As I mentioned before, I practice a martial art discipline known as Mu Yae Do. It's difficult to describe to most people, as it is a synthesis between 8 different martial arts. Apparently, we learn more forms than almost any other dojo, chiefly because in addition to the Tae Kwon Do forms, we also learn Kung Fu forms, Tang Soo Do forms, and Karate forms. I'm only a little over 4 years into my study, and I already know 32 different forms. Most 1st degree black belts at other places learn about 10-12 forms.

Forms resemble a floor exercise routine, but with martial arts motions. Some of the motions take years to perfect.

The form I'm currently learning is called Kum Kong. Apparently there are not any videos of this particular form online, but I did find a video of my next highest form, Palgwe Chil Jang.

As a result of my martial arts studies, I have been able to collect myself far better than I used to be able to. I woke up this morning after last night's disaster, and reflected in bed for awhile. I pondered the decision that I made to move down last night, and something about it just didn't feel quite right, intuitively. I reflected on it for a good 20 minutes, then pulled out a pad of paper and set to work.

I recalled the entire evening with sadness. I ended last night's implosion at $679. That's 105 buyins remaining at the $6.50 level, and $53 buyins at $13. Technically speaking, I would be severely underrolled if I remained at the higher level. I despaired. Most pros recommend that you roll yourself such that you can withstand a -100 buyin swing.

However...

I had already experienced a -27 buyin swing from $1014 to $679. Hmmm. If I dropped down, I would technically have 127 buyins to be swung with, the 27 I had already lost, and the 100 I had left at the lower level. Therefore, if I remained at the higher level until I was on a 52 buyin downswing at the higher level (which would put me around $338), I would STILL have 52 buyins at the lower level. That's over 100 buyins! I realized that I could stay at the higher level after all!

This gave me some confidence, as not only did it mean if I hit a swing back, I could make it up more easily, but it also meant that my reasoning was still operating on a sound level. However, I was still a little psychologically shaken from the 0/11 I went heads up yesterday. I nonetheless resolved to clear my mind and approach the tables with new energy. I thus entered the ring...

...and promptly lost the first four tournaments I played. 6th, 5th, 4th, 4th. I was really sunk now. What happens when this cooler continues? Will I consider dropping all the way down to $3s???? The psychological noise started.

Luckily, I had two tourneys left in my set, and both were running ok. I had the chip lead heads up in one, and was even stacked with three left in the other. My pulse was racing as the heads up battle on the right heated up. Me vs. another player, mano a mano. This is truly poker at its best. The blinds rose to 200/400, and usually, this means push or fold with any stack, considering the number of chips in play. I woke up with KQ, a stack of 5000, and the small blind/button. I correctly pushed my chips in the center....and villain correctly called with AT. He flopped an A....but I turned my J and rivered my T for my first win in almost 48 hours. Of course, it wasn't the best situation, but after all the bad luck I had experienced on monday, I was willing to take anything.

Almost simultaneously, I ended up heads up as the shortstack in my other table. I noted that my villain was severely aggro, and would take literally any completed BB and raise all in with it. Three hands in, I had 1/4 of the chips and woke up with AA. I knew if I could just get him to put his chips in the center and take it down, I would win this tourney too. I limped from the small blind, and without blinking he raised all in. I called as quickly as possible and watched him flip up J6....

and promptly hit a flop of 66Q. I received no help on the turn or river. Because of my earlier win, this didn't hit me that hard. However, as I uncapped my pen to write the result, the pen slipped out of my hand and flew across the room through a 1-inch crevice between two desks that made it impossible to retrieve. The chances of that happening are....well, they resemble the chances that J6o has vs. AA all-in preflop. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

I won't bore you with the rest of the details. I ran really well today, at the HIGHER limit. I regained almost all of my losses back from the previous day. I need to get used to $150-$200 swings at this limit, because it looks like they are fairly routine. I did play 45 tourneys today, over four 60-90 minute sessions, to make up for more lost ground from last weekend. Only need to make up about 17 more tourneys to get back on pace.

I also incidentally went to my martial arts class, and I ran pretty good there too. I even remembered almost every form I had to teach tonight. I'm excited about my next test, which will mean a promotion to high-rank assitant instructor. I'm only 3 quarters away from 2nd degree.


The good:

Beginning 11/9 bankroll: $679
End 11/9 bankroll $836
Net: +$157
Today's FPP earned/cash value: 371.25/$5.94
total FPP accrued/cash value: 3696.31/$59.14
Current Status (Multiplier): Silverstar (1.5)
Total tourneys played: 866
Average buyin: $6.96
Total amount invested: $6032.00
Total profit earned: $140.70
ROI: 2.33%