Wow, I've been totally slacking on the blogging on here. So I've actually been playing a lot of poker lately, but I don't feel like writing about it. This blog is about birthdays...

For my family, October means birthdays! My youngest sister, who is turning 15, was born on Oct. 5. My middle sister, who is turning 17, was born on Oct. 8. My mother (we won’t say her age… they don’t like that over the age of 30) was born on Oct. 9. My cousin Chelsea, my mom’s sister’s kid, was born on Oct. 13.

… and my birthday is Oct. 11. SHEEEESH!

I really wish I could go home and spend a weekend with my family, but it looks like I’m going to have to wait until the end of December.

So, in 10 days I’m going to be 24-years-old—which means, I’m going to technically be in my mid-twenties. Wow! I was thinking about how fast time has flown by on my drive home from work today, and then I remembered that had written a blog about birthdays awhile ago. I just assumed it was last year when I turned 23. Ugh, I was wrong.

I logged onto Myspace (remember that decrepit old website that used to be cool when we were kids? Haha) and I searched through my old blog entries. When I found it, I couldn’t believe I had written it TWO years ago. I was feeling a little old at 22. I thought I’d repost a little bit of that blog today:

…I kept wondering why I was not excited at all for my birthday. When you think about how reactions change for birthdays it is pretty funny…

1st birthday- Your parents probably throw a party for you where all your relatives come and watch you try to grab the burning flame from the b-day candle on the cake instead of blowing it out. You have no idea what is going on and will never remember it. The smart parents are the ones who realize this, and just say f-it. You don’t get a party cuz you won’t remember it anyway you little shit… (jk, I would never do that.)

2nd-4th b-day- You kind of understand what is going on, and you like cake by now. Presents are fun to open and you can probably blow out your own candle this time by yourself. Hopefully you are not still pooping your pants… no one likes a party pooper.

5th-9th b-day- This is the stage when you get super excited for birthday parties. Now invitations come into place which introduces children to the notion of friend selection, manipulation, and even rejection. You have to pick which friends to invite in the first place. If your parents are cool, they will let you invite however many people you want. But if you have a party at let’s say… a skating rink… well, perhaps spots are limited. You then have to choose which friends are most important.

10th-15th b-day- So now the opposite sex is what birthdays are all about. You still want a birthday party but only if boys can come. The only presents you really care about are the ones you either get or don’t get from your crush.

16th b-day- Sweet sixteen… you finally get to drive. You probably counted down the days in your school planner for at least 100 days preceding the monumental day. (365 days for me) If you are me, it is a mixed blessing. I finally had independence when I turned 16 as a junior. Everyone else could already drive so I figured I’d be a pro. Not so much. I totaled my Tercel twice by slamming it into two different trucks in the span of a year and a half. But FOR MOST people, turning 16 is all about getting the driver’s license and probably the b-day you look forward to the most.

17th- It’s a pretty good b-day. You are in high school still. People decorate your locker, your car. It’s cool.

18th- Whoohoo, you can be tried as an adult, and buy porn and cigarettes. Parents don’t even try and buy you presents anymore. From this point on, it is just money.

19th-20th- You are probably in college now so birthdays are exciting because it is another excuse to get wasted. House parties with kegs are the norm for underage college birthdays. Your friends and roommates are always aware of your birthday and tend to do something special for it.

21st- YES! You can finally get into the bars… well legally that is. Throw your fake ID’s away and proudly show that piece of plastic that actually has real laminate on it!! Regressing to your first birthday that you don’t remember, you probably don’t remember your 21st either– of course, for much different reasons. This all depends on how nice your friends are to you. In my case, my 21st b-day was not too crazy. I was in my senior year of college playing soccer and we had a “dry season.” Booo hoo. I wasn’t too sad though since I had been going to bars for the past two years thanks to a fake id from Connecticut. Do Asians even live in that state? If you are Asian and live there, Holler!

22nd- Well this is where I am at right now. It is coming up and it just seems like all birthdays from here just go downhill. I know that my Andrew will make it a special and wonderful day no matter what, but I am just not excited for it. I don’t have a lot of friends out here, and besides, there is really nothing special about turning 22. I’m not saying I’m old or that I will not look forward to birthdays in the future… I’m just trying to figure out why this one just seems so “unspecial”

So that’s what I wrote two years ago. I’d expected birthdays to go downhill from there, but I think I was mostly upset because I didn’t have many friends in Las Vegas. Things have really changed on that front though. I’ve made incredible friends at Card Player, and Andrew’s brother Tony also moved from Fort Wayne to Las Vegas.

Last Year's B-day Party

Last year, I had an incredible birthday. Andrew took me to see Sara Bareilles in concert and then he and a few of my friends threw a surprise birthday party for me a week after Oct. 11 so I was extra extra surprised! (Shout out to Ryan and Amir, both Card Player programmers, for helping and having it at their house!)

So, instead of dreading my birthday like I thought I would every year since my 21st, I’m excited this year.

Birthday’s are all about being with the people you care about (omg, I’m such a cheeseball), and as I get older, I’m realizing that more and more. I honestly don’t even want presents – psh, I bought myself one two days ago in the form of super tall black boots which Imma break out on my b-day– boooyahhhh.

Haha, I just want to go out with my friends and maybe get a little drinky on– Oh, and I kinda want to wear a crown. Is that weird?

I’m not sure I’ll always feel content and excited like this, but I think at least through my mid-twenties I will. Once I get into the late-twenties, I might feel differently, but hopefully I will have matured enough to realize that age ain’t nuthin butta numba! I can’t predict how my reactions will change to birthdays in the future, but I can say that I will be excited for my 40th because apparently, I will be official “cougar” status.

I REALLY hope you guys realize I’m not saying that I think I’m all old or over the hill. I’m just saying that the fear of getting older is a common theme among twenty-something year-olds mostly, and that it’s hilarious how outlooks on our “special day” change. 

<3 Kris

Tons of people ask me how I got my start at Card Player, so I decided to write go ahead and write a blog about it. Here goes...

When I was 20-years-old, and a junior in college back in Indiana, I used to sit in front of the computer late at night and watch Card Player videos. I especially liked the ones from the 2005 World Series of Poker because I saw that interns were doing video reports from the floor. All I could think was, “I want to do that.”

I searched around for any kind of information I could get on internships available in poker. I found an article written by Rich Belsky about how he started as an intern at Card Player, turned it into a full-time job, and eventually became the editor of Card Player College. I was riveted.

I continued going to class, playing soccer, and getting into poker games whenever I could. Andrew, my boyfriend at the time and now fiancé, and I bounced around the Fort Wayne poker scene. There were underground cash games, bar leagues (I had a fake ID from Connecticut), and home games galore. With Andrew playing for a living, it often made it difficult for me to want to go to class after all-nighters at the table, but I managed to attend just enough classes to get by, and whenever I actually did go to class, I was reading poker strategy articles anyway.

At the end of my junior year, I decided to sign up for a program called the National Student Exchange. It would allow me to go to another school in the program for a year or semester and pay the exact same tuition as I paid at my school. Seeing as how I was on an academic and soccer scholarship, I couldn't resist. As I browsed the list of options, one in particular caught my eye-- The University of Nevada Las Vegas. Wow, could I actually live in Vegas? I signed up and put UNLV as my first choice.

Fortunately, I was accepted. I had one more year of soccer, so I decided that I would go to UNLV for the spring semester of 2007. Andrew was coming with me whether he liked it or not 

I had a pretty turbulent summer dealing with a health situation that was scary and unexpected. I was lucky, and the cancerous melon-sized tumor I had on my ovary was removed without a hitch. With a new found respect for the time we have on earth, I was especially gung-ho for about chances.

At the time, Myspace was, in my own words, “THE SUPER SHIZA,” and I’d just gotten an account. I found that tons of poker players had profiles. I thought, “Hey, life is short. I’m going to send these players a message!”

This is SOOOO embarrassing… but I'm going to share with you guys a few of those messages. I’m such a nerd. Also, keep in mind I didn’t have much writing experience yet! Haha it makes me cringe reading what I wrote. (this is copy pasted btw) These players are so sweet for responding to their fans:

To: Evelyn Ng

I just wanted to tell you that you have been one my poker idols for the two years I have been playing poker. You are so beautiful and have so much class. You and Liz are my inspirations and hope to be as successful as you two in poker someday.

Her Reply: Aww, thanks Kristy. Good luck with poker and everything, and hope to meet you on tour someday. Evelyn

****

To: Daniel Negreanu

Is this really Daniel? I am a huge fan and it would be said if you were someone just pretending to be him. If you are, I wanted to say how much I admire you. I've learned so much from you and hope to see you across the table someday. Thanks, Kristy

His Reply: Is this really Kristy? I am also a huge fan of yours!! Haha yes this is really Daniel, well anyway thanks for your support, goodluck to you and I hope to see you across the table someday as well. Hopefully not taking any of my chips.

 ****

To: Mark Seif

I love your style and the way you play power poker. I'm a huge fan and you have influenced my improvement. You are my inspiration when it comes to adding agression and power to my game. As a budding poker player who takes the game seriously, I would like to tell you that I admire the way you play.

His Reply: Wow- thanks so much for the kind words and best of luck in your poker career! M

My Reply: Hey I was wondering if there was any reason you kept call John Juanda a, "Luck Box," when you were commenting for the PPT. My friends and I think that term is really funny and just wanted to see if there was any reason behind it. Thanks, your always adoring fan...

His Reply: Cause he is!! We have been calling him that for years cause for a while he kept getting his money in bad but sucking out big time

*****

I thought it was so great that these players took time out to actually respond to me. Then, I found CardPlayer.com’s Myspace page, and studied a couple profiles that were featured in its “Top Friends.” One of them was Rich Belsky and the other was Lisa Wheeler. Under her job description, it said she was a writer and photographer for Card Player magazine. I thought that it was so AWESOME! I decided to go out on a limb and send them both a message. Lisa replied the next day.

To: Lisa Wheeler

Your career and success as a woman has made you a role model for me instantly. I am a 20 year old woman, and going to school with a major in communications and a minor in journalism. I am moving to Las Vegas in December to attend UNLV to finish school and look for future job opportunities. I was wondering if you had any tips for me in terms of getting on the right path for success. Does CardPlayer offer internships? I love poker, and I love writing, so naturally I think that you have the best job. I hope you don't mind, but I thought I would at least try to pick the brain of someone successful with my dream job... (well, aside my secret professional poker player ambitions ;) ) Thank you for time, Kristy Arnett.

Her Reply:

Dear Kristy,
You are too sweet. I am forwarding this message to our intern manager right away. I would love to have you work with me during next year's World Series of Poker. When are you going to turn 21? Look me up as soon as you get to Las Vegas. I can't promise anything, but I am sure our team would love to include you in our internship program. Until then,
Lisa Wheeler

****

I almost pooped my pants from excitement! (that was an exaggeration… just so you know) The next few months went so slowly. I was so excited to move to Vegas. I recovered decently enough from my surgery to play my last soccer season ever. Of course, I continued checking Card Player everyday. I saw that Rich Belsky was doing videos along with a beautiful girl named Lizzy Harrison. I was so envious. Now THAT, was my DREAM job. By the time the New Year neared, I was ready to get outta dodge.

Andrew and I packed up our lives in two cars and drove out to Vegas with Tmo (Andrew’s brother, and mine now too) and his gf at the time. We all gasped with awe as soon as we saw the city lights illuminating the dessert. It was amazing.

Once school started, I went to UNLV two days a week and played poker everyday with Andrew. I landed an interview with Card Player, thanks to Lisa, and I got lucky that they needed help in the editorial department. I didn’t have to wait for the summer. They hired me immediately, and I started out working three days a week. I couldn’t have been happier. I walked around the Card Player office with a cheesy smile on my face. I loved it. My articles started out pretty basic, but this was my first real article:

Many Poker Pros Donate a Portion of Winnings

There's More Than One 'Robin Hood of Poker' Playing the Game

By Kristy Arnett

Poker is a game in which success is measured by the amount of money in one’s bankroll and played in a world of extreme wealth contrasted against a world of poverty. All things considered, the generosity by many poker players demonstrates the humanity that can be served through the game, and it can be truly inspirational.

The poker player most famous for his charitable donations is Barry Greenstein, who is also known as “The Robin Hood of Poker.” Greenstein has accumulated nearly $5.5 million in tournament wins and donates 100 percent of it to charity.

Greenstein, along with Victor Ramdin and Phil Ivey, have also contributed significantly to Guyana Watch, an organization that provides medical supplies and attention to the small South American country. Ramdin donated $100,000 and Ivey’s contributions to charity closely resembles his presence at the poker table —  quiet and under the radar, but hugely significant. 

Remembering Their Roots

Not all poker players are born into the luxury-filled lives that they live in now. Many come from extremely modest beginnings. Men “The Master” Nguyen escaped from the communist regime of Vietnam by boat to the United States decades ago but has not forgotten where he came from. He visits his home country frequently to do charity work including building temples and schools.

Liz Lieu and John Phan, came together in an effort to facilitate change in their birth country. They visit Vietnam a few times a year for charity work and, on their most recent trip together, bought 20 tons of rice to distribute to poor villages, children’s orphanages, elderly homes, and temples. Both also support the Make a Wish Foundation and donate a percentage of their tournament wins to the Multiple Sclerosis Society. 

Poker Community Unites

The Baby Hannum organization has gained the support of many in the poker community. The foundation was formed after the death of a beloved World Poker Tour photographer Paul Hannum, who was engaged to Sarah Percy. She was seven months pregnant with their child at the time of his passing. With the leadership of WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith, a tournament was held the night before the WPT Legends of Poker main event in the name of Baby Hannum. 

The $1,000 buy-in attracted 115 players. Jennifer Tilly won the first-place prize money but graciously turned it down to give it back to the charity.

The main event the next day showcased more compassion from poker players for the Baby Hannum organization. Scotty Nguyen, a father-to-be at the time, convinced the final table to donate a portion of their winnings. The winner, Joe Pelton, donated two times more than anyone else.

So while the success of poker players is oftentimes measured by the amount of profit they amass through playing the game, many measure a successful life using different standards, such as philanthropy. For the poker pros who give, poker is not just a game, nor just their profession; it is a way to give back and contribute to their own measure of success.

 ********

I worked so hard in the editorial department, and began expressing interest in doing videos. Lizzy was incredibly sweet (still is obv) and supportive of getting me into the multimedia department. I got my chance when she went out of town for a couple days. I got to co host, The Daily Deal. I’d post a link of my first video, but not only can I not find it, but it’s also absolutely HORRIBLE! I was so nervous I couldn’t breathe!!

I improved a little and was given the opportunity to work with the multimedia team for the summer during the WSOP. It was soooo much fun! Haha, but the first time I actually interviewed a player, I called John Phan, David Pham! OMG I knew who he was too, I just saw David Pham walking by and I was sooo nervous.

Anyway, after that, Card Player hired me full-time, and I’ve been doing it every since. Wow, so that’s my story!!!

One more thing… when I was going through my Myspace messages, I found this one and I thought it was hilarious. And FYI, “the palace” he’s referring to is the tournament room everyone in Fort Wayne played at:

From: Landon Bowser

To: Kristy Arnett

Date: Sep 6, 2006 8:27 PM

Subject: Hey

Body: hey so whats up havent seen ya at the palace lately what u doing hidin girl! you need to go so u can teach me how to bluff everyone cuz thats all u do!

 ******

Good times. I hope you are all doing well!!

Kristy

After eight long hours of picking the perfect outfit [exaggeration obv, but just noting that to be sure], I was ready for my first event. I was super excited, but nervous that a few of the women might be mean, which many people told me is the case in ladies tournaments.

For some reason, I tend to care what other people think too much. I was annoyed when some pros came by and gave me the, “Oh it’s so cute you’re playing in the ladies event”- attitude. I guess I deserve it though, I haven’t proven anything but in low stakes cash games and small buy-in tournaments.

Anyway, so I sit down to play and everyone at my table was super nice. There was a cute asian girl sitting to my left [actually a decent player… this detail comes into play later]. So we play a few hands, nothing big. After a couple rounds, this hand came up.

With blinds at 25-25 and starting stacks of 3,000, I raise to 75 with A-Q from middle position. The button calls and the big blind calls. The flop is Ks-10d-4c. The big blind checks and I bet 150. The button calls and the big blind calls. The turn is the Jc. BINK!! Nuts with nut redraw. The big blind checks and I bet 375. The button calls and the big blind raises to 800. I was thinking she had like K-10, A-K, or K-J and maybe pocket 4s. Should would reraised preflop or at least thought about it with a hand like Kings, Jacks, and probably tens. I was sure that the button caller was pretty weak too. That is why I ultimately decided to just call. So I call, and the button calls. The river was the Kc. Now I have the nut flush. She bets 1,000. Now, the way that she bet, and the amount that she bet, I was SURE she wasn’t afraid of the flush or straight… she had to have a boat. I folded. Thankfully the button called so I could see her hand. She had K-J. The button who called and lost had K-Q. My only question was, should I have shoved on turn? For value? She says should would have folded, and I don’t want to be results oriented, but that’s what I wanted right? Ugh. Anyway---

After that, I tried to recover, I managed to not go broke with top pair and a flush draw against a set and got a way from a couple pairs preflop when I wanted to show reshove on top of a raise with my little stack. Both times I would have run into kings. I fought as hard as I could, but it wasn’t enough.

So, needless to say, I was a little upset after busting. I went to go see “Up” in Real-D [somehow better than 3D] and it was soo cute. Feeling recovered, I went to go play cash. Then I started getting all these texts and messages of Facebook saying, “Great job!” “Keep it up” I’m like “WTF” hahaa PokerNews had been following the Asian girl to my left for five hours!! Gary from PN, who is super awesome, told me that it was a new guy from Australia  He didn’t know any better.

I had a ton of fun playing, though. I’m probably going to continue playing in the deepstacks at Venetian on my day off though, even though tournaments make me want to punch myself in the face sometimes.

I got to catch up with some Bluefirepoker peeps… Phil, Mikey, and Thuy. I’d never met Mikey and Thuy in person before. By reading their blogs, I already expected them to be really cool, and they both definitely exceeded my expectations . Phil is obv always awesome too. He was also nice enough to let me interview him for an article… check it out---

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/6924-run-it-twice-phil-galfond

This is the one he did before…

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/6154-run-it-twice-phil-galfond

I hope everyone is doing well!

Kristy

Alright... this is going to be a quickie

So I didn't win the Card Player freeroll for the main event seat. I was super bummed, but there wasn't much I could do since the structure was so fast. It was kind of a crap shoot but the guy who won is really good, so he'll represent well. After I was knocked out, I sulked my way over to the $1-$3 game at Caesars, and proceeded to go on a heater. I won almost a G-banger in an hour and a half, which got me thinking, maybe I should play the ladies event---

I just really want to play a World Series of Poker event, and it happens to fall on Sunday, the only day I have off. Last Sunday I played the $500 Venetian Deep Stack and got knocked out 34th of almost 600. I played 12 hours and got paid $1,000 brutal. Haha I swore off tournaments after that, but obviously without much conviction since I'm already considering another one. I must be a masochist.

I was thinking of selling a piece of myself for the event, but I'm not sure what is standard. If someone pays half of my buy-in, what percentage of me should they get? Someone told me 50 percent, but that seems like way too much since that is the percentage a lot of backers get when they put up the whole buy-in. Another person said 25 percent, but that seems low. Does anyone here really know? Help!

Thanks guys,

Kristy

Ohhh, the World Series of Poker is upon us.

The games were so great over Memorial Day weekend, and I put in almost 25 hours. It felt good to grind since I hadn’t been happy with how much time I’d put in so far this year. 

I knew that the series was nearing when I found myself in a $1-$2 no-limit game with a $4 straddle and $15 blind bets every round. Average stack was about $800, and people were getting full stacks in with second and third pair. I ran pretty well, but ended the session on a really disappointing note. I got bluffed in a spot that normally I wouldn’t, but I got caught up protecting my stack because I knew was getting up in a few minutes. SOOOO amateur, I know…

I thought about blaming it on a-a-a-a-a-lcohal… haha I was pretty hung over. My roommate had three friends in town who are a rare breed--- half womanizing bastards half super considerate gentleman. They were 110 percent respectful to me, and even protective over me in the club when we all got a table at Prive… but their number one objective was finding hot women. Haha, I’m totally ok with this since most all my friends are guys, and I’ve learned to become a very good wingwoman. But by the end of the night, I think I got sick of it through my drunken haze...

I’m sitting on the ground in a dress with my strappy stilettos in my hand (classic vegas drunk girl scene). Finally a cab comes and all of us pile in.

“Driver, you gots any tunes?”

“Naw man, but I can sing.”

“Yeah sing!”

“Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-lcohal”

“Whoo hooooooooo” (in unison from all the guys in car, as I roll my eye, drunkenly)

“To the Palazzo please.”

“What? The Palazzo?” I ask as I pick up my head, already half asleep from the motion of the cab. “I thought we were going home.”

“No Kris, we’re gonna mack on some hoes.”

“but… I donwanna mack on some hoes” I slur.

Needless to say, I was overruled and we did indeed, “mack on some hoes.”

So the World Series of Poker $40k event begins tomorrow. I’m excited, for sure, and I’m going to have so much fun doing videos for Card Player, but I’m a little sad too. It’s just another year that I have no plans on playing any events. I’m going to be working pretty much everyday. I just love poker, love the excitement, love everything about it, and wish I could be a part of it. I do have one shot to play in the main event though. Every year, Card Player puts together a freeroll for its employees. They give away one seat. I want to win it SO bad. It’s next Thursday, so I’ll let you guys know how it goes. If not, it’s ok. I’m definitely going to grind cash games…

Anyway, any of you guys coming out to Vegas for WSOP?

I hope you guys are doing well. There are a couple hands I want some advice on, but I think I’m getting sick so I need to get to bed.

Oh yeah, one last note. I went to the Annie Duke "Sucking out on the Rivers" charity tournament benefitting Refugees International tonight. She totally should have won Celeb Apprentice! What do you think?

Kristy

Heyyy from Francaaay!

it's about 4:30 a.m. here in France and I can't sleep. I got some exciting stuff going on in my personal life, but I can't talk about it yet :) As far as poker goes though, I got to check out the Aviation Club de France!

It's kind of a legendary place, and nothing at all like playiing poker in a casino in Vegas. First of all, it's located on a busy street called Champs Elysees. It is like a hole in the wall entrance, guarded by big men in suits. Once you are in the doors, you make your way up a creaky spiral staircase with worn in red carpet. The walls are full length mirrors decorated with large black stickers shaped as suits.

At the top of the staircase, there a two door security system. You must be buzzed in the by a security guard, and once you pass the first door, you must wait until it is closed before he will buzz you into the second set of doors. For those who have never been there, you have to pay a membership fee and fill out paperwork to enter. Once you have a membership, you receive your own Aviation Club card. At every entry and exit, you have swipe your card, and scan your index finger into the computer. Once it recognizes your print, your picture pops up onto the computer. Only after they compare your face to the picture, are you allowed to finally enter the poker room.

The lowest no limit games are 2-2 and 2-4. They play with 2 dollar chips and 10 chips, which is a little odd for bet sizing. When I was there, they had some 25-50 nl games, and even bigger omaha games. They also had five card draw! The dealers deal totally differently, and it's hard to explain how, but I like it better. Drinks are free just like in Vegas, and nearly everyone there speaks english, so I didn't have a problem raising or anything. I played for about an hour and made a little over 100 euro... The games were decent, and I wish I could have stayed longer. Haha, when I called a river bet with fourth pair and it was good, three players at the table said, "oh la laaa!!" haha that's so cute, ah i'm such a girl.

Anyway, this place it's beautiful. The history is so rich and the architecture is so amazing. It's funny, there are things here are that are soo old, and in Vegas, nothing is more than like, 10 years old. I also got to catch a local soccer game. It was BA (Bad Ass) Well the home team was Paris Saint Germain, and they ended up scoring an own goal and losing 0-1, but it was still super fun! Any of you Euro soccer fans? I hope everyone is doing well! i'm so tired, so i don't feel like proofreading....

Kristy

Sup poker homedogs,

Help, I'm sad. I need to post something funny at the top of this blog so that it's not so gloomy....

HAHAH ahhh so funny! Do I think it's funny because I play soccer? Or because I'm a girl and I don't understand how much pain that poor kid is in?

Anyway, I'm super sad because I took a long hard look at my poker stats... and I realized that we are a quarter of the way through 2009, and I've played less live poker in the first four months of the year than I usually play in a couple weeks. I knew I'd been busy, since my job has increased my travel schedule, and I'm often working weekends, but I didn't realize how much poker I'd cut out. My stats when I play are still good... my ave. hourly is down a little this year compared to last year... but I really wanted to make a commitment to poker in 2009, and I just haven't done it. Granted, I've dedicated a few more hours to playing online, but it doesn't come close to making up for the deficit.

And it's not just poker... All the goals I set for myself have somehow taken a backseat to whatever it is I want at the moment. I have a hard time choosing between what will help me now, and what will help me later. I wanted to do the Aflac Irongirl Triathlon this May. Actually, my goal was to win my age group. I would start to train, and then stop. Start again, and then get caught up working out of town, make excuses, and have to start over again. Before I knew it, it was too late...

What else was there... hmmm Oh, I wanted to start writing a book. I have a great idea for one, but I just never started it! Everytime I sat down to do it, I kept thinking that I was stupid for trying because I have hardly any experience with fiction writing... and it might be bad. Still, that's not a good excuse.

The only thing I find comfort in, is that I'm doing well at work, which is the part of my life I probably spend most of my time and effort on... I wonder if that's a bad thing??  I still struggle a little with videos here and there, but honestly, I think it's a confidence issue--- which I probably shouldn't talk about so frankly to some of the people who might watch them. Hmmmmm, I'm thinking if I should delete what I just typed, ahh uhhh um. F, oh well.

I wanted to fix all of this at once.  Haha, so right after work, I'm going to do an hour and a half of cardio and then going to play some poker. But seriously, I really want to get back on track. I don't want to let life pass by anymore. Wow, it just got kinda deep. Sorry if I gave you the "Too much info on the third date" feeling... haha cuz it's my third blog! GET iT? That was bad. 

Oh yeah I'm going to France on Thursday. Not for the Grand Final, just for vacation!! I'm excited and I need it. My Bf's mama lives there so it won't be too expensive and flights are super cheap right now. I'll keep you posted about the trip! I plan on checking out the Aviation Club de France! WHoot. (obv i'm a poker player and more excited about that than the Eiffel Tower)

Kristy

P.S. This is also hilarious... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU3WgN--sFs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ffailblog.org%2Fpage%2F8%2F&feature=player_embedded

Alright here's the short version of my poker story... killa_cam ty for asking :)

I've been playing poker for about four years. About two years ago, I moved Las Vegas to finish school, get a job, and play poker. I was fortunate enough to get a job in poker! Being around the game I love for a full-time job is pretty much perfect.

I play almost everyday -- mostly live, but I've been playing more online recently. I have to admit,  I am seriously ashamed of the lack of ground I've covered in terms of stepping up and really improving. I have remained "comfortable" being a winning player at low stakes. No major improvements have been made to my game in awhile, simply because I never have to make them. You will rarely find players at low stakes in Vegas who make you think beyond level 1. Well, I'm done with that and I'm ready to put in the work.

So here's where I am at right now. When I play live cash games, I play $1-$2 or $1-$3 and sometimes $2-$5 NLH.  My hourly is $40 and I typically play between 10-25 hours per week which is hard because I work full-time. I promise I'm not a typical weak/passive "girly" type player. I'm obviously not saying that all girls are weak/tight--- there are amazing women players, but I'm just not afraid to admit that most ladies at the table I come across play that way. I do have a certain style that includes a lot of bluff catching given my table image in live games, but of course, that works less online.

I'm less comfortable playing online, so I'm trying to get back into it. The amount you can learn online is just too good to pass up. Hahah OBV, I'm preaching to the choir. Anyway, I'm starting at 0.25-0.50 cent (yawn- I know). I want to see progress and build and step up, so maybe this is my way of assuring that it won't take long to step up. I started with $400, a few weeks ago. I'm up to a little over a G-banger (that means $1k haha). I'm finding it hard to keep focused for long periods of time online and have trouble with anymore than five tables. It think I need to work on my endurance! As far as tournaments go, I've had some success, a couple four and five digit scores... meh.

So that's my story. As a super competitive person, it's hard to admit and discuss the super stagnate stage I've been in... I think there is something about my personality, the prevents me from moving out of my comfort zone, and I think it has a lot to do with lack of confidence and gamble. Anyway, that's all I've got.

I'm covering the WPT Championships right now. It's going really well, and there are a ton of awesome players left. OH, and my new obsession is Twitter... so you can find me on there too. www.twitter.com/kristyarnett

Kristy

Sup poker homies 

Hey, It’s me KRISTY--- haha just kidding Mikey, I ain’t trying copy you and cramp yo’ style. People who say imitation is the biggest form of flattery are the ones who copy other people cuz they can’t think of anything original.

Oh wait, I thought of an exception. If you’re a little sibling, it’s totally cool to copy your older siblings. My little sisters do that, and it’s super cute. Wow, the first two paragraphs in my blog and I’m already rambling. ANYWAY…

Thanks for reading my first blog here on BlueFire. I’ve kept a diary for as long as I can remember, so I’m used to writing down my thoughts and sorting through my life on paper. Haha, I still have a lilac purple diary secured with a fake lock that I kept in fourth grade. Most of it was saying stuff like, “Dear Diary, I really like Joe. He’s so cute and he has the coolest shoes. They light up when he walks.” Of course my writing has evolved over the years... In middle school, it was more like, “Dear Diary, we had a school dance today and I got to slow dance with three guys- Grant, Justin, and Josh, but I didn’t like dancing with Josh because his belt kept poking me…” Hahaha… ha.  In high school, my entries were typical teenage talk like—“Dear Diary, my parents don’t know anything and I’m the smartest person in the world. Also, broads be crazy.”

Ok, so my writing became a bit less shallow in college, and it was then that I discovered a passion for it. That’s when I decided to start writing blogs. It’s so great to write down your life’s journeys and get feed back from other people. Unfortunately, I stopped really writing in the last year. I’d start and then stop again, but I’m excited to get back into it, and hopefully a few people on here will keep me accountable for updating my blog.

Here’s what you can a expect—lots about life, lots about poker, and a cuteness factor of 10!!  If you’re tired of reading ugly plain blogs, look no further. I’m obsessed with emoticons and pics 

So here’s a little bit about me: I’m 23 and I grew up in Michigan. I went to college in Indiana to play soccer. I’ve lived in Vegas for the past 2 years and work for Card Player Magazine as a writer and video host.

For my next blog, I’m going to explain my start in poker, but for now, I’m going to say Adios!

Thanks for reading!

Kristy