CPMG Podcast Reviews (feat. Prowest & Nautica Brian)

Episode 6 of the CPMG Podcast featured guest Dave "#SuperTightProwest" Westfall, who is a successful tournament player in the group.  Prowest also makes a MEAN pot of beef stew that he was kind enough to share with everyone at the 2011 CPMG Fall Classic.  Our esteemed Cmdr. Data - a fine dining aficionado - even gave the stew an 8/10 if that gives you an idea of how good it was (REALLY good).  Aside from being an excellent cook, Prowest is a pretty good poker player and talked about how he started playing different game variations with the CPMG's original founder Craig.  I wasn't even aware that John Coleman had a predecessor, so that was pretty interesting.  I really don't have much else to say about this episode other than it's always a pleasure to see Prowest at my table - nice guy, good player.

Episodes 7 & 8 featured guest Nautica Brian, a successful cash game grinder.  I don't know Brian very well and haven't spoken to him much aside from dealing at his cash table a few times.  I knew he was a good poker player who preferred cash games over tournaments, but not much else.  Imagine my surprise when these two episodes ended up being my favorites of all the CPMG Podcasts by far.  Brian first spoke about his poker background, then talked about transitioning from playing online poker to playing live in the wake of Black Friday.  He mentioned that watching CardRunners training videos helped him make many necessary adjustments to his game.  Throughout the episodes, Brian shared dozens of useful tips on advanced cash game strategy, bankroll management and game selection - just to name a few.  He easily gets my vote for Most Informative Guest of the CPMG Podcast.  Since Nautica Brian is a cash game grinder by profession, I was able to relate to him on many things as a former online SNG/MTT tournament grinder.  To give you an example, when Brian mentioned feeling the need for something new/fresh after sitting in front of his computer screen alone in his basement for hours on end, I remember feeling the exact same way - anxious and overwhelmed - and taking random spur of the moment trips up to Casino Windsor to play $3/$6 limit or to Greektown to play $1/$1 NLHE ($100 max).  Quite simply, the daily grind can grow tiresome, but Nautica Brian seems to combat this well with other hobbies like running and marathon training.  Overall, the CPMG Podcasts episodes featuring Nautica Brian are a must-listen for any poker player.

Once again, thanks to CPMG Podcast hosts Doug Poker and Cmdr. Data for investing their time and money into something that I thought was a great contribution to the group.