Time to Play!

As I reach my destination of achieving my blog writing goal, I want to pause and take the time to reflect on what I’ve learned and answer a few personal questions, such as: Was it worth it? Was it as hard as I imagined? What were the benefits of completing this goal? What was the most difficult challenge go overcome? Do I want to continue doing it?

Yes it was worth it. It was important for me to prove to myself that I could do something on a month long basis and do it well. I feel I achieved that and so yes, it was worth it. The most challenging thing was to maintain consistency while travelling and working on the road. The biggest thing that got me through was having the goal clear in my mind every day and a strong determination not to be diverted. Sometimes I did get diverted and didn’t end up completing it until the 12th hour. When that happened, especially towards the end, it was much more difficult then when I tackled it the first thing in the morning.

The biggest surprise was that I didn’t need to plan as much as I thought. I didn’t have any preconceived idea of what I would write about, I just wrote. That took facing my fear of not knowing exactly what to say or saying it the right way. It's funny, the things we fear don’t seem to ever be as bad as we imagine. It's a healthy reminder to remember that it never will be as bad as we imagine. There actually is a release of tension and a sense of relief in facing our fears.

Many people either told me personally or emailed me about how much they enjoyed reading my blogs. They said that they themselves got something out of my writings in which they could relate or use along their journey. That to me was the biggest benefit, for it connects me to a purpose greater then myself.

To know that you are contributing and have an affect on others is not only a necessary level of awareness, but also a huge benefit I experienced from my writings. I also was reminded that whatever I put my mind and determined effort into something, I’m going to achieve it.

It’s all about choice. Having the power to choose what you want to do and how you’re going to do it. Whether it’s writing a blog or playing a hand of poker. Our choices are reflected in our actions or lack there of. If we make a choice and don’t carry it through, well that tells us something about ourselves doesn’t it? We may not have as much power to choose as we thought. But that’s what’s great about games like this, we get to test ourselves and if we drop the ball, learn from it and pick the ball back up and keep running. We’re not going to win every hand or game we play, but if you have the courage to play the game and not sit on the sidelines like a spectator, then you have my respect.

Will I win next month in the weight-loss game I decided to play? We will see. If I knew the ending score of the game, it wouldn’t be worth playing now would it? I do know one thing. I’ll be there at the end of the month win or lose, learning from my experience and either chalking up another win or picking up the ball and going after it in March. I’ll be sure to let you know.

I am pleased to announce that my blog will be moving to my new website, www.kennajames.com and I will continue with my blogging posts. They won’t be everyday, but you can count on at least once a week, that I will be spewing my thoughts on poker and other interesting theories about life.

I hope you’ll join me on my continuing journey through this poker life. It’s going to be one helluva ride this year and at some point along the way I hope you’ll join me on a final table.

Enjoy the Journey,


Kenna

Now and Then

I don’t know why I wait till the last minute, like writing this blog or doing anything for that fact, when it is obviously easier when you tackle it early on. I suppose there are competing interests at the heart of the matter. Today it was fixing things around the house and invariably when I fix things it means at least two trips to home depot. Throw in a stop at Starbucks, a lesson and a dinner and before you know it, it’s 10:30 at night. My how time slips away. And I heard it only gets worse as you get older.

The concept of time is a funny thing to begin with and as it was explained to me, a man made concept used to measure motion in order to help in management of our day-to-day activities. If you asked a tree what time it is, it would respond, “Now. The time is now.” – Ekhart Tolle. Man is consumed it would seem with both the past and the future, while ignoring the now.

In playing poker it is important to play in the NOW and not get overly concerned with the past or worried about the future. The “Now” is all we have. 

When someone is constantly complaining about bad beats, they are bringing past events into the present and it clouds their thinking and effects their judgment and play in the present moment. When someone is playing too timidly or cautious because they are afraid of what card can come to beat them, they are focused too much on the future.

The healthiest players I know let go of past events (hands), focus and play in the present, while preparing in knowing there may be a future.

One of the most important things we can do as players is to focus and stay in the moment and make the best decision we can make based on imperfect information. Poker is a game of imperfect information. So trying to play perfectly and force the moment into being something other then what it is will drive a player insane. The fun of a game is in not knowing what the result will be, but in doing our best to test our strategies and the skills we’ve developed to compete.

I’ve enjoyed the writing game and challenging myself to complete this blog every day for the past 30 days. There’s one day left and tomorrow I’ll share with you what’s on the horizon for my poker-life journey. I’m rather excited myself, not for just what lies ahead, but for the joy I feel in the present moment. Each day unfolds, each hand is dealt, each obstacle presents itself, but I’ve learned that it’s how I perceive or look at it that really determines my reality. 

Tomorrow I’ll head down to the Venetian to play in the first Deep Stack event. After a light week of playing, I’m looking forward to getting back on the horse and competing again. My discipline, patience and various other skills will be tested. Chances are, I’ll be up for the challenge.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kenna                                                                                                         

Hand Plays

Had a very up and down night tonight playing $5-10 NL at the Venetian.

I started up the 2^nd must-move game with 2 other players. We played 3 handed for an hour. I didn’t win many hands. By the time I moved over to the main game I was stuck 3k. The key hand for me  in that must-move game played out like this:

I’m OP-PFR-MW-9s8s. That’s my poker code, meaning that I was out-of-position and the pre-flop raiser in a multi-way pot with the 9/8 of spades. The flop fell 9-6-4 two diamonds. I bet 80, the next guy makes it 210 and another player calls. I call. The turn brings an off-suit 7, giving me now an open-ended straight draw to go with my top pair. I checked; the raiser now bets 610 and the other guy, obviously on a flush draw calls. I have a total of about 1400 and get drawn-in by the size of the pot and I let it influence me.  I decide to make a move at this big pot and move all-in. I get called in both spots, with the last guy also all-in. The river pairs the board with a 6 and the raiser turns over pocket 99’s for 99’s full. I'm felted.

Turns out I was 12% to win going to the river, so I would need about 8.5-1 pot odds to be profitable. With fold-equity and the slight chance they were both on flush draws and I had the best hand maybe puts me needing about 7-1. I was getting about 4-1, so my shove turned out to be a bad play. Now I had to decide whether to pick up buy back in.

A couple of new players joined the game so I decided to buy back in. I was also next up on the must move, which looked like a halfway-decent game that I was moving to. When I re-bought, I definitely stepped up my game, improved my hand selection and overall reads and play of the hand in general.

I moved over to the main game and this key hand played out like this.

I’m OP(bb) – PFR – MW – Qc9c.

I 3 bet pre to better define my opponent’s hand strength and to take the lead in the hand. I'm planning to lead most flops. The flop fell 9-4-2 rainbow.  The small-blind checks, I bet 110 and get called by the initial raiser and now the small-blind check-raises and makes it 320 to go! 

I call and the other guy folds. 

The turn is a Q. The small blind now leads for 340. It was a weak (25% pot size) type of bet that polarized the guys range in my mind. It was either a "trap bet", designed to get me to raise, or it was a "scared bet" trying to save $ on what looked to be a bad turn card for him. 

I took my time and thought about it and decided it was more likely that my opponent hand TT’s or JJs. He had about 1200 behind, so if I raised and he moved in I was going to be committed, so I decided to get it all-in right there. My opponent went into the tank and after about 2 minutes folded.

An hour later I called it a night, booking a small loss. I’ll be back at it tomorrow at The Venetian DeepStack. The month long series starts tomorrow, so I hope to see you at a final table there soon.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kenna

Brain Food

This may not be a very exciting entry. My eyelids are heavy and they are battling me for sleep versus staying awake and finishing my blog. It was a full day today with a work out, 3 private lessons and backgammon club on the agenda.

 

My day began at 7:19 am with new vigor and purpose in getting healthy. Not much poker played the last few days, which the break gives me just enough space to start on my health kick. 

By the way, those of you who are interested in getting fit and losing weight shoot me an email and you can join me on this journey. It’s going to be tough, but for 30 days I’m going to put my best effort in and see what happens. I want to create more stamina, health and overall energy in my body. I’m going to build mental strength through physical conditioning. 

I started this morning very simple, knowing from experience that overdoing things too early can lead to giving up. So I started with stretching and a 20 min. brisk walk. Eating wise I did well, reducing my portions and eating much healthier throughout the day.

I didn’t want to do these things, but decided to do them in order to begin confronting and handling poor eating habits and lack of fitness. It’s time, especially now that I’m 50, to make a concerted effort to change. I think a lot of the younger players in today’s game are more health conscious then ever and I certainly can’t give up that edge as well as the other things we start to lose, as we get older.

An important thing to remember is that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean you have to get weaker. Skill is not just derived from the agility of youth and knowledge, but also and probably more so, from experience. I was saying in yesterday’s blog that Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. Add in learned experience and you have skill.

To be skilled at something means of course, that you can do it well. It’s hard to do something well if you just play and don’t practice. Poker is one of the easiest games to just show up and play and not put enough effort into practicing for game time situations. I remember I use to fall asleep at night dreaming of varying poker hands and situations and how I would play them. Thinking about the game and what you would do in certain situations is vital if you want to continue to grow as a poker player. Being in the situation ahead of time breed’s confidence and experience of how to deal with it.

I’m not sure how I’m going to respond to this weight loss and fitness challenge I’ve put on myself. But one thing is for sure, until I put myself in the situation to begin with, I never would really know. I could end up quitting half way through and just give up, or I could attack it with the same consistency as I’ve tackled this blog and finish the month reaching my goal. I hope you’ll join me and let’s hope it’s the latter.

Enjoy the Journey,

Kenna

Let's Get Physical

Those of you who are interested in getting my blog sent to your email, so you don’t have to come to this webpage every time, I think you just have to hit the Subscribe button on the left of this page.

I just arrived home after a 6 hour drive from Arizona and am a bit tired from my journey, but I’ve committed to writing this blog everyday for 31 days and with 4 days left I’m not about to give up now. This is the home stretch!

Speaking of “home stretch,” I’m getting back to stretching every morning and want to establish a good physical fitness routine. This is my spring training for the 2014 WSOP and I’m going to need to lose weight in order to build my stamina to be in performance shape for the 6 week, grueling 14-hour days.

If January was my blog month, February will be my physical fitness month. Empowered with the confidence of knowing I can consistently do something for a month, I plan to attack this weight loss with the same passion as I did my blog. I’m setting an ambitious goal of losing 15 pounds this coming month, but I’m confident I’ll meet it.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” 

Some believe that we make your own luck and that luck is just a matter of perspective. I tend to agree. If it is true that you make your own luck, then preparation is vital. It’s hard to win a football game if you’re not physically fit enough to compete. Likewise in poker, if you’re mentally drained at the end of the long days, it will show up physically as well and it is more likely you’ll slip up and make a mistake. Chances are it could be that mistake that keeps you from making the money, final tabling or winning it all.

So physical fitness is #1 if you want to compete at the highest levels. Being physically fit allows the mind and brain to function better as well. How do you plan to prepare for the wsop? When preparing for an important event, my suggestion is to think of working outside-in. In other words, from the physical to the mental. 

Since poker is such a mental game, it’s easy to get it backwards and work from the inside-out.  Spending too much time looking at hand histories, talking shop and analyzing data. The mental activity of today’s players is far greater then 10 years ago and that can lead to a great advantage if kept in balance with the physical. Out of balance one can slip into the mind and find themselves trapped.

For those trapped in the mind and the mental activity of the game, remember this: The way out of the mind is through EFFORT! Get up, get out and do something PHYSICAL. Anything you can do to get or keep yourself moving and physically active. The key to success is in the “doingness,” NOT in thinking about it.

This is a little pep talk to myself as much as it is to my readers. Especially those of us over 40, who come to realize that being lethargic is deadly in competition. So I’m going to get an early start to Feb. and begin building my daily routine tomorrow. It will include a healthy diet and moderate exercise and walking each day. I’ve started this type of things many times at the beginning of a new year and find myself petering out right about now. So this year I've reversed it! I’m also glad I’m motivated not by the date of the year, but rather my own personal desire to want to feel and perform better at the tables. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kenna

PLAY BALL!!

I’m going to be a little giddy in this blog report and here’s why. When I was 7 years old, I lived in Lincoln Park, a suburb of Chicago. One of the earliest memories I have is walking to Wrigley field with my big brother Steve to watch the Chicago Cubs play baseball. One of the players we use to watch play was Ferguson Jenkins.  

Fegie Jenkins walking to our dugout

In todays old timers’ game at Scottsdale Stadium, I was privileged to play with some of baseball greats in front of 10,000 screaming fans on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  As the public address announcer called our names we lined up along the first and 3^rd base lines in preparation for the national anthem. After they called my name I went down the line high fiving everyone and took my position along the 3^rd base line. Next to be called was Ferguson Jenkins. There I was standing on the field between Billy Horton and Fergie with a smile a mile wide. The color guard came on the field and the national anthem was sung and then the announcement came to PLAY BALL!!

And for an afternoon on this sunny Sunday in Scottsdale, AZ, I was a kid again right back there in Lincoln Park. The only difference being this time I was on the field instead of being in the stands.

Other greats that were in uniform included; “Downtown” Byron Brown, Mike Adams, Jeff Cook (NBA) Gene Hiser, Jim Marshall (Cubs Manager) and Robin Yount.

I rode the pine until the 5^th inning when the coach put me in and I trotted out to play center field. I now know how some people may feel when they sit down to play poker with professionals. I felt out of place and a little overwhelmed being off the green felt and on the green grass.

Tony Womack and Me

The first ball that was hit to me I looked up into the bright sunny sky and was blinded. I didn’t know whether to move in or go back and stood there putting the glove over my head trying not to get hit. The ball landed 20 yards in front of me and I had to scramble to get it and throw it in. Embarrassing! Doh!! Tony Womack (who played till 2006 with the Diamondbacks) are short stop couldn’t help but laugh. 

The next batter was Tony Phillips (Detroit Tigers). He promptly hit it over my head all the way to the warning track and 2 runs scored. I made one more error in the inning before the 4 run 5^th mercifully came to an end.  After that I played 2^nd and was much more comfortable there seeing I never got a ball hit to me after that.  Mike Hamilton who I also remember watching as a youth was pitching for us and he shut down the side.

As far as my offense, I got the bat on the ball twice, but was not able to reach 1^st safely. I did give it the old college try sliding into first, but to no avail. It really was a special afternoon and thankfully it was all for fun and raising money for a good cause.

Gaylord Perry and Me

A big thank you to Arizona Baseball Charities and the time I spent with them over the past 6 years on

the board helping to raise money so that kids can play baseball. It’s been a helluva ride. To Gaylord Perry, Ron Gardine and all the other great players I met and had a chance to play with over the years, my sincere thanks. I’m glad I had the chance to help contribute in some small way.

It was another great day on my Journey.

Enjoy the Journey!

Kenna