Cates owed millions - Tilted 73-year-old man

Cates owed millions

According to a recent interview with iGaming.org, David 'PerkyShmerky' Lerner owes Daniel Junglemandan Cates $1.9 million. 

Recounting his early experiences in the online poker world, Cates explained how he and Lerner played two $3/$6 heads-up sessions but cross-booked the action so it played like a $300/$600 game. 

After the first match Lerner won $460,000, which Cates immediately transferred across. However, in the second match Cates scooped more than $1.1 million and instead of sending the money his opponent went into hiding. 

After chasing him for the cash Cates eventually received $250,000, but since then he's had nothing else. The incident has left him with a bitter taste in his mouth and prompted him to call Lerner the "biggest scumbag in the history of the world". 

Fortunately Daniel is still doing well for himself financially, but he's certainly not shy about outing other "scumbags" such as Joe 'BigEgypt' Elpayaa and 'Viffer'. 

Pensioner goes on uber-tilt

We've all been on downswings that have made us want to go out and do something stupid, but, thankfully, very few of us actually do anything we regret. 

However, an elderly man from Florida can't say the same thing after he was caught robbing a local bank with some underwear on his head. 

After losing all of his money betting on horses and playing poker, John Dougherty decided to replenish his bankroll by donning a pair of pants, loading up his shotgun and driving to a small bank in Lakewood Park. 

Once inside, the tilted 73-year-old forced staff to put money in a shopping bag before fleeing the scene. 

Unfortunately for him, bank workers had planted a tracking device in his bag and Dougherty was apprehended at his home and charged with theft later the same day.

pokerstrategy.com

Variance in Poker

Professional poker players often describe their vocation as “a hard way to make an easy living”. One of the most difficult aspects of the game that a professional poker player must deal with is the inconsistency in income. Despite employing a strong skill set and the benefits of years of experience, many poker players still come home with less money in their pocket than when they arrived at the tables. These ups and downs of poker are often collectively known as “variance”.

What is Variance?

In statistical terms, variance is used to examine the differences between an individual result and the average for a set of results. These results can be represented as data points in a set to determine the fluctuations within that set.

We’ll demonstrate how to calculate variance with a small sample data set. If you were to track the results for your previous sessions at a $3/$6 fixed-limit hold’em cash game, they could read:

-11, +85, -30, +144, +9, +30, -87

Each of these results represents a data point in a set of seven numbers.

The total of these seven sessions equals +140 (-11 + 85 – 30 + 144 + 9 + 30 – 87 = 140)

The average of these seven sessions equals +20 (140/7).

The variance is the sum of the squares of the differences between each data point and the mean.

For the first result, (20 – (-11)) = (20 + 11) = 31. 31^2 = 961

Follow the same procedure for each result and you get these corresponding numbers:

961, 4225, 2500, 15376, 121, 100, 11449

Add up these numbers and divide by seven to get the variance:

961 + 4225 + 2500 + 15376 + 121 + 100 + 11449 = 34732

34732/7 = 4961.71

The standard deviation, another measure of volatility, is the square root of the variance:

SQRT(4961.71) = 70.43

The most frequent results lie within one standard deviation (+/- 70) of the mean (+20). With these results, a player should expect to finish a session somewhere between -50 (20-70) and +90 (20+70).

However, many of these data points lie outside that range. Are these results the products of bad luck, bad cards or bad play?

Variance and Sample Sizes

The more data points a sample size contains, the more accurate and reliable the measurements of variance and standard deviation will be. The seven-point data set included here is obviously much too small to give an accurate estimate of how a player performs at a 3/6 limit hold’em game. Also, more data points will give the player more information on how to manage the inevitable ups and downs involved in cash games.

Variance and the Central Limit Theorem

Another important mathematical concept that comes with sample size is the “Central Limit Theorem”. This concept states that, as the number of data points in a set grows, a plot of those points on a graph will resemble a normal statistical distribution, as seen in the classic “Bell Curve”.

Bell Curve

The guiding principle is that, the larger the sample size, the more data points that will fall at or near the average. This measure of variance gives the player a more accurate idea as to what to expect from his results.

Variance and Luck

Even in the most distinguished poker careers, a player will have sessions where he has wins (or losses) that go two or more standard deviations away from the average. Many inexperienced players attribute these results to luck, but they are within the realm of possibility shown in the Bell Curve. These data points are known as “outliers” and, individually, have little effect on the variance seen over a career. If these “outlying” results continue to appear, however, they may signal the start of a new trend.

Variance and Bankrolls

A sufficient poker bankroll is necessary to act as a cushion against variance. Some players may believe that, with just a few positive results at a $1/$2 no-limit hold’em game, they are ready to jump into a $2/$5 or $5/$10 game, regardless of their bankroll size. When the variance swings in the negative direction, as it inevitably will, a depleted bankroll could send the player to either a lower-stakes game or out of the game entirely.

Variance and Structure

Some poker games, as well as some betting structures, are prone to have higher variance than others. For instance, a $3/$6 fixed-limit hold’em game will have much less variance than a $1/$2 no-limit hold’em game due almost exclusively to the betting structure. In the $3/$6 limit game, the maximum bet a player can make on the river is $24 (bet-raise-re-raise-cap). In the no-limit game, a player can bet his entire stack at any time, which may be hundreds of dollars. These bet sizes can cause huge swings in variance.

Variance in Poker Tournaments

Despite the allure of fame and glory presented by televised events, no-limit hold’em tournaments are shining examples of the deceptive power of variance. Most professional players (including many famous faces on the tournament circuit) make more of their living through cash games and only enter the most prestigious (and lucrative) tournaments due to the high variance involved. Most major tournament winners are “outliers”, as up to ninety percent of all tournament players walk home empty-handed.

Variance and Playing Styles

In a previous piece, we examined the four primary playing styles (loose-passive, loose-aggressive, tight-passive and tight-aggressive). Just as the tight-aggressive style has been shown to be the most profitable, it also often results in the lowest variance. Both the loose-passive and the tight-passive players depend on catching cards to win hands (a high-variance strategy) while the loose-aggressive style relies on big bets to push players off hands. The tight-aggressive method relies on strong starting hand selection, infrequent bluffs and a well-founded understanding of probabilities, all of which contribute to reducing variance.

Variance and Emotion

The effects of big wins and staggering losses are not strictly limited to a player’s bankroll. The emotional roller coaster that comes with big swings in variance can also affect how a player approaches the game. Players who have become accustomed to big wins may lose their cool when confronted with a crushing loss. One bad session can set a player “on tilt” and wreck both his skills and his confidence.

How to Deal with Variance

Shifts in variance can be as unpredictable and dangerous as shifts in the weather: everybody complains about them, but no one can do anything to prevent it. The most important aspect of success in poker lies in treating each session or tournament as a continuation in one long game. Experienced players understand that their success or failure as a player does not lie in the results of a single tournament or a handful of cash-game sessions. Each session represents only a single data point: a consistent approach will often reduce (but never entirely eliminate) variance.

Conclusion

Former World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Chris “Jesus” Ferguson once said that poker is “100 percent luck and 100 percent skill”. The turn of each card is the result of luck, but how a player responds to that unpredictable event is the product of skill, practice and experience. The ability to manage the game’s inherent variance is a skill on par with calculating odds and outs in terms of how successful a player can eventually become

Gus Hansen -$1,161,939

There are three common occurrences in online poker in the last year or so. First, Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene tends to win, and that was no different this week as he banked $610,908 in 1,765 hands over 27 sessions, which brought him up to a leading $1.36 million in profit for the year.

Second, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom’s swings are sick. He started the year off dropping more than half a million, and then he won over $800,000 last week to finish as the week’s biggest winner. He captured that title again this week by winning an additional $794,717 in 15,250 hands over 98 sessions.

Finally, Gus Hansen can’t seem to win. He dropped another $463,742 this week in 1,799 hands over 23 sessions, which brings his lifetime losses to over $16 million! While that was bad, two other players actually faired worse in Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$753,937 in 39 sessions/5,124 hands) and Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$659,520 and in 10 sessions/1,389 hands).

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some other players had superb weeks, including Doug “WCGRider” Polk (+$665,786 in 8 sessions/3,386 hands) and Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$503,606 in 7 sessions/474 hands) on Full Tilt Poker, and Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (+$303,066 in 161 sessions/1,422 hands) on PokerStars.

Blom Takes Top Spot on 2014 Leaderboard

On Friday, Jan. 17, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom won $813,000 to bring his yearly winnings up to $1.7 million. The young Swede strung together his win throughout several games beginning with a $64,500 win over "AtherCliath” at the $2,000/$4,000 2-7 triple draw tables. He followed that up by winning $150,000 at the pot-limit Omaha (PLO) tables, and then he switched over to the $1,500/$3,000 8-Game tables against rival Alex “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn, who he relieved of $289,000.

Blom went on to lose $150,000 to Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker at 2-7 triple draw, and then won $32,000 off Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon playing $200/$400 PLO. After that, Blom sat down with “SallyWoo” at the $2,000/$4,000 fixed-limit Omaha hi-lo (FLO8) tables and played for six hours, during which Blom skinned his opponent for $410,700.

Biggest Winners/Losers (Full Tilt Poker)

Week's Biggest Winners (1/17-1/23): Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$794,717), Doug “WCGRider” (+$665,786), Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$610,908), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$503,606), Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies* (+$303,066), “Tight-Man1” (+$275,588)

Week's Biggest Losers (1/17-1/23): Kyle “KPR16” Ray (-$753,937), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$659,520), Gus Hansen (-$463,742), “SallyWoo” (-$457,439)

Year's Biggest Winners: Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene (+$1,362,654), Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (+$1,019,522), Doug “WCGRider” Polk (+$700,925), Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton (+$400,676), “mikki696” (+$385,757)

Year's Biggest Losers: Gus Hansen (-$1,161,939), Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar (-$659,520), “Sanlker” (-$316,646), Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius (-$303,590), Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky (-$195,283)

Hottest female poker player in the world!!!!

Meet Tatjana Pasalic!!! and ENJOY!

ReedMoney: Maybe it was in my blood to love the game of poker.

My name is Sean Reed. I'm old on the online poker scale at 37 years old. My family and I live in beautiful Northeast Tennessee. I have been working for the same company since I was 18 years old.

PTP history!?!?

I was playing some MTT on PokerStars one night years ago and saw a player with an avatar of Neverbeg Staking. I created an account to see what it was like and never looked back. At the time, I was having some decent results playing micro-medium stakes MTTs. I ran some profitble stakes in the beginning to build a reputation of a loyal and trustworthy horse. I also staked some micro players while playing myself.

Your poker starts, mentors?

I started playing stud type home games in high school for small stakes and for fun. I always like playing cards and remember hearing stories on my grandfather grinding poker at the VFW to pay bills sometimes. Maybe it was in my blood to love the game of poker. I've never grinded poker to pay my bills though. I began playing online before the Moneymaker era. I signed up on Stars soon after it launched and began playing micro SNG's for fun in my spare time. PokerRoom began and then I signed up there. That's when I began playing MTT poker and had some decent success to build a bankroll. Once I had a bankroll, I signed up on more sites and had my most success on Absolute gridning the early days with a lot of the well known players today. It's crazy to look back at all the poker beasts that used to play $3-10 rebuys every night on AP.

Biggest cash, live-online?

My largest live cash came in April when I finished 13th/1,315 players in Cherokee, NC first WSOPC stop. I was dissappointed at the $4.5k result considering I was a top 2 stack with 13 left and it was $70k up top. Lost AK<Q10 and couldn't recover. My largest online score was just over $10k when I was the first player to double final table the Big Daily Doubles on FTP. I won one of them and finished 3rd or 4th in the other.

About staking.....

Like I said earlier I began micro staking in my early days on the site. I was staking more heavily leading up to Black Friday. Luckily with exception of one offsite horse most of my funds have been returned from horses. Unfortunately, that horse had a substantial cash on UB prior to BF and I doubt those funds will ever be seen again. I have been staking live MTT players a lot more since BF. Mostly WSOPC grinders and I only buy small % now. I have not been too involved in online staking since BF because lack of US player pool & I don't want to have funds seized again by our government. I used the horses stats, game selection, trustworthiness, etc to choose my investments.

Biggest hit of your horse?

I have had some 4 figure scores since investing in live MTT's. My largest online score staking was the one prior to BF which sucks ass.

Hobbies?

Obviously, poker is one. I also like to hike, camp, college football and mostly spending time with my family.

Did your family suport your poker job??

Poker has never been my "job". I keep my poker monies and my real life monies seperate to keep peace at home. My wife supports it, but she also doesn't understand it too much either. She never understood how someone could play 12 poker tournaments at one time. However, paying the occasional "wife tax" with winnings helps. I have been fortunate to use poker to take vacations to Bahamas, Disney World, etc.

Favorite pro and PTP player??

I'm not a real fan of TV pros so to speak, but I liked watching Antonio Esfandari on HSP when it was on. He has fun at the table and won while doing it. As far as PTP players, I enjoy the posts/tweets from Indariva, Scaphism, Herschelw and many more.

What is most important to be good poker player?

As with most things in life, a person needs to have a good work ethic and be humble. Poker is a humbling game. You can win have 3 winnings months and then have 3 losing months just as easy. Poker is a game that changes constantly based on your opponents. Studying your game and others game is a great way to improve. I try to replay tournaments in my head to find where my weakness or mistakes were made. Talk to friends about hand histories not just bad beat stories. You're not always unlucky. Sometimes you just played really bad and quite frankly may suck at that level. Know when you are outmatched at the table, stakes, etc. Play within your skill set. If you win a $5 rebuy don't think you can win the Sunday $109 rebuy on Stars.

Message to PTP members??

Being part of this staking community for years now, I have learned that people need to treat other people's money with at most respect. They are giving you the opportunity to play the game. There has been too many people steal backer's money on here over the years. I don't see how some horses do it and live with themselves. Black Friday was essentially a "Get Out of Jail Free" card for many of those offenders. We will likely never hear from them again. I am proud that I have never had any trust issues on the site during my tenure.

Finally, I am very thankful for PTP for being one of the resources I have used over the years for backing, staking, guidance and friendships. Most of the people on the site make valuable contributions to the site. Hopefully, the US government wiil get its head out of its ass and let everyobe play in again regardless what state we live in.

Turkeyneck39 poker family : My father is a very good poker player

Hi all, my name is Branwell, I live in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada.



PTP HISTORY - back in 2010 my very good friend Johnathan "FLUBSKY" Pierce suggested I set up an account on PTP in an attempt to get some backing, at the time I was a relative noob to the game and the inner workings of staking etc, after running several successful "BAPS" mostly for Sit n Go's I quickly moved up as far as the amount that I was raising/stakes I was playing, suffice to say I fell in love with the site, it was so cool to post a BAP at night and wake up in the morning with all these funds rolling in, just the fact that so many people took the leap of faith and invested and put that trust in me was really inspiring.

POKER STARTS / MENTORS - Prior to playing poker fulltime I was working as a bike messenger and parttime actor, I took acting very seriously and did several theatre shows and bit parts in short films and bigger films which were shot here in halifax, for those who don't know this is the home of " the trailer park boys " which I had the pleasure of working on several times, it was a real blast..... about 5 years ago FLUBSKY introduced me to the game, he had already been grinding fulltime for a few years and was a great teacher for me, I still have quite a laugh thinking back to when we sat down one day so he could teach me the hand rankings, shortly after I started playing home games, most were super soft and not really knowing what I was doing I still managed to win more often than not just by pure reading abilities, eventually I ended up at some local underground cash games with much tougher players who tore me a new one so to speak, it opened my eyes greatly and forced me to improve at a rapid speed, for about two years it was my main source of income, these games would sometimes run for 2-4 days straight, I guess this is where I built the endurance for grinding long MTT sessions.
   Late 2012 I got my first private backing deal online with "demetri1978", this is when I began to take online poker serious, I  recall how disturbing it was going through my first hand history review with the coach , I was in shock at how terrible I had been playing without even knowing it, mind you coming from a background of live cash to online MTT's is a bit of a transition, needless to say it was the beginning of my making real improvements and really starting to " get it " in terms of what was really going on at the table, at the time I felt like demetri was being really hard on me but in reality he was just super pissed about all the mistakes I was making, i've got to admit that he was right about everything and I credit him with improving my game, I think alot of players are in denial about their abilities and get upset over any kind of criticism, in order to improve you have to set your ego aside and be completely honest with yourself.
    For the last 7-8 months I've been backed by "vedder1980" and i've got to say he is one of the coolest most easy going people I have met through poker, he has taught me the importance of game selection and many other things which have led to vast improvements in my game as well as my most successful year to date in 2013.

BIGGEST CASH - $7800 in the HOT 44, still haven't been able to get over the last hurdle in tourneys with  5 figures or more up top, maybe this year i'm hoping.

FAV GAMES -  deepstack MTT's and pot limit omaha cash games.

POKER DREAMS - just to keep playing fulltime and getting by, working 9-5 never was and never will be for me.

HOBBIES -  I'm an avid cyclist, during the good weather I usually bike anywhere from 60-90 kilometres 4-6 days/week, also enjoy cooking and trying new food, reading and enjoying various different form of arts.

FAMILY SUPPORT  - i'm blessed to have such wonderful and caring parents who have supported me my entire life no matter what endeavor I chose, also my father is a very good poker player who enjoys playing online as well.

FAVORITE PRO AND PTP PLAYER - favorite pro chris "imdanutz" oliver , really enjoy  watching his super aggro style, as for PTPers I like and  respect anyone who works hard and helps others in any way they can on and off the felt.

MOST IMPORTANT THING TO BE GOOD PLAYER - the term "good player" is relative, I mean we are only as good as our last decision, some are more consistent in this than others, a realistic and positive perspective and attitude are key to improving and bringing your best game more often than not, without a healthy environment  and lots of exercise I honestly believe that neither of those two things can be achieved, if your mind isn't right then your game is bound to suffer. 

MESSAGE TO PTP MEMBERS - check your ego and emotions at the door, control the things you  can and don't sweat the other stuff "variance etc" at the end of the day it's just a game which is meant to be enjoyed. Best of luck at the tables everyone! and thank you very much to all who have invested in me from 2010 to date.

PokerStars Announces Schedule for Third Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP

PokerStars has announced the schedule for the third annual Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP), which will take place from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 and guarantee $15 million across 50 events.

"TCOOP has become an unmissable online festival for me, because the speed of the tournaments means you can win five- and even six-figure sums in just a few hours," said Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis. "Plus, the wide range of games and tournament formats means there's always something different to play each day."

The keystone event of 50-tournament series is the $700 NL Hold'em Main Event on Feb. 2, which features a $2 million guaranteed prize pool and at least $300,000 for first place. Other highlights of the festival include a $2,100 NL Hold'em High Roller event (also Feb. 2) with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, and two opening day events – $27 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $215 NL Hold'em [Knockout] – that both feature $750,000 guarantee prize pools.

As with every major PokerStars festival, there are additional prizes available for players who do consistently well during the series, with a Player of the Series Leader Board awarding the following:

1st: Champion's Trophy + 2015 PCA prize package worth $16,500
2nd: 2014 SCOOP event ticket worth $5,200
3rd-4th: 2014 SCOOP event ticket worth $2,100

MacLucky shipped $9k for BAP 4th in Big 22

Congrats to MacLucky who shiped 9k$ for BAP!

Player Info
Total played	75
Total staked	553
Player points	22910.37
Staker points	45517.64
Makeup owed	$0.00
Makeup you owe	$6.20
PokerStars account	MacLucky
Full Tilt Poker account	doodydota
Juicy Stakes Poker account	[not set]
Lock Poker account	2feetNrising
Party Poker account	macmac64
PokerHost account	[not set]
OPR Stats

 

EMOTIVATOR : I have had a little money and a lot of money.

My name is Derek.  I am 42 years old and live in the Northern suburbs of Chicago with my wife and three children.  I own a financial consulting company, a poker coaching business, and another small business.  In my spare time ,I am involved in several Christ following ministries such as Feed My Starving Children and Love INC.  I also enjoy playing 12 inch softball, working out, and traveling.

You are USA player. Tell us your black friday story?  

On Black Friday, I was taking a nap with my five year old son.  I was awakened by the sound of my Skype chat pinging me over and over.  It sounded like the constant popping of popcorn.  I woke up the laptop and found out from one of my students/players what had happened.  

I immediately started shipping investor funds back because I figured the window of being able to do so would close quickly.  The next thing I did was try and withdraw my funds.  To this day I have no idea when we will get our thousands of dollars.  I had several people playing with my money, mtt investor money, and my own money on FTP.  The US government claims we will begin seeing our money in March 2014.  I will believe that when I see it.
Now, when most sites are down in USA, what games you play and how you are involved in games?  I still play on Bovada and True in mtts, sngs, and cash games although I wouldn't be surprised if the government shut them down soon.  So, I keep very little of my own money on there.  


I also play live.  I prefer mixed cash games because there is almost always a much greater edge.

PTP history?

My PTP story is like a roller coaster...Up and down and screaming (others at me because of my outspoken Christian faith) all the time.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember who referred me to PTP.  I tried several times to find them so I could give them a reward.  But, I never tracked them down.

I came to PTP via referral from another poker website that went out of business.  I started out trying to coach.  But, I was laughed at because I had no reputation, points, etc.  At the time, I was the #1 ranked Sharkscope $12 turbo 180 player in ROI on Pokerstars.  Nobody on PTP cared. 

I had to earn my way on PTP although I was close to signing a turbo 180 coaching deal with PokerXFactor.  I respected the PTP community for making me earn my way.

I started coaching some people from the site with success.  In June of 2009, I resigned from my $150k+/year job thinking I would find another job quickly.  I was wrong.  After struggling for a few weeks to find a job in a tough economy I talked to my wife to see if she was okay with me trying to play poker full time.  After some convincing she agreed and I raised $5000 on PTP via a BAP to play MTTS.  At the time, I had very limited success in mtts because I had a full time job/no time/no energy to commit to the 6-10+ hours/day in mtts.

Three weeks later in late July, I binked a $55 buy in on a Sunday for $34k.  My mtt career officially launched.

Your biggest cashes, where, when??

My biggest cashes are $52k, $34k, $20k, $20k, and $17k.  My favorite back to back sessions were a December to remember in 2009.  I won the $55/PS again on a Sunday for $17k...it finished on Mon morning.  I took Monday and Tuesday off.  Then, I played a session on Wed. and took down the Wed. $320 for 52k.  It finished at 5:30AM.  I quickly left for a bible study and did not get to sleep until later that day.  I was exhausted and excited all at the same time!

Most important things to be good poker player?

Passion!!!  If you LOVE the game and are hungry to learn it...you will learn and become good...even great!!!  The key is to learn from someone that knows how to teach you properly.  The greatest coaches in life are rarely superstars.  It takes five to ten times as long to unlearn something and relearn it correctly than it does to learn it correctly the first time.  Find the people that are qualified and willing to teach you because they want to.  You don't know what you don't know.  That is why you do not have.  To know and not to have is not to know.

To the losing player - Learn the fundamentals (folding, bet sizing, learning the game)  first.  Get fancy after you are profitable.  Start slow and build.  Stay humble and hungry.  I started out selling play money from PS on Ebay for $20 per million chips because I refused to put my own money on.  Then, I finally decided to play with my own money...and proceeded to lose $7000+.  Then, I decided I better learn how to play this game from somebody that has already had success.  I learned from the best before they were well known players making millions/year.  I am so thankful!

To the minimally profitable player - Once you have learned the fundamentals of the game (NLHE, mixed games, etc) of your choice it is time to step up by engaging a coach and finding a group of 1-4 people that you can bounce ideas off of that have a similar skill set but are committed to getting better.

To the profitable pro - Know your leaks and have people holding you accountable for them.  I have coached many brilliant players that have no idea how to manage a BR or other gaping holes in their life.  They are rich one month/year and broke the next.  Surround yourself with people that will not only help you become a better player...but they will help protect you from yourself.

Your favorite PTP and PRO players??

My favorite PTP player is none other than Chris "Indariva" Tryba.  He has a BIG heart and tells it like it is.  My favorite PRO (other than Tryba) that I have played with multiple times is Daniel Negreanu (DN).  DN is hilarious, humble, and a brilliant overall (not just NLHE) player.

What your wife think about your playing??  

My wife did not become okay with my playing until I started making a significant income from poker.  At that point she was fine with it.  Our children loved that I was now home and available more often versus traveling for work.  The emotional, physical, and mental health of my family is very important to me.  This is a HUGE reason why I did not become a poker refugee or travel the world playing live after BF.

Message to friends and players on PTP?

My parting words to friends, players, and enemies on PTP is...............I have had a little money and a lot of money.  When the dust settles in poker or in life, what matters most are the relationships that we are left with.  This includes the most important relationship of all...the eternal relationship with The One who will decide our eternal fate after we breath our last.  Seek to know Him and all other things will work themselves out within time.