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My first ever blog entry

Friday, April 24, 2009 – Hi to all The Poker Pack’s fans and supporters! My name is David “Chino” Rheem and this is the first blog entry that I have ever written.  I don’t know where to start so I am just going to give a brief explanation of myself and what’s been going on in my life since the start of 2009.

I had one of the best years of my life poker-wise in 2008, finishing 7th at the 2008 WSOP Main Event and cashing for $1.7M. To top that off, I managed to win the $15k main event at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Poker Classic cashing for $1.5M. Along with this, I personally felt that I proved myself as a professional player and overcame the heartache of what was honestly a disappointing 7th place finish in the WSOP Main Event. These are the two biggest accomplishments that I have ever had in my poker career but hopefully will not be the last.

2009 didn’t start off so bad either after I chopped the first ever $10k buy-in H.O.R.S.E Main Event during the L.A Poker Classic (LAPC) series at Commerce casino in California with Scotty Nguyen, cashing for almost $230,000. Since then not much has been going on poker-wise and I have not cashed big in any major events.

Just recently (literally a couple of hours ago)  I busted out of the WPT $25k buy-in World Championship event at the Bellagio on day 2, with a full house losing to Aces full  :-( . That’s poker… you win some, you lose some. Either way, I will keep playing and giving it my all for the rest of 2009 and beyond.

Since joining The Poker Pack I feel that it has changed my life in many ways for the better. Not only are these guys already my close friends that I respect and admire, but they are also people that I can confide in and talk to about anything and everything.  To me, The Poker Pack is more like a band of brothers who can talk over poker hands, girl problems or crack jokes with each other, not to mention that “we can play some serious poker” :-)  .

Other than that, though, my life can sometimes be a little bit topsy-turvy. I play quite high stakes online and even though I can play poker pretty well, the problem is that I am too much of a gambler and can end up losing by the end of a 12-24 hour sessions. My problem is that I don’t know when to stop when I’m winning.  So naturally in the end, if you don’t know when to quit you will end up losing!  So I have been home playing online losing obscene amounts of money which I am not proud of.  My advice that I give to everyone who reads this is:  in order to be a good poker player, you should make good decisions on managing your bankroll and have the mental discipline to control any compulsive urges that outweigh right from wrong.  I have had to learn these lessons the hard way and would rather share this with others who want to try and succeed in a career of poker. I am very lucky and grateful to be a part of this group and have friends that genuinely care about our well being.

I am currently in the process of moving into my own place in Los Angeles and paying off my taxes (the ugly, realistic side of winning a lot of money in poker). Well that’s my life in a nutshell. After a terrific 2008 and a not so bad start to 2009, it could be better, but it could be a lot worse so no complaints from me.

The next major tournament that I will be playing is the EPT Championship in Monte Carlo and then I will just relax and get my head clear and ready in the hope to have another exceptional showing at the 2009 World Series of Poker. No other tournament series is more important to me than the WSOP, last year I came 7th, and realistically it will be hard to make the final table of that main event ever again in my life, but the best part about the game of poker is that anything can happen and anybody can win. My goal for this upcoming WSOP is to win my first bracelet and this is a goal that I feel I can definitely achieve. If I am playing well and I am focused mentally, anything can happen!

Well, that’s all from me for now folks! Until my next blog this is David “Chino” Rheem saying goodbye and good luck to everyone and have a great day!