music:
yesterday was a good day for music.i played a long to jazz crimes for like 3 hours. i also started to learn brian blades solo on jazz crimes. in my opinion, this is one of the best drum solos ever. everything a drummer would want to hear is in this solo, and everything a musician would want to hear is in this solo. i have the transcription of it in a modern drummer magazine, so its also a good way to work on reading. i never learn solos note for note, because its extremely boring, at least to me...i wonder if steve would agree. brian blade is definitely in my top 5 favorite drummers, everything he plays is unique and amazing. also for music, i worked on a conga and hi hat part for bright sized life. i really think its starting to come together.
poker:
for poker i started to re read harrington on hold em'. I'm taking notes so hopefully it will help when i play. i didn't do good in tournaments yesterday. finished 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 4th, and 6th. i definitely think i am getting better at picking out the bad players though, sometimes its easy.
song of the day:
2nd video of the song.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Business Trip.
The Ride Up and Turning Stone:
Last weekend I went to Turning Stone with, Steve and Jake.The night before, I hung out with my sister and got some stuff for New York. Later we met up with her friend, and went and got dinner, and then hung out with her friends new dog..the dog was cool..just saying.I got home around 12 AM, and didn't start washing clothes and packing until around 1 AM. I knew that either way I was up all night, because Jake was picking us up at 8 AM. I brought a huge luggage bag with me (with clothes, and 100 pounds worth of change), food, bongos, and a back pack.
The drive up was great, and was only about a 4-5 hour drive. Driving up was great because of the beautiful scenery, and because we were basically on a single road. During the ride, I was crammed in the back seat next to my huge luggage bag...it made sense..Steve has a better sense of directions/he drives, and he would of been too tall. I mostly just sat and observed Jake and Steve's poker conversations, and I really think I learned a lot. During the whole ride up I think we only took 2-3 rest stops. Later we arrived at the Econolodge. The hotel had 2 beds, bathroom, shower, fridge, microwave, phone, dressers, table with 2 chairs, etc. At first we were worried that we wouldn't be able to fit 3 people into the room, but the lady was cool about it. The hotel room ended up being perfect.
When we first got in the room, we just put our stuff together and relaxed for a bit. Later on me and Steve jammed for a little bit. I think we played Question and Answer and Afro Blue. Later, we were all pretty tired from the long drive up, so we decided to take a nap then hit the casino. However, the room only had 2 beds...And none of us were trying to share a bed, so we played a quick game of hold em'. I lost with A 2, because Steve hit a straight. Steve and Jake got the beds, and I got to test the floor first. The floor wasn't that bad, just a little painful. We ended up going to the casino around 8 PM or 9 PM.
The first night in the Casino was pretty cool. When we first got there we had to get player cards, so that we could play the slots or check our karats. When we finished that, Steve and Jake bought in to start playing the tables. I actually didn't play the tables at all, because I'm not good enough yet, and there would of been no point. I watched Steve play for a little while then decided to check out the rest of the casino. The casino was pretty small and straight to the point. On the first night all I did was play the slots for awhile and went for walks around the casino. Walking around I noticed that nobody looked happy, and just looked miserable. Steve took one break that night, and we went to the cafeteria and got some burgers. After that, he played at a table, and then we went back to the hotel. When we left the casino around 2-3 AM, I noticed one guy on the same slot machine since 9 pm.
When we were back at the casino we just stayed up for awhile, and then played a game to decide who slept on the floor.My bongos came into great use, not only for music.Basically what we did was turn the bongos up side down, and then shot small pieces of paper into them. Whoever got the paper in first automatically got a bed. Luckily after a few rounds, I was the first person to get it in the bongos...I know my instrument.. Steve eventually won, and Jake got the floor. Later we just watched TV, hung on our laptops, and then just fell asleep.
The next day I think I woke up around 10:30 AM. Jake was already up, and was playing poker on Poker Stars. I joined him, and started playing a sit and go. Me and Jake were playing for like a half an hour, and then Steve woke up.Steve later gave me probably the most valuable poker lesson I've gotten so far. He analyzed a hand I played, and I played that hand awful. He basically told me to stop betting the minimum, and to think about all the possible ways I could be beat on the river. Basically, to just think about all the possible sets, flush draws, straight draws, etc. Also, he told me to always be above 10 big blinds, because the blinds will just eat you up later in the tournament. I learned some other stuff, but I think what I mentioned was the most important. Later on we got ready and hit up the casino. First we got breakfast at a Dunkin' Donuts, which wasn't bad. At he end of the breakfast, Jake challenged me to an arm wrestling match...Jake thinks he won, but my face clearly showed that I wasn't trying (ask Steve). I didn't try, because Jake likes proving he's strong. After that we drove to turning stone.
When we got to Turning Stone we decided to see what was in these huge white domes. To our surprise, there was an indoor driving range/putting green/chipping green. We used the driving range for awhile which was fun. We did a challenge that decided who slept in the beds that night.Basically, whoever shot the ball into the tilted barrel first won. Jake ended up winning, and also got 2 dollars out of it. After that, we stayed at the driving range for a little while...then left to go to the casino.
First we got coffee, then Steve and Jake started playing the tables. At first, Jake and Steve were at the same table, so I wanted to see if they would of ended facing each other in a hand. I was there for like 20 minutes, nothing happened, so I decided to leave the poker room. On this day I decided to bring my laptop, which turned out to be very valuable. While they were playing, I sat down at the coffee lounge and watched the whole new season of Entourage...illegally. Later on Steve called me, because he was taking a break. We ended up taking a walk around the casino and talked for a awhile. Then we went back to the casino.
When we went back to the casino, Steve decided to play some more poker. When we got in the poker room Jake was still grinding away. I talked to him for awhile, and asked if he wanted to take a break. He said yes, and we just talked while he had a cigarette. After the break, Jake went back and played some poker, and I decided to walk around the casino...to see if there was something I missed. I actually ended up seeing a great piano player playing next to one of the lounges. I wanted to talk to her, but she was reading music, and I figured she wasn't allowed to talk to people. After that, I went to see what was playing in the showroom that night. I was more then willing to see some live music, but then I found out the cheapest ticket was 65 dollars. So, after that I tried playing some slots, but my player card wasn't working. I didn't really care, because I was tired of playing slots, and didn't think it was worth getting another one.After that, I just sat down, read some Harrington on Hold em', and waited for Steve and Jake.About an hour later they called, and said that they were hungry. We decided to see how much the hotel buffet was, and it ended up being 20 dollars, which is way too much money. We ended up going back to the hotel, and decided to order Domino's.
When we got back to the hotel me and Steve jammed for awhile. We just played some of our usual stuff. Then we ordered Domino's, and ate. After that, Steve gave me a guitar lesson on harmonics and false harmonics. He showed me a part of Portrait of Tracy, that is originally played on bass... on guitar. It took a few minutes to learn, especially the 8th note triplet. I still don't have it down, but I'm getting there. Then he showed me the false harmonics. At first I had to no clue what the thumb was used for, but then I got it. It was awesome that h3 was willing to give me some free lessons. Jake fell asleep during the lesson, but we woke him up though....we had business to attend to. After that, we went back to the Casino.
When we got to the casino it was around 11 PM, and Steve and Jake played some more poker. I walked around and took pictures of the casino. I wanted to take pictures of inside the game rooms, but I guess that isn't aloud. Some staff woman told me I could get kicked out if I did. So, I got a coffee and sat down in the lounge area. I watched some of the High Steaks Poker on YouTube, and had to listen to an annoying conversation. Basically, some guy who looked like he was in his mid 40's-early 50's, was complaining about how his girlfriend kicked him out.This guy had slicked back salt and pepper hair, a black and white "wise guy" type suite on, and just looked like a straight up bro. He kept repeating that this has never happened to him, and was asking his friend on the phone if he should delete her off Facebook. The conversation went from being annoying to hilarious. However, this is a good example of everything I don't want to become in 30 years. Later on around 2 AM , Steve called me and he was done for the night. Me and Steve went out side and had a wine flavored Blackstone. This was my first one, and it wasn't that bad. Shortly after, Jake calls Steve and tells him that "we need to leave right now". Me and Steve had no clue what was going on, and soon enough Jake told us what was up. Basically, he said some guy asked him where he was from, Jake said MA. Then the guy was asking him if he liked the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics. Jake said yes to all of them, and the guy just told him that neither of the 3 are going anywhere. Fair enough, and then I guess Jake won a huge pot and said he had to leave. All of the people at his table were yelling, "hit n' run, hit n'run.." Then Jake swears that he saw two people following him out of the poker room. Whether its true or not, its just good that Jake got out of there in once piece.After that, we went back to the hotel room around 330 AM.
Shortly after, we decided that we were hungry and went to a McDonald's. We ended up seeing a bunch of stray cats pouring out of a dumpster, which was pretty funny. We got to the window at like 345 AM and we wanted to get breakfast, but we had to wait until 4 AM. So, we waited until then, and then went back to the room. We had to be up really early that day for check out. Steve decided to stay up and play poker on Poker Stars, and I fell asleep around 6:30 AM.
Steve got us up around 10 AM, then we got ready and left the hotel room around 1045 AM. Later, Steve and Jake decided they wanted to go to the casino before we drove home. First, we hit up the driving range again, which was fun. Then we went to the casino, and Jake was the only one who played poker. Steve was too tired, so we just sat around and talked. We talked about how everyday we were there we were in pain, and felt out of it. Steve thinks that they fill the casino up with oxygen, I wonder if that's true. Later, we got lunch because we were both pretty hungry. Then we decided to walk around the casino, and found the infamous Bingo room. It was really awkward, it was like 2 times the size of the poker room, and NOBODY was talking. It was kind of like being in a nursing home, everyone was so out of it and looked like zombies. I also caught a guy grilling Steve, which wasn't an uncommon thing there.
Later we went to the poker room around 230-3 PM. We asked Jake if he was done, but he said come back at 4 PM. Me and Steve decided to play Air Hockey in the arcade.This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, at least for me. Me and Steve played 3 games. The first game Steve was up 6-0. Then I scored 5 un answered goals, but he eventually got the 7th goal to win. The second game was even closer. So, I was up 4-3, and then Steve got the tying goal and the leading goal. I almost had the tying goal, but the time ran out. The last game I dominated..I ended up winning 7-2, Steve was just never able to get the puck. Later on I cashed my players card, and left with 65 dollars. At first we couldn't find Jake, because his phone died. But we went out to the grand entrance and saw Jake's car parked there...he wasn't there though. Like 5 minutes later he came out and said he was looking for us. After that we drove home.
The Ride Back:
The ride back was pretty nice, but we were all sleep deprived. There isn't much to say about the ride back. I pretty much just observed Steve and Jake's poker conversations, and listened to my ipod for awhile. We made 3 or 4 rest stops, and on the last one, Steve and Jake were extremely tired. Jake slept for awhile, while me and Steve had another cigar. I really wish I could of driven, because I wasn't tired at all. Eventually we made it back to Lynn, and Jake dropped me off first.
Overall it was a fun trip, and I learned a lot about poker. Next time I will definitely be playing poker, and hopefully we will get a room at Turning Stone. I hate writing long things like this, but I thought it would be cool to write about the trip.Hopefully you got a few laughs out of this, and enjoyed the blog.
Song of the Day:
Last weekend I went to Turning Stone with, Steve and Jake.The night before, I hung out with my sister and got some stuff for New York. Later we met up with her friend, and went and got dinner, and then hung out with her friends new dog..the dog was cool..just saying.I got home around 12 AM, and didn't start washing clothes and packing until around 1 AM. I knew that either way I was up all night, because Jake was picking us up at 8 AM. I brought a huge luggage bag with me (with clothes, and 100 pounds worth of change), food, bongos, and a back pack.
The drive up was great, and was only about a 4-5 hour drive. Driving up was great because of the beautiful scenery, and because we were basically on a single road. During the ride, I was crammed in the back seat next to my huge luggage bag...it made sense..Steve has a better sense of directions/he drives, and he would of been too tall. I mostly just sat and observed Jake and Steve's poker conversations, and I really think I learned a lot. During the whole ride up I think we only took 2-3 rest stops. Later we arrived at the Econolodge. The hotel had 2 beds, bathroom, shower, fridge, microwave, phone, dressers, table with 2 chairs, etc. At first we were worried that we wouldn't be able to fit 3 people into the room, but the lady was cool about it. The hotel room ended up being perfect.
When we first got in the room, we just put our stuff together and relaxed for a bit. Later on me and Steve jammed for a little bit. I think we played Question and Answer and Afro Blue. Later, we were all pretty tired from the long drive up, so we decided to take a nap then hit the casino. However, the room only had 2 beds...And none of us were trying to share a bed, so we played a quick game of hold em'. I lost with A 2, because Steve hit a straight. Steve and Jake got the beds, and I got to test the floor first. The floor wasn't that bad, just a little painful. We ended up going to the casino around 8 PM or 9 PM.
The first night in the Casino was pretty cool. When we first got there we had to get player cards, so that we could play the slots or check our karats. When we finished that, Steve and Jake bought in to start playing the tables. I actually didn't play the tables at all, because I'm not good enough yet, and there would of been no point. I watched Steve play for a little while then decided to check out the rest of the casino. The casino was pretty small and straight to the point. On the first night all I did was play the slots for awhile and went for walks around the casino. Walking around I noticed that nobody looked happy, and just looked miserable. Steve took one break that night, and we went to the cafeteria and got some burgers. After that, he played at a table, and then we went back to the hotel. When we left the casino around 2-3 AM, I noticed one guy on the same slot machine since 9 pm.
When we were back at the casino we just stayed up for awhile, and then played a game to decide who slept on the floor.My bongos came into great use, not only for music.Basically what we did was turn the bongos up side down, and then shot small pieces of paper into them. Whoever got the paper in first automatically got a bed. Luckily after a few rounds, I was the first person to get it in the bongos...I know my instrument.. Steve eventually won, and Jake got the floor. Later we just watched TV, hung on our laptops, and then just fell asleep.
The next day I think I woke up around 10:30 AM. Jake was already up, and was playing poker on Poker Stars. I joined him, and started playing a sit and go. Me and Jake were playing for like a half an hour, and then Steve woke up.Steve later gave me probably the most valuable poker lesson I've gotten so far. He analyzed a hand I played, and I played that hand awful. He basically told me to stop betting the minimum, and to think about all the possible ways I could be beat on the river. Basically, to just think about all the possible sets, flush draws, straight draws, etc. Also, he told me to always be above 10 big blinds, because the blinds will just eat you up later in the tournament. I learned some other stuff, but I think what I mentioned was the most important. Later on we got ready and hit up the casino. First we got breakfast at a Dunkin' Donuts, which wasn't bad. At he end of the breakfast, Jake challenged me to an arm wrestling match...Jake thinks he won, but my face clearly showed that I wasn't trying (ask Steve). I didn't try, because Jake likes proving he's strong. After that we drove to turning stone.
When we got to Turning Stone we decided to see what was in these huge white domes. To our surprise, there was an indoor driving range/putting green/chipping green. We used the driving range for awhile which was fun. We did a challenge that decided who slept in the beds that night.Basically, whoever shot the ball into the tilted barrel first won. Jake ended up winning, and also got 2 dollars out of it. After that, we stayed at the driving range for a little while...then left to go to the casino.
First we got coffee, then Steve and Jake started playing the tables. At first, Jake and Steve were at the same table, so I wanted to see if they would of ended facing each other in a hand. I was there for like 20 minutes, nothing happened, so I decided to leave the poker room. On this day I decided to bring my laptop, which turned out to be very valuable. While they were playing, I sat down at the coffee lounge and watched the whole new season of Entourage...illegally. Later on Steve called me, because he was taking a break. We ended up taking a walk around the casino and talked for a awhile. Then we went back to the casino.
When we went back to the casino, Steve decided to play some more poker. When we got in the poker room Jake was still grinding away. I talked to him for awhile, and asked if he wanted to take a break. He said yes, and we just talked while he had a cigarette. After the break, Jake went back and played some poker, and I decided to walk around the casino...to see if there was something I missed. I actually ended up seeing a great piano player playing next to one of the lounges. I wanted to talk to her, but she was reading music, and I figured she wasn't allowed to talk to people. After that, I went to see what was playing in the showroom that night. I was more then willing to see some live music, but then I found out the cheapest ticket was 65 dollars. So, after that I tried playing some slots, but my player card wasn't working. I didn't really care, because I was tired of playing slots, and didn't think it was worth getting another one.After that, I just sat down, read some Harrington on Hold em', and waited for Steve and Jake.About an hour later they called, and said that they were hungry. We decided to see how much the hotel buffet was, and it ended up being 20 dollars, which is way too much money. We ended up going back to the hotel, and decided to order Domino's.
When we got back to the hotel me and Steve jammed for awhile. We just played some of our usual stuff. Then we ordered Domino's, and ate. After that, Steve gave me a guitar lesson on harmonics and false harmonics. He showed me a part of Portrait of Tracy, that is originally played on bass... on guitar. It took a few minutes to learn, especially the 8th note triplet. I still don't have it down, but I'm getting there. Then he showed me the false harmonics. At first I had to no clue what the thumb was used for, but then I got it. It was awesome that h3 was willing to give me some free lessons. Jake fell asleep during the lesson, but we woke him up though....we had business to attend to. After that, we went back to the Casino.
When we got to the casino it was around 11 PM, and Steve and Jake played some more poker. I walked around and took pictures of the casino. I wanted to take pictures of inside the game rooms, but I guess that isn't aloud. Some staff woman told me I could get kicked out if I did. So, I got a coffee and sat down in the lounge area. I watched some of the High Steaks Poker on YouTube, and had to listen to an annoying conversation. Basically, some guy who looked like he was in his mid 40's-early 50's, was complaining about how his girlfriend kicked him out.This guy had slicked back salt and pepper hair, a black and white "wise guy" type suite on, and just looked like a straight up bro. He kept repeating that this has never happened to him, and was asking his friend on the phone if he should delete her off Facebook. The conversation went from being annoying to hilarious. However, this is a good example of everything I don't want to become in 30 years. Later on around 2 AM , Steve called me and he was done for the night. Me and Steve went out side and had a wine flavored Blackstone. This was my first one, and it wasn't that bad. Shortly after, Jake calls Steve and tells him that "we need to leave right now". Me and Steve had no clue what was going on, and soon enough Jake told us what was up. Basically, he said some guy asked him where he was from, Jake said MA. Then the guy was asking him if he liked the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics. Jake said yes to all of them, and the guy just told him that neither of the 3 are going anywhere. Fair enough, and then I guess Jake won a huge pot and said he had to leave. All of the people at his table were yelling, "hit n' run, hit n'run.." Then Jake swears that he saw two people following him out of the poker room. Whether its true or not, its just good that Jake got out of there in once piece.After that, we went back to the hotel room around 330 AM.
Shortly after, we decided that we were hungry and went to a McDonald's. We ended up seeing a bunch of stray cats pouring out of a dumpster, which was pretty funny. We got to the window at like 345 AM and we wanted to get breakfast, but we had to wait until 4 AM. So, we waited until then, and then went back to the room. We had to be up really early that day for check out. Steve decided to stay up and play poker on Poker Stars, and I fell asleep around 6:30 AM.
Steve got us up around 10 AM, then we got ready and left the hotel room around 1045 AM. Later, Steve and Jake decided they wanted to go to the casino before we drove home. First, we hit up the driving range again, which was fun. Then we went to the casino, and Jake was the only one who played poker. Steve was too tired, so we just sat around and talked. We talked about how everyday we were there we were in pain, and felt out of it. Steve thinks that they fill the casino up with oxygen, I wonder if that's true. Later, we got lunch because we were both pretty hungry. Then we decided to walk around the casino, and found the infamous Bingo room. It was really awkward, it was like 2 times the size of the poker room, and NOBODY was talking. It was kind of like being in a nursing home, everyone was so out of it and looked like zombies. I also caught a guy grilling Steve, which wasn't an uncommon thing there.
Later we went to the poker room around 230-3 PM. We asked Jake if he was done, but he said come back at 4 PM. Me and Steve decided to play Air Hockey in the arcade.This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, at least for me. Me and Steve played 3 games. The first game Steve was up 6-0. Then I scored 5 un answered goals, but he eventually got the 7th goal to win. The second game was even closer. So, I was up 4-3, and then Steve got the tying goal and the leading goal. I almost had the tying goal, but the time ran out. The last game I dominated..I ended up winning 7-2, Steve was just never able to get the puck. Later on I cashed my players card, and left with 65 dollars. At first we couldn't find Jake, because his phone died. But we went out to the grand entrance and saw Jake's car parked there...he wasn't there though. Like 5 minutes later he came out and said he was looking for us. After that we drove home.
The Ride Back:
The ride back was pretty nice, but we were all sleep deprived. There isn't much to say about the ride back. I pretty much just observed Steve and Jake's poker conversations, and listened to my ipod for awhile. We made 3 or 4 rest stops, and on the last one, Steve and Jake were extremely tired. Jake slept for awhile, while me and Steve had another cigar. I really wish I could of driven, because I wasn't tired at all. Eventually we made it back to Lynn, and Jake dropped me off first.
Overall it was a fun trip, and I learned a lot about poker. Next time I will definitely be playing poker, and hopefully we will get a room at Turning Stone. I hate writing long things like this, but I thought it would be cool to write about the trip.Hopefully you got a few laughs out of this, and enjoyed the blog.
Song of the Day:
Thursday, September 2, 2010
One for Joe.
Joe told me to draw a picture that included chickens, and a water tower riddled with graffiti. My only hope was to match Joe's brilliance, and to make this picture as awkward/funny as possible. I spent countless hours on this drawing, and had to re due it a bunch of times. The color got messed up.. and I saved the drawing as best as I could. Needless to say, I got pissed at some points.
The picture:
One day three members of the LCG ( Lynn Chicken Gang), decided to make their daily round of daggin' up "The Tower". Notice how "G" these chickens are. One is sportin' a fresh pair of black and white Nike Air Forces, one has a gold ring on his finger.. with a stone in the middle, and one has a musket rested right up against his side (in public)...the LCG's weapon of choice.. it only seems fitting. Lastly, they are all throwing up a middle finger (which means fuck you).. this shit doesn't get any more real. Later on the police come by to stop them, and notice bloody-oil-smudged footprints.Hopefully you find this funny. Enjoy the picture!
*In case you cant read the graffiti it says: blood gang, cg, oh dag!, bk, mike with and x over it, jazzy, 69,bd twinz, and jpfg.
The picture:
One day three members of the LCG ( Lynn Chicken Gang), decided to make their daily round of daggin' up "The Tower". Notice how "G" these chickens are. One is sportin' a fresh pair of black and white Nike Air Forces, one has a gold ring on his finger.. with a stone in the middle, and one has a musket rested right up against his side (in public)...the LCG's weapon of choice.. it only seems fitting. Lastly, they are all throwing up a middle finger (which means fuck you).. this shit doesn't get any more real. Later on the police come by to stop them, and notice bloody-oil-smudged footprints.Hopefully you find this funny. Enjoy the picture!
Friday, August 27, 2010
First Post
Ive been playing poker seriously for about two weeks now, so far I'm having a fun time. This week I definitely feel I have improved, but I know I have tons of work to do. Personally the first couple of days I was playing absolutely terrible finishing 5th and 6th place in the sit and go tournaments. I was getting pretty frustrated at first, but then realized it's all part of the learning process. This week I actually won my first tournament...kind of..I made it to the final two like I've been doing a lot lately...however, the other player disconnected and I eventually won because he lost all of his/her money from folding. So, I guess technically I won, but I'm wondering if I would actually beat him/her if he/she didn't disconnect.
These last two weeks have really made me realize I am absolutely terrible at heads up play. One minute I can be the chip leader by 2000 or so, and then lose it all by one terrible play. Luckily through the Harrington on Hold'em book I've definitely learned how to maintain those chips with a more aggressive approach. I've been reading a lot of articles on heads up play, and its clear that heads up play is one of the hardest parts of hold'em. I really look forward to keep practicing heads up play.
I am about 115 pages into the Harrington on Hold'em book, and I really like this book a lot. Harrington really makes you want to keep reading even when you're tired. Today I learned a lot about reads and how important reading is to win in a tournament. Luckily, he explains you don't have to make reads on all the players, only the first two to your left. Then eventually you can start adding players when you learn the other players playing styles. I've also learned a lot about how important it is to change your playing style during certain points in the game. For example, my tables are mostly comprised of 6 players with a 50 chip buy in. So, I take a Conservative approach at first until maybe 1 or 2 players are knocked out. Personally, I feel that being conservative at first helps you with your reads. So if you fold, you can watch the other players to see if they are aggressive, Conservative or super aggressive. Later in the game its necessary to change your approach to that of a more aggressive approach, since the blinds and antes will go up. Hopefully I read these sections right, and not writing false information.
With all I've learned, I definitely feel I am extremely far away from my goals. I don't feel confident in my play at all. I also need to get a lot better at heads up play . Ideally I would like to start winning a lot more tournaments, and until then I'm just going to keep playing sit and go's.
I'm going to Turning Stone with Steve and Jake this weekend, I really hope to learn a lot from them. Also, It looks like I will be learning a lot about pot odds in the upcoming chapters of Harrington on Hold'em.
Music:
This has been a really good week for music. I learned a lot of beats by Benny Greb via YouTube video called Sand Hats. The beats he does on this video sounds awesome, and they were a lot of fun to learn..really hard too. Also this week I started the Life Time Warm Up routine by Tommy Igoe. This is a great DVD that allows you to sit in on a master class with Tommy and like 6 of his students. This warm up is really centred around rudiments, and how rudiments can really be fun to learn and play. Personally, I never really spent tons of time on rudiments, besides singles and doubles. In my opinion these are the most important rudiments, because every other rudiment is comprised of them. What is a double stroke roll comprised of? rr ll rr ll, ETC. What if you took the e's out those (second note of each, because they are played as sixteenth notes)? Those would be single stroke roll's. Now what about a paradiddles? RlrrLrll (uppercase letters are accents). Its obvious to see that the paradiddle is based entirely on singles and doubles. Flam rudiments are no exception. Flam's just have a grace not which hold no rhythmic value in this case.(grace notes can have rhythmic value). So a flam looks like this: lR(single), rL(single). The grace note hits just before the beat.Rudiments are important to develop your hands, as well as making creative beats, solo ideas, etc. The same goes for drags or ruffs, whatever you want to call them. They consist of 2 grace notes before the primary beat. Other rudiments are based off of drags/ruffs(ex.ratamacues), flam's (ex.flamtap)s, but at the end of the day they are still based off of singles and doubles. Sorry for the long rant on rudiments, I just felt it was necessary to explain them a little.
I'm also working out of a book called Future Sounds by David Garibaldi (Tower of Power). This is "the" funk drumming book, and I am having a lot of fun with it. This book really centers around creating a two sound level for drumming. That means that your playing should maintain accented notes and unaccented notes..so that your drumming doesn't sound sloppy. You can really hear this type of stuff in Adam Detich's( Lettuce) playing, Steve Gadd, Steve Jordan, and tons more. Also, back to rudiments..the paradiddle (single,double,triple), and inverted paradiddles are huge in the funk drumming world.
Hopefully I don't sound like a snob, I just get really into talking about drumming.
Song of day:
That's pretty much it... I'll try to update on a daily bases.. this is just a brief summery of this week.
These last two weeks have really made me realize I am absolutely terrible at heads up play. One minute I can be the chip leader by 2000 or so, and then lose it all by one terrible play. Luckily through the Harrington on Hold'em book I've definitely learned how to maintain those chips with a more aggressive approach. I've been reading a lot of articles on heads up play, and its clear that heads up play is one of the hardest parts of hold'em. I really look forward to keep practicing heads up play.
I am about 115 pages into the Harrington on Hold'em book, and I really like this book a lot. Harrington really makes you want to keep reading even when you're tired. Today I learned a lot about reads and how important reading is to win in a tournament. Luckily, he explains you don't have to make reads on all the players, only the first two to your left. Then eventually you can start adding players when you learn the other players playing styles. I've also learned a lot about how important it is to change your playing style during certain points in the game. For example, my tables are mostly comprised of 6 players with a 50 chip buy in. So, I take a Conservative approach at first until maybe 1 or 2 players are knocked out. Personally, I feel that being conservative at first helps you with your reads. So if you fold, you can watch the other players to see if they are aggressive, Conservative or super aggressive. Later in the game its necessary to change your approach to that of a more aggressive approach, since the blinds and antes will go up. Hopefully I read these sections right, and not writing false information.
With all I've learned, I definitely feel I am extremely far away from my goals. I don't feel confident in my play at all. I also need to get a lot better at heads up play . Ideally I would like to start winning a lot more tournaments, and until then I'm just going to keep playing sit and go's.
I'm going to Turning Stone with Steve and Jake this weekend, I really hope to learn a lot from them. Also, It looks like I will be learning a lot about pot odds in the upcoming chapters of Harrington on Hold'em.
Music:
This has been a really good week for music. I learned a lot of beats by Benny Greb via YouTube video called Sand Hats. The beats he does on this video sounds awesome, and they were a lot of fun to learn..really hard too. Also this week I started the Life Time Warm Up routine by Tommy Igoe. This is a great DVD that allows you to sit in on a master class with Tommy and like 6 of his students. This warm up is really centred around rudiments, and how rudiments can really be fun to learn and play. Personally, I never really spent tons of time on rudiments, besides singles and doubles. In my opinion these are the most important rudiments, because every other rudiment is comprised of them. What is a double stroke roll comprised of? rr ll rr ll, ETC. What if you took the e's out those (second note of each, because they are played as sixteenth notes)? Those would be single stroke roll's. Now what about a paradiddles? RlrrLrll (uppercase letters are accents). Its obvious to see that the paradiddle is based entirely on singles and doubles. Flam rudiments are no exception. Flam's just have a grace not which hold no rhythmic value in this case.(grace notes can have rhythmic value). So a flam looks like this: lR(single), rL(single). The grace note hits just before the beat.Rudiments are important to develop your hands, as well as making creative beats, solo ideas, etc. The same goes for drags or ruffs, whatever you want to call them. They consist of 2 grace notes before the primary beat. Other rudiments are based off of drags/ruffs(ex.ratamacues), flam's (ex.flamtap)s, but at the end of the day they are still based off of singles and doubles. Sorry for the long rant on rudiments, I just felt it was necessary to explain them a little.
I'm also working out of a book called Future Sounds by David Garibaldi (Tower of Power). This is "the" funk drumming book, and I am having a lot of fun with it. This book really centers around creating a two sound level for drumming. That means that your playing should maintain accented notes and unaccented notes..so that your drumming doesn't sound sloppy. You can really hear this type of stuff in Adam Detich's( Lettuce) playing, Steve Gadd, Steve Jordan, and tons more. Also, back to rudiments..the paradiddle (single,double,triple), and inverted paradiddles are huge in the funk drumming world.
Hopefully I don't sound like a snob, I just get really into talking about drumming.
Song of day:
That's pretty much it... I'll try to update on a daily bases.. this is just a brief summery of this week.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Inter-oh-duction
Hey everyone,
The reason why I've decided to start writing this blog is because I just started playing poker again. Currently I play online via Poker Stars. Right now, I am not playing for money, but hopefully when I learn more about the game I will. Instead, I have been mostly playing sit and go, play money tournaments. I'm studying the game through my friend Steve, and a book he let me borrow: "Harrington on Hold'em" by Dan Harrington. My goal for poker is to just have fun (unlike Jake), learn something new, and eventually start playing for money. I will keep track of my progress with this blog.
An additional use for this blog is to track my music progress. I really like playing music, and take my practices very seriously. I don't necessarily intend on making a career out of music, but I just love music, and want to learn as much about it as possible. Currently, I play drums and percussion... With this blog I will keep a section devoted to writing about my practices. My goal for music is to just keep learning as much as I can, teach, and hopefully one day get a cruise ship gig.
Music Influences: Steve Gadd, Chick Corea, Stuff, Steve Burke, Antonio Sanchez, Max Roach, Tony Williams, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Benny Greb, Pete Lockett, Gary Burtan, and many more.
I will also post a song of the day, hopefully you dig the tunes.
Foots by Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihSXY5uYAf0&feature=related
Thanks, I probably wont update everyday, but check back for future posts! :D
The reason why I've decided to start writing this blog is because I just started playing poker again. Currently I play online via Poker Stars. Right now, I am not playing for money, but hopefully when I learn more about the game I will. Instead, I have been mostly playing sit and go, play money tournaments. I'm studying the game through my friend Steve, and a book he let me borrow: "Harrington on Hold'em" by Dan Harrington. My goal for poker is to just have fun (unlike Jake), learn something new, and eventually start playing for money. I will keep track of my progress with this blog.
An additional use for this blog is to track my music progress. I really like playing music, and take my practices very seriously. I don't necessarily intend on making a career out of music, but I just love music, and want to learn as much about it as possible. Currently, I play drums and percussion... With this blog I will keep a section devoted to writing about my practices. My goal for music is to just keep learning as much as I can, teach, and hopefully one day get a cruise ship gig.
Music Influences: Steve Gadd, Chick Corea, Stuff, Steve Burke, Antonio Sanchez, Max Roach, Tony Williams, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Weckl, Benny Greb, Pete Lockett, Gary Burtan, and many more.
I will also post a song of the day, hopefully you dig the tunes.
Foots by Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihSXY5uYAf0&feature=related
Thanks, I probably wont update everyday, but check back for future posts! :D
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