Full Tilt: Tips for Salvaging What You Can

The poker shutdown's Black Friday came and screwed up my day, and my favorite hobby, but I'm doing what I can to make the best of it and have done something new and exciting that I've never done before: Redeemed my Full Tilt points for merchandise!

I've always held out since it cuts into your rakeback, but seeing as I won't be playing for a while, and might not be able to do anything on Full Tilt ever again, I decided to give it a shot.

Yes, my order went through, but it's exciting how I really have no idea whether or not they'll be able to honor it. We will see! Here are the steps necessary to do this yourself:

1. Download the software update from to access the FTP client again
2. Open client
3. Redeem FT points at the FT store!

I ordered the 60" umbrella, the velour bathrobe, the Logitech z313 Multimedia speaker system, and a teddy bear for the wife.

Wish me luck; I hope I get it!

Riding the Rollercoaster

Today was a little crazy. I went up and down a couple hundred dollars, tried new games, had a PokerTracker3 malfunction, scored my biggest online tourney win to date, and finished the day $50 down.

First came the bad. I decided to stick my head back into cash games for the Take 2 Promotion on Full Tilt, where if you play 2 or more cash tables (or just RUSH) every day, there's some stupid prize at the end of a week. Just the carrot to lure a cash fish like me to open up EIGHT six-max tables. 30 minutes later, $61.44 down the drain. Hmmm how about heads up games? No luck there either, another $12.00 down the drain over the course of 2 hours.

WTF cash games! I hate you. I'm quitting you, for real this time! So I mosey on over and pull up the STTs again. I play two sets and lose about $20. Still, I don't feel bad about it. Unlike with the cash games, I actually understand the STTs inside and out and can pretty much assure myself I just ran really, really bad.

That means I need a change! MTT land it is! 45-mans and the Daily Double. Gotta dream big! Except I donk out of the first 8 45-mans, including one painful bubble and one near-bubble, and both Daily Doubles. I've lost over $200!!! That's worse than my RUSH downswing debacle.

I had one left and had just made the final table... and then my HUD stopped working. Right at the MOST IMPORTANT PART! AGH! And then I win it all to take back $171. SCREW YOU PokerTracker3! I don't need no stinkin' HUD to win it all! And now I'm drained. So this is what it's like to grind MTTs. Made me feel like this guy.

I think I'll do it again some time.

Exercising for life (and poker)

Exercise is good for your life, both physically and mentally, for my muscles and my poker. It keeps you sharp. I know this, but I've been a slacker. Since doing 80 days of the p90x program to get in shape for my October wedding, I haven't done anything but lose all my progress, enjoying the lazy married life and throwing sticks of butter into my cooking (the wife makes me do it, I swear!).

Waffles has been doing some really inspiring exercise programs lately. I mean, if this pushup program whipped an ol' mess like him into shape, it's gotta work for everybody!

Just the type of exercise program I need, actually. It holds your hand, tells you what to do, and sets your schedule FOR you. Perfect for a guy like me.

I'm in. And I think I'll throw in the situps program too, on the pushup rest days.