Fast-Forwarding Through the Hard Times to Get to the Good Times

I'm not going to go into any great detail about how bad things had turned all through December, from New Orleans to AC.

I played great, but just kept coming up short, extending my non-cash streak to almost 20+ tournaments - which is a lot for me. A lot for anyone.

I had a great New Year's with a lot of great people, which was immediately followed up with some serious personal life issues outside of poker that were not even close to fun. These are the ups and downs of life that everyone figures out how to deal with in their own way.

I started playing a lot more live cash games lately and that proved to be profitable for a change of pace from dumping money on traveling and tournaments for the past 3-4 months.

The best part about the cash games is that I get to eat better than I do in any hotel anywhere, thanks to Tommy Mauro over at Fatty's.

Tommy is a good poker player in his own right but an even better guy, who makes a kick-ass chicken roll! Anyways ... the cash games had been going well, and it seems like whenever I'm faced with challenges in life I always step up to the plate.

That brings us to the Borgata, where I am writing from right now. Somehow, someway, when things in life are uncertain and people start doubting me and my back seems to be up against the wall, I fight right the f**k through it! I will never give up and I will never back down from a challenge.

The first tournament I decided to play of 2009 was a $400 buy-in, the first event of the three weeks I will be at Borgata. Many people didn't like the idea of a deep-stack tourney with such a small buy-in and so many players.

Money bags.

I felt like I was playing well and being that some people had their doubts for whatever the reason may be ... I still find myself playing on my own money, which to be honest is getting dangerously close to where I am uncomfortable.

I've been going back and forth with the idea of a backer, and I know a lot of players with far less accomplishments than myself that seem to have the money secured for them to play whatever they want whenever they want, and I guess that has been what I've been looking for, and have not yet found.

Long story short ... after three days of total domination, your 2008 World Series of Poker bracelet winner shipped his first tournament of 2009 for $102k!!!

Like I've said all along, I am not going anywhere - Jason Young will be around for a long time to come, and for the math guys out there, what exactly is the ROI for putting up $400 to win $51,000?

There were at least half a dozen people with an opportunity to put me into the Borgata series of tourneys, and when it came down to it, I went to the bank and grabbed $10k with the plan of buying myself into everything.

Man, what a nice start to a relationship that could have been huh? I got so pissed I had to ship the whole thing!

Details of the win are coming in the next blog with hand reviews, some sick reads, huge calls, even bigger lay-downs and a start-to-finish analysis of how to navigate a field of 1,600 players from start to finish and win the tournament.

Young Jaseezy

I played a lot with Trevor "TreMoney" Savage, who has a real bright poker future ahead of him, and I want to give a quick shout to my new buddy Matt R. Thanks for reading - stay focused and good things will come!

I've signed on with PPI (pokerplayersinternational.com), who is just pwning the whole poker world right now, and I want to give a special thank you to Curtis and Company for doing things the right way and for the sick watch!

Randy Kasper, Gene Castro and Eric Siegel are really doing things the right way over there. The celebration was great as Al, Micah, Dave, Val, Will and a whole crew of others came out to celebrate the win with me.

2009 is off to a great start and I only expect bigger and better things to come. I fully expect to have bigger results in my first full-time year of playing poker professionally than I did last year. Any questions and comments are always welcome @ JYoungpoker@hotmail.com

Let's go!

JY

Editor's Note: Jason Young came out of nowhere to win a bracelet at the 2008 World Series of Poker and has taken his newfound bankroll and hit the pro circuit in hopes of building poker into a full-time career.

He'll be posting on his progress in an exclusive series of blogs for PokerListings.com over the next few months.

• Full Life Tilt Volume 1
• Slow-Rolled ... Plus Bloggers Gone Wild
• Beast of a Table at Worst Place in the World
• Phelps, Foxwoods and Hustled by an Old Lady