This is a quick email to inform you that I no longer am employed by Protos Marketing and their network of sites, including PokerNewsDaily.com and PokerSoftware.com. I have moved on to other full time employment outside of the poker industry.

If you wish to remain in contact with me, please feel free to use my contact page on my blog. Currently I am not taking on any part time freelance work but might consider some fun projects centered around WPT events or at the WSOP or regional events.

It's been an absolute pleasure working with you all to help promote this fantastic game and I wish all of you the absolute best success in the future.

Thanks,

Sean Gibson

First - I am sure you are wondering who the heck I will be referring to. Unfortunately, he is hardly household name so if you don't know who it is, don't feel bad since i am guessing maybe 10% of you poker buffs will know who this is. The person this story is about is one Andrew Frankenberger. He's a 37 year old player from New York who recently won the WPT Legends of Poker event at The Bike I covered in 2010. In fact, prior to the final table, Andrew and I had lunch (along with a friend of his that joined him) and it was really pleasant. He's a nice guy and I was impressed with his demeanor and intelligence. When he went on to win, I was happy for him.

In one of my weekly recap news shows I talked about his win. Now, I absolutely have no recollection of what I exactly said, but it was something along the lines of:

1) Nice guy
2) He's had financial success before in life
3) The money may not mean everything to him, but success does

Fair enough right? That was my impression and unlike most media members out there I actually had met him, ate lunch with him, talked to him and then drew my conclusions from that experience. Obviously, most "impressions" you read from media types, especially in poker, come from reporters whose interactions with the players usually doesn't go beyond the first name hello when they walk in to take their seat.

Anyways - I'm at the LAPC in media row and Andrew Frankenberger walks by and I get up to say hello since I hadn't seen him since his win. My first words were that I wanted to congratulate him since we hadn't run into each other since his win. Unfortunately his first words weren't so kind.

Now - Andrew was totally civil in this and never used profanity or raised his voice. Again - nice guy, don't get me wrong. But he immediately went into how he took strong exception to what I said about him in my show. Honestly, I really thought he had me totally confused for someone else, first because he said "tv show" and second because he took exception to something I said and I had been complimenting him. We went back and forth on this since I was so absolutely shocked and confused but in the end he apparently was very much insulted about the "money" issue in my comments.

Once he was done with his polite but fairly insulting rant (note, this was in front of *everybody* in media row) I simply said "Hey, fair enough" and shook his hand and he went on his way.

A friend of mine, Paul Ellis who you can find at Twitter (@coolwhipflea) was sitting next to me. I turned to him because he (along with everyone else there) had heard the exchange and asked what the heck that was about. Paul's first words were classic, "Sorry but isn't not being affected by the money A GOOD THING?!". Paul's right of course, but that's not how our poker pro friend took it.

In the end here I'm not worried or upset about this at all. Again, this is the first time this has happened to me and frankly this was the diet-cola edition of what I've seen happen before to some media folks. If/When I walk away from poker I'll be sure to share those stories, but for now, this is mine and it wasn't all that bad, but I always get asked about stuff like this so I figured to share the first time it happened.

There's no reason that you should be afraid to try it out. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people playing around the world and if you stick to the large mainstream sites, you'll be just fine like every other person in existence playing online poker.

One thing you won't see advertised is something called rakeback. This is an incentive that websites use to get you to sign up at their site. What happens is that as you play a hand in poker, the site will keep a small percentage of it as it's cut for doing business. If you sign up for rakeback, you actually get a percentage of that cut back into your account. In plain English - it's free money just for being at an online poker table. Yes this is legit, and yes this is something that I have myself. Now, I'm not promising you will log in and print money ... just taking a look at my blog will show you the swings this game can offer, especially when you face top level pro competition. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of money to be made.

If you are interested in signing up for rakeback then head over to the largest and single most reputable site, TheNuts.com for amazing rakeback offers including:

- Up to 33% rakeback at some sites
- Rake races to earn extra $$$ for your bankroll
- Prizes like iPads and iPods given away to members

Basically it's a no brainer so check it out today! And if you decide to sign up through my link (yes people I do get a small commission, it's modest but it's something), I'll even offer to hook you up with some coaching to get you started, assuming you start out at what is called the micro-stakes games, which are the fun levels where people mainly play for very small amounts. Those games are a lot of fun and pretty wild and if you're smart enough it's actually super easy to make yourself a couple of hundred extra bucks a month. I'll show you how!

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $197.00
MP1: $255.60
MP2: $627.70
Hero (CO): $203.75
BTN: $205.00
SB: $104.80
BB: $660.75
UTG: $203.00
UTG+1: $153.50

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is CO with K K
5 folds, Hero raises to $6, 1 fold, SB raises to $18, 1 fold, Hero raises to $41, SB calls $23

Flop: ($84.00) 8 J 4 (2 players)
SB bets $63.80 all in, Hero calls $63.80

Turn: ($211.60) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($211.60) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $211.60
Hero shows K K (a pair of Kings)
SB shows Q Q (a flush, Queen high)
SB wins $208.60
(Rake: $3.00)

Standard lol. At least it was only a 104 big blind pot. I've managed to make up almost half my losses for the month so that's a good thing although the last 3k hands have been absolutely break even. I just checked my EV Graph for the first time and it confirmed what I thought - it's slightly over $0 meaning I'd be breakeven if I was running "right" so to speak. Not like it's something I can control though, all I can control is my volume and how well I am playing when I sit at the tables.

It seems like a lot of people out there are having really rough starts to 2011 or just for February. I have a few friends that believe in the whole moon/planet/stars alignment thing and although I don't believe in that kind of stuff I gotta admit sometimes it does creep in.

But I think what we all need to admit is that we're living in a time when online poker really sucks. I've been around long enough to know that the games are so much tougher and the player pools so much smaller and the edges are thinner. The guys winning and good clips right now should really be proud of themselves, in all seriousness. It's tough out there, even at games like 100nl (blinds of $0.50-$1), there is no cakewalk. The good news is that live poker will, and I pray forever will be, super soft at $1/$3 and $2/$5. The micro-stakes games at 25nl ($0.10-$0.25 blinds) look super soft as well.

In terms of the industry, some difficult thing continue to go on. We're beginning to see entire small networks die off, which was something I predicted at the end of 2010. It was the kind of thing that I predicted would come true that I hoped would not. I think eventually we will get down to 4-5 networks total and everything else out there will be gone. Maybe that'll be a good thing but in the USA, it's really frustrating. I keep hearing that there's a possibility of California (where I live) getting their own in-state online poker system going soon. I doubt that will be a good thing "for the industry" to be honest. It might be awesome at first here, but eventually, it'll just cannibalize itself like we've seen with a global industry as constrained as it has been for the last few years.

So that's where I am at. The games at the tables aren't going so well for me, but at least I'm a 0.3BB/100 winner over my last 75k hands before rakeback/rewards. I guess I am looking for the positives right now, something I try to do whenever I start feeling cynical about the poker industry, and it's hard to find the light. I'm sure with a little more help, I can.

The good news is thanks to the work I did with Jared Tendler I don't feel like walking away for 4 months or whatever, and I certainly am not breaking things and punching holes in walls. But I do feel sad and I am very VERY exhausted at the constant challenges being thrown my way.

So, standard to all "I'm running terrible" posts, here is my very crappiest hand this month.  Keep in mind I've only played 2,487 hands but it accounts for about 33% of my nosedive.

Villain here is a 16/12 but kind of unknown and honestly looked a bit fishy.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players

UTG: $487.25
UTG+1: $200.00
UTG+2: $157.60
MP1: $200.00
MP2: $189.80
CO: $218.15
Hero (BTN): $204.00
SB: $252.40
BB: $200.00

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BTN with A A
5 folds, CO raises to $6, Hero raises to $20, 2 folds, CO raises to $48, Hero calls $28

Flop: ($99.00) 8 T T (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $67, CO raises to $170.15 all in, Hero calls $89 all in

Turn: ($411.00) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($411.00) 7 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $411.00
CO shows 9 A (a straight flush, Jack high)
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Tens)
CO wins $408.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Sick eh? Got it in there as a 92-8% fav. Ahh well. QQ (as an overpair in a 3bet pot) vs AA or KK = 4x in this month's stretch.

Basically it comes down to me not being able to have a hand hold up OR be the 2nd nuts with the opponent holding the nuts.

Right now my downswing is at 11 buy-ins ... basically straight down. I know many of you have run worse and I know more of you have had worse downswings. I get it. But I'm allowed to vent like what ... 4x a year? I appreciate your understanding. Thanks.

One bit of advice a lot of people give is to play lower stakes for a session or two to have some fun and dominate. Well, I decided to go down 2 levels and ... of course ... I ran just as bad. This tends to happen with me, if I run bad at one level, I run bad no matter what I do.  Today at all levels I couldn't believe the amount of times I had 4bets flatted (by better pocket pairs obv) or had TPTK against a set or against an overpair. It had to be at least 15 times out of the 2500 hands today.  I also got it in good several times only to see the villain hit 4-6 outers with one card to come. Standard I guess.

Anyways ... so the opportunity to play lower stakes backfired to the tune of 3 buy-ins there and I'm officially feeling sorry for myself.  It's a pretty tough blow to take and such a sour way to end what looked like a really promising month after a very nice comeback from the red.

I'll probably take tomorrow off. I love playing poker and obviously I want to play through this, but I gotta wait until I can handle more adversity. Right now I don't think I'm in prime mental shape to handle much right now.

I remember last January was the worst month I ever had. It was one of my few losing months, although I can't say I'm a huge winner lifetime. But it was B-A-D and it really was a brutal stretch.  I'm hoping instead of basically quitting poker for 5 months, I can turn it around next month and recover.

Grossed Out

lol ... that's a reenactment, not me actually taking a picture of myself mid-session.  So to make sure we're clear here:

1. I have never lost this much in pure $$ in a session before.
2. I have never lost this much in pure buy-ins before.

So in every way, it was my worst session ever.  I realized I hit my stop loss and was sitting out ... and then the very last hand I managed to lose yet ANOTHER buy-in.  If you are reading this, chances are you care little for bad beat and cooler stories so I'll save you the long stories you've heard a million times already.  I can walk away from the session thinking I played just fine, especially after looking at the hands.  I'll look again tomorrow so we'll see how I feel then.

The bad news here is that my month is absolutely devastated. I had recovered from being down on the month, and was looking at a real nice month profit wise and now ... well ... practically back to square one.

The good news is that I don't feel any anger or negative energy. I feel a little beaten up, like I decided to accidentally start a fight with the biggest defensive lineman on the Pittsburgh Steelers, but overall I think I'll recover nicely. It's all about setting the tone after a session like this.  I can play crappy and really start to be tilted and begin a toward slide ... OR ... I can just play my best and see what comes.

In a weird way, I'm really proud of myself. I think my mental state has really come a long way and that's something that I am really reflective on right now.  A year ago I had something similar happen almost on the exact same calendar day and I went ape-shit crazy and flew off a handle ... and then proceeded to drop 22 straight buy-ins.  It took six months to recover.

I wish I could say that will not happen again but it's like trying to predict the weather in a way.  All I can say (and this is something for you to learn from) is that I'm just going to try to do my best to keep myself in a good mood and playing as best I can. It's only poker afterall.

Bit of a modest brag:

Cool stuff.  Basically, Black Card status means about as much as a hill of beans unfortunately, but it shows that I'm getting volume in and it was a goal of mine to hit, which I have.  I do plan to get this up to 1k a day average but that's going to take quite a while.  For now, I'll just continue grinding it out.

Getting Longer Sessions In

I've fallen into a terrible habit of playing 30-40 minute sessions ... and sometimes I am sad to admit just 20 minutes, playing full ring rush poker.  It's terrible but there are things that start to happen that prevent me from thinking I could play more.  They are:

• Thinking "Hey i'm up 1-2 buy-ins lets just book this a win!" and quitting
• Thinking "Ahhh noooo I lose 1-2 buy-ins lets just take a quick break" and quitting
• At the 20 minute mark thinking I am feeling tired
• Getting thirsty/hungry or thinking I have to go to the bathroom

I have come to realize it's a real roadblock right now.  Somewhere in the back of my mind these things always come up at the 20 minute mark.  I saw BW play and saw him put in what turned out to be a 250+ minute session which got me thinking about what the longest session I played in 2010 was ... and I looked in my DB and it turned out to be 113 which was actually higher than I thought it would be.

So - when I saw that yesterday I decided I was going to break that record right here and now.  So I did some work super early and blocked off 2 hours which also covered my lunch hour.  I plowed through two straight hours and documented some of the following sensations:

• 20 minute mark = regular "panic" type of thing happening
• 30 minute mark = thinking I was 25% done and I had such a long way to go
• 40 minute mark = felt good, like I had finally gotten into a groove
• 90 minute mark = really started to feel super tired and realized it was 75% done
• 120 minute mark = felt extremely excited that I had achieved my goal and at the same time was extremely wary from such a long session

Notice something interesting?  I had something go through my head strong enough that I documented it at the 20, 30 and 40 minute marks ... but then nothing from the 40 to the 90 minute marks.  I think I found a bit of a groove period, like the first 30 minutes of the session are essentially a warm-up and "getting used to the temperature of the water" type of feeling.  From 40 to 90 minute marks, I was great and playing and doing just fine.  Very interesting!

Also, I tried this experiment playing 50nl which is well below the stakes I play nowadays.  I had fun, was running bad and then got KK in against AA for the second time but binked a K on the river which I have to admit forced me to insta-fist-pump!  I made 5 buy-ins which was really nice, and I am sure a bit high for what I could expect if I grinded 50nl full time lol.

Anyways, it was great to have a new "longest session" for the year and have it beat the one I had for 2010.  I'm going to try to make it a goal to really set time aside during the day or night and really "see it through" and try to get in 70-80 minute sessions.  That way I'm well past my "groove" period and do not hit that "wall of fatigue" at the 90 minute mark.

I do this every year.  Normally I get the Super Bowl winner right and the rest wrong.  Let’s see how it goes this year!

New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts

A rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game where the Jets overachieved to get there but lost out.  This year it’s the Colts that overachieved due to a sick number of injuries to get in via a fairly weak division.  This one is hard to call since Peyton Manning always kills the Jets and Mark Sanchez has been playing sooooo bad lately. I really want to pick the Jets.  I really do.  Okay, I will.

Prediction: New York Jets 24 , Indianapolis Colts 17

Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs

Many people think the Seahawks are the worst playoff team this year.  That’s probably the case but the Chiefs are a sham that aren’t far behind.  The Ravens have had a Super Bowl hype all season long and I think they absolutely steamroll the Chiefs in a low scoring but non-contest of a game.

Prediction: Baltimore Ravens 20, Kansas City Chiefs 3

New Orleans Saints at Seattle Seahawks

Both these teams have sentimental meaning for me, but obviously I’m a big Saints homer sporting my Drew Brees jersey all through last year’s playoffs. Although I don’t believe that the Saints can put it together for another run, it’s hard to think that they lose this one.  Remember, Seattle is one tough place to play so I think this will be closer than most think it will be.

Prediction: New Orleans Saints 27, Seattle Seahawks 24

Green Bay Packers at Philadelphia Eagles

In the pre-season I said Packers vs Ravens … unfortunately a slew of injuries have devastated Green Bay and I really don’t like their chances.  However, you have to wonder if Packers LB Matthews lays Michael Vick out early that it might swing the entire balance of the game.  Philly played terrible in their last two games which sucks because I was all over their bandwagon this season.  This one is tough to figure out but Philly just seems to be one of those special teams … assuming their stars can stay healthy.

Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles 31, Green Bay Packers 16

---------------------------

SECOND ROUND

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Wow. This is going to be a real slobberknocker of a game, in Pitt in the cold of January.  I might just have to wear a cup to even watch this one.  Baltimore beat the Steelers without Big Ben early, then totally blew it in the rematch.  The Steelers will be rested and ready and the Ravens will be exposed as a good, but not great, playoff team.

Prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers 14, Baltimore Ravens 10

New York Jets at New England Patriots

I am still not sure about my Jets pick.  But, I’ll go with it and if these two teams match up, I think New England will play well.  You have to wonder about the Pats young defense and how they respond to a bye week.  Just ask Charger fans how their team responded last year (hint: they crapped themselves in front of millions).  That said I can’t imagine this one being close.

Prediction: New England Patriots 38, New York Jets 13

New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons

Maybe this is the one team that Atlanta doesn’t want to see in their first playoff home game this year.  The Saints beat the Falcons only a few weeks ago, but unless some things chance for the Saints and they get everyone back healthy and Brees starts clicking again,  I think the Falcons pull this one out.

Prediction: Atlanta Falcons 28, New Orleans Saints 20

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears

Why do I hate the Bears this season?  There’s a perception around the league and sports columnists that nobody rove the wave of good fortune like the Bears did this year.  I mean, they faced FOUR third string quarterbacks in games this year.  When has THAT ever happened!?  The Bears seemed to get every bounce, call and break during the regular season.  What happens when Vick shows up? He runs around Chicago making it his personal playground.  The Bears are “that team” this year to have a great regular season and fall flat on their faces in the playoffs.  Bears fan, see Chargers fan on how to cope.

Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles 26, Chicago Bears 17

-------------------

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots

Wow, another great game coming from the AFC side of the world.  The Steelers have a rich, proud tradition of killing everyone in the playoffs then getting killed by the Patriots.  That tradition will continue as the game is being played in New England which helps the Pats, although the weather won’t really be a factor. Expect a close game though with some last minute heroics by Tom Brady to get the Pats back to the Super Bowl.

Prediction: New England Patriots 24, Pittsburgh Steelers 21

Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons

It just seems like a lot of these games are destined to happen.  Steelers vs Pats – again.  Now … it’s time for Mike Vick to return where it all began in Atlanta.  This is the matchup of his life against a good Falcons defense facing the fresh face of the franchise who replaced him when he screwed over their organization in Matt Ryan.  There will definitely be battle lines drawn in the fan base for this one.  Will Mike Vick redeem himself and play the game of his life to get the Eagles to the Super Bowl?  Or will Matt Ryan shine through to prove that it’s his team, his city and that good can triumph in the end (assuming you think Vick is evil).  Personally, I pick evil winning because good is dumb.

Prediction: Philadelphia Eagles 31, Atlanta Falcons 24

----------------------

SUPER BOWL

Philadelphia Eagles vs New England Patriots

A lot of people hate Mike Vick and I don’t blame them.  I actually read the federal report on what he did.  It was pretty horrible and although he did pay his debt to society and seems to be a man who wants to be redeemed, many can understandably root against him.  On the other side, I don’t think there’s a team more despised than the Patriots in the NFL.  Everyone outside of New England pretty much hates their guts and their pretty boy two-timing QB.  The Super Bowl will be full of intrigue and this rematch should be pretty entertaining.  But the Pats just look like their old selves this year, dominating their way in clutch fashion every single week.

Super Bowl Prediction: New England Patriots 34, Philadelphia Eagles 21

Poker Wise

In January of 2010 I was playing 100nl 6-max on Full Tilt and the month before (Dec of 2009) things had gone well and the coaching I was getting from Clean was great.  Unfortunately I fell flat on my face and went through what turned out to be the roughest stretch of my life by dropping 22 consecutive buy-ins.  It devastated my bankroll and confidence and it took me months to recover both in terms of drive and confidence.  I sputtered playing between stakes and games for the better part of six months and basically, my poker playing life was totally put on hold.  Getting the job with Protos Marketing also had a hand in that, which started on April 1st (no joke) which really kept me busy, especially during the WSOP months.

In July I met up with Jared Tendler, who really fixed my brain and got me thinking in a healthy and constructive way again.   If it wasn't for that meeting, I definitely think I would have quit playing poker for good.  That was the turning point in the year for me and from there, I at least started logging hands again.

I had a successful run goofing around 4-tabling 50nl Full Ring Rush on FTP and then gave 100nl FR Rush a try and it went very poorly as I ran terrible and wasn't playing an A+ game either.  Looking back though that 100nl FR Rush run was a really bad stretch of cards and something I should have stuck through, but I took a little break and came back and started winning again.

It was then I jumped (with a little help) into the 200nl FR Rush games at the beginning of November. The first 30k hands there were just brutal lol ... there was obviously a huge learning curve to deal with but at the same time I was going through another very difficult run of cards.  Right at that 30k hand mark I then went from first gear to fifth gear and rallied in December to have the best month I've ever had - a new record.  Confidence is good and it was nice seeing decent profits again ... but at the same time I have such a good appreciation for variance in this game.

Heading into 2011 I'm still playing through my 100k hands at 200nl FR Rush and will be clinching Black Card status in the next 10 days.  I'm winning overall so far and seeing the game very well and recognizing what the regs are doing and countering it very well while at the same time optimally playing against the fish.  There's still a ton to learn but I think my game has evolved two new levels up from where I started the year.  I'm hoping to really establish myself at this level and game.

Poker Industry Career

I went from part-time writer to full time journalist in the industry I love so much.  I met a ton of new pros, got to participate in a lot of cool events and got a first hand insider look at the WSOP.  I even got to meet most of the November Nine when it was down to 27 making their journey a bit more special for me personally.  I basically "lived the dream" for a lot of people by being able to eat, sleep, drink, think, write and talk poker for a living.  I really owe a debt of gratitude to the guys behind Protos, specifically Mike Jackness, Nat Arem and Adam Small.

My work on Poker News Daily has been noticed by a lot of people and the comments I hear are all overwhelmingly positive.  In an industry where pretty much everyone backstabs each other and everyone is quick to insult someone as soon as they leave the room, I've been pretty fortunate in my interactions in the industry.

The highlight was covering the WSOP in 2010 and the run to the November Nine.  That was a special time for sure and also being caught by the ESPN cameras was kinda cool too.  Maybe it'll be old hat and no big deal in 2011.  However, if I am fortunate enough to continue through with what I do for the new year, I think as long as interesting and passionate people play the game, I'll be interested and passionate about covering the game they play.

Life

I don't exactly live an exciting personal life.  I'm married, no kids.  I continued to do a lot of charity and community work which was nice and something I'll continue to do in the new year.  I think it'll be more of the same but you never know what life will throw at you.  Sometimes you just duck from the fastball headed at your face while other times it'll throw you a softball down the middle that you can hit out of the park.  Being in the batter's box just means you gotta be ready for whatever life might throw at you, even though that's pretty much impossible given the wide spectrum of possible outcomes.

So I wish the best of skill and mental health to you, the readers out there, in 2011.  I don't have the capacity to wish you good luck, so sorry about that .  Here's to hoping 2011 will be happier, healthier and more profitable!