A medley of PLO shenanigans, and some career musings

I decided to play a chunk of pot-limit Omaha hands. I proceeded to lose. A lot. Variance can be unfriendly at times. A few examples below just to document how cruel poker can be.

I can take solace from the fact that I recently passed my bar exams (I got the good news right around the same time CK received similar good news about passing hers in Nevada). I have decided not to continue with criminal law and am in the job market. I hope to join a new firm in the near future. This puts this recent bad run of cards in perspective -- it's trivial compared with the importance of the interviews I'm lining up. Shifting away from litigation to solicitor's work is going to be a challenge, but it's something I really want to do after a lot of soul-searching.


The good: getting all-in with AAxx preflop and holding up



The bad: incorrectly folding a live draw when priced in



The ugly: not holding up with the overfull



Unfortunately for my online bankroll, the bad and ugly hands have vastly outnumbered the good ones. I didn't have the heart to post the hand where I got it in with nut straight and bottom two pair vs. lower straight and top two pair. Miracle 3-outer later and I lost yet another stack. PLO is wicked that way; when you're running bad the lost buyins can really accumulate quickly ... one has to ride it out and know when to quit.

Another week done ...

... in the grind that is PLTC.

And it's talk like a pirate day.

Enough said, really.

Conveyances ...

... are boring.

Ah, the joys of stuyding for exams.

Question: Is making up a conveyance checklist any fun?

Answer: it isn't.

It's Exam time

Ten weeks of fun, starting on Tuesday.

I'll be glad when they are over. That will mean vacation time (Vegas!), and a brave new world come January.

A busy week ...

... spent working on an important factum as well as a trip to Seattle for the weekend to visit friends has meant no updates to the blog for a while. My apologies for the lack of content.

Now that I've caught my breath I am working on a long-delayed series of book reviews as well as a couple of poker theory posts. Expect those to start appearing in a day or so.

PLTC set

I get to take my Bar exams in October after a month of classes in September. Nice to get that confirmed and set in stone so I can plan around it.

Some Resolutions

In no particular order, here are a few short-term goals I have for 2008.

Pass the Bar exam.

Improve my physical fitness by an order of magnitude - I'm not joking around with this one, I've recently upgraded my hockey and ski equipment.

Find more time for my creative writing hobby.

Vastly improve my online poker results through a combination of improved discipline (bankroll management and a stop-loss!), organization (actually maintaining a database and profiling opponents more carefully) and game selection (gotta pick on big fish when I find them, and branch out more beyond 6-max and full ring NLHE).

Do well in the blonkament tourneys.

Attend the next WPBT gathering.

Satellite into a large live buy-in event.

Regenerate the reputation of my fake baseball team.

Waiting for Godot

It's only about three weeks behind schedule, but I finally have my student articles officially approved by the Law Society. Yay.

Of course, they still haven't told me when I'll be taking my Bar exams, but I'm hoping to get them out of the way sooner rather than later. I want clear sailing when I plan my first trip to Las Vegas, preferably in June to meet some fellow poker fanatics who also happen to be invisible friends.

Note to Self

Having a functional printer at home can save a lot of needless trips to work on a weekend.

It's at times like this I wish I had learned more from my computer-savvy friends rather than blindly relied on their availability on a holiday weekend.

It's time I upgraded to a 21st century printer anyhow, so I guess it's also time to go shopping.

Appeals

I'm quite pleased that some of my initial work as a student will be doing legal research for a couple of very interesting appeal cases that my principal is bringing to the provincial Court of Appeal.

And in the background, the law society is processing my paperwork and I'm choosing a set of dates to take the PLTCs.

Another Beginning

I just spoke with my principal mentor who will be guiding me through my articling year, and after a week of false starts, I get to go in for my first full day of work at the office.

I'm excited to get down to work and re-learn some things I've forgotten and learn some new things about the law in the real world.

Transitions are fun. They present a challenge to meet.

Stutter-step

My long-delayed apprenticeship in the law is about to officially begin. Some might think I'm over-prepared; some might say this is long overdue; others might think I have a lot of rust to shake off, five years out from law school.

You'd all be right.

I can't wait to get out there and prove myself. Time enough spent on the sidelines!