A Father in the Making!

My beautiful wife and current pregger

There are some things people wait their whole life for. There was 3 main things that I wanted to accomplish and I thank God I have all three. I always wanted to own a house, have a beautiful wife, and children of my own that will love me unconditionally. In 2009 I got a House that I saved up for and worked hard for, even grinding 3 6 12 limit and 1 2 nl holdem cash games for the deposit. It was a nervous time but something I always wanted and worked so hard to get. Scratched that off the bucket list.

I was also dating this wonderful woman that would not move in with me unless we were married or engaged. Well the thing she didn't realize was I was going to ask her to be my wife eventually just didn't exactly know when I wanted to do it. Well I dropped the bomb on her and that's when we started looking for houses. She moved in with me, her parents completely disapproved and disowned her, we worked through the struggles and hardships and our relationship grew stronger and on March 5, 2011 we got married. Scratch number two off the list.

Now I have wonderful dogs, and a pet snake Ive been having since I was 18, but these are not kids. Even though the movie Marley and me almost brings me to tears every-time I watch it, still nothing compares to having your own child, taking care of them, seeing them smile and laugh and being able to play or cheer them on through each life accomplishment that they succeed in. We had picked out names long before we were even trying to conceive and loved taking care of our friends kids, sisters children, etc. But it was just our time to have our own. So I told her to just let it happen and enjoy our lives and when God decides it is ready we will be blessed. Days would go by, I would sing this song to myself when I got the job done, I just had sex!, and the waiting continued.

About 2 weeks ago, I am going hardcore on Call of Duty: Black Ops. getting head shots left and right, throwing grenades, blowing people up, running up behind people and back stabbing. Slowly my wife walks out of the bedroom and grabs the remote and presses 'Mute'. I look at her like, "I'm working hear!!!" In my best New York attitude. and she bats her eyes and says, "I just took a pregnancy test..." I am like...OK....and??. She finishes "It says We're Pregnant!!!" My eyes got wide and being the skeptic I am I

No this is not the actual test that would be creepy.

say....I don't believe you, show me proof hahaha. She shows me and I say....go take another one just to make sure! she does and its the same result! the next day she goes get blood work done and they confirm that she is in fact pregnant and has been for about a month or so. We were initially going to wait after the first trimester was complete as this is the stage where the most complications occur but neither of us could wait as we were built with anticipation to spread the good news!!

I was going to wait until my wife was ready to reveal the news but I provided some subtle hints just to ease my mind. Well she has officially spread the news so Just pray that everything goes smoothly for us. I can't wait to see what the little alien nugget looks like and meet him/her. I am mostly Scared, Excited, Curious, Relieved (that my baby batter is healthy LOL) but I can't wait to start a new chapter in my life.

Thanks,
Matt Stroud

Adding cushion to the Lead!

Last night we played 7 card Stud and had 17 players. It was a small buyin, but most of the players are just trying to accumulate points to make it into the Final 9. I'm playing for the bonus money as I am pretty much set for the Final 9 but can get $200 extra if I stay on top the leaderboards. The structure was pretty tough because it wasn't really fast paced, but you started with 50 big bets and if you played too many hands and didn't win many, chances are you were going to get eliminated quickly. So being selective is very important. I was happy with my play pretty much the whole night picking spots to be aggressive and though its not my best game I was familiar with it and was confident. That Confidence turned into a second place finish as we did a chip count chop at the end and the CL had a 3:1 chip lead advantage on me knocking out 3rd and 4th place simultaneously.

I have to give props to my boy Mike Silvas for pretty much Folding his way to the money as he was dealt shit cards all night but stayed patient enough to get 4th as the top 5 got paid. This poor guy seemed to have had to bring in almost every hand, it was sick. There was a streak where he posted the bring-in atleast 6 or 7 times in a row. As bad as I felt for him, it was pretty freaking funny. Towards the end of the tourney I was waking up with monsters in my bring-in, with Buried pairs, 3 card flushes and 3 card straights. Like I said before, I was feeling confident but then the words cash games was fluttering in the air and I wanted to jump in the action rather than fight for an Extra $20 for first. So I took $100 and the winner won $120 in a Chip Count Chop and we started a 7 handed .25 .50 cash game.

There were three guys already playing around and one guy just crushed the other two and as the new cash game started he was sitting with about $60-70 while everyone else bought in for $20-35. I had the 3 crazies to my right and the 3 solid Tight players to my left so I liked my spot at the table. It was also a bunch of my league players so we all pretty much have ideas of how we play so it makes it an even better game. The guy with $60-70 was up to his normal shit, 3betting, shoving on dry boards, He is a pretty good cash game player but has a wide open range so its really hard to place him on a hand, its either monster or air. well tonight it was air apparently as the Tilt monster got a hold of him after a couple of beats and he just couldn't catch up for the rest of the night. I made a hero call against the guy that I chopped heads up with and of course get rewarded by him catching one of his 6 outs on the turn.

I was in mid late position with 6c 5c and player in early position raised to 1.50 got a caller then a re-raise to $4 I am next to act and call knowing there will be atleast 2 more callers and I have $21 left behind. If I hit my hand it is well disguised and I can win a huge pot. Well the Button calls and the original Raiser and caller also call the $4 and there is $20 in the pot. Flop comes 6s 3d 3h and I am pretty sure I'm the only person to connect on that flop and the action is checked to the 3bettor who goes all in and has almost everyone covered. He has been playing pretty crazy loose and saying how he wanted to go and showing loose hands after scooping pots so I don't put him on much, but also give the possibility for 77-1010. But then he starts talking. Almost too much...Like he didn't want anyone to call. So then I started feeling more confident in my hand again. I figured he has 2 overs at best and just trying to take the pot down so if I hold I can win this knowing no one else will call as they were showing no interest and getting ready to fold their hands or not paying much attention to his actions. (I use alot of psychology in my reads and it usually helps. There is so much information a person's body gives off it's ridiculous) I call and show my hand and the villain flips over Ah Js. Before I can even Congratulate myself on making a good call, I burn then Turn, and the Jh appears to laugh at my face and stack me.

When I go back to watch them play I see The original villain has already lost the chips that I gave to him and working on losing the rest. I'm thinking to myself, "Man why did I have to lose that pot lol." It also made me want to jump back into the game because the money was flying and the action was good. I scrapped up another $20 and said OK last one. I started out pretty good winning a couple small pots then bluff off a portion of my stack when I just knew I messed up against an opponent that also makes good reads. I was chewing gum and while I was playing, I was chewing kind of fast and talking being relaxed, but in this hand I felt my jaw chewing a little bit slower and I think he picked up on this since I barreled 3 times for him to just smooth call with top pair weak kicker. It was my mistake and I don't normally chew gum but it was delicious and my breath was reeking so I had to freshen it up a bit heh. Well a few hands later I get locked up in a pot against the same player who made a good read on me. With the standard raise at about 3-4x preflop, he bets out 7x, for some reason this just yelled small pocket pair to me and he didn't want to play it. I look down at 10 8 suited and wanted to represent a bigger hand. I have $14 left and opt to shove all in. Everyone folds to him and he is the type of player to know he is behind but call to suck out and it is amazing how often this happens. Well he calls and shows 4 4 so my 10 8 suited is in good shape to draw out. Another player utters, "I had 10 9" and the flop falls J 10 9....Thank GOD! I hate when people say they have some of my outs but oh well BOOOOOM thanks for folding haha. the 4s don't catch up and it bumps me back up. I go on to make a small $25 profit in this game as the 5 players that stayed in the early AM all cashed out a profit which doesn't happen too often.

It was a good night of poker, KK AA and other big hands all held up leaving very little room for complaint. Hopefully I can keep this up and keep my confidence strong going into Biloxi, MS because I am due for a huge score!

Matt Stroud

Fantasy Football, APP League, and dabbling with the GCPC

Phone...Y U NO work??

So The NFL Lockout is finally....FINALLY over and of course and over flow of Fantasy Football drafts are about to begin. I was iffy on deciding to play this year as last year was a crappy year and just missed the playoffs in 2 money leagues (small money) but the shit talking in these leagues were immense and Tilted me like no other. The fact that I had to wait 6 months for my upgrade because I got pissed off and broke my phone because I missed the playoffs in MY OWN LEAGUE was just icing on the cake for the year. It was all the fact that the Fantasy Football rookie of the league made a genius move to grab Deion Branch from the waiver wire when he was acquired by the Patriots, remembering the chemistry Branch and Tom Brady had when they Consistently won Super Bowl after Super Bowl. I give him credit for his impeccable memory but what was worse was his no name team just started going on a tear at the end of the year, and where there is success, there is shit talking. And with the ridiculous amount of shit talking he received earlier in the year by other team owners of the league, he decided to let it all unfold on the Commish who happened to be playing him that week and then continue to rub salt in the wound after he defeated that said Commish (and you can figure out who the commish was.....the guy with the broken phone). Well, needless to say being the poor sport that I am, I immediately gave all commissioner privileges to My best friend and best man since he thought he could be a better commish. I happily obliged and said well here you go buddy I'm done with it. I literally felt like I was a part of the TV Show "The League"

Well, getting antsy about the 2011 football season I joined an enormous 20 man league with way too many people on the roster mainly as far as defense but it's a free league, so I don't really care. But I also started getting on the new commissioner of our league to start rallying the players and to get a draft going. Already, some new changes have been implemented in the league so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I'll be glad I won't have the unnecessary BS of being a commissioner anymore and will just enjoy destroying this years competition. Watch out Bayou Fantasy Football cause the Cleveland Steamers (Cause I usually suck) are gonna wreck shop!!

Well here's My roster for the 20 man Free league I am In. The offense is pretty standard but its the individual Defensive players I have never dealt with before so it should be interesting. I like my team's chances for the most part.

QB Kyle Orton (annoyingly this was auto pick and he's about to be traded from what I hear)
QB Alex Smith 49ers
RB Maurice Jones Drew (another auto pick I showed up a lil late for the draft and would've picked ray rice but he's not bad either)
RB Knowshown Moreno (I think he'll have a breakout year this year)
RB Roy Helu (I like him especially where he's at with Washington)
WR Jeremy Maclin
WR Dwayne Bowe
WR Sidney Rice (The last auto pick I wanted to punch my computer when I saw this)
WR Austin Pettis (another rookie)

Super Sleeper 2011 Roy Helu Jr.

TE Todd Heap
TE Jacob Tamme
K David Akers
Def GB Packers
Def ATL Falcons
2 DT's Ive never heard of

DE Glenn Dorsey

DE Kyle Vanden Bosch
LB Ray Lewis
LB Paul Polzunsky
LB James Laurinitis
LB James Farrior
LB Barrett Ruud
CB Deangello Hall
CB Joe Haden
CB Ronde Barber
SS Kerry Rhodes
SS Earl Thomas
Bench Abram Elam
Bench Ike Taylor

What do you think about the team ( I know I'm weak at QB)

My league game is about to wrap up as we only have about 4 games left of the season that has been going on since January and I am Still at the top of the leader board with 72 points. A buddy of mine is right on my heals with 71 points but hopefully I can keep him at bay. I am kind of proud of this feat as I have been told my home game isn't like the typical home game. All the guys that come play are very competitive and more than capable of winning each night. I can safely say that I have an average of about 18 well rounded poker players that come play and can safely brag that I am atop the leader board. We are all fighting to stay in the top 9 for

APP 2010 Champion Dustin Norris

the most part as this is the Championship Free-roll where all top 9 spots are paid. There are 4 new categories that can also earn $100 each. Mixed Game Point Leader (currently the guy in second) Overall Point Leader (currently me) Most Final Tables (also me) Most cashes (there is a 3 way tie for this and tie breaker is 2nd most FTs) Last year First place of the Championship FreeRoll got the APP plaque and $400 and a big shout out from the guys at www.GulfCoastPoker.net Hopefully this year there will be more money for each spot since there was an average of more players each game but with the $100 added it definitely helps.

GCPC Schedule

If you aren't friends with me on Facebook then you probably haven't noticed that I create Events for upcoming Casino Tournament circuits. The next one in line is Beau Rivage's annual Gulf Coast Poker Championship. This casino hosts multiple tournament circuits with prices affordable to those that want to dabble in large Multi Table Tournaments and even strike some success with a 4 or 5 figure score. They even host the televised WPT Event, the Southern Poker Championship. Players from all over the south gather in Biloxi, MS to play at these events and create some of the juiciest Cash games as well. My plan this year is to play 3 events from Tuesday August 30 until Thursday Sept. 1st. I booked my room for Aug 30 and Aug 31 but the only way I can play all three events is if I sell enough of myself to accommodate for the buy-ins. I have offered to sell 60% or 12 shares for a total of $720. That is $60 for 5% of my action. Alot of people usually put a mark up of about 20-25% but this is my first time doing this so my Mark up is very small at around 9-10% just so I can pay for gas to get out there. So far I have sold 3 of my shares and currently have 9 shares left. If someone is interested I may even offer 2.50% shares at $30 each, but I find that my price is more than affordable. The possibility of gain on income is very high too! The fields should be smaller since its middle of the week tournaments, but 1st place could still be between 10-20k depending on re-buys! So if you have 5% of that action that is $500-$1000 off of $60 bucks. If I am unable to sell all of my action, I will definitely be playing either the $230 Half NLHE/PLO event or the $130 plus $100 Rebuy Event. Either way I will be going into it confident. If you're wondering about the schedule, click on the link under the picture (Left). I Will be keeping updates during the tournaments on my Twitter account @AcadianaPkrPlyr and Hope to see you guys there!

Good Luck,
Matt Stroud

Perfecting the Poker Face.

Mastering the Poker Face doesn't happen overnight.

Since the Black Friday of poker hit, it seems all the online obsessed poker  players have tried their best to scratch their itch. That means many are beginning to invade casinos but are not accustomed to playing their opponents face to face at a poker table so they give off multiple tells while playing. I find this the perfect opportunity to share my methods of practicing the Perfect Poker Face that will never give off a tell.

Now I wouldn't practice this in public because you don't want to give away all of your secrets. But, I found the best way to practice your poker face is by not reacting to the most intimate moments your body experiences, better known as the orgasm. Yes the Orgasm, this makes your muscles through out your body spazz out so if you can master not showing a tell that you are having the most ultimate climax then you have mastered the poker face. You can ask me, how the hell did you determine this?? Well you know what,...... its not that important, anyway, back on the subject. Here are a few methods you can take in attempting to mastering this feat. If it doesn't happen the first....I'll say month....Do Not get discouraged because Mastering the Poker Face doesn't happen overnight.

"...Make the most boring face on the planet and stare into space."

The first thing I would suggest is practicing by yourself. No not like asking your friend to watch your face the whole time, that is just disturbing and awkward. NO NO what I mean is go into the bathroom or private room with a Lock on the door, Look in the mirror and start working on that poker face. When you feel it (you know that moment) Its game time. Try your hardest to not even wince, just keep the same facial expression you had when you started. Don't you smile, gasp, pant, roll your eyes, hell dont even move. If you do, then you have failed and will have to keep practicing.

Now the next method is practicing with a Partner. Again, don't call a friend and be like, hey I'm working on something with poker come over and give me a hand.....WHOA WHOA no don't do that, I mean like your sexual partner, wife, girlfriend, fiance, boyfriend, husband, cousin (If you're into that kinda thing, but I would not encourage such a thing.) Anyway, First you want to make sure that they consent of the sexual activities, you don't want a lawsuit or jail time on your hands because all you wanted to do was practice an innocent poker face that will earn you substantial amounts of money in the near future. Next, when they're in the mood and want to make the passionate dance that I like to call the hibbity dibbity, Now is your chance. (Ladies this is probably easier, since it is almost second nature, for you....sigh) While you are in the heat of the moment, make the most boring face on the planet and stare into space. So while you're partner is going to town, hooting and hollering, sweating and about to throw out their back, when they look down at you and see your face, if it makes them ask, "Whats wrong, does it not feel good?" or they just get pissed off and get up then chances are You have accomplished your goal and now have a Perfect Poker Face to bring to the tables.

Now after reading this you are probably thinking to yourself, This is GENIUS or what a loser....either way You will be thinking about trying it, but to answer your question, No I have never done this and this is clearly for comical purposes..........or is it?!?

Always remember to work on that Poker Face and watch-out for the soul readers.

Good Luck,
Matt Stroud

Biggest Poker Mistake of my Life

This is an old Facebook note that I wrote after I played a big hand in 5 5 NL @ Shorty's Poker Room from February, 2011:

"
Ok Everyone has done it atleast once whether they admit it or not, but the way it has happened to me is just sickening and I can't get it out of my mind.

I decided to take a chance at 5 5 nl at Shorty's, my local casino's poker room and bought in for 200. This game is very beatable even with the short stack that i bought in for as long as you play smart and pick spots wisely. well 3rd hand into it I look down at 7d7c in late position and I'm munching on my freshly bought shrimp poboy. There are 2 limpers to me and I limp along with 2 others and the sb and bb check to see a flop $35 in the pot

Flop comes *6h 5d 2h* and I am thinking I have an over pair but there is a flush draw on the board. guy UTG bets $20 1 caller, I call, and Button calls. I am thinking there is no way someone has 43 and just slow played the straight. I am guessing someone hit top pair at best and the other 2 are on a flush or straight draw or has middle pair. $115 in the pot I have $165 left.

Turn is the 7h (I hit my set but very cautious about the flush and straight) Guy who bet $20 Bets $100 this time and next guy folds to me, I tank for a bit (still eating my poboy) then Flat hoping to fill up on the river and the button just calls. $415 in the pot. I seriously think someone has the flush and I am behind but if the board pairs I hit my boat and scoop the pot. I have measely $65 left and before they flip the river I'm asking myself why the hell i didnt just shove it all in before the River even fell. (Played this hand horrible)

River is the 3s, Blank for me but it now puts a 4 card straight out there** and the guy who has been betting checks, I check to the button and he tanks for a little while then bets $200, the original better calls. I look at my 77 shake my head then fold it FACE UP. The people at the table immediately look at me confused and say you fold that?? wow? how do you fold that? I said well there is a flush and straight on the board they have to have that. Guy on button says I have a boat and shows 22. I look at him kind of confused. Guy on the other end of the table said, Dude the board is paired!! I stand up and look at the flop closer. The flop is **6d 6h 2h**....... (Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkk) I just threw away the winning hand.....FACE UP at that and would have won a nice pot of about $550-600. Instead I get the misery of feeling like an idiot. One of the guys I've played against alot and have history with continuously rubbing it in my face that i folded the winning hand...that was an expensive sandwich....he can't believe I folded that.... I told him I thought it was a 5d not 6d Clearly if I would have noticed that I wouldn't have folded. Guy on the button just shrugs, smiles, and scoops the pot. I dump $300 more on tilt and trying to catch up what I just donated. but end up busting when my Qs 7s flop pair of 7s and flush draw but miss all my outs vs. JJ Definitely one of the most embarassing experiences Since I've been playing this roller coaster game and worst part is I can't get it out my head. IDK what caused me to see a 5 instead of 6 from the get go and thinking I was beat.....but plain and simple it happened. I wish I could go back in time, throw that fucking Shrimp Poboy in the garbage and just sit focused on the game.

Well that's it. That is how I went from potentially being +500 for the day to -500 for the day meh. If I only had a brain...
Enjoy my idiocracy"

Welcome to my blog

I wanted to start this with a little introduction. I have been playing for about....10 years now that I think about it wow. I grew up playing 5 card draw like everyone else who has ever played poker and dealers choice games with friends for cheap .05 .10 or quarters, you know the fun times. But once I learned about Holdem I immediately caught on, then started organizing games at my apartment with work buddies.

Quickly my group went from 5 guys, to 12, to 20, and more. I would have a friendly $5 nl tourney and when we would win we would think we are bad asses and talk trash to each other you know kind of like Fantasy football but with poker. Then I started learning more about the game, growing interest and seeing friends move up in stakes. This made me want to compete with them but never had the stability or money to fall back on if I took a pitfall. I continued to watch my buddies get more advanced and would cheer them on, but felt like I should be right there by their side, not far behind them cheering them on. So my determination grew.

I created a group called Acadiana Poker Players and invited local buddies that I played multiple home games with. Then I thought about it. I used to hate trying to meet new players or move somewhere and not know where I could go play a game so I figured If I can get people from all over Louisiana to join the group, I would be able to find a game, casino, strategy, etc. with multiple people. I started inviting friends of friends. Then friends of friends of friends and so on and now the group is 160 strong and growing after about 2 years of existence. And that is not counting those not part of the Facebook group alone.
Big names have joined like Eric Cloutier, Blake Barousse, Kevin Eyster, Ben Mintz, Jacob Naquin, Clint Schafer. The list goes on and These are all great guys with even better personalities. I have also met alot of interesting people on my journey to making this group grow and am proud that I can say I have created something people enjoy being a part of.

I have a few goals for next year 2012 that I would like to accomplish and will definitely reach atleast 2 of the 3 or 4 that I have in mind. Well anyway I created this blog to share my experiences and struggles in the Tournaments, Cash games, and just life in general and I hope to catch your eye. Well you can find me mostly at Shorty's Casino at Cypress Bayou but I like to travel from Lake Charles, LA to Biloxi, MS playing along the Gulf Coast so hopefully I will see some of you at the felt!

Good Luck,
Matt Stroud