Hey everyone,

Well in the midst of a terrible 2 month mtt downswing and sng downswing I’ve managed to make about 6k in the past 2 days. It really shows you how you must be mentally prepared for anything in poker, and although you can statistically be ahead time and time again, you may come out on the losing side. Poker can be frustrating, agrivating, and I think perservence is definately a quality every poker player must possess.

Also I wanted to congratulate Lucas, flettl2, on completing the challenge he set out for himself. Last month, he told me he was ready to take on the 10k month challenge. I told him to shoot for the stars but not get frustrated if he can’t get it because it is no easy task (he had made about 20k total up to this point). Low and behold, he made it easily and won the bet, shipping an incredible 13k during that month. He has been one of our most successful students, netting around 20,000 since he came to our camp and that was only 3 months ago! He also has become a good friend of mine so congratulations Lucas! We’re all very proud of you. Here are his graphs for a little visual proof.

So while I feel like George Clooney from Up in the Air and I’ve been in airports for the majority of the day and life, I figured I’d take the time to reflect on poker, our experience in Costa Rica, and what we hope to do in the future for Spacegravy Poker.

Pokerwise, I feel on top of my game but Mtt’s are trying to break my spirit. While I make more money than I have ever made per game in SNG’s in the past month and a half, I can’t seem to win a 4-1  race in Mtt’s. It just reflects upon how hard it is in poker to keep your self mentally prepared at all times, no matter how your running. Just yesterday, Facestealer got 2nd in the daily 90 for 12k and the past 2 weeks we’ve been grinding on Sundays and losing to runner runner like its our job. I’m really happy for him and a big congrats to Matt! I know I can break through this downswing as long as I keep concentrating on my game and working hard to get better. Talk about a frustrating time though!

We officially closed up shop in Costa Rica and it has really set in how much I’m going to miss the place. The memories we created were unforgettable and a once in a lifetime experience. It was so satisfying to help people achieve their dreams and form friendships along the way that will last a lifetime. It seems as if just yesterday, Grayson and I were lying on his couch watching TV when Super Yachts came on and we decided on a whim to move to a tropical destination and try to open up a training school. Since then, we have had 12 students come through, all of them doing much better than before they came, and working towards their individual goals for poker. I feel as if I’ve gained 12 new best friends, and now when I travel to Europe, I’ll have a good friend in every country :p.

The new training center, wherever we end up, will offer even more options for students, as we are hoping to bring in one of the best cash players. As we teach more players and learn more about the game, it becomes easier to learn how to teach complex ideas and give our students the best experience possible. I’m excited about the future and I couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend the past year of my life.

Although I still can’t surf like Kelly Slater, surfing really is an experience that everybody should try. There is nothing like the adrenline rush of catching a huge wave and feeling the force of the ocean. Sometimes the force of the ocean was too strong and tried to drown me but I made it out alive and I recommend everybody try it at least once in their life.

I will try to respond to all the inquiries I’ve been getting about our new camp as soon as possible. Thank you to everybody who reads the blogs and inspires us to try and better my game everyday and a special thank you to Andrew ‘hg18l7′ Overby and Tommy ‘tmoney0209′ Miller for teaching me even more things about poker and visiting our house in Costa Rica. Also, Tommy stop getting 2nd places :p and a big congratulations goes out to Athanasios9 for his recent big score.

Pura Vida everyone. It was real.

-reef2287

So, I haven’t had time to update since Monte Carlo because I’ve been glued behind the computer trying to make some money. I’m in the middle of a little mtt downswing which can be really annoying, but I know things will turn around shortly. It has required me to grind the heck out of sit n goes again, and I’m starting to really make some money which is good since I bought a 2007 TSX.

As far as Monte Carlo went, it was one of the most beautiful places in the world I’ve ever seen but not really a place where I would want to live/afford to. It was super expensive and by the end, a 20 euro burger just seemed to feel normal.

Were going to be massively redoing the Spacegravy Poker website to include all of our previous students, their results, and we’re going to be looking into running online classes (possibly) since some people have expressed concern they can’t take a week out of their schedule to train. Our operations should be up and running in Florida by the end of August, so we will resume taking students then.

Heres a couple pictures of my car. Hope everybodys been doing well.

-reef2287

So, we have some bad updates on our end. Matt ‘Facestealer’ Volosevich held jj and called a mid position raise on the button and saw a board of aj4. Turn 3 River 4 and by the river he was facing an all in. He snap called with his full boat, but the other guy showed aa for the higher full house and Matt was cooler for his tournament life.

I played in the 330 Euro turbo tournament yesterday. It had a great structure, but it was super weird trying to count out other peoples stack sizes without a mouse button in front of me. I ended up cashing but lost a huge pot w/ A7 against a5 and q2 for 90k chips and I mincashed. 1st place was 11,000 euros so that was kind of agrivating. It played easier than a 11 dollar 180 man online, and it would be have been nice to bring home my first live tournament lol.

Right now, were hanging out with three of our students from Costa Rica, which has been quite the good time! Its fun to catch up with old friends, talk poker, and enjoy ourselves in Monte Carlo but it certainely isn’t cheap. Each beer cost 8 euro and a burger is 25 euro, which means an average meal is around 45 American dollars. And to think the food isn’t good either but what can you do?

I have still been on American time, so I tend to go to bed at 5 am and wake up at 2pm. This jet lag thing is killing me. I also attempted to play the sunday tournaments on an European schedule and it is near impossible. The warmup doesn’t even start until 8pm! I ended up watching two of our students in the Sunday Million, placing 63 and 45th respectfully so I stayed up until 8am lol. Congratulations to Horst ‘tschebe8′ Tschebe and Rob ‘bambrillo’ Muller for their deep runs and big cashes.

For the past week, Grayson myself and Matt have been coaching three new students and were really excited about their progress. They seem to be catching on quick, and were excited to see their results as well. They have combined to be up over 1200 this week alone!

This Sunday, Albert final tabled the TLB 1000 tournament which is quite an accomplishment to add to his resume! Coming off last months win in the 16.50 turbo, hes really becoming a force to reckon with at the tables. Congratulations Albert and keep up the good week!

In two weeks, we’re all going to Monte Carlo. I can’t wait to see it! Were also meeting up with some of our former students from Europe so it should be quite a good trip. I will post pictures from there and LA as soon as I find the cord to connect my camera to the computer.

Pokerwise nothing of great interest has happened. I’ve been traveling a lot so I haven’t put in a ton of volume. I’m currently on a little downswing, but thats always to be expected and one just has to keep playing through it and keep their head in the game.