thanks to the 300 dollar bonus and some smooth poker playing, mybankroll is at 1189.57 cents.

could've been 1550 had i not lost anything...oh well, it's an experience :)

oh...I won't be playing hold'em for the next couple of days, at least online anyhow. Gotta transfer the money out, takes awhile ;)

Down BIG TIME

lost 450 dollars

yep

that's 112.5 big bets at 2/4.

Combination of really bad beats + crazy action in the game + my own dumb playing.

one of the more memorable hands was me w/99 flop is 4 6 7 i bet, turn is 2, i bet, river 3. Person had a Q5

Luckily...i played some No Limit and this hand came up

I limp w/pocket 8s, 1 person raises, another calls, i call.

flop: 8 9 6, raiser bets 3, 2nd person calls, i go all in for 49 more dollars! lol

Original raiser had a 5,7....but i spiked a 9 on the river to give me the full house.
so now i'm down 400 bucks. Luckily i'm just about down bonus whoring at fullcontactpoker so after 159 more points, i'll get 300 dollars. Hopefully i can bring my bankroll back to 1200 and start playing 2/4 again.

nighttt

I'M AN IDIOT!

I've been having some really good days w/ 1/2 limit hold'em, basically made 30 - 50 bucks an hour. So naturally, the 1st day I get to play 2/4 limit, I get hit w/a down swing + the game at 4am was crazzzzzy. There was so much action going on.

I was an idiot to let myself get caught up and distraught over the whole thing. Losing w/AA, AK, KK, was really starting to get to me. Dunno why I forgot to keep my head straight, before I knew it, I was down over 200 dollars.

Then I snapped to, played it straight, tight preflop and aggressive post-flop and before I knew it I made all but 31 dollars back. So i'm pretty content :)

LOL - Forgot to Finish!

Ok! I really should get to bed!

I wanted to say that the reason I was so confident in earning my money back from playing 2/4 and 3/6, higher stakes than what I have been playing, is because I have played them previously. I was a losing player for a long time. Back in San Diego, we have this casino called Barona which is on an Indian reservation. It's there where I played my first limit hold'em game and yup, it was at 3/6 stakes. The competition there isn't very fierce and it's pretty much the same way online except that there were a few more tougher guys. By tougher I mean people who will raise you with nothing as long as they feel that you're weak.

As a losing player, my biggest problem was not making the moves but being consistent, the biggest factors being tilting and discipline. When you play poker, the best strategy is tight-aggressive. Not playing very many hands, being very picky about which two cards you're going to play, and then being very aggressive with the hands you play. Now there are players who can make money even while playing almost every single hand, that takes a different kind of skill that I have not developed and at this moment don't have the time or money to develop.

Anyhow, I feel my future will be bright. I'm really looking forward to this summer. I really hope I can make enough money to play and beat the 5/10 game.

But I also gotta focus on film! >< grrr so much to do, and I'm so lazy =/

Goodnight, I really mean it!
~Mikey Song

A Big Scare!

it's 4:09AM on the 28th of March, 2006. Although I should go to sleep, I feel I have to write about what just happened.

12am - I was getting ready to go to bed and then my roommate Ben asked if I wanted to play some Super Smash Bros. Melee on the GameCube w/him. I said sure and he said wait 5 mins. So I decided to play some poker online to pass the time. I was playing pot limit 3 omaha 8 or better tables and 1 7 card stud table. I don't want to digress and explain how to play each game, sorry! I bought in for 25 dollars at the pot limit and 50 at the 7 card stud - .25/.50 betting.

Let's just say that w/me not concentrating or caring because it's "only" 25 dollars, I ended up losing 50 I think at pot limit. Then I went to No Limit to win it back, well I got careless and on another hand I accidently clicked fold, doh! I'm now down 100 dollars. Ouch...

I'm really annoyed and frustrated by this, oh and ya, Ben forgot that we were supposed to play Smash Bros. Melee, which is ok now because I'm determined to make back my money.

Currently I have a 1000 dollar bankroll. I had turned my initial 500 dollars into 1074 dollars by bonus whoring at partypoker (75 bonus) then pokerroom.com (got a 250 dollar bonus for playing there.)

But as of 4 hours ago, I had only 900 left. I don't have the patience to grind it and earn it back from 1/2, mainly because I didn't lose it at limit hold'em but instead donked it off and 7 card and omaha. Granted I'll be judged by some of you readers and scolded but hey, it's my money and I'll do with it what I want.

"The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it, and not say anything. If they fall off, they fall off, but it's bad if you say anything to them." - Holden Caufield.

So I sit down at two tables for 2/4 limit and two tables for 3/6 limit (originally two 3/6 and one 2/4, then I added another 2/4 as a last minute decision)

Oh man did that go wrong. I took some hits at both 3/6, was down about another hundred or hundred and fifty. yeah, that started to hurt inside. My 2/4 game was up 40 dollars but the other tables weren't going so hot. Then with a little luck on my side, I hit my card rush, pocket aces held up twice. Got pocket Queens twice, went in as an underdog vs KK and vs AA on another time and hit sets to win both those hands. I got really lucky there but I really was playing close to my A game fellas.

Thing you don't know about me is that I had a huge discipline issue, still do to an extent. I used to get a bankroll and then lose it either by tilting or doing dumb stuff like tonight! But after grinding out the .50/1 and 1/2 limit, I feel like my discipline has gotten better. Yes there will be times when I feel like truly gambling but I'll always remember my promise to God that I made.

How funny, a promise to God about poker, a form of gambling. Side note: the stock market is also gambling yet it's legal. In order to TRULY SUCCEED at both games, they require research and investing money. Taking CALCULATED risks yet because they are risks, that means the result is uncertain thus making it a gamble. People have lost millions at both types of games so to distinguish one from another is a useless argument to me.

Anyhow I really did make a promise to God that I will play this game to the best of my ability, earn what I can, learn what I can, and give back. I have a lot of people I want to help. I want to make millions at this game, granted I will also keep millions for myself BUT I really want to help my friends and also society as a whole. Do we really need 20 million dollars? Not really, but I admit I am selfish and I will not hesitate to debase my ownself because I think that is the only way to keep myself humble.

Another thing most people don't know is that I have never had emotional support. I have never had someone tell me that they are proud of what I am doing and that I can do something. I have always been doubted by friends and family. In my infant years, my father was a very very busy doctor. I know he's a damn good doctor and I don't even have to ask his patients for proof. I have always seen how well respected he is around the office and I've remember some stories from a few patients back then. But as a father, he never satisfied this role. He did financially. He put food on the table but what about his son? He worked 12 hour days and spent the whole weekend recovering from fatigue. Call me selfish but perhaps I'd rather have a father figure in my life. Fast forward and things are pretty awkward between us. That's all I'd like to say about this for now.

My mom wasn't as busy. She didn't spend much time with me either. I just wanted to write that incase you might think my parents are divorced, haha.

So I digressed a lot but I'm doing my best to keep completely honest here fellas. Honesty also means not holding back any sudden feelings or thoughts so you have a little more insight into the jumpiness of my brain. You know whenever I watch a movie, I always start to daydream about a movie that I want to do? lol...

Happy Ending! I played my A- game and made back everything +4 dollars. I don't feel like I've earned the 4 dollars. I'm very grateful that I made it all back and can start at the 1000 dollar mark again. I didn't even log any of this stuff in pokertracker (poker program which keeps track of ALL your data - hands played, % won, etc etc etc). I want to prove that I can grind from $500 to super stardom and that anyone else can do it as long as they're willing to put in the time and effort.


Poker is a lonely game for me though. I don't have anyone except Nick to talk to about it. My "best friend" (some sarcasm here) Shawn always frowns upon it, even though he gambles himself and claims that for him it's not an issue - which it might not be but you don't set a very good example when you say dont' do it and do it yourself, and no one else really knows the game. I sometimes talk to my rooommate Ben about it because I get too excited and have to talk to SOMEONE about it. I don't like to brag; I do my best not to. Men shouldn't brag, people with character shouldn't brag. People who seek praise from others become dependent and weak. What's wrong with being weak you ask? Why be weak when you can avoid it? What's wrong with strengthening your own character? You can make your choices and I will make mine.

I feel like I have more to write about, but I'm at the limit for now. It can only be so entertaining writing to an online blog that cannot respond or act as a person does, and even then, while I enjoy reading comments and getting feedback, nothing is more interesting than an honest one on one conversation in person.

I wish you good night and good luck,
may you be as fortunate to recover from your mistakes as I have tonight.

Yours truly,
Michael Young Jun Song

Return to Blogging!

Hello everyone! My name is Michael Song. I was born on May 12th, 1986 and I am a poker player. I am not doing this "professionally" as I have many lifegoal projects. In this blog I will be as truthful as possible - and that's determined on how comfortable I am with being honest :) I can promise I will not lie, there will just be certain areas that I may not write about completely.

For many years I was a losing player, but now it looks like I am a winning player, but for now let's not go into those years. It's kind of embarrassing ;(

The purpose of this blog is mainly for friends who are interested in poker. If you are viewing this and I have not shown it to you, congratulations you got lucky and found my blog, or someone is doing a no no and showing my blog to other people.

I want this to remain extremely private, as I am an introvert and would like my privacy to be respected. I do not think poker is something to brag about, nor do I think virtually anything in life is worth bragging about. Bragging is weak in nature, it screams CHERISH ME BECAUSE I NEED IT. Now I too want praise and encouragement but I refuse to ask for it. I just think it's wrong.

I used to blog, used to have a xanga but I shut that down because I felt blogging became a bad habit. It can encourage whining about everything, not something I am too fond of. We all have problems and the truth is, no one really wants to hear it. We are self-centered in nature, we all want attention and that's fine. So I made it a goal to stop blogging and stop looking at other people's blogs, except for one friend from camp.

I hope you enjoy this blog and learn from it.

Currently playing at 1/2 limit, if I make approximately two hundred more dollars, I'll be playing 2/4 :)

Comments welcome, I will reply when possible. Goodnight and good luck.

forever yours,
Michael Song