Adam Junglen

Wow. Just….wow. The last two days have been an absolute nightmare.

On Monday, Ray and I took a really sick stretch limo to Philadelphia Intl Airport. Unfortunately it took us to the wrong terminal. So immediately after walking out of a limo and looking like ballers, we end up having to walk a half a mile to our terminal; Air France. Walking that long while carrying around our luggage and carryon didn’t make the experience any easier.

When we finally got to the terminal there was a disgustingly long line. It reminded me of the line for a roller coaster at an amusement park. No, it was much worse. This line barely moved. It took around 70 minutes to go through. When we got to the check-in desk the gentleman asked if we had tickets. We said we bought them online, and he proceeded to look at our passports and enter the information on his computer. It really reminded me of a scene from a movie. The employee was making a wide variety of expressions, reacting to what the computer was telling him. This went on for about 20 minutes, all this time Ray and I are wondering if he was even capable of checking us in. He finally did give us our tickets though, so we headed to the gate.

We arrived at our gate, but had a few minutes before our scheduled flight, so we checked out some of the shops. Ray bought a ton of magazines as usual. Anyways, we end up back at the gate right when our flight was scheduled to leave.

Well….we would soon hear some bad news. Over the announcements we heard there was some mechanical problem and it would take 45min to fix.

Ok…whatever, I can handle that….

45minutes go by….nothing.

Eventually I fall asleep, and am awoken 3 hours later by Ray, who found out the flight was cancelled.

We were both obviously frustrated with not flying out. We went to pick up our luggage, and took a cab back to Ray’s apartment.

There were several things we needed to find out. First of all, we were both scheduled for Day 1A…well, because of the flight delay it was no longer possible for us to play Day 1A. We contacted PokerStars and they moved us to Day 1B. Then we had to find out what time our replacement flight was scheduled for. Turns out it was scheduled for the same time the next day.

So, we wake up the next morning to go through the same motions as we did the previous day. We ended up taking a cab this time since we called to late to get a limo. Anyways, we end up at the Air France Terminal and were happily surprised when we saw that there wasn’t a long line. The same gentleman as the previous day checked us in. Once again it took him 20 minutes of intense typing and confused facial expressions by him. He literally had beads of sweat rolling off of his head as he was checking us in. Ray and I both lost it after the lady next to him asked “How do you spell “immediately.” At this point both Ray and I just turned, looked at each other, and started snickering. Then finally I had to turn around completely to conceal my laughter. Shortly after the Air France employee handed us our boarding passes, and we were off.

So far the trip was far less stressful than the previous day, and things were looking good. We found our gate, but soon discovered our flight was scheduled to leave an hour later than it did yesterday. That didn’t bother me too much. Ray and I went to the food court to get some food. After using our free meal coupons from Air France we were off to the gate….when it happened.

“Ladies and Gentleman, we have some bad news. Apparently they still haven’t fixed the mechanical problem. We will announced if the fix the problem within the next 45minutes.”

Approximately 4 hours later the flight was cancelled. I went to the front desk and had a nice conversation with the person in charge.

“Sir, I absolutely must be in Monte Carlo by tomorrow night.”

“I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do”

“Listen, if I don’t make it to Monte Carlo by tomorrow I’m losing like $50k in equity”

He then handed me Air Frances customer service number and told me to take it up with them.

I then said, “Oh ok, so I should send these people my obituary? After I kill myself, as a result of your incompetence? This is such a joke.”

The look on his face was pretty priceless. I walked away after that conversation.

Once again we went back down to the check-in desk and picked up our luggage. I was already taking the mental hit. I had accepted the idea of not being able to make it to the biggest tournament ever held outside the US. I accepted missing the tournament with 1st place paying nearly $2million.

We waited in line for about 30minutes to see if we could book a flight to Monte Carlo on time. We’re scheduled to play on Day 1B; the 29th at 2pm. We were able to book a flight through US Airways. It leaves at 4pm on the 28th, and then we have a 2 hour layover on Frankfurt Germany. Our flight from Frankfurt leaves at 8:40am, and we should arrive in Nice (Monte Carlo) around 10:50am. So, after finding a cab and getting to the Monte Carlo Bay Resort, we’ll probably have about an hour before we’re scheduled to play. This is all assuming we have no delays and everything goes flawlessly, which up to this point seems like wishful thinking.

Right now we’re at the Ramada hotel near the Philadelphia Airport. We’re really cutting it close, but at least it looks like we’ll still be able to play. These really have been some of the most stressful days I can remember.

This experience has been a complete ass-kicking. All I want to do is get on the damn plane and get to Monte Carlo. I’m really jealous of all of my friends that are already there. They’ve been telling me the place is really nice, so I’m looking forward to that.

I guess that’s all I have for now. I’ll try to update this more often while I’m on the road. I really wish I had kept consistent updates in January, when I was in the Bahamas and Australia. That would’ve been a great trip report, but I don’t remember too many specific details that I haven’t already posted. Hopefully this time will be different. It’s already been a hell of an ordeal.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Lately I haven’t been doing anything. I’ve honestly sat on the same couch for the past 5 days just being lazy. Someone actually asked me to update my blog. My response was “What do you want me to do? Put a picture of the couch up?”

I’ve been taking a somewhat short break from online poker during this time. I haven’t completely stopped playing, but I’m not as motivated to win online as I normally am. On the other hand, my motivation to win a major live event is enormous. I fly out to Monte Carlo tonight and will arrive on the 27th. My start day is Day 1A, on the 28th. I should get a fair amount of coverage from PokerStars Blog. If I’m at the feature table you’ll be able to watch it live at eptlive.com. There also might be coverage from Pokerwire.com, and Pokernews.com, but I’m not 100% sure.

I had a small score on Sunday which basically broke me even for the day. I won a small, 9 man $500 tournament. It was a little special though, because it was invite-only for the best online players. Nath (Cap’nJackpot), APerfectGent (stealthmunk), Asiandude77, Timex (hit21hit), Sirwatts (TheNewf), ActionJeff, Zangbezan24 (imper1um), Thorladen, and myself all played.

Nath got pissed and started shoving every hand (standard), and sirwatts must’ve thought it was a flip because he jammed the first hand, lol. ActionJeff and Asiandude made it in time for late registration and should appear after the 1st hand.

Besides that everyone seemed to take this tournament fairly seriously. I thought the shorthanded play was pretty good. I ended up beating this tough field, taking down the $2,250 1st place money.

For some reason I’m in a generous mood and have posted the HH on 2p2, and will post it here as well. I normally don’t like posting my HH’s, but it’s pretty short and I’m feeling generous. Here’s the link. In order to watch it you need to sign up for the basic PXF account, which is free. I hope you all enjoy it.

That’s it for now. My next post will be from Monte Carlo. Here’s to hoping I can make it deep in the Main Event!

I’m writing this post from TS. I’m up here with some local friends, as well as Ray (ExitOnly4) and Shaun Deeb.

Lately I’ve been tinkering around with the $100 and $200 HU SNG’s. Over the past few days I’ve played:

1x $88+4 HU Turbo SNG on FTP
2x $200+10 HU on PS
2x $100+5 HU on PS
2x $110+5 HU (turbo) on PS

I won all 7 matches in a row. Pretty sick run.

Well, today I capitalized on my HU run, and managed to win the Sunday $200 HU MTT on PS for $13.8k. That’s 15 straight HU victories in a row!

Winning the $200 HU MTT felt great. The field is pretty tough, and I faced a couple of very tough opponents. Grafyx (redeye3030), gave me a run for my money. At one point he had me down 14:1 (2800 to 200) in chips, but I managed to fight back and win.

Both Shaun and Ray had sick days as well. Shaun won 2 smaller mtts for about 10k total, and Ray took 3rd in the UB 200k for about 18k. All in all, our room won over $40k tonight. Pretty sick.

I’ll be chillin here at TS for a few more days, and then I’ll be off to Ray’s apartment to chill before we fly out for EPT Monte Carlo.

That’s it for now, later

I finally booked my flights and have everything setup for the next few weeks.

On the 16th I’m driving to TS with some local friends. While we’re there, my friend Ray is going to meet us up there. We’ll be hanging out at TS for a few days, then I’ll be driving home with Ray (in NJ). Then, on the 26th we’re going to be flying to Monte Carlo for the EPT Championship.

I’m pretty excited for the EPT Championship. I’m fairly certain it’s the highest buy-in tournament a 19 year old can play (10k euro, 13.1k USD), and I’m sure going to Monte Carlo will be a great experience as well. I’ll be in Monte Carlo for the week, and will be returning home on April 2nd.

That’s pretty much all I have for now, later on.

This is something I’ve been intending to post for awhile now. It’ll hopefully give some good insight on my life.

I think right now my life is as good as it’s ever been. I’m doing something I love (playing poker), have many friends (from playing poker), am making more money than my parents (playing poker), and am traveling the world (for poker).

See a trend?

My life is poker, poker, and more poker. I do have many friends, although the majority of them being from online poker. I’ve become more distant with my local friends from not seeing them daily as I used to in high school. I see my friends from poker, who live various states away, just as much as I see some friends that live a few miles away.

My sleeping habits are eradicated as well. Remember sunlight? Yea, I didn’t – until a few weeks ago when I was prescribed some sleeping medication. Without reason to be awake during sunlight hours, my sleeping schedule barely involves sunlight. Since I don’t go out much, it doesn’t really affect me….but this obviously isn’t healthy.

Well, those are most of the negatives. I suppose that leaves us with the positives.

I’m doing something I truly enjoy, and am making a significant amount of money. I’m working when I want, and am having fun doing it. I’m also traveling the live tournament circuit (although I’m limited to events outside the US), and am getting a chance to see the world.

Well, there’s an awful lot to like about poker. I’ve never liked being told what to do, so if there’s a night when I don’t feel like playing….I won’t. I’m ensuring my future financially, and am getting to see the world. What’s there not to love?

Variance.

Variance is something all poker players need to deal with. Obviously some players deal with it better than others, but running bad just isn’t fun. Ever goto work and lose thousands of dollars? I have. It doesn’t really bother me either. In order to be successful you need to learn to disrespect money to the point where you disregard it completely. In the game of poker you’re faced with a series of decisions. Some options are better than others, and it’s up to you to choose to decision with the highest expectation. As long as you make the correct decision (even if you get unlucky and lose the hand), then you have absolutely nothing to be upset about. You need to become emotionally detached from the results, and just concentrate on your decisions.

It’s somewhat of a zen state, and I doubt many have truly mastered it – but I feel as though I’ve gotten pretty good at it.

Bankroll management is another subject. I’ll take it a step further and just say managing yourself as a poker player is like a separate job. Nobody is gonna tell you to work. I have tons of freedom, and can basically do anything I want at anytime. You have to be incredibly responsible to handle it all though. I book all of my own flights, I pay for my own health insurance. I handle it all, and it’s not fun.

I realize I’m starting to ramble, but I think I’ve gotten my point across. Playing poker professionally isn’t easy. Many times my friends have asked me how to get into poker and my most common response is “Don’t do it, life is worth living.” Obviously that’s a stretch, but I’ve been very fortunate. You absolutely must be motivated in order to succeed. It really does take a special person to be a professional. I do not recommend it to the average person.

That being said, poker can fit into your life in many different ways. One of my friend’s is a HS Math teacher, and he plays poker on the side for supplemental income. Sounds like a great setup for him. He spends his free time reading 2p2, and improving his game. It’s a profitable hobby for him, to go along with his stable job. Sounds good to me.

I could honestly write about this subject for hours, but I’m going to end it here. Poker is a very deep game and it’s important to find out where it belongs in your life, and how to manage it.

I made it through to the final table of the TS 1k event, but unfortunately finished 8th.

I was tied for the chip lead going into day 2, and held about 30% of the chips going into the final table. A few moves gone bad, lost coinflips, and other unfortunate hands later, I busted in 8th for $5.1k. It was very frustrating to implode at the final table. I was really hoping to win my first big live event, but it just wasn’t meant to be. I was quite lucky to have gotten as far as I did.

Early on at the 50/100 level I made a very good call to double my stack.

I opened to 300 from the CO with ATo. As the button and SB folded they mentioned how aggressive I’d been. The big blind sort of looked at me with a determined look and called 200.

The flop was Ad Kd 4d (I didn’t hold a diamond)

The BB checked, and with 650 in the pot I bet 400. The BB then check-raised me to 1400. We both started the hand with a similar stack around 6.5k. I felt like he was just making a move on me, so I called.

The turn was an offsuit Jack.

My opponent moved in for 4.8k. If I called and lost I’d have been crippled with less than a few hundred chips left.

I thought for several minutes, and truly thought my opponent was making a move on me. It seemed as though he was sick of seeing me raise pots and was taking a stand. He called the clock on me, and with about 30 seconds left I called.

My opponent showed T8o with no diamond. He was drawing dead to a split, and the river blanked.

That pot gave me a great confidence boost, and with the 60min levels I knew I’d be tough with a big stack early.

Obviously there were many hands I played worth posting, but I’m just too lazy to post them all.

At the 300/600/75 level I was very lucky and won an 80k+ pot with AK > KK AIPF.

At the 400/800/100 level I was owned pretty hard by Lee Gaines aka Bill Ivey on PS. He opened from the CO to 2400, the button called, and I made it 10.5k with QJo in the BB. Ivey shoved for around 50k total, and everyone folded. He tabled 63s =/

With about 18 left, and bubble pressure beginning to mount I made an enormous bluff. I had just lost a big coinflip and had around 85k when the hand started. My opponent, who’s a good aggressive player opened for 3,600 at the 600/1200 level. I flat called on the button with 85s. We saw the flop heads up of:

QT4r

He lead for 4.5k and I made it 16k. He called.

Turn was a King, making the board QT4K

He checked, and I bet 35k – roughly 40% of his stack.

He tanked and folded. He later told me he had KJo.

Then the bubble began, and I just destroyed. When 16 were left, and 15 got paid, I was invincible. I opened every pot from any position with any 2 cards, and they folded 9 out of 10 times. The entire table acknowledged I was owning them, and didn’t do a thing about it. It got to the point where the stacks to my left were 15-20 BB’s, so I’d just say “I bet 77,700″ or “I bet 120,000.” It was pretty baller.

I ended the day with 190k, tied with Bill Ivey for the CL.

Day 2 started off great before my demise begun. I ended up winning a decent sized coinflip and had 240k going into the final table. I bluffed off some chips, raise/folded a few times, and lost a 100k coinflip before I reshoved (after tightening up) into JJ.

It was a pretty much a meltdown, and hasn’t been easy to get over. After I busted out I politely said “Good game”, got up, and left the poker room before the tournament director could stop me to give me my winnings. I didn’t care, and still really don’t care. Eventually I picked up my money, went to my room and threw it against the wall where it burst into a pile. I later lit some of it on fire for my own amusement.

I just wanted to win =(

For now, I’m still at TS with Gobbo, Matt, Ray, and Shaun. We’re somewhat snowed in right now, so we’re stuck in the lodge. Darn.