The Game and the Name

Edit: Looking back I realize I was 20, in the prior post, not 19. Not that important, but just to clarify.

Being that my online career is somewhat extensive considering my age, I guess I should explain where the name "Syndrome" came from. From the previous post you can probably see my friend Shai was the kid who got me started. Shai understood that I somehow made reads that her didnt completely understand, but he knew they were correct. Well the kid is a science guy and everytime I made a move that would not make sense to most but proved to be correct, he would say 'Turner Classic Syndrome', due to the similiaraties to my last name. Well, apparently thats a disease with characteristics of a larger than normal person with far below average intelligence, a genome I believe its called. He said it to make fun of me, but at the same time meant it as a compliment. Well, this began happening more frequently so he began shortening it to 'Syndrome'. I liked the name and it stuck, so that was that. Well, 'Syndrome' began during the 6 month sessions we had at the neighbors, and during some kitchen table games and has been so ever since.

******

I walk into my apartment after work to find it empty which is rare. Adam and Shai come home shortly thereafter with some Arby's, upset they didnt call me I talk Shai into giving me a melt. He tries to charge me an extreme amount to which i laugh at. He replies:

Shai: What are you worried about, you have more cash than any of us.

Drome: I work bitch

Shai: Then lets win it online

Drome: I dont feel like it (I really didnt want to risk the money, knowing i had to BR)

Shai: Oh cmon, its free money

Drome: Sure it is, but not always

Shai: OK, OK, I see your scared

Drome: Fuck you, obviously thats not it

Shai: Ya? I bet you cant win rent by the time its due
*******

I know Shai just wanted me to play, but a challenge is not something i can pass up.
******
October 20, 2002

I take Shai's bet, and open up my account on Party Poker. Syndr0me. The regular Syndrome was taken, so I had to use the zero. I deposit $100 and begin playing $20 SnG's. For the first little while there was very little headway, we were at about $130 after a couple days or so and at this point i was playing primarily on my own.

October 25th, 2002

I hit my first run, ever. I was playing by myself at the 20s. I was playing 2 at a time now and hit 'snake eyes' 2 firsts. That was big for me at the time and I did the only thing a gambler knows to do. Moved up. I played 30's then 50's, by the end of the day I was at $1,200 and bragged my ass off to my roomates. Then I did something that will make all BR mgmt experts cringe. I enter a $100 MTT, with 440 entrants.

****

Now its important to note that this was not my first MTT. I had played many with shai during our first 3 month hiatus, with one cash totaling $700. A 3rd in a $30 trny. We were extatic at the time. It seemed like so much money. The reason i entered the trny was for one obvious reason. I was hot. Well about 30 minutes into the trny Shai walks in the room and there is about 350 people left and i had about T3500 when starting chips were only 1k. I was over double average and of course shai wants to join in the action. Being that he was going to hang out either way I thought being the good friend i am that I would cut him in on 1/3 the action but he would have to pay the $100 entry fee. Made sense to me at the time. I was getting my buy in back and still getting 2/3 the gross. Well, I will go over a couple hands i lucked out on:

~blinds: 400/800 stack 15k villain 10k 45 players left

Villian is to my right and stealing my blinds with consistency. I finally get fed up and call with 6h2h and plan on outplaying him. (we were in the blinds HU). FLop hits

4h 8h 10c giving me a flush draw

Villain bets out ~2k into a 4k pot. I immediately push wish results in a very upsetting call with his Ah9h. I remember thinking how upset i was till the magical 6d turns and a blank on the river. Now I had a huge stack. I win some races and lose one key one with 1010 <> AQ in one hand then QQ > 1010 and all of a sudden I am CL with 4 left. It gets to HU and the other guy has me at a 2:1 advantage. Then, i raise from the button with Q9s and he immediately puts me all in, i am getting to good of odds to fold and i call. Long story short, i hit a Q on the river. The very next hand I have AdX he pushes and i insta call his Qd10x. Flop hits with 2 diamonds, turn d, river d, and all of a sudden the screen tells me I have just won $10,700. This is were my poker life took off............

The Life

Well, this is the first real post so I guess I have to decide where to start. I am going to focus on the poker side of my life, and probably mix in some stuff on girls because that is always fun to hear about right?

How I got started

19 years old, 'college poor' at University of Florida, and loving life. Now college poor is a different kind of poor. My mom and step dad had money, but anyone who has money in college gets in trouble, or wastes it. Later on, I become no different.


I remember sitting on the couch of my cheap sofa with 2 of my roomates, Adam and Ryan, in our 1k a month place (4 people). I asked where Shai (other roomate) was. They said upstairs. Now normally I wouldnt go up and bother for fear of something gross, but Shai owed me $20 and I was hungry, so I was hoping to get money for a Wendy's #6. Surprisengly the door was open, and I walked in and sat on the bed (he was at the desk chair) and he was playing a card game online. Now at the time, he and I were very proficient at spades and would work the local kids at a good game for $5 a head, but I knew it wasnt spades. I ask what hes doing and he says:

Shai: Playing poker

Drome: For money (funny that i asked that back then)

Shai: Ya

Drome: how much?

Shai: $20

Drome: Sweet, so you got my $20

Shai: not exactly, i put $50 on my brothers credit card. He said I could use it in emergencies.

Drome: Great (sarcastic), when can i get that $20.

Shai: Why dont you just gamble with me. I just started this and I lost the first $10....

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Looking back, its odd how such small things can have such dramatic affects on ones life
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He had $17 plus was in what at the time i called a 'single table tournament' for $20. I figure I will never see the $20 from him and agree. To make a long story short, he and I begin playing daily. Learning small tricks, playable hands and the like. Now one might ask how I knew how to play. To be honest, I dont know. I remember I knew how to play when watching, but I can honestly not put an exact time when i learned the rules.

About 3 weeks passed and we were allthe way up to $800 and change on his account. Now I know this may seem an odd amount to go up in that time, and how we didnt bust never playing below $20 still shocks me, but it happened. Now half the account is mine and we cash out. The money at the time was too much to risk, I had $400 which seemed like a fortune to me. Of course, we couldnt help but tell the whole neighborhood about our new fortune and tried getting kitchen table games together. It worked for awhile, but didnt really take off till our neighbor decided on having a .25/.50 NL game. This wasnt exactly your typical neighbor. He was the local 'supplier' if you will. He knew the lowlifes in Gainesville, unintelligent low lifes. Shai and I beat this place up once a week for around 6months. I remember I lost $20 once, biggest win was $70. If i had any other losing sessions it was less than $5.

From those games I remember one thing, and one thing only. It didnt matter how bad these players were, didnt matter they had no definable range of starting hands, didnt matter that they played everything, it didnt even matter that they werent even sure how good their hand was at times. I could always figure out what they had.


Money can make a man act funny

This time came and went and summer started, I got a shitty internship in Tampa that didnt pay shit. It sucked, but one important thing that happened was a call I got from my friend Craig, a finance guy.

Craig: Yo T, wut up

Drome: Chillin at my place, wut u up to

Craig: Well, I had a very important business meeting today (Craig was the classic overexaggerater and braggert, so I just assumed I was going to have to tell him I had to take a shower or something)

Ty: Oh ya, with who

Craig: Matt Heinze

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This is important only because Matt owned the one company at UF that every kid knew about. Tutoringzone (www.tutoringzone.com). Now, this oddly enough played a fundamental part of my poker career.
********

Drome: Cool......uh, why?

Craig: Well, it happens to be that TZ is expanding to the accounting world, but they dont have anyone to teach it. He asked me if I knew someone cuz I am in his class (Matt was a TA till UF booted him). I dropped your name (at the time I was running a 4.0 in accounting and was known for being a pretty bright kid).

Drome: Really? What he say

Craig: Wants to meet you.

Drome: Craig, you hook this up I cut you in 5% (this was Craig's language, he loved mafia type stuff, and I knew exactly what to say to make it happen)

Well, I meet Matt and get an opportunity with Tutoringzone. I hadnt played poker in prolly 3 months, when I got my first paycheck from TZ. $1600 for maybe 25 hours of work (over the course of 4 weeks).

A few days later Shai comes up to me and asks if he can borrow money (he still owes me money to this day). I say no and he asks if I will deposit money money in his poker account. He explains how and I reluctantly agree and we begin this cycle again.........with one notable difference. I was making all the calls. Within a month we had $1200 and cashed it out. It wasn't but 2 days later, when Shai made the challenge that changed my poker career......

Welcome

So, Welcome to my life. I will prolly post very lil, but for those who read. Thank you.