I wanted to take just a couple minutes to blog my opinions about Tim Tebow, his praying, & America’s reaction to the praying.

The person…

I don’t know much about him, honestly, but he seems like a super-nice dude.  As a big football fan, he’s great for the game.  He’s a winner and works extremely hard.  This is what I know.  Because he’s not my personal friend, all that matters to me is how he approaches football.  If I had children, I’d have a vested interest in what kind of role model he is.  Even though I’m not a Christian, nor religious at all, allowing my children to see him pray to Jesus on the football field would still be setting a solid, positive spiritual example, in my opinion.  Period.

The praying…

To start, who cares?  This is such a non-issue.  Why is literally anyone upset about what this guy does in his own personal space?  Unless he’s hurting or endangering others somehow, leave the dude alone. Religion is each person’s individual right.  If he’s uber-religious and enters into some meditative, peaceful place when he’s praying, more power to him.  How does this upset so many?  I’ll never get it.

America’s negative reaction…

I’ve pretty much stated how I feel about this already.  Those who are extremely opposed to this, what’s your basis?  Maybe I’m missing something.  But why does this irk you so very much?  Seems like a completely reasonable thing to do if he so desires.

America’s positive reaction…

Hearing the extremely religious people defend Tebow’s praying sort of makes my ears bleed, but that’s just me.  The end result of their argument, no matter how hilariously they arrived there, is correct.  God does not help Tim Tebow win football games.  He doesn’t help him complete passes.  So on & so forth.  I think most of these Christians know this.  Hopefully, he’s praying for strength and/or thanking God for the opportunity to play professional football.  Sounds pretty humble to me, a very good quality in this day and age…especially for professional athletes.  Do I think he’s talking to Jesus Christ?  Of course not. But damn, that doesn’t make it wrong in any way.  Any disagreement I have with the mega-religious people is not aimed at their opinion of this topic, it’s usually the elitist demeanor in which they convey their message.  (But I’ve come to expect this from most Christians, so no big deal.)

All in all, Tebow appears to be a very good person and an exceptional football player.  The way I look at it, praying is his way of meditation, which as I said before, is just a vessel to a very peaceful & calm place.  And if I had to go up against all those insanely large NFL defenses, you’d better believe I’d be meditating my ass off too.  Cheers.

2011 was a bear year for many of us, especially online poker players.  I’m certain 2012 is going to be a bull year for me & hopefully all of you as well.  Here’s a quick rundown of how 2011 went for me & what I want out of 2012.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I had two solid resolutions for 2011 and one that was just for fun.  Here they are…

Poker: Move up in stakes. 

This was the most important goal for me as of January 1st, 2011.  Unfortunately, that opportunity was pretty much crushed on April 15th, 2011.  Prior to Black Friday, I was sitting HU NLH cash games from $100 to $400.  Although not ascending in stakes could be perceived as a failure, it’s no different from what happened to all my friends.  I take solace in that.  (2012, get it right!)

Health: Get healthier & lose weight.

I was between 228.1 and 228.9 pounds early in 2011.  (I can’t remember the exact number.)  I started implementing more fruits into my diet & many vegetables too.  And after gaining an average of about 5 pounds per year for the last 12 years, I ended 2011 at 209.4 pounds, a loss of between 18.7 and 19.5 pounds!  Boom!

Twitter: Attain a minimum of 200 followers.

Although this started as a joke, I really did want to hit this number…ha.  Started 2011 with slightly above 100 followers & somehow ended it with just over 420.  (Thanks for the support, everyone!)  My Twitter name is @KnoxItAll for any of you who’re interested.

Other bullets from 2011…  1. I made strides in my slow path from my standard degen’ eating habits toward the eventual goal of becoming a raw vegan.  2. I had a benign pyogenic granuloma removed from my nose in November, which was scary for only a hot second.  3. Lastly and most importantly, I nabbed me a girlfriend!  I’ve been single and dating since mid-2008.  I’m very particular and, although I met some wonderful ladies along the way, there was always something missing.  When I reconnected with Reniece (@RenieceSmiles), who I’d originally met when I worked at Citigroup, she had everything I wanted and so much more.  Brilliant way to end the year.  :)   Continue reading →

I’ve recently been inspired to write a series of blog posts that are specifically written for heterosexual women.  I’m calling it “The Unfiltered Truth About Men.”  Men are losing the battle in understanding females, largely due to our lack of gumption.  I give the ladies a lot more credit for legitimately putting forth the effort to make their relationships better.  (This isn’t always the case, of course.  I just think it’s the majority.)  I’m using “unfiltered” in the title because I believe a lot of women get their information about men from other women, first of all.  And secondly, it’s generally watered down to the point of just being G-rated fluff.  (e.g. “Oprah,” “Dr. Phil,” etc.)  So I thought this was my chance, on behalf of all the guys and for all the girls, to spit some completely non-filtered truths about men and how we think. (Stop here if you’re weird about vivid adjectives, adverbs, nouns, etc. that have been deemed “crass” by society.  Censoring this stuff will only blur the message, which you get enough of on daytime television. I repeat, don’t read this post nor any of this series if you’re easily offended or quick to judge someone who uses colorful language.)

This first entry is all about sex.  That’s a pretty big subject, I know.  We certainly won’t cover every aspect of it today.  Ladies, do your very best, while reading this entire series, to stop thinking about these life situations like a woman.  You’ll never even begin to understand us if you continue to do that. So if your tendency, when you see your dude “covertly” notice another girl’s breasts, is to think he’s an asshole or that he may think she’s “better” than you, then you need to relinquish that mindset right here and now.  It’ll get you nowhere in seeing the world as we do.  Make sense?  Good.  Now, let’s get our hands dirty!   Continue reading →

Playing a solid & aggressive HU game is incredibly important if you want to be successful as a HU specialist.  As it’s a true mano-a-mano format of poker, emotions can very easily rise and fall from hand to hand, making it quite easy to win and lose several buy-ins in a short period of time.


For myself, once I lose around 3 buy-ins, although I don’t have any conscious tilt occurring, there’s definitely a drop-off in my play.  Looking back at the days where that happens, the losses generally, albeit slightly, continue to mount.  The same thing happens when I’m winning; I, more often than not, continue to add to my day’s profit after I’ve won a couple buys.  I remember reading a Ben “Sauce123″ Sulsky blog from around a year ago, where he did a bunch of hand analysis on himself, found similar results, & was contemplating implementation of a stop-loss rule, something he’d opposed prior. Knowing that he thought something of this nature may aid his bottom line is helpful to me, a low-mid’ stakes professional.


Using a stop-loss is also something I actually have done before but never held onto for a great deal of time…although I’m not sure why not.  (Poor discipline, I’d imagine.)  I’ve had some of my biggest months ever when I would quit sessions after losing around 3 buy-ins & marathon-grizzle when I was smashing people.  I’m not suggesting this is optimal for everyone nor that it’s the “right” decision in a vacuum.  I do, however, think it’s way the best decision for me, personally.  And I’m certain it’s at least worth some thought by all players.  As for me, I’m implementing a stop-loss rule effective immediately. I will report back in a month or so on how I’m feeling about this decision overall, so stay tuned for that.


That’s it for today, y’all.  It’s a suuuuuper-windy night in Henderson, NV.  I’ve got “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on mute in the background and jamming some Common while I write this blog.  Pretty chill night at the old Carnegie House.  Hope everyone out there is doing well and beating up their respective games. Cheers.

LIBERTY IN OUR HEARTS – Thanks to Richard Shilling

Being an online poker player, the laws in other major poker playing countries have a dramatic impact upon my everyday life. None more so than the United States, which prior to April of this year contributed about 50% of the players that I would face on a daily basis. It is with great interest then, that I follow to 2012 US presidential race. In my mind, there are only two candidates that you can be serious about when it comes to the possibility of having a quick and easy return of US players to the global online gaming market. I’ll leave it to you guys to research these two guys more meaningfully, but I’ve come up with some of the pros and cons I used when comparing the two of them. Continue reading →

Hey, guys!  I’ve been off the grid for a bit.  Haven’t posted videos to my YouTube channel nor blogged since October 22nd, I think.  So today’s entry will be a quick catch-up on all my goings on.

The 2011 WSOP Main Event wrapped up on Tuesday night in Las Vegas. Going into the final, everyone from Pokerlistings to Daniel Negreanu were singing the praises of Ben Lamb and continued to do so until the start of the final three on Tuesday. The thing is that Ben Lamb was clearly off his game at the final table and if were not for an incredible run of good fortune, he would not have made the final three.

Failed to Adjust to Heinz Aggression
From what I saw at the final table, Lamb failed to adjust to the relentless aggression on display by Pius Heinz. The German was to his right, giving him plenty of opportunities to either play back at him or to see flops and then outplay him. It was clear by the performance that Martin Staszko put on in the heads-up match that Heinz was vulnerable in his post-flop play.

In addition, Lamb got into a habit of three and four-betting light way too often. The players knew this based on the information given during the broadcast, and that is one likely reason that Staszko decided to correctly call an all-in bet with pocket sevens on Tuesday.

You Cannot Consistently Get All-In With the Worst of It and Win a Tournament
Regardless of what you think of his play at the final table, you cannot escape the fact that every time that Ben Lamb moved all-in and was called, he had the worst of it. This happened twice on Sunday and both times he sucked out to stave off elimination.

On Sunday, his luck ran out and the pocket pairs that he ran into both times held. The first hand on Sunday was a poor spot for Lamb to shove, especially when Staszko was giving off tells that he was strong. Lamb’s image was that of a lagtard and he couldn’t luckbox his way out trouble.

Pius Heinz made the transition from playing poker online to playing live, but Lamb failed to change up his game enough during the final table to take it down. At best, Lamb was playing his B game. His B game and some incredible luck got him to third, but it cost him the Main Event title.

What’s up, guys.  Thought I’d make a quick blog entry while this was fresh on my mind.  Things with going raw continue to go very well, so I decided to try for a short water fast to test my discipline.  (Feel free to Google “water fast” for any further information on its benefits, etc.)

Like I said, the point of this was to do a discipline check.  There are many other benefits, but I probably didn’t get many of those in doing one as short as I set out to do, which was 24 hours.  I honestly thought it was going to be impossible for me to do…ha.  So off I went.

Started at 8 a.m. on October 20th, 2011.  By about midnight that evening, I was definitely to the point of feeling a bit “spiritual.”  Honestly, it was awesome.  As I had to get up by a little past 8 a.m. the following morning, to help my parents with a few labor-intensive chores across town, I hit the sheets to ride out the last 7 or so hours in bed & unconscious.  Had some AMAZING dreams, which may or may not have been water fast-borne.  (Definitely not claiming it was the cause, but…who knows, right?)

Up and at ‘em the next morning & decided to have a water breakfast as I moved a ton of boxes in and out of my parents’ garage.  I felt strangely amazing.  I also felt a strong sense of accomplishment.  (No, not for helping my folks; I do that semi-frequently.)  I honestly didn’t think I would make it the full 24 hours, let alone a few more than that.  Not patting myself on the back.  Well, I kind of am but not in a boasting manner; I was/am sincerely happy and surprised.

Got back home around 7 or so in the evening and finally ended up having dinner at 9 p.m.  I went 37 hours with only water.  And the nutty part of it all was that I truly felt at peace.  I know I’ll get heckled by a few for saying such a thing, especially being a really secular-minded individual.  But I’m only conveying these unfamiliar feelings with my extremely limited vocab’.  It was a hell of a feeling, guys.  I felt like a light bulb just glowing brightly, living in the exact now.  Remember in the first “Spider-Man” with Tobey Maguire?  The morning after he’d been bitten, he looks in the mirror with his glasses & it’s blurry.  He takes them off and sees with the utmost clarity.  Best example I can give.  But I am fully aware of how “out there” this sounds.  Again, it’s just a novice articulation of feelings I experienced in my mind & body.  It was great, put simply.

So the raw exploits continue.  Never been happier with the way I feel…ever.  Hair is softer…waayyy softer.  My eyes are more vividly colored, both the blue & white parts.  My skin is getting younger.  It’s just bananas…ha.  After midnight here in Henderson, so we are now on Day 22.  Hope everyone is doing brilliantly.  Mucho amor para todos ustedes.  Peace, guys.

Hi kids! Since last I posted things have really swung around for me. The turning point was actually a visit from a few of the LifeFish guys; Newman, RaiderDuck, LacieK and GiveUpMate to be specific. Newman stayed with me the longest and before the others arrived we were both having a brutal run online. When the other three got here there was basically no poker played and that was just amazing for my state of mind. A week of no poker and fun with mates was exactly what the doctor ordered. Originally, a couple of us intended on playing the ANZPT main event at Crown, but that never happened. Instead, we went to the footy pre-limanary finals, played squash, basketball, lasertag, raced go karts, had a couple of rounds of golf (one with friend of LifeFish Sparky), played FIFA and NHL on console and had a really fun night out with a few other poker guys.

Since they left I’ve been in the most amazing routine of getting up early, grinding poker, smashing the gym, relaxing, studying and playing cricket. I’ve become so dedicated to the gym that I’ve changed my diet massively and am tracking my caloric intake and making sure I’m getting a ton of protein as well as taking a bunch of different supplements. It’s paying off in so many ways, I feel great physically, but mentally am in a great place which is allowing me to have my best period of poker in months and months. I’m really excited about doing more of the same in the next few months until the LifeFish meet again in Decemeber.

The cricket season has started and I’ve been filling in as captain the first few weeks, which is a totally new experience. I still have a lot to learn and not sure how long I’m going to get this opportunity, but nice to be thought of for the position. I’m feeling the best I ever have about my bowling as well. In my three outings so far I’ve taken 3, 2 and 3 wickets and kept the runs tight, pleasing to say the least when it was only two years ago I was barely getting a bowl in matches.

Just a few updates today, fam’.

Vitamins & supplements…
I’ve been tossing around the idea injecting other natural supplements into my diet…vitamins, powders, etc.  I currently have a bunch of vitamins I’m taking, all of which were purchased at Trader Joe’s.  I’m not sure how quality those are & am suspicious they aren’t the greatest, but I’m going to take all of ‘em before I purchase anything new.  In the interim, I have time to do a lot of research on legitimately natural supplements & what makes the most sense to put into my body.

The healthiest people I follow on YouTube seem to all gravitate toward a few brands, one of which I’ve looked into so far: Natural Choice Products (NCP).  Their site is sort of janky, but the products are apparently pretty amazing.

Another company I’m looking into is Ray & Terry’s Longevity Products.  Ray Kurzweil is one of the owners.  (If you’re not familiar with him, that means you haven’t yet seen “Transcendent Man,” which is just an amazing documentary on human evolution, the Singularity, etc.)  These products range from standard vitamins to enzyme supplements, enzymes that normally start to dissipate as humans age. For example, why does our skin get wrinkled as we get older?  Why doesn’t it stay supple like when we’re kids?  Well, there’s some really educated way to say this, but basically we stop producing or at least limiting production of a certain enzyme that controls cellular health in our skin.  And many of the other negative changes attributed to old age, there are ways to combat those as well.  Ray is at the front of these dietary supplemental advances.  (Seriously, go watch “Transcendent Man.”  It’s on Netflix.)

So I’m looking into all these and more.  While I’m checking into each of these companies and their individual products, I’m sticking with good ol’ Trader Joe’s vit’s.  Any suggestions for all-natural stuff, definitely let me know.   Continue reading →