The Well: Jurollo (01.23.07)

Please tell me you didn't get my reference. Mods... ban please.

Oh, wait.

[bugstud]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Justin-

Who is next in The Well? How about Rikitikitembonosarembo?

[/ QUOTE ]
Rikishi? Former WWF Champ? I don't know who is next, Colson maybe?

[/ QUOTE ]

that would kick ass.

[skylos]

Why can't I find your name on the Stars yearly tourney leaderboard? Didn't one of your locations or something used to be top 20 or something on the leaderboard?

[Stumpy]

What has caused the string of 2+2 Username shortenings?

RichC, PITTM, Bakes, Eagles, one or two others I'm blanking on.

[Plus1Plus1]

Which poster would you recommend I stalk, and read every post they've ever made on this site, in order to improve my game?

How did you become good? In an age of hand histories, forums, training sites, books, blogs etc, it's hard to know what to invest my poker-study-time in. Do you think 2+2 is far and away the best tool?

[Jurollo]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi Justin. I've never asked questions in a "Well" and thought yours would be a good place to begin!

1. Are you involved in any sort of charitable causes or organizations? If so, which ones and why?
Not involved as of right now. I have done small fundraisers here though and part of my degree is for nonprofit management, so I likely will be heading in that direction soon.

2. What is your best-loved book of all time (nonpoker related)?
Hmmm... I read a lot of liberal propaganda. I dont have a favorite childhood book really. I read anything by Disinfo, A people History of the USA by Howard Zinn. I am currently reading a few books at a time, "Hubris," which is about the selling of the Iraq war to the public and "The J Curve," which is about how economies and societies develop, and finally "The God Delusion," made popular by South Park. Its about Atheism.

3. If you were having your two closest friends over for dinner to meet your ideal woman, what would you cook for them and why?
My friends or my lady, if it is my friends they don't deserve anything, I would order Pizza. My ideal woman would be fine with staying in and not doing anything crazy, although if I had to choose it would be filet mignon and a nice salad. Generic bad answer =(

4. I love that you are quite close to your mother (and father), emotional, bright and not afraid of man crushes ... a seemingly very well rounded guy. Do you have any siblings? If so, are you close to them? Are you similar? What do you believe to be the most important bit of advice or guidance your parents have shared with you?
1 Brother and 1 Sister, both older. I am relatively close to them. My brother is a poker player too and he is the first person I call whenever I win anything. We are all goofballs so in that sense we are very alike. I have 2 nephews and a niece too from them and they all really love having Uncle Justin around, even though I dont pander to them and treat them like adults, sorta a funny site, even though it doesn't happen much now since I live cross country

5. What is the longest poker hiatus you've taken? During that intermission, what were the things you focused on to improve your game and clear your mind?
I have taken a month off a couple times in the last 4 years. I don't think it is even anything special that you can do on a break that makes people come back playing better, its the actual act of a break. We get so used to playing a TON of hours, that even a day off here and there can be quite refreshing and help your game loads, especially if you are on a downswing. I have never been the kind of person that would read loads of poker books. Most of what I know/do (even though I am overrated) has come from playing a TON and trying things. I am always changing my game to whatever I feel is working the best, which helps because some people think I am a super Lagtard and some people think I am a nit, which is good for business because I can usually find out pretty quickly and play on that. Did that even answer the question?

[/ QUOTE ]

[Jurollo]

[ QUOTE ]
Why can't I find your name on the Stars yearly tourney leaderboard? Didn't one of your locations or something used to be top 20 or something on the leaderboard?

[/ QUOTE ]
WPThero on Stars, I was like 25th in 2006.

[Jurollo]

[ QUOTE ]
What has caused the string of 2+2 Username shortenings?

RichC, PITTM, Bakes, Eagles, one or two others I'm blanking on.

[/ QUOTE ]
No idea, maybe they roll off the tongue better?

[Jurollo]

[ QUOTE ]
Which poster would you recommend I stalk, and read every post they've ever made on this site, in order to improve my game?
Hmmm... there are lots, MLG, Ansky, Uclabruinz, Shaundeeb (for how to mass table and play mid to low limits with a LOT of success), Strassa, Foucault, and many more. This site is a great tool, just hang out, you will get better by osmosis

How did you become good? In an age of hand histories, forums, training sites, books, blogs etc, it's hard to know what to invest my poker-study-time in. Do you think 2+2 is far and away the best tool?
Most of it has been from trial and error, the "hard" way. Books are always nice, and the videos on the training sites are even better, but nothing substitutes for trying things yourself. In summation, there is no sure fire "best way." What a cop out!

[/ QUOTE ]

[Jurollo]

[ QUOTE ]
You've probably posted it a dozen times, and if so a link would suffice, but you're one of the few MTT known posters whose poker/life story I know next to nothing about. So, go nuts!

[/ QUOTE ]
I am going to make this as quick as possible. But here goes.

I started playing poker in 2001 online after doing some casino whoring for a while with all the free deals (even though I never really made any money doing it). I was a broke ass college student who just got done with one of my first serious jobs of my life, merchandising for Coca Cola on Martha's Vineyard for a summmer. I had some money in my bank account and my brother was making some money playing online so I hopped in. As an aside, my job on MV was like the best summer job ever, I got free housing, free gas for my car and $14/hr. For a college sophomore this job was PIMP! Anyhoo... I started playing in the days when you could fund your accounts with credit cards and I was playing terribly! I thought Ace rag was the nuts but luckboxed into a win or two here and there, not a lot of money, but just enough to make me think I was good.

I then showed terrible bankroll management and played way above my head, lost money, deposited more and lost it, just winning enough to think I was good. Its like golfing in a sense, you always hit that one great shot each round, just enough to keep you coming back. Anyway, I dabbled in looking for a job and realized I wanted no part of that, I wanted free time to party in college, certainly not for homework. I kept my grades up with shear smoke and mirrors and in the summer after Soph year decided to grind SNG's on Party instead of working. I made like 5k in the summer and wanted to kill myself after 4 tabling a LOT of SNG's. But money was money and I was good for the start of the school year and my rents were off my back again. Then came Junior year, I kept playing but was probably breakeven at best, but I was making just enough in between deposits to drink and go out so I was good. I had run up some credit card debt going out, buying things and playing but it wasnt anything totally unbearable, at the most it was like $7k (50% from deposits maybe). That basically stayed stagnant, I never missed a payment and kept a good score. I might have run up a decent tab, but I still understood the whole credit system. Leaving junior year I was an "OK" player with decent bankroll management and it kept me from getting a job still.

I started Senior year with some money in Stars and won a few tournies here and there but nothing too special. Went into X-mas break still probably a breakeven player. I had won a few decent sized tournies for like $4k at the time and took out money each time to pay off some credit, eventually getting it down to like 4-5k. Then came the start of 2006. I was determined to become better. I started playing much more aggro, I was sorta a weak tight nit before this with some huge spews, but it is truly amazing how much aggressiveness can cover up nitty spews. I won the $35k and chopped it 3-handed in Jan as well as getting 2nd in another smaller $11r. I was running hot and playing my best poker ever. Feb was a slight lull, however, I kept getting deep. I began analyzing my plays more and refining my aggressiveness. By midyear I was playing very well going into the WSOP. I had played it the year before and donked out early, I was your prototypical internet donk. I headed to the WSOP with dreams of grandeur but those dreams were ended late in Day 1 after being card dead. I came back from the WSOP and proceeded to run well again, winning the Stars 55k and the $150. My roll was feeling pretty good, up around $40k. I always took money out to pay off bills as well as buying a car ($5000, yay for having relatives that work at dealerships!). I basically lived the life the last semester at school, I went for 5 years due to transferring and took 3 classes each of the last two semesters. I had won enough to eliminate my debt, pad my savings as well as setting money aside for taxes (even though I had to take more out at the end of 2006).

What will 2007 hold? Well 2006 hit me in the balls in December with my biggest downswing, some was spewey play, some was tilting, some was bad luck. But I had been grinding so long without a long break (3 years straight of playing hard) that I was worn out. I took the last 2 weeks of the year off as well as the first week of January and went to the PCA with a clear head. I misplayed some hands there mainly due to not knowing WTF to do playing so deep early and went out on the first hand of the last level of day 1. GOD DAMN YOU DAY 1s. As I am writing this I have finally got unstuck from December and feel good about the upcoming year. I have a lot of non-poker stuff that could effect my volume (i.e. 2nd job and investment stuff) but I feel good about where my game is and think I am far from a peak in my poker career. I look forward to meeting even more of you in Vegas this summer for the WSOP (assuming I attend) and hopefully there is some more room out there in online poker for me to keep running good!
~J