I'm in Minnesota right now, about an hour South of Minneapolis at the Minnesota State Sporting Clays Championships. We shot our first event today, the preliminary event. It was 100 targets and I ended up hitting 93 of them which was good enough to win the event. Quite a few people shot the prelim, I'd say somewhere around 150 people.
Tomorrow we shoot the first half of the FITASC event and half of the main event. The weather was great today, about 75 degrees and partly cloudy. Hopefully that continues as it seems like we've had to shoot in the rain the past few shoots we've been to.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Amazing trip to California
I had a really great time in southern Cali. It was awesome. I spent the majority of my time in LA staying at my friend Adam's place. I ended up going to San Diego for about 1.5 days with my friends John, Kyle, Jimmy, Eric, and Mike. The trip was about 10 days total and I got back late Monday night. I can't believe the amount of things to do in California, it's insane.
As I may have mentioned before, I'm likely going to move to a different city within the next few months... I've lived in North Dakota my whole life and it's time for something new. I've kind of outgrown it and am tiring of the winter weather as well. After visiting Chicago in May I thought that is where I would likely move to. Now, after visiting LA and San Diego I think I actually like this area better. I have friends in both cities, but the weather is obviously going to be a lot nicer in Cali and the quantity and quality of beautiful women is off the charts in Cali. I really liked how the people in LA and San Diego were. Like I said earlier, I was under the impression that the majority of the people in the area were very stuck up and materialistic. After spending 10 days there, I didn't get that impression very often at all. The people there seemed just as friendly as other parts of the United States.
I ended up going to the Playboy Mansion to party on Saturday night the first weekend I was there. It was super sick. One of my friends knew a promoter that got us in. It was definitely a good time as the alcohol was free and there were some girls walking around with just painted-on clothes, lol.
The rest of the week I pretty much just hung out with Adam. We went shopping and I got some really sick new clothes, went out to eat, improv comedy show, and played some poker. I got a few good tips from him and I think I'll try to do a weekly sweat session with him from here on out.
The last weekend I was there we went to San Diego. We drove up Friday morning and went to an excellent club called Stingaree. We ended up getting bottle service and the club was super busy. I really liked the layout of it, as it had three distinct levels; a main level with a dance floor and bar, middle level with a bar and area to walk around with more tables, and an upstairs outside floor.
We ended up staying at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego on Friday night. We got the Black Eyed Peas suite which was a pretty sick room. We also pre-gamed with a bit of drinking even before going out to the club that night.
On Saturday Jimmy, Mike, and I went to Pacific Beach and chilled there for a few hours before heading back to where John lives (like one hour south of LA).
Saturday night one of John's friends had an unbelievable house party which we all went to. Then I drove back to LA on Sunday morning and flew back home on Monday. It was an amazing trip with great friends and an overall great experience.
I'm going to try and build up as much cash from poker over the next several weeks, then probalby make one more trip down there to figure out exactly which part of Southern Cali I want to move to. I think the tenitive plan is for me to move there before the end of the year, but we'll see what happens.
As I may have mentioned before, I'm likely going to move to a different city within the next few months... I've lived in North Dakota my whole life and it's time for something new. I've kind of outgrown it and am tiring of the winter weather as well. After visiting Chicago in May I thought that is where I would likely move to. Now, after visiting LA and San Diego I think I actually like this area better. I have friends in both cities, but the weather is obviously going to be a lot nicer in Cali and the quantity and quality of beautiful women is off the charts in Cali. I really liked how the people in LA and San Diego were. Like I said earlier, I was under the impression that the majority of the people in the area were very stuck up and materialistic. After spending 10 days there, I didn't get that impression very often at all. The people there seemed just as friendly as other parts of the United States.
I ended up going to the Playboy Mansion to party on Saturday night the first weekend I was there. It was super sick. One of my friends knew a promoter that got us in. It was definitely a good time as the alcohol was free and there were some girls walking around with just painted-on clothes, lol.
The rest of the week I pretty much just hung out with Adam. We went shopping and I got some really sick new clothes, went out to eat, improv comedy show, and played some poker. I got a few good tips from him and I think I'll try to do a weekly sweat session with him from here on out.
The last weekend I was there we went to San Diego. We drove up Friday morning and went to an excellent club called Stingaree. We ended up getting bottle service and the club was super busy. I really liked the layout of it, as it had three distinct levels; a main level with a dance floor and bar, middle level with a bar and area to walk around with more tables, and an upstairs outside floor.
We ended up staying at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego on Friday night. We got the Black Eyed Peas suite which was a pretty sick room. We also pre-gamed with a bit of drinking even before going out to the club that night.
On Saturday Jimmy, Mike, and I went to Pacific Beach and chilled there for a few hours before heading back to where John lives (like one hour south of LA).
Saturday night one of John's friends had an unbelievable house party which we all went to. Then I drove back to LA on Sunday morning and flew back home on Monday. It was an amazing trip with great friends and an overall great experience.
I'm going to try and build up as much cash from poker over the next several weeks, then probalby make one more trip down there to figure out exactly which part of Southern Cali I want to move to. I think the tenitive plan is for me to move there before the end of the year, but we'll see what happens.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
in LA!
Ok, so I've been so busy over the past few days I haven't had time to update until now. This will be a short one as well. I decided to make a trip to LA to visit a few friends and check out the city. I've never been there before and I wanted to see what it was like, how the people were, etc. I'm definitely planning on moving to a big city sometime soon and I'm trying to figure out where I want to go.
I really like Chicago, so that's still an option. I visited there a few months ago. Vegas is fun but I'm uncertain if I'd want to actually live there. LA is looking pretty amazing so far. I had a blast going out with my friends Friday and Saturday night.
So far, the people in LA don't seem nearly as bitchy or self-centered as I've heard about. That was the stereotype I've heard about from various people when speaking to them about LA. Everyone seems to say the city, weather, etc. is good but the people suck. I guess I have about 8 more days to figure out if that statement is actually true for the average LA person, but as of now I'm not seeing a dramatic difference in how people interact with each other compared to other places in the U.S.
I'm going to be playing a lot of poker during the week with my friend Adam. We're going to help each other polish our games up, so we can tear up the tables from here on out. Also, I plan on meeting up with my friends John and Eric sometime for an adventure near Huntington beach. I have to get some stuff done today so I have to cut this short, but I'll hopefully post some pics and more updates sometime soon.
I really like Chicago, so that's still an option. I visited there a few months ago. Vegas is fun but I'm uncertain if I'd want to actually live there. LA is looking pretty amazing so far. I had a blast going out with my friends Friday and Saturday night.
So far, the people in LA don't seem nearly as bitchy or self-centered as I've heard about. That was the stereotype I've heard about from various people when speaking to them about LA. Everyone seems to say the city, weather, etc. is good but the people suck. I guess I have about 8 more days to figure out if that statement is actually true for the average LA person, but as of now I'm not seeing a dramatic difference in how people interact with each other compared to other places in the U.S.
I'm going to be playing a lot of poker during the week with my friend Adam. We're going to help each other polish our games up, so we can tear up the tables from here on out. Also, I plan on meeting up with my friends John and Eric sometime for an adventure near Huntington beach. I have to get some stuff done today so I have to cut this short, but I'll hopefully post some pics and more updates sometime soon.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Amazing weekend!
Wow, I had a great time this weekend. It was SUPER busy but I'm glad I was able to fit everything in. As I mentioned before, the North Dakota State Sporting Clays Championship was in Grand Forks this weekend.
On Friday my Dad, brother, and I shot the 100 target 5-stand event. We shot the first 50 targets in the morning and I shot a 43/50. I missed two targets that were super easy that I'd normally never miss. Not sure why I missed them, but I felt I could have shot better. So then we took a break for lunch, and it started raining. And raining. And raining some more. I checked the weather forecast on my phone... and it said it was supposed to rain all day and even thunderstorm later on in the afternoon. We were told we had to finish our last 50 5-stand targets on Friday, so we decided to just bite the bullet and shoot in the rain. It wasn't so bad at first, but over the last 15 minutes it was raining pretty hard. I ended up shooting a 43/50 in the rain for a total event score of 86/100. It ended up being the winning score in that event, so I guess it worked out even though I didn't feel like I shot to my potential.
On Saturday, we shot two 100 bird events: the subgage and preliminary events. I shot well in the subgage event, hitting 91/100. I hit the last 50 birds straight in that event. Then, I shot a 84/100 in the preliminary. It was enough to win both events.
After I got done shooting on Saturday, I had to rush home to get changed and make it to a friend's wedding. I actually knew both the groom and the bride so it was pretty cool. Their wedding ceremony was much more casual than normal; they still had it in a church with a pastor, etc. but everyone in the wedding was so laid back, it was nice. Then we went out to the Air Base near town to eat dinner and dance. The dance was fun; many of the people there knew how to ballroom dance. I did a bit of two-step dancing as well as swing dancing. It was a great time. After the wedding, I went downtown to some bars with some of my friends that were at the wedding as well. We stayed out till about 2AM then I called it a night and went home.
Sunday, we shot the 200 bird main event. The weather was perfect out, about 75 degrees, not much wind, partly sunny. It was a great day out. The targets in the main event were very, very challenging. Normally, shoots in ND are very easy... they tend to make the targets very close, slow, and generally easy to moderate in difficulty level. These targets on Sunday were seriously world-class targets. Mike, the course owner, did an AMAZING job setting these targets. I was very impressed.
I ended up shooting a 154/200 and I ended up winning ND Resident Champion! I really felt like I shot at a level below what I normally do, but it was enough to win so whatever. I actually figured I wouldn't have much of a chance to win at all while shooting because my hit % was like at least 10% lower than what I normally get. Feels nice to run good and have the competition shoot lower scores than normal as well.
Here are some pics of the loot:
On Friday my Dad, brother, and I shot the 100 target 5-stand event. We shot the first 50 targets in the morning and I shot a 43/50. I missed two targets that were super easy that I'd normally never miss. Not sure why I missed them, but I felt I could have shot better. So then we took a break for lunch, and it started raining. And raining. And raining some more. I checked the weather forecast on my phone... and it said it was supposed to rain all day and even thunderstorm later on in the afternoon. We were told we had to finish our last 50 5-stand targets on Friday, so we decided to just bite the bullet and shoot in the rain. It wasn't so bad at first, but over the last 15 minutes it was raining pretty hard. I ended up shooting a 43/50 in the rain for a total event score of 86/100. It ended up being the winning score in that event, so I guess it worked out even though I didn't feel like I shot to my potential.
On Saturday, we shot two 100 bird events: the subgage and preliminary events. I shot well in the subgage event, hitting 91/100. I hit the last 50 birds straight in that event. Then, I shot a 84/100 in the preliminary. It was enough to win both events.
After I got done shooting on Saturday, I had to rush home to get changed and make it to a friend's wedding. I actually knew both the groom and the bride so it was pretty cool. Their wedding ceremony was much more casual than normal; they still had it in a church with a pastor, etc. but everyone in the wedding was so laid back, it was nice. Then we went out to the Air Base near town to eat dinner and dance. The dance was fun; many of the people there knew how to ballroom dance. I did a bit of two-step dancing as well as swing dancing. It was a great time. After the wedding, I went downtown to some bars with some of my friends that were at the wedding as well. We stayed out till about 2AM then I called it a night and went home.
Sunday, we shot the 200 bird main event. The weather was perfect out, about 75 degrees, not much wind, partly sunny. It was a great day out. The targets in the main event were very, very challenging. Normally, shoots in ND are very easy... they tend to make the targets very close, slow, and generally easy to moderate in difficulty level. These targets on Sunday were seriously world-class targets. Mike, the course owner, did an AMAZING job setting these targets. I was very impressed.
I ended up shooting a 154/200 and I ended up winning ND Resident Champion! I really felt like I shot at a level below what I normally do, but it was enough to win so whatever. I actually figured I wouldn't have much of a chance to win at all while shooting because my hit % was like at least 10% lower than what I normally get. Feels nice to run good and have the competition shoot lower scores than normal as well.
Here are some pics of the loot:
The trophy I'm holding is the traveling trophy for the Main Event. This is the third time I've won the ND State Sporting Clays Championship.
Trophies from all of the events I shot this weekend
Friday, August 7, 2009
Busy Weekend
This weekend is going to be an extremely busy one for me. The North Dakota State Sporting Clays Shoot starts on Friday and finishes up on Sunday. Friday night, I'm likely going out with some friends to the bars and socialize a bit. One of our friends, Jordo (a popular radio DJ in town) will be wresting a midget at Bucks. For some reason, they have a midget wrestling competition Friday night. It'll be interesting, that's for sure. Then, on Saturday, I am attending a wedding.
Thankfully this year the state shoot is in Grand Forks, so we only have to drive about 10-15 minutes from town out to the club. We are shooting the 5-Stand event and the 20 ga. event tomorrow. That will be 200 birds total. On Saturday, my dad, brother, and I will be shooting in the 100 target preliminary event. Then on the final day of the shoot, we will be shooting the 200 bird main event.
The wedding on Saturday is cool because I know both the groom and the bride. I went to high school with the groom and I know the bride from a ballroom dance class at UND. She was one of the lead instructors when I took the class as a student, as well as when I helped out the following semester as a teaching assistant. There is the wedding ceremony, dinner, then a dance. The dance should be a blast, as a bunch of their friends will be proficient in ballroom dance. I believe they actually met in the ballroom dance class.
So I've got a lot on my plate for the next three days. I probably won't get a chance to play any poker at all, but we'll see. Time to get to sleep... we have to wake up early to shoot tomorrow.
Thankfully this year the state shoot is in Grand Forks, so we only have to drive about 10-15 minutes from town out to the club. We are shooting the 5-Stand event and the 20 ga. event tomorrow. That will be 200 birds total. On Saturday, my dad, brother, and I will be shooting in the 100 target preliminary event. Then on the final day of the shoot, we will be shooting the 200 bird main event.
The wedding on Saturday is cool because I know both the groom and the bride. I went to high school with the groom and I know the bride from a ballroom dance class at UND. She was one of the lead instructors when I took the class as a student, as well as when I helped out the following semester as a teaching assistant. There is the wedding ceremony, dinner, then a dance. The dance should be a blast, as a bunch of their friends will be proficient in ballroom dance. I believe they actually met in the ballroom dance class.
So I've got a lot on my plate for the next three days. I probably won't get a chance to play any poker at all, but we'll see. Time to get to sleep... we have to wake up early to shoot tomorrow.
Here is a ridiculous youtube vid if you're interested. My brother showed it to me... it isn't the coolest thing in the world but I got a few laughs out of it. Enjoy.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Back to work
Ok, so I've played a bit of poker over the past few days. Yesterday, I played pretty poorly and ended up losing. I was quite disappointed with my play as I made a few horrid decisions that cost me my stack right away at the beginning of the session. I think it's very important that I watch my starts of each session... if I have a really bad start it's difficult to recover.
Today I played much better, winning a total of $2.7k at $2/4 NL over about 5 hours of play. Hopefully I can continue the winning track, as I'm now up about about $1.3k on the month. It's very early yet in the month so I have a lot of time to get in some good days and long streaks of winning sessions. The plan for August isn't to have my biggest month ever; it's to just get back to winning a respectable amount that's going to make me 100% confident in my game again.
Normally, it's a bad idea to set monetary goals because you can't control the luck factor, etc. but I'm going to set one anyways for this month to help keep me motivated, disicplined, and give me something to shoot for. I'm going to try and make $10k this month from actual poker playing profits. We'll see how it goes.
Here is the hand of the day. Finally, a little run good! His shove is pretty interesting though...
Today I played much better, winning a total of $2.7k at $2/4 NL over about 5 hours of play. Hopefully I can continue the winning track, as I'm now up about about $1.3k on the month. It's very early yet in the month so I have a lot of time to get in some good days and long streaks of winning sessions. The plan for August isn't to have my biggest month ever; it's to just get back to winning a respectable amount that's going to make me 100% confident in my game again.
Normally, it's a bad idea to set monetary goals because you can't control the luck factor, etc. but I'm going to set one anyways for this month to help keep me motivated, disicplined, and give me something to shoot for. I'm going to try and make $10k this month from actual poker playing profits. We'll see how it goes.
Here is the hand of the day. Finally, a little run good! His shove is pretty interesting though...
Monday, August 3, 2009
Refreshing break from poker
I haven't played a single hand of poker in about five days. I've been doing various things over that time... I went out this past weekend to some bars in town to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in a few months.
On Sunday, I shot in a sporting clays shoot in Crookston, MN. The shoot was relatively small compared to the ones we normally go to, but there were still about 30 shooters there. The targets were actually pretty challenging compared to a normal Crookston shoot. Not very surprising, since my Dad helped set the course this time around. I ended up winning the main event with a score of 90/100. Our Canadian friend, Stan, got 2nd overall with a score of 81/100 (my Dad shot an 81 as well but wasn't eligable to win anything because he helped set the targets).
I also shot decent in the 20 ga. event and technically won that as well. I hit 43/50 but my Dad hit 44/50 and beat me by one bird. But since he was ineligable to win according to the rules, I guess I won that even too. I had a lot of fun, despite the weather being somewhat on the crappy side. It rained for about 30 minutes or so while we were shooting the main event.
After the shoot, I got home and ran out to the golf driving range and hit some golf balls with my friends Kevin and Greg.
As far as poker goes, I've been procrastinating on tallying up my exact $ result for July because I know it is BY FAR my worst month ever. It's only my second losing month out of the 19 months I've been a pro... but I'm pretty sure my losses were in the 5-figure range. My other losing month was only like $3k or something.
An occassional losing month is part of the game and I'm not pissed or extremely upset about having a bad month. The best emotion for it is probably disappointment. I feel like I could have played a bit better and minimized my losses, but I'm going to bring my "A" game in August.
On Sunday, I shot in a sporting clays shoot in Crookston, MN. The shoot was relatively small compared to the ones we normally go to, but there were still about 30 shooters there. The targets were actually pretty challenging compared to a normal Crookston shoot. Not very surprising, since my Dad helped set the course this time around. I ended up winning the main event with a score of 90/100. Our Canadian friend, Stan, got 2nd overall with a score of 81/100 (my Dad shot an 81 as well but wasn't eligable to win anything because he helped set the targets).
I also shot decent in the 20 ga. event and technically won that as well. I hit 43/50 but my Dad hit 44/50 and beat me by one bird. But since he was ineligable to win according to the rules, I guess I won that even too. I had a lot of fun, despite the weather being somewhat on the crappy side. It rained for about 30 minutes or so while we were shooting the main event.
After the shoot, I got home and ran out to the golf driving range and hit some golf balls with my friends Kevin and Greg.
As far as poker goes, I've been procrastinating on tallying up my exact $ result for July because I know it is BY FAR my worst month ever. It's only my second losing month out of the 19 months I've been a pro... but I'm pretty sure my losses were in the 5-figure range. My other losing month was only like $3k or something.
An occassional losing month is part of the game and I'm not pissed or extremely upset about having a bad month. The best emotion for it is probably disappointment. I feel like I could have played a bit better and minimized my losses, but I'm going to bring my "A" game in August.
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