As often is the case, my plans have changed at the last minute. I'm about to make the 3.5 hour drive with my Dad down to the coast of Mississippi to play in the 5000 dollar IP classic poker tournament at Imperial Palace in Biloxi. The tournament director from IP called me and hooked me up with a free room and meals in exchange for playing, so it's hard to turn down. There is an estimated 1 million dollar prizepool (200 players), so it's big enough to drive down there. The field should also be incredibly weak. Jcardshark is also going to be there, so it should be fun. I won't really have access to a computer, so updates may be limited. Its doubtful updates will be available anywhere online, but the tournament starts around noon central tomorrow. I purchased an XPS M1710 laptop from Dell yesterday, and it's really sweet. It set me back about 3000 bucks, but it will be worth it to have a very nice laptop for online play. It's custom made, so I won't receive it for a couple weeks. I'm also going to buy a Tempurpedic bed soon, I think, because I haven't bought anything for myself in a while. SS

It's been a few days since I blogged. I'm back home in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I've decided that I'm not going to blog as much. Look for blogs from me about 3-4 times per week instead of daily. I just don't have the energy to blog daily anymore, and I think it actually might help my game if I'm not worried 100% about disclosing results. The last few days I've been playing 200/400 Omaha 8, and I'm down about 20000. This neteller situation really sucks because my FTP account is dry. I have to play the games short bankrolled, and that doesn't give me the freedom to do some of the things I could do if I had buy-ins behind. I think I'm going to switch back over to PokerStars for some 25/50 NLHE for a while to see how that goes. I'm down money playing poker overall since the start of September. That doesn't include the tens of thousands I've spent on hotels, airfare, food, and other expenses. A five month span where you don't produce positive results isn't anything out of the ordinary, but it is frustrating. I think the hardest part of this lifestyle is the incredible stretches of disappointment that you have. That is especially true in the case of a tournament professional. I consider myself a tournament player by trade, and the fact of the matter is you're going to go long stretches without big cashes. I did cash for 74000 at Bellagio in December, but with the amount I spend in expenses and buy-ins, 200k+ scores are what I'm really looking for. In the meantime, I'm going to have to pour more hours into my career. I've been very, very lazy when it comes to playing cash games over the last few months. This is the best way to supplement income, and I'm going to start playing a lot. I've changed my mind, and I'm actually going to leave for Los Angeles earlier than expected, February 15ish, to get out to The Commerce to play some 20/40 and 50/100 NL live for a week or so. The games should be incredibly juicy, and I need to make some money. Following the LAPC, I'll hit The Wynn Classic in Vegas, The WPT Bay 101 event in San Jose, CA, and then the EPT 10000 euro event in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The last few days in Tuscaloosa have been laid back. On Saturday I watched Bama get run over by Arkansas in basketball. I was originally planning on going to the game, but obviously the flight from ATL to BHM that would have allowed me time to get to Tuscaloosa on Saturday got stone cancelled, putting me home 2 hours later. Each of the last 2 nights Stephanie and I have gone to the movies. Strangely, I fell asleep during both movies for short periods of time. Sunday night we saw Freedom Writers, which was fantastic. I'd say it's one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Last night Stephanie talked me into seeing the girly, Catch and Release. This one was horrendous, and it never really developed at all. Don't go see it. Tonight I'm going bowling with the guys. I haven't updated about the weight loss situation in a long time. I stepped on a scale for the first time yesterday, and I've lost 15 pounds! That is extremely exciting news. While poker has been going bad, the weight loss situation has been conversely good. I feel much more confident walking around, and I feel like my body has been cleansed because of the lack of alcohol and addition of water. Hopefully John has been eating lots of pizza buffets and other unhealthy food and packing on pounds :) I have only run 5 days in January, however. I do plan on running each of the next 4 days to make up for some lost time. The five days per week goal that I set is very unrealistic, I think. For February, I've lowered my goal. I'd like to run 12-14 times. I weigh 220 right now, and if I can get down to 200 pounds at the end of March I'll be ecstatic. Good luck to my friend John Gale at the final table of the Borgata WPT today. If ever there is a man who embodies the way someone should act at a poker table, John is the one. Also, Joe Simmons is the CL at the final table. Joe is a guy who I met and played with at Foxwoods who I think plays very, very well. As I'm meeting more and more people on the circuit it's more fun to watch the updates every couple weeks to see who ships the monster payday. Finally, I'm actually going to update shannonshorr.com, so keep an eye out for that. Hopefully it will be totally redone in the next week or two, and I mean it this time. SS

Fuck. Out in the sixth level of the main event. I'm pretty pissed off. I was down to about 26000 after a hand against Devin Porter where I raised PF with A5ss. I led the J65 flop. He called. The turn, a J, went check-check, and I bluffed 2200 on the river, a K. He called with AK. The bustout hand is a tough one. Phil Ivey came in for a raise in the hijack. He and I had about the same amount of chips. I called in the SB with AQo. An older guy who was playing very badly and routinely betting out for 2x the pot reluctantly called in the BB as well. The flop came AT9 and we checked to Ivey. Ivey bet 2500, and I raised to 6600. The older guy quickly asked how much I had left and moved a big stack of blue 5000 chips out. Ivey folded, and he mucked his cards in high. I saw a Ten. I was almost certain immediately I was going to call. The guy had been overvalueing top pairs all day, and I was sure I was good. I pondered for a full two minutes, and decided the only hand he could possibly have that beat me was T9. I thought he much more likely had QJ, 87, or something like A5. Also the fact that Ivey mucked a T made it less likely the old guy was holding T9. I said, "I might hate myself in the morning," and splashed in my last 20100. He showed the dreaded T9 and I missed my 5 outs on the turn and 8 outs on the river. I'm folding that hand 98 times out of 100, but this time it just felt right to stick it in. I guess I'm going to move my flight up one day and get out of here tomorrow. SS