About ten days ago I decided to take a break from mtts to work on my cash game.  Initial results have been very good and I’m enjoying the freedom cash games offer.  I have been playing 1-2hr sessions and trying to log 3-4 sessions each day. I plan to continue focusing on cash games in August but I will be playing a few FTOPS events when my schedule permits.

If you feel like your game is in a rut, try playing something different and see if it gets you back in the right mindset to play poker. It worked for me and I think it might work for you too.

Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.

What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank. It’s name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance.It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day.

If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against “tomorrow.” You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running!! Make the most of today.

To realise the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realise the value of one month, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realise the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realise the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realise the value of one minute, ask a person who just missed a train.
To realise the value of one second, ask someone who just avoided an accident.
To realise the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal at the olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with. And remember time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.

That’s why its called the present.

I have been getting a lot of requests for coaching but I have been having problems trying to schedule sessions with everyone. It appears I need to implement a better system than just asking what day/time or is good for each person. So here is the new process for booking a session:

1. Check the calendar for my available coaching times. (All times are Eastern Daylight Time or GMT-5 same as Pokerstars and Full Tilt.)

2. If you find a timeslot that works for you, please send an email to mscell@optonline.net with your online screennames, PXF name (if applicable), date/time requested and your skype acount name.

3. Lessons are $125/hr for non-PXF members and $100/hr for PXF members. A 10% discount will be given if you purchase a 4 hr block. For those on a limited bankroll, you can share the lesson with 1 or 2 people at a additional cost of $10/person/hr. So a 1 hr session for a PXF sub with 2 additional people would be $120. Payments must be sent in advance and can be done either through player to player transfer on Pokerstars (mscell) or Full Tilt (mscell) or through Paypal (mscell@optonline.net). If it is a group session, the entire payment must come from one person so please settle all the details with the other attendees before shipping me any funds. Once I have received both your email and your payment, I will update the calendar and reply to your email confirming the session. I reserve the right to decline any sessions not booked 48 hrs in advance.

4. Be prepared for your session. Have your HHs loaded into the PXF analyzer prior to the session. Be logged into Skype at least 5-10 minutes before your session is scheduled to begin. Please have a working headset or microphone.

Hopefully this makes things easier for everyone.

- Mark

I’ll be playing as a blogger in the PocketFives Open. P5s is adding some $530 Sunday Million seats for the poker bloggers out there.The PocketFives Poker Forum is the home of the best online poker rankings.In addition, PocketFives has a member list that includes the best players in online poker, including top poker players such as JohnnyBax and ElMastermind.Registered:368319677

Hey folks…It has been a quiet month for the blog. Partially because I don’t have many good things to report on the poker front. I’m in a bit of a dry spell overall (even though I managed to win the Full Tilt $20 rebuy early in the month) and therefore haven’t felt much like blogging. Deep finishes and FTs
have been very hard to come by lately. I’m sure it will turn the corner soon enough…

In other news….the dog is still the center of attention at home. I have limited him to the non-carpeted rooms which has seemingly eliminated almost all of his accidents. I wouldn’t exactly call him house trained but I would say it’s a step in the right direction. He is just an awesome companion and I’m very glad we were able to get him. If only my green carpets didn’t look just like grass to him…..

My birthday is this week – I turn 34. I’ve been kind of indifferent towards my birthday these last few years. I expect that trend to continue this year. I would def say that my 30s have been my least favorite decade so far…..I won’t tempt the powers that be by saying something dumb like “it can’t get any worse” but I will simply hope they get better.

Actually, I wasn’t referring to the painting.

We got our dog on Thursday and man is he a cutie! I was actually planning on putting in a lot of poker the last few days but how could I resist hanging out with this little guy:

The kids love him and it looks like in the end, we got the right dog.

Today I will be getting back to work and trying to take down one of the big Sunday events.

Good luck at the tables!

- Mark

My first three vids are up on Pokerxfactor and the reactions have been very positive so far. I know there will be some negative reactions as well since you can’t please everyone all the time but it really feels good to get PMs from people you don’t even know telling you how you have helped them out!! I have this idea in my head for a video series that I really need to work out because I think it would be really cool and unlike a lot of the other stuff out there.  Hopefully that will be one of my summer projects…

My kids and I are thinking about getting a dog.  They have been asking for a while now and it’s been over a year since I had to have our cat put down due to illness.  Did some scouting on www.petfinder.com and found 5 or 6 dogs that might be a good fit for us.  I’m planning on going to see my top choice on Saturday to see if the kids and the dog get along.

I think getting the dog is actually another good step in my life after divorce.  Honestly, I am not sure if I have really done anything in the last three years that wasn’t just focused on the present.  Getting a dog is a big commitment and I am ready to start making those commitments again. You only have one shot at this thing called life so you have to do everything you can to make the most of it.

The kids were on spring break this week so I tried to do as many fun things with them as possible.  Poker allows me to set my own hours and it is at times like this that I wonder how I will ever go back to a normal job.  I mean we went out to dinner, went to the movies, played outside all day, went to a birthday party, had a few sleepovers and went for some homemade ice cream.  I can honestly say that I don’t think a lot of Dads  are able to do all that when their kids are off from school but I love that I can.

I recently downloaded the latest albums from Counting Crows and One Republic on iTunes.  Both are great but seeing as Counting Crows is one of my all time favorites, I’d have to give them the nod here.  The download also included a video interview with Adam breaking down the thoughts behind each song.  That was really cool although I found it a little sad that someone as successful as he has been can’t seem to find happiness in this world.  He’s in his forties, single and says he doesn’t really relate well to people. Life is too short bro….

Watched the new Lost last night.  After such a long break between episodes, I think I would have been happy with anything they put into the episode even if it was crappy.  However, I think this was a very solid episode. I won’t reveal any spoilers here but I was impressed!

Picked up the Harrington on Cash books at the store earlier this week.  I know a lot of players don’t think poker books are really worth it once you have a lot of experience but I have always enjoyed reading them and I think I’ve taken at least one thing from every one that I have read. It got me motivated to play some cash anyway and I booked two small winning sessions so far.  I’ll have to try and get more hands played each month (especially in a month like this when tournaments are just killing me.)

Been getting re-focused on exercise again and it feels really good. Walking 2-3 miles plus weights and crunches afterwards. This can only help my poker game as being phyically fit has always helped me stay mentally focused.  It’s really sad that I let myself fall off the exercise wagon so easily when the kids started school in the fall. I can’t let that happen again.

I think that’s it for now, my next post will be more poker related I promise.

- Mark

It was one year ago that I woke from my bed as a man without a real job. I was not exactly sure where my journey would take me when I left the corporate world behind but I knew the timing was right. I had spent enough time feeling underutilized and unimportant, I had enough money saved, I had enough leads for other lines of work, and of course there was this thing called poker that I could not stop thinking about.

I really didn’t think that I was going pro – I was just hoping I could make enough money from poker plus some of these other lines of work that I would be able to maintain the lifestyle I wanted for myself and my children. Well, those other things I was thinking of doing never happened and poker quickly took center stage. Only once over the last year did I really worry that I couldn’t make it and that I might have to start pumping out resumes looking for a traditional job. But luckily that never happened and I am happy to say that I am still in love, still learning, still passionate, and still moving forward with poker.

For those that don’t take the game seriously, poker is something to do. It is a night out with friends. It is drinking a few beers. It is enjoying a good cigar. For a poker player, it is a lifestyle. It’s a way of thinking. It’s looking at all the options before making a decision and choosing the path that is best for you. It is very much more than a game – it is a way of living and looking at the world. Poker and life have so many similarities that becoming good at one can certainly help you become better at the other.

I would say that it has been a good year. It has not been easy. There were good times and bad times but through it all I grew stronger, I learned, I persevered, and I moved forward. I am better today than I was yesterday but not as good as I hope to be tomorrow.

- Mark

PS I wouldn’t change a thing!

ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I hate when I second guess myself into making a bad play. I have been playing this game long enough that I really need to trust my instincts every single time I play. I mean I trust my instincts most of the time I play but I swear that 10-20% that I doubt my first reaction has probably cost me over $20k in prize money! And the strange part is I’ll usually say something to myself like “well if he raises me here, I’m done with this hand.” But then I start to think too long and too hard and decide to go with the losing play of calling or re-rasing when my gut tells me not to do it. If you have been in this same situation then you can relate to what I’m saying. Correcting it is the harder part.

(By the way, if you don’t believe me about this gut reaction thing, then I suggest you pick up Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. In this book, they look at situations where people are able to predict many things with only minimal observation becasue they have such strong experience in an area that they are almost able to make correct decisions in the blink of an eye. It is an interesting book and one that every poker playe should read.)

So how do we correct the problem?

Step 1 – I now have a post-it on my computer that reads “TRUST YOURSELF.” Hopefully the visual cue will at least keep the thought top of mind.

Step 2 – trying to figure out where the doubt comes from in those moments and eliminating it.

Step 3 – re-reading parts of Your Worst Poker Enemy by Alan Schoonmaker (another book I recommend) especially the chapter on destructive emotions.

We will see what happens next………the journey continues!!

Wow. This is pretty big news as far I’m concerned. This week Pokerxfactor (a site that I have been a member at since May 2006) announced that it had acquired Pokerfox (the first online training site I ever joined and the place where I have been teaching tournament poker strategy since May 2007.) It’s like waking up on Christmas morning when you are little – I’m very excited and I can’t wait to get started!! Let me start by thanking Chris and Adam for not only giving me the chance to teach at their wonderful site for the past 11 months but also for giving me this opportunity to come with them to Pokerxfactor. I have enjoyed working with both of them and am looking forward to continue that work at our new online home.

So what does this mean for my current students, blog readers, and Pokerfox friends? I would say the future looks very good. I will continue to provide 1-1 instruction for students as my schedule allows. Existing Pokerfox customers are getting subsciptions at Pokerxfactor which means I will still be able to chat with all of you when you are online. And my blog will be alive and well but I’m not 100% sure where yet.

My first video series for PXF will be the Full Tilt $50 Rebuy series that I started at Pokerfox. I will be re doing the first 3 parts with the PXF HH replayer and then I will continue with the remainder of the tournament. So stay on the lookout for it! Also, I will be finishing up my first year as a professional poker player this month (April 13th to be exact) and I will put my thoughts about all of that into a future blog post.

Good luck at the tables!

- Mark