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rain sucks. and 5000th 2p2 post?

My baseball season was supposed to start last night but we got rained out. Unfortunately things don't look much better for a game tonight, and I'm not even sure it's going to clear up for tomorrow. Typical lousy Boston spring. We've only had 3 days above 70 degrees so far for the year.

On another note I'm quickly approaching my 5000th post on 2p2. I've been a member for almost 5 years, and I think I'm finally going to make a milestone post. I've always avoided it because I felt I didn't have much to add that others hadn't already covered. In general I don't feel like a brilliant poker mind or innovator, just a hard studier and a quick learner.

But I think there might be some away from table stuff that I could add that might be valuable to other pros. So I'm going to work on a draft, and if I feel like it's something worth posting I will. I'll probably post it in the blog as well.

later

jim

COACHING

In the process of updating the layout of my blog I decided to update the coaching info. However the formatting became an issue, so I removed the text from the bottom of the blog. I decided to post it here until I find a way to affix it to the layout. I'm reconsidering coaching again after an extended hiatus do the free time I have since Black Friday. If you're interested post a comment on my blog and we can discuss.

COACHING INFO:

As many of you know I’ve been playing poker professionally for the past 3.5. I built my bankroll up over the course of 2 years grinding from the micro-stakes of NL25 and .25/.50 limit. I now am a solid winner in the 15/30 limit games and NL1000 games online. If you would like to read a little more into my poker story please check out the write up I did when I introduced my blog in Oct 2007.

Over the past seven years I have learned that it takes a lot of study and work to become a winning poker player. One of the best steps I took as a player was getting some outside assistance (in the form of video coaching) from pros that had also climbed the ladder from micro-stakes. It is very hard at poker to improve through self-analysis alone. We all struggle to identify weaknesses, and honestly assess our own game. But whether you are playing purely as a hobby, or looking at poker as a second income, serious coaching can be the first step towards taking your game to the next level.

Since turning pro I have done some hand history and session reviews for a few people, including a couple of players from www.chiptalk.net. I’ve received positive feedback from those I’ve worked with, and greatly enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experience. Because of that I’ve decided to offer coaching on a more serious basis.

MY EXPERIENCE

• I have played over 4 million hands of cash game poker online in the past 3.5 years.

• I’m an established winner at both full ring and shorthanded hold’em games at mid stakes (up to NL1000 and 15/30 limit).

• I have read and reread almost every available poker book on limit and no limit HE.

• I post and follow along in the latest strategy threads on multiple online forums.

TYPES OF INSTRUCTION INCLUED:

• Analysis of your game (examples: strengths, leaks, dealing with tilt, game selection, etc)

• Specific strategy discussion (examples: preflop play, playing the flop, bet-sizing, stealing and defending blinds, etc)

• Live sweating (you sweat me or I sweat you and we discuss the hands as they are played)
  Hand History review (you send me a set of hands and I write up a detailed hand-by-hand analysis of your play)

• Video Review* (you provide video or a set of hands and I record analysis of your play at the tables)

• PokerTracker stat reviews (you provide all of your relevant stats and I look for leaks in your play)

WHAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID ABOUT WORKING WITH ME

• littlebu – "I had him do a HH review for a couple of 6-max limit sessions and what I got back was amazing. Very detailed analysis and very organized. If anyone is thinking about having HH reviews done you won't be disappointed."

• Big Mike – "I had Jim review one of my HH. He did a very thorough job, and pointed out some profitable situations I was missing (including preflop, where I thought I was doing OK!) I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to take their game to the next level."

• Savior17 -- "I just had a sweat session with Jim this past Saturday. Let me say that this was a very informative (perhaps too informative - a good thing) session. Jim immeidately made adjustments in my game from PF raising requirements to post flop betting and hand reading. He easily picked out weakness in the other payers that could be exploited profitably. He also turned my game into a more aggressive game, and I thought I was already somewhat aggressive. I saw immediate results by the end of our 2 hour session. For sure, I will have more coaching sessions with Jim in 2008. Thanks Jim!!!!"

• Ace'sFull -- "I won MJ2K posting contest and I chose to have Jim sweat me during a session. I have to say without a doubt this is tsingle best thing that has happen to my game. Jim is a WONDERFUL coach. We ended up +$1 for the session (I play .05/.10) Lost a big pot to a suckout but won it back in a later confrontation. However the info that Jim gave me in the hour or so we spoke has made drastic improvements to my game and most imporantly my bankroll. I have played about 3K more hands sence our sweat and I have come real close to doubling my bankroll. So if you are thinking about a coaching session with Jim I will tell you with worth way more than he is charging. I will be back for more coaching..."
  

FORMAT AND RATES

• Coaching, strategy discussion, and sweating can be reserved in 1-hour blocks.

• Hand History review can be as many or as few hands as you like. Payment he is based on the amount of time it takes me to complete the review, minimum of half an hour charge. (100 hands of 6max limit typically equals 1.5 hour of review time)

• PokerTracker stat review is based on amount of data you wish me to review.

• Please contact me via email to discuss rates for each option.

• Long term coaching plans are also available. PM and we can setup a plan and rate.
  
  

GUARANTEES

• All coaching and discussion are completely confidential.

• I have no trade secrets. Anything I have learned is fair game and will be shared.

  
  
  

  If you are interested please put a comment on my blog. I will respond as soon as possible to discuss what I can do to improve your game. I have flexible hours so I am fine with any time zone, and most of the time should be able to work around your schedule.

  
  

playing PLO and really enjoying it

for the first time I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of PLO a little. I actually feel comfortable playing more than 4 tables, although I notice that I play significantly better when only playing 4. I'm grinding small stakes PLO on carbon right now. I've won 11 BI so far, and when I win another 10 I plan on moving up in stakes. Because full tilt is no longer allowing for new US customers I'm replacing my full tilt banner adds raketherake banner adds. I'd suggest for guys looking to grind some small stakes in the US you can click on a link and sign up for rakeback at one of the merge sites. I'll get a little bonus for referring you, and you'll get rakeback, sign up bonus, and vip rewards from the best and most reliable rakeback site online. they also have freerolls and rake chases, so it really is a solid deal. I know there are others that are advertising under the table higher % RB deals, but without of the doubt in the market as is I'd prefer to have a highly reputable affiliate.

Other than that it is just usual stuff. Pitching, watching nba playoffs, working out, etc. Played 9 holes of golf on sunday and shot a 41 with only about 3 mulligans, and made it the whole 9 with the ball i started with. Considering I had not swung the clubs since last september, I was pretty happy with the results.

going to throw a pen now. hopefully we'll all hear something from FTP in the next week. Got all of my stars money back, but I had the majority of my online roll on FTP and had hoped to be able to withdraw it this week.

later