loses was BS.
I was hugely favoured to win but lost the first to a BS gut shot st8 draw on the river, and once to a runner runner boat.
The 3rd loss I was out played in my opinion, I should have seen that one coming.
I took an immediate break thinking I might be on tilt.
down 3 full buy ins at $12.50 each. Tomorrow will be a better day.
Section 3: The daily rant.
So I have a internet, phone, cable bundle through Rogers cable. Yesterday my home phone and internet both went out at once. It took them until today to reboot the system for me. Yes the problem was on their end. In today's modern age it took them 18 hours to key in a system reboot in order to reset my systems on their end.
What a joke the tech staff simply was not working on a Sunday so the work order sat on someone's desk until they got around to it today. The so called online support was beyond a horrid joke. The support staff is so compartmentalized that I call in about each issue separately because all 3 of the departments are handled by completely different customer service departments & and one can or will not do anything to effect the others areas. Talk about a waste of money on a corporate level. It would be more cost effective to have a customer support stuff fully trained to cover all 3 areas then too have separate departments.
Well until next time, be cool.
Section 4: The call of the Muse (Wednesday's)
This section will also be familiar to forum regulars. I am resurrecting Ronin's Short Story blog which I ran for a time. Yes mobsters I am going to write more poker based shorts here on BankrollMob.
I have decided to once again start writing in "The Bluff - A Poker Short Story".
I will re-post the entire story here in this new blog area along with a new section in the next few hours.
I apologize to Steve's fans for the long wait.
I hope you enjoy the new blog area.
The Bluff - A Poker Short Story
Chapter 2: part #1
The windows in the Escalade erupted inward as the bullets tore through them. The driver was the first one killed because Steve wanted to make damn sure the bastard did not shot forward and then reposition to give his buddy's a better firing arc. Three other men exited the vehicle firing somewhat blindly while they took cover and maneuvered themselves around forward and back. Realizing his poor position Steve did the unexpected and dropped flat to the ground in order to see the men's feet. The two men moving around the front of the taxi was his biggest threat, so he flicked the selector switch to full auto and opened fire into the feet and legs. The two men both screamed in agony and feel to the ground which is exactly what was wanted by their intended target.
Steve emptied the entire clip into the two men and killed them both. Looking the other direction as he slid another clip into place told him the third man was better trained then the first two since he had removed his feet from view. Seeing the grenade come rolling under the taxi caused Steve to curse out load. In a desperate move he grabbed the side of the taxi and swung his arm as hard and fast under the taxi as possible and managed to hit the grenade with his MP-5 causing it to very quickly fly off in the opposite direction. He rolled forward to try and get the wheel and passenger side of the cab to give him cover for the damn explosion which was about to awaken the entire street. The shocked assassin barely had time to think once the grenade he had thrown came back out from under the Escalade almost at his feet before it went off. Steve heard the man's cry and knew he had be caught in the blast. He then realized that the taxi was actually moving forward into the intersection so he jumped into the vehicle again. It did not take him long to figure out the drivers foot had fallen of the break which allowed the taxi's idling engine to begin moving it forward. Steve reached across the driver and open his door then simply shoved him out the door as he slid into the driver seat himself and floored the accelerator. It was going to be a very cold trip to the airport with the windows blow out and it being winter time. He turned the heat up on high and tried to position the vents to blow as much warm air onto him as possible.
The trip to the private terminal at the airport took fifteen minutes. Steve wasted no time at all getting all his thing loaded into the helicopter which he and a couple of unit member had purchased together under various aliases. The moment he was load he fired up the copter at request clearance from the tower to go skyward to fly to training area three to practice emergency landing procedures to prepare for an upcoming flight recertification. The tower kept him waiting 5 minutes so an inbound jet could land before granting him flight clearance and wishing him a safe flight. Taking to the air he could see the flashing light of police cars as he flew eastward low over the tree tops. Once he arrived at his destination he would pass a few days just playing online poker tournaments.
Steve Cole flew the Bell 430 Helicopter 300 miles north before landing to refuel and take a break for a couple hours. He used the time to go into the local town and purchase more supply's which he wanted for his trip. The entire layover lasted two and one half hours. The next leg of his flight would have him arriving at his destination by 17:00h and he was looking forward to getting to the remote cabin location. The helicopter would be refueled again once he landed before it was placed inside the onsite hanger.
The Hanger was large enough to house 3 helicopters along with 2 Jeeps, 6 Dirt Bikes, 6 ATV's. and 6 Snowmobiles. The entire structure was attached to the cabin area which had sleeping quarters for up to 12 people via an underground tunnel. Once he arrived and landed safely he would be completely off the grid in every way. The land was owned by a privately listed company and it was in no way linked to any member of the unit although it was owned 100% by him under a totally clean identity.
Every member of his unit had several disposable identity's which they could use to travel around the world with and effectively disappear. Steve Cole was his favorite identity but it would now need to be burned and purged, He would think about his options over the next three days and just play poker to relax while he thought about things.
If he arrived on time he would be able to play in the nightly Big $11 on poker stars, just the idea of it made him smile. Steve landed the helo and then moved it into the hanger in order to get it under cover so that it could not be located from the air of with satellite recognizance. He checked the generator and fired it up in order to power the electricity. In the morning he would dismount the wind turbines airfoils so that that the wind will start providing him with power, He will also get the Solar cells up and running to get power from the sun as well. This facility had both power and wood heat sources, it was also well stocked with supply's and since he also brought extra supplies and equipment along with him he know he would be fine even if he stayed here for the next six months and just played poker every day.
He smiled and thought to himself that maybe he should do just that, he could just lay low and then when we made his move it would totally take them by surprise. Tonight though he was just going to get the wood stove fired up for heat and to boil water for coffee and just use his laptop with its wifi uplink card to play poker and relax his tired body. The next hour passed quickly and after he sat down and fired up his laptop he took a drink of his coffee and looked at the screen in order to decide which game to play.
So until later mates.
Section 5: The Escape
Welcome to what for me might very well be the most difficult section of the blog to write on a daily bases. In this section, I will attempt to keep a detailed food intake log, as well as an honest accounting of a daily exercise routine, which hopefully will move me steadily towards the goal of getting physically healthy.
In May 2013 I was admitted into hospital and they weight me at that time at the weight of 602 lbs. I spent 64 days in the hospital and during that time they had me on an 1800 calorie a day diabetic diet. On the day I was released from the hospital I was weighted at 542 lbs.
During the 1st month my weight climbed back upward to 158 lbs again.
I became very depressed about this and honestly just wanted to die. I could not see my life getting better and was constantly in extreme pain which required me to take a lot of pain medications just to stay somewhat functional.
I decided to lose weight even if it killed me. In October I began, and in November I was weighted at 536 lbs. I have not been weight since.
In December I completely went off the rails and I am convinced that I regained some weight back. I plan to get weight very soon in order to have a truer starting number to once again begin working from. I believe that I am right around 550 lbs again, I have a 74" waist and ware an 8X T-Shirt.
It is humiliating to admit these facts but I fell I must be honest with you all of why even bother with this section, my hope is that by making myself accountable to my fellow BankrollMob members that it will motivate me to succeed this time unlike past failures.
The exercise levels for the day will not be great, as I was in a lot of pain, my back is out and can barely move at all. Looking at the day ahead, I think I probably will take in more calories then I exercise away. Will do better tomorrow, I really need to work on my diet and exercise routine. I am at least being honest about what I have done, and realize I MUST do better. It all comes in baby steps and at least I am trying.
I am going to develop a better way of keeping the daily food intake log. I need to have a much better record of the calories which I am truly eating.
I have been working on this issue since the 1st of January, 2014 but I have not really been having as much success as I would like. I am thinking about counselling from a dietitian to get me food choices improved, going to do some investigation on YouTube about healthy eating.
The journey continues...
I have stated above that I have thrown my back out somehow but that I have been using my time being mostly bed ridden well. I am morbidly obese as you all know. Most exercises are currently beyond my ability to do safely, so I have give it much careful thought and come up with the following exercise routine for myself. The plan is to do them every day if I can. I do believe I can do everything on the list every day.
My Starting Exercise Routine to get Healthy
By
Leonard E. Spencer
Upper Body Routine
1. Front Arm lifts - knees, chest, up to the sky, chest, knees
2. Side Arm lifts - hips, shoulders, up to sky cross over, shoulder, hips
3. Front Hand over palm circles - forwards and back
4. Front Punches -
5. Seated jumping jacks -
6. Alternating Shoulder shuffle -
7. Shoulder twist -
8. Upper Body free Weight routine -
Lower Body Routine
1. Front Leg extension lifts -
2. Seated Calf raises -
3. Ankle turns, both directions -
4. Short walks from the bed to the apartment door and back again -
5. Side leg lifts while in bed, both legs -
G'day mate's
It is now 2:00am and I am very pleased at this moment. My back has seemingly slipped back into place. I have been able to do some exercise both yesterday and today. I have absolutely no doubt that I will be able to complete my entire workout routine today.
My food intake over the last two days has also been good. I have been eating alot more vegetables over all. I truly think I have eaten less calories then I have burned off through both my exercise rates and basic metabolic rate. I believe if I can keep things under control for a few months like this then I will lose weight and feel better for sure.
