Running Good?

Beginning to play a little more poker now as life becomes more settled.

University effectively starts on Monday, the full timetable takes effect. I'm completely bombarded with work and what with lots of other responsibilities within uni now (final year, giving it my all, boosting CV, searching for perfect job, yada yada yada) and maintaining a healthy relationship - I have little free time. That said, I'm enjoying it a lot more and although its the usual thing ("new term, new start" philosophy) I do feel as though I'm doing well and enjoying it most importantly. Baby steps!

But due to the above I'm actually set in a routine and because of that I find little pockets of time to do what I want with. I'm completely hammering the gym and loving it so that ends up being my preference if I have a spare hour here and there. That only supports my routine though and enables me to stick to it. On the accommodation front its all sorted and I'm going to stay put until Xmas. I think this will be for the best for a multitude of reasons.

So, poker. I've got a casino day lined up with a friend in a couple of weeks so that will be my first taste of the live circuit in a while. Online however, I'm playing on a daily basis. Fundamentally though its just cash, I'm not able to dedicate an evening to getting on the tournament grind and I fear this could be the case for the foreseeable future. I'm mixing a few SNGs in where I can but I might have a free hour or so and boot up 4 tables of 50/1. I've done this virtually everyday and without getting PT up I'd be confident of saying I've knocked up a fair few thousand hands, and been profitable. Undoubtedly a tiny sample size and undoubtedly there were phases of run good in there but nonetheless I'm feeling pretty happy. I'm also sticking to a system I have in place. I'm maintaining the roll at figure 'x' and withdrawing regularly for every $100+ I have earned. It means the roll isn't growing but given I'm unable to commit any serious amount of time to poker or get on the grind more consistently with a particular game, it makes sense to just let it pay for my expenses on a day-to-day basis.


Now I'm beginning to find my feet a bit more and settling in to my routine I'm hoping I can report on some progress on the poker front a bit more. At the moment its sort of like a fix, I'm eager to play but unable to commit to the 2am nights again. That was a dangerous game last year and as its my final year there is no way I'm going there again. Equally, if I can't put in the volume then there's no point. I predicted this would happen in the final year so I'll have to make a way round it! For now that's grinding the cash games where possible so I'll report on a bi-weekly basis on that front!

GL

Update

I guess I am guilty of not fulfilling promises, again, but I won't dwell on that!


I've had a pretty hectic time of it since my last update. Predominantly that's been down to university starting back up and my housing situation, or distinct lack of it. I'm currently staying at a friends house and they (couple) fortunately have a spare room. Its actually been epic and we have a right laugh consistently but obviously its something I'd rather nip in the bud. I'd rather end on a high than let it drag out a little and end up leaving because its becoming a tad strained. But anyway, the situation has had an affect of my poker-playing abilities due to the fact I can't be entirely unsociable in someone else's house!

Uni has also started back up and to be honest I'm really motivated and as a result probably enjoying it more. Its setting in that I graduate in nine months time or so and as a result I'm determined to come out with what I want. There are lots of positives to take from things at the moment. Although negatives too but I won't dwell on them either!


So, on the poker front... I have managed to play a fair few hands on 50/1. My purpose behind that was basically to avoid becoming completely stagnate and needing considerable time to get in the groove. It also has its financial benefits! I'm set up on PokerSavvy but its just been impossible to find the time to study any videos properly - having them on in the background whilst doing other things is just pointless. But anyway, through 50/1 I've managed to work the roll back up to near the $2k mark so I'm providing myself with a decent foundation from which to work from again. I'd like to jump straight in there and at least be grinding for some decent bucks and with this roll I can do that again.

For the time being I'm not going to be able to get in to tournament mode but I do hope to allocate more time for Savvy videos, whilst also mixing in some cash to keep it fresh in my mind. I have zero plans to get a place of my own right now either - I'm not paying a dime to be here so it makes sense. Instead, if the right place comes along - I'll jump on it. I'm active though, just a crying shame that poker requires so much commitment to maintain the levels of the start of this year!!

Pastures New

Apologies in advance, to any regular readers, but part of what I'm about to say may well be find repeated, a lot, in the content of previous blog posts.

Nonetheless, when I set this up I endeavoured to maintain it, and that I shall.

Summer is now officially drawing to and end for me. I guess, in effect, it did last weekend. Over the last week I've been on a week-long course/placement, which was extremely enjoyable, useful and exhausting. Not only did it consist of solid 12-14 hour days but also a collection of pretty unique people. I'm really glad I went on it, not only for the networking opportunities it provided me in the City but also the people I met, its a rarity these days.

I'm not preparing to head back down to London in order to start uni again in a week's time. I'm going a tad early due to the arrival of the missus again (obv my taxi services are required) and I also fancy checking out the Freshers for a final time! Those are the fun reasons for me going down anyway but there is also a more serious purpose!

One of these is finding a flat and its something that is of particular interest given its relation to my poker-playing abilities. I haven't had much desire to play this summer but when I have wanted to the internet connection I have has been appalling. Words cannot describe how bad it is. Nobody contemplate using AOL as an ISP, PLEASE..

So, I'm staying at a mates' house for a couple of weeks and this will be my first opportunity to play. There won't be any mammoth sessions by any stretch of the imagination but I do certainly intend to put in some hours. Hopefully come the first or second week of October I'll then have my own place and that will be where my commitment can be demonstrated once again. I'm serious about playing again, not only because I miss it from a recreational and social point of view but also from the financial side of things. What will be interesting is that I am EXTREMELY unlikely to experience what I experienced this time last year - getting off to a flyer via the shipping of a tournament! The roll still remains at $1300, which I'm very pleased at managing to hold on to. So its going to be a case of really grinding out the 45s and 90s on Stars and hopefully building up to the point I was before the summer. I've spent the majority of the money and its not something I regret. This time I will plan it differently and make regular withdrawals, so as not get to the point where its an "all or nothing" situation. However, this summer has been like no other in terms of my ability to refuse to work, get some work experience under-my-belt and just have an absolute blast of a time doing whatever I want. Of course it puts me in a more difficult position now but how often do those times come around in one's life? Rarely imo. It will take a serious amount of planning now because I need to fit in a serious amount of university commitments and a part-time job whilst also balancing a girlfriend and social life alongside that. I turned down the option of living with a couple of people last week for this reason and I hope the decision doesn't back-fire. I could have lived with another couple, who are close friends or two lads but I truly believe I stand a better chance of being able to enjoy the year by achieving all my goals and having fun along the way by living on my own. Typically that's the more expensive route by a country mile but hey ho. The pressure is good!


So, anyway, I've ranted on once again. I've had a great summer, accomplished almost everything I wanted to but I'm not back and raring to go. Its going to be a difficult twelve months for a host of reasons I feel but if I set out with the right intentions from the offset then I can at least look back in the knowledge that I gave it my best shot.

Permanent Procrastination

Its been a while so I thought I'd at least update on my lack of updates.


I haven't really played any poker since being at Jon's and grinding a bit there. I've occasionally found myself satisfying an urge and 2-tabling 50/1 but nothing in the way of tournaments. Plus, those small bursts of energy on 50/1 have actually earned me few quid!

I feel like I've done nothing but I think I've actually done quite a lot since my last blog post. A few days after that I went down to London for a week to celebrates various birthday's and graduations alike. Nothing really went according to plan but it was real good fun - particularly the surprise birthday party I organised for my girlfriend. That went down well and earned me some brownie points! We also stayed in a hotel in West London for a week, which was pretty awesome, simply due to the fact that it was like a holiday in London, as opposed to constantly having to study or work or whatever.

I successfully managed to drop £110 on roulette during my stay there. Apparently a £2 min bet is epically expensive. Although, £15 on 36 red was the highlight of my endeavours. Fortunately I was with people I had to "act calm" with. My girlfriend (not even me, honestly..) portrayed me as this baller who doesn't give a toss about money. So whilst this one guy is hitting numbers for fun, I'm hitting the dealer (mentally) but I have to maintain a calm persona. I was literally blowing steam inside but it kind of made it amusing and obviously Melina was in hysterics cos she knew how pissed off I was. Good times.

It was generally an awesome week to be fair. I shipped a new car for birthday and then had a few mates round on Saturday night, back in Newport, to celebrate all over again. It turned out to be an amusing advert for the household - a bit of a reality tv show but it was a good laugh and those that came are effectively friends of the family in its entirety, with the way my parents are. That makes it all the more fun cos everyone engages in the banter and its more enjoyable, less awkward etc. More good times.

After that it was Global Gathering, Phenomenal. I could write an essay on it at least but I think "less is more" becomes effective in this instance. The whole thing was mind-blowing and it reminded me how good such things are.

Now its on to Greece - I leave in a few hours! Three weeks of sun, sea, sand and sex. The only thing I am definitely doing is a bungee jump. I half experienced one in Global. I say half cos it was a shitty little one off a crane and I was pretty drunk so didn't exactly enjoy it. I passed this one in Greece last summer and I've said I'm doing it. So I am. Other than that I think its going to be a really chilled three weeks. No trips to islands etc are planned as yet, see what happens when I'm out there.

Maybe I'll turn this blog into something else for the time being and I'll update on my trip when I get back, if its at all exciting! Its kinda weird now cos it will be the 4th time I will go over there. I'm not one for going to the same holiday destination twice but given the circumstances I'm effectively obliged to. I know my way around the place, where's best to eat and drink, what road to take there etc etc etc. Its sort of odd cos I don't feel like I'm going away right now. Anyway, I digress.

Three weeks after that I'll be back in London for an internship and its possible I'll stay there at that point, look for a new place and then get back into uni and ultimately poker. My roll is still around the $1300 mark so its decent enough to get grinding with.

We'll see! GL in August!

Nostalgic

This will be my last post in a while so it will be the last essay you have to read, should you choose to! It could be tl;dr so apologies in advance.

I've demonstrated traits normally attributable to women, in the last few months - indecision, fear, confusion. One minute poker is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the next, my exams are the most important thing in my life, or my girlfriend, or my friends, or going home. I was and am never able to strike that balance. My interests also differ weekly.

The thought processes have always been in the back of my mind but after talking aloud and discussing it, a decision has been found, brought forward from the depths of my brain somewhere. Its perhaps obvious, perhaps imminent or perhaps downright stupid. Either way, poker has just been knocked down a fair few rungs on the ladder.

My mindset isn't where it once was. I'm in a downswing, which has contributed to my lack of desire to play and most worryingly, my lack of desire to improve. That should be the other way round but when I have no desire to analyse hands nor boot up a table, one has to question their overall commitment.
I'm too engrossed in the enjoyment of being in a relationship, being at home with friends and family, having the capacity to do more things through financial security, organising birthday's, focusing on my career and degree. All of these things have slowly worked themselves up the priority list, sub-consciously and I can only assume that is due to my arrogance and complacency. I have achieved a lot in poker I feel and indeed, will continue to do so.

I deposited £300 on November 28th 2009. From that £300 I have now totalled withdrawals of £4289. That represents a huge sum of money for someone in my position - a full-time student. That also demonstrates a candid ability to beat the game. If I do say so myself.

However, all is not over and all is not lost.

In some respects I feel as if a new challenge may invigorate me and offer me a new sense of purpose. However, fundamentally, due to the environment I find myself in, putting in 6/7/8 hour sessions every night isn't feasible. Nor do I want to do that, I'd sooner be just chilling with family or being out with friends. The euros also seem to be in decline so that primarily led to my decision to withdraw everything from those, as opposed to anywhere else. I'll be in Greece for the month of August, bar a few days, I'll be in London next week etc etc, the list is endless. Poker requires commitment, opponents improve daily so I'm just falling further behind and effectively only increasing variance/downswings, which initially were my reason for not playing. I beat the game but I used that as an excuse not to improve at the same rate. Enough is enough.

I do love playing the game though and I will continue to do so. I have left about $1100 on Stars and will look at grinding the 90mans/45mans. These are something I can do with Jon also, which will probably entice me to improve alongside him and also instil the competitiveness back into our friendship, which will only spur us both on, I'm sure. I'll also continue to play the MTTs on Stars but be very selective and use a ratio. I'll give all of that some thought though and perhaps post at the end of the week.

I hope I don't live to regret the decision but I feel its a sensible one to reach following a very rewarding experience.

Now for the next stage of my "career"...

Its been a while...

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I best update on what I have been doing with my life!

So, it'll be a short post then!

I finally managed to move home a week ago and am extremely happy about that fact! I'll deal with how its affecting poker first and foremost. We had some trouble with various ISPs and as a result were internet-less until the middle of this week. It was great when it initially came - we were all getting 27mb for 48 hours despite not paying for that particular service. Now, we struggle to get 2 and literally I'm sure this is far from a broadband service; its awful! They say that it may take 10 days for the line to stabilise and, to be fair, if I can get 27 one day and 2 the next surely there will be some happy median, please?!?! Needless to say, its proving impossible to play poker on this service, although I have only attempted today for the first time.

I went to Jon's for a grinding session yesterday and, uniquely, we both had a profit session! I played a mix of $6 45man - $12 180s. They were really enjoyable and I felt its an interesting method of being able to improve my game. The only real downside was how long they took to fill up - the $12s in particular. This is a real pain in the arse but something I'll have to live with I guess. Despite it being a relatively small profit - $160, I do intend to start playing these a bit. When (I hope) the internet sorts itself out and finds a balance, I still have the issue of when I'm able to play and for how long so big sessions are something of a tall order. So I'm going to start mixing in some of these things and after the recent withdrawals and the downswing, it may offer an opportunity to grind it back up and find a suitable level of stability. Curse you variance!

Other than that, I've had a couple of great nights with friends, where pretty much everyone has made the effort to come out and have a catch-up. The highlight has to be last night, having been grinding the tables with Jon at his place we met up with Jack for a curry and couple of beers, a nice civilised evening... No. We stayed in our new found home - a pub in Newport until close and then made the terrible decision of going back to Jack's. Oh and via this god awful cocktail bar in Newport. I promise you I have never had a worse drink. Going to Jack's normally ends one way - badly. At least from a health point of view.. After playing a few live turbo's between 4 of us, we then felt the need to be flipping £1's for about 3 hours. £1, hand of poker dealt, winner takes all - £4. It was hilarious and probably the most baller/stupid thing we have ever done. I think I will take a deck of cards with me every time we go to The Barley now, its pretty epic. Having been £25 down at one point I ended up losing £3 in the end, on that game. I think Jon ended up the big loser, which was hilarious (sorry mate). Everyone bar Jack, who seems to have some sort of spiritual guidance when it comes to run good in his own house, went through a phase of losing exceptional amounts of money and there came a point where we just had to set a time limit - 5am, otherwise it would go on forever. At 4.30am I was £21 down lol and tilting like an absolute mother fucker. At 5am Jon was probably something in the region of £15 down. Hilarious.

Literally it was so much fun. Obviously I'm not sure if I would advocate the game so much if I was a big loser but even so, its variance and I'm sure it will happen again. Next time I go to the pub I'll be armed with loose change and a deck of cards.

So yeh, having got home at 8am and not slept I feel like absolute horse shit and question why the hell I ever do these things but hey, its evident from last night that summer is here, people are back and we'll have an awesome time. It shades a few years off my life when I go to Jack's but it sure as hell is worth it.

Here's to July!

Well after my last rant I spoke to a couple of people, rationalised my thoughts and perhaps came to a calmer conclusion. I was certainly tilted at the time and took a very narrow view.

That said, much of my logic remains intact, the only real change is my personal motivation etc. I'm currently on a $1300 downswing and its certainly not something I'm neither used to nor experienced before. Although attempting to segregate the roll from my own personal finances, I have always had that figure in the back of my mind for the purposes of holiday(s) etc. With this in mind, I'm not prepared to let it deplete any further without taking evasive action. I also want to remain committed to the game however and stay on track for my annual target and longer term targets.

Essentially the reasoning I mentioned before is still ever-present. I don't take immense satisfaction from winning a tournament and outlasting 'x' amount or players. I don't relate it to Lampard scoring a goal for England on the international stage. Oh wait... I am happy to win a tournament due to the cash injection it provides. I don't view it or treat it as a hobby and in all honesty I think that's a more sensible approach. So, in June 2011 I will be graduating and effectively have to stop playing poker. My aim has always been to accumulate a nice little nest egg so at that point I can invest it or go on a sick holiday. Depends how mature and sensible I feel at the time.

I am now moving out of this flat on Saturday, not tomorrow, so intend to play every single night with my new roll of $4000. That represents a $1900 withdrawal, which will see me through over the summer and give me a decent amount of disposable income to enjoy without having the pressure to work. I'm in Greece between the 05th and 24th August but home until that point so there is zero point in me attempting to get a job for like 4 weeks. It would only be part-time so the most I could earn in Shropshire would be about £500 and that's assuming I have the job from day 1, which I clearly don't! So, if we said I could earn £300 in that four week period - it aint worth getting out of bed for. I can earn that through poker, downswing or not, I'll manage it. Hell, I have a PS3 and couple of games worth £180, I'll sell that and save myself working! I also don't have to be back at uni until practically October so it gives me July and September to grind, and grind I shall.

The level of volume I'm able to put in is entirely dependent on my parent's attitude and reaction towards it. They may not like it night-after-night and I do want to be out with friends a lot, just chilling etc. I can certainly get in a good 3 sessions a week though and that's basically what I've been doing for 8 months. But the main change from my point of view now is that I want and am determined to play out of this downswing. I can have that $8/9k back again, I just have to work for it. I became a bit arrogant and complacent with my game so hopefully some grinding and sweat sessions at Jon's can help me pick up the pace a bit, as well as spending pain-staking hours on 2p2 - something else I haven't done in a while.

So anyway, to cut an awfully long story short - I'm going to try and play a hell of a lot this week, in between packing etc and then I'll pick it up again sporadically next week. I'll just have to be a bit careful with the bankroll again and play sensibly. Hopefully normal service is resumed soon though....

GL and see you at the tables later!

Reality Check/Be Sensible

Due to the $1200+ downswing I find myself on, the roll has depleted to $6000.

That is currently the bottom line and no matter what way you look at it, I'm losing money consistently. I've put in a couple of decent sessions since my last post, analysed my play, thought about my game and where it sits in my future and its basically just becoming a burden now.

I did well in exams having got results on Monday so I have now been looking at planning my immediate future - the summer. Whilst doing so I obviously take into account the money I have "invested" in poker. Having gone from one extreme to the other with my thought processes I can only conclude that I wish I had jumped off the wave of euphoria some months ago, thought about it logically and made consistent withdrawals to help reduce the impact (mentally if nothing else) of variance. Withdrawing $100 for every $500 I win or something. At the end of the day, whether I were to quit tomorrow or in 5 years the end product and goal is the same - I want to earn money. I'm not investing thousands of pounds into a hobby nor segregating the money in its entirety. I was foolish in that sense and was too fixated on watching the roll grow, as opposed to thinking and acting my age. Beggars can't be choosers after all.

I don't intend to quit but I do intend to make the most of the hours, blood and sweat I have put in over the past few months. I also know at some point downswings have to end, whether that be tomorrow or on my last night of playing this summer prior to returning to university. It will end. However, I intend to reduce the roll to a certain degree and roll myself for something like $15s - allowing my AVG buy-in to remain close to the $11 as well as throwing the $22s on the euros in there.

At the end of the day I don't actually need that amount of money on there and this is where the virtual roll comes into play. I'm planning my girlfriend a pretty massive bash for her 21st, intend to spend the best part of a month in Greece in August and will then be house-hunting again come September so be forced to stump up deposits. At the same time I want to enjoy summer and use the time to see friends and chill out mainly and at some point get some more work experience under my belt. I certainly won't be working full-time and any part-time job is a mere fantasy right now. That suits me - the last two summers have been work-orientated and I am now fortunate enough to not have to worry about money in the same way as I may have done in the past.

So essentially I have gone full circle. Rather than poker take a front seat over the summer, its being pushed down the pecking order somewhat. Having a $4000 roll or something like that is perfectly sufficient for the games I play and I truly believe I can rebuild from there and be at the same level again come the end of the year. Right now, I'm 21 in 3 weeks, money will become an issue later down the line, life will become an issue down the line. All that matters now is my overall happiness and I sure as hell aint happy punting $300 down the drain night after night knowing that could be spent on family, friends, girlfriend, me, whatever.

So, bring on Tuesday, get me home, let me see my mates, let me enjoy life.

Life downwsings > poker downswings.

Waste of time. Again.

I may as well write this now, as I find myself staring down the barrel and having 1 measly table left at this fine hour.

Again, a nice little portrayal of how the night has gone is this - 30mins ago I had 5 tables left and was approaching the bubble in all. 10mins ago I had 3 tables left and was in the final 35 of all of them. After losing AA to AK and A7 to A3 for massive stacks and ultimately my tournament life, I'm now contemplating murder.

The rest of the night was a fucking waste of time as well, the examples above were as interesting as it got, basically cos I was losing flips ITM as opposed to level fucking 4.

I appreciate variance and I'm not even scraping the edges in reality. I also appreciate how well I have ran up until this point. But seriously, every time I sit down to put in a session at the moment I just lose money. I can't even be arsed to do the exact maths now but last time out I was on a downswing totalling over $600. I was in for $360 tonight and at the time of writing have 3 cashes from 30 tournaments, amounting to $65. Brilliant. Still, at least I'm cashing now. Wahey!
The roll will have depleted to the $6k mark after my withdrawal the other week also. Fortunately that's the only thing keeping me going (obviously). The timing is a real kick in the balls, coupled with how much time and energy I'm devoting to it per se. But fortunately I can just about sustain it financially, although this can't continue for too much longer. Dropping the $22s from my schedule will be a pain also, as there are far less $11s around, on the euros at least...

Shall have a serious think about it all over the next week. Right now I'm obviously massively tilted and down about a lot of other stuff anyway.

I just hope the exam results are positive tomorrow, that's a start and I can at least put that to one side.

Anyway, barring a miracle in this last tournament (28 left) its another cracking losing night, bringing a torrid week to an end! To be fair even if I ship this I don't break-even for the fortnight ($800 to 1st).

Agh poker..... C'est la vie.



EDIT:

I actually came 7th in that tournament but I'm more tilted than I was before. Having ground my way up to 2nd in chips without showdown I was feeling fairly good. The chip leader, an awful player (aren't they always) then went on life tilt having made a horrific call and losing part of his stack, giving me the chip lead. A shorty shoves the very next hand (11bbs), he then whacks in his 30+ bb stack and I happily call with AK on the BTN, having them both covered, just. The chip leader routinely rivers his J, enabling his QJ to take it over my AK and the shorty's AT. Fucking standard.

4 hands later and some moron limps in the CO, despite having <15bbs, with 22, I shove AJ for like 4bbs, hit my A on the flop only for him to river a deuce. Fucking standard.

I got $180 and a $108 tourney ticket for my trouble but whatever, may as well have busted it earlier as far as I'm concerned. Tomorrow best be good.

Here we go!

I thought I'd quickly update this as I'm about to start the biggest session I've ever had. This could be great or awful!
As it stands I'm basically in every decent tournament that I'm rolled for between now and 11pm, with the exception of finishing slightly earlier on Stars due to the field sizes. I may change that though as I didn't get home until 5am last night and slept until 1pm so I imagine I'll still be going strong come midnight.

I've got my exam results tomorrow and I'm shitting it so I think a friend might come round for the sweat and keep me company, saving me from going stark raving mad at losing lots of money and the prospect of getting exam results tomorrow!!

On another note, I had a wicked night last night. Spent 3.5hours sailing up and down the Thames on this party boat. A unique experience with probably only 100 people, 1 bar, 1 dancefloor and 2 epic DJs. It was insane. Everybody was great fun, a great atmosphere. Never experienced anything like it and can't wait to do so again. With the ticket came free entry to Pacha also and OMG, immense. Best club by a country mile and its not even for the normal reasons. Everything about it was insane, although expensive!
The women in there and on the boat....wow.

The night was topped off when we left the club however and the experience really epitomises London for me. There we are at this sandwich bar next to the club waiting for the bus when a tramp in a top hat comes up to us and says "alright boys, I'm gonna do something slightly different to a normal beggar..."

He whacks out this deck of cards and whilst switching from a cockney, welsh, irish, scottish, brum, manc, northern accent he proceeds to do these INSANE card tricks. The pinnacle of which was me pulling out the 5 of clubs from my suit jacket pocket having seen the deck shuffled 3 times and then shuffling it myself....

In return I gave him like 7 quid which I thought was pretty baller and I'm not sure the crowd we had round us by this point could believe it either... He was legitimately a tramp as well, I only wish I had my wits about him, took his details and signed him to something...he'd go down a treat in he Butlins of the world!

Anyway, awesome fun and I hope I can now top it off with a bink. ONE TIME!

^$&£$*"&!&"$&"

Things are going from bad to worse. And its increasing in frustration.

Previously I was recouping some 10% of losses and decreasing the tilt factor by making 3/4 cashes each session, which may even be coupled with a deep run towards the final table. Now, however, I just fail to cash per se.

I spoke to Jon about it last night, who has experienced it for months effectively and took his advice of playing no more than 8 tables at any one time. This was a correct decision I felt and something I might adhere to in the future. It allowed me to analyse each decision effectively but I just could not win the flips for the life of me.

This example will sum it up perfectly: 6pm, first tournament loads up. 3rd hand in I am dealt KK. I get it in against QQ and sure enough a lady appears on the turn.

That's just the story of the last fortnight and I cannot seem to do anything about it!

Still, it has to turn around and I am determined for it to. I'm just starting a daytime session now, as obviously I'll be cheering England on later this evening so won't be playing. I'll do the same tomorrow I think, as a mate has come up short on Royal Ascot tickets (bastard) but have plans tomorrow evening. Then its the inevitable Sunday grind. How I would love the swong to turn around then..............

Swongs

All though relatively minor and insignificant compared with some grinders' downswings, I'm definitely experiencing one of my own!

Last night made it 71 tournaments played with a resounding loss of over $400, with the average buy-in at $10 approximately. I'm not on massive tilt about it and the good thing is I'm still looking forward to getting back to the tables in an effort to rectify it. It's extremely frustrating however, as this level of volume won't be able to be kept up for too long if all I do is lose! There will come a point where I'm going to have to let poker take a back seat/part-time role and get on with other things, despite wanting to play through it!

I'm caught in two minds as to whether to limit the size of the session and try and keep to 6 tables at any one time, working on my game and thinking about each decision or whether to just hammer out the volume. The former might work to control that aura of frustration and allow me to make sensible decisions. However, when I'm hammering out the volume you don't notice how many 70/30s you're losing, just see tables disappearing rapidly without definitive knowledge of how you go bust! Obviously you know you've probably just lost one of those standard flips but you don't see that brutality of it lol.

I'm leaning towards just hammering out the volume purely because I still think the vast majority of my decision making is fine. Bar the final two tables last night, which in itself is soul-destroying, I was playing fine but just getting irritated by an inability to get anything going! My decisions on the final two probably left much to be desired but oh well....

I'll start up again at 4/5pm today hopefully, just gotta get some work out the way first.

Strictly Poker

In my boredom I ended up looking over previous blog posts and looking back at previous goals that I had set myself and bring them to the forefront of my thoughts. I ended up becoming quite disgruntled at how little poker there has been in the handful of previous posts over the last couple of months, however. They have also become distinctly more results orientated!

I shall endeavour to focus on poker from herein with the odd rant about life's trials and tribulations when I deem it absolutely necessary! I promise!

I'm making the next fortnight solely poker orientated, and I need to. I've been a bit careless with personal finances and in an effort to avoid any withdrawal I either need to bink and put that aside or go and get a job for a bit. The problem with the latter is I don't actually have time with my passion seeming to be working for free on placements! The amount of work I have to do outside of the placement is now causing some alarm! I exaggerate, its actually really enjoyable and I'm going to really get my teeth into it but coupled with other things it does eat into my time for grinding - which, given I'm an MTT grinder, is scarce.

So I'm keeping my days free to do pressing jobs and things but my evenings will centre around poker and nothing else. I'll have a night off on Friday/Saturday but that's it. I'll be able to do that until the second week of July and then it's all change.

So, that's it. The last of my topical discussions. My next post will be on the weekend, unless I bink big in the mean time.

GL all.

Epic Fail.

England firstly - what a fail. It made me so angry and does thinking/talking about it, so I just won't!

I also didn't put in a session today either. I was unbelievably tired having not really slept much last night and only managing to catch up on about 3 hours worth of sleep. It wasn't exactly going to be the greatest decision to sit myself down and play some 20+ tournaments. I'll also hopefully compensate that with the fact that I can play everyday this forthcoming week and hope to hammer it out day and night. I've spent way too much money recently so have declared a self-ban on myself and will refrain from going out and spending ANY money! Last night was also a fitting ending to the "party period", if you like, it was a pretty awesome night and an absolute hilarious one at that, after the post-England aggression! There were 4 of us and I'd only met 2 of them a handful of times before that. I knew they were like-minded but I guess I was a bit apprehensive as to how it would be. No need to be as it was good fun. The streets of London were rammed and we all got smashed at one point, separated and I ended up wondering into the Empire and chatting to a few people playing roulette. I was basically being one of those irritating drunks before leaving without spending a thing (I think). I do remember legitimately looking for a cash machine cos I wondered past the cash tables. Thank god I didn't find it!
Rapidly sobered up however and awoke this morning without a hangover, a complete bonus! Was a bit of a happy drunk I think, just determined to chat shit to anyone who wanted to listen.

Anyway, I'm shattered and need sleep, a lot at that! I have my work placement tomorrow but hopefully I can manage a short session afterwards before playing all week. GL!

Thorpe Park and a mammoth Sunday

I haven't managed to hit the tables again since my last outing, instead being drunk, in arguments, on roller-coasters, being ill and doing airport runs! Its been quite a busy few days.

It started on Weds when a friend finished his last exam. I promptly got a call at 11am demanding my presence at the pub. I arrived at half 11 only to be fed sambucca. Ugh. The day was only going one way. In the end it was a pretty sweet day to be honest - it was kind of a steady drunk and we travelled to various bars and made sure we ate so nobody was entirely smashed. Sophisticated or what? By 2pm myself and 2 others had also randomly booked Thorpe Park tickets for the following day. This was and is hilarious, as none of us can remember how the hell we came about having the conversation or booking the tickets lol. I literally just bought 2 people tickets via the phone in this bar and that was it, we were leaving from mine at 8.30am and off we go (didn't leave at 8.30am obviously!).

I then went to the bar we used to work at and had apparently been barred lol, for not turning up to my last shift. I told them what I thought. They eventually let me in. Every manager was fine with me and said hi, no animosity at all. One power crazy twat just took exception to it, basically a personal grudge but whatever, he got over it.

So anyway, we then went out in brick lane and met some real cool people, although an entirely odd mix. An Irish guy, a guy from Brighton and some randomly silent girl from somewhere. It was odd cos they had just met themselves and it just led to an entirely unique conversation. I can't explain it, it just epitomised Brick lane and London I think.

Things took a turn for the worse cos I had actually woken up a tad ill, swollen glands and was feeling it a bit later, although they all assured me I was just a lightweight etc. I wasn't drunk or showing sings of being drunk so fuck you all. Nonetheless I woke up at 7am ready for Thorpe Park only to feel like absolute horse shit and not in a hungover sense. I postponed and we eventually left at 10.30am. It was worth it. Mid-week and pretty shit weather, we did everything multiple times. The new Saw ride is fucking awesome, Nemesis Inferno equally as good. Stealth - OMFG. And one other I forget the name of, began with C. Anyway, all round awesome day after getting lost. I came back feeling worse having been drenched by Tidal Wave however. Probably near death to be fair.

Friday was pretty lacklustre in comparison, filled with odd jobs and airport runs. The good thing to come out of that is I have a set of keys to a place in Bulgaria. Schweet. I could be heading out there the week after next and then through to Greece and Turkey, a friend is also keen on driving the Bulgaria - Greece - Turkey leg so that would be cool. Unconfirmed as is everything however. We'll see.

SO, COME ON ENGLAND. That's, unsurprisingly, what my day consists of today. More on that later, as well as my mammoth session tomorrow. 1pm onwards I reckon. Au revoir.

Blah

I've put in two decent sessions over the last couple of nights and seem to be average at a cool $120 loss each time over some 20 odd tournaments. Sigh.

I think I managed 1/2 cashes on Monday night and perhaps double that last night, including a nice run in the $33 on VC, only to bust in 16th. Sigh.
I can't complain too much however as I made some truly bad decisions in a couple as the night progressed. This was probably out of frustration, a willingness to go and do other things and just general tiredness. I also had a crazy hour and a half between about 7 and 8.30 when I had 16/17 tables on the go, something I couldn't handle. I'll have to kerb that but I was unable to start at the initial 3pm I intended, 6pm instead, so I just went crazy between 6 and 9pm. Its all trial and error however and eventually I will have perfected as good a schedule as is possible.

Speaking of trial and error, Ladbrokes has now been and gone also! I played the €5.50 rebuy and was registered for a few others before quickly un-registering. There aren't enough games for me so it ends up being a pain cos the laptop has to run another program along with all the add-ons that Ladbrokes seems to have and all for like 3/4 tournaments a night. The software isn't great either. So, I'm now running with the ethos - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The skins/networks I play on now are adequate, I'm used to them and there are a lot of positives to them. I'm probably unlikely to be able to put in a consistent amount of volume that warrants adding a fourth site anyway. That, and, the fact that the schedule across the three sites I do play in is more than enough for me, in the evenings. The problems lies with any daytime sessions as the euros are pitiful in the department but Ladbrokes offers nothing in a way of a solution to that.

Not entirely sure when I'm next going to be able to hit the felt but I'll certainly find the time for another 2/3 sessions this week. I'm meeting a friend in a pub at 11.30 this morning, as he will have finished his exams. This is clearly a horrible idea lol. Nonetheless it means I won't be playing today! Hopefully I can limit any, inevitable, hangover and put in a decent session during the day on Thursday. I don't hold much hope however!

GL.

Ready, Set....

I've sorted out my schedule now and planned my week sufficiently well to allow for some serious hours of poker.
I downloaded Ladbrokes and Betfair software but the latter quickly got disposed of soon after installation. I've had their representatives on the phone numerous times in the past twelve months telling me how great the software now is and how they are making improvements to it on a weekly basis. BULLSHIT! Its the same as it was some two years ago - horrific. The interface is awful, the guarantees are comical and it immediately seemed to slow my laptop down so our relationship clearly wouldn't have worked out.

Ladbrokes is a bit better, as I knew, the only downside is the lack of volume that I'd be able to put in on there, particularly as its a soft skin. Alas, it will have to do.
I'll just add Ladbrokes to my arsenal for now but may, at a later date, depending on various other factors, decide to put some money on another site.

I won't write out my entire schedule and all the fine details of it as its pretty pointless and will only bore you! Effectively, during the allocated hours of play I'll be registering to every $5.50-$33 MTT with a guarantee. This isn't entirely accurate as having any more than 12 tables going at a time becomes -EV for me imo. However there isn't enough options on the euros to make this entirely probable.

This week:

Today - I'll be starting at 5pm and commencing the usual evening session. I can't play on Ladbrokes until tomorrow as they have to approve the amount I wished to deposit, it wouldn't let that particular sum of money just go through. That means I'll only be on VC, Bwin and Stars tonight...

Tomorrow - The same again, plus Ladbrokes. I'll start a little earlier however - 3pm and finish registering at 9pm, due to things going on on Wednesday.

Wednesday - Been roped into meeting a few people at the pub at midday as they finish exams. Needless to say, I won't be playing. Online at least.

Thursday - Depending on my state I may put in an evening session. I fully anticipate being insanely hungover but as I'll be drinking from midday I also anticipate being in bed earlier lol and starting the hangover earlier! I'll remind myself to drinks tonnes of water!

Friday - I'll put in a daytime session this time as I'm busy on Friday night with airport runs. Will be interesting to see how that goes.

Saturday - That will be my day off, particularly as its the England game.

Sunday - I'll put in a mammoth session on Sunday, regging from like 2pm onwards, providing I don't go home and have to mess about driving back or via a train.


Hoping to play a solid 100 tournaments at least this week and hopefully earn some pennies! GL and can't wait to get back into it!

GO GO GO

As the title suggests, its now all systems go on the poker front and summer effectively starts tomorrow.
I've finished exams, attended many a mandatory celebratory party and completed various things that needed doing. I've also managed to secure work placements and with no holiday forthcoming I can take poker into account within my lifestyle. The only remaining anomaly is accommodation and whether I grind in London full-time or in the West Midlands, with my parents, part-time. That should start to click in to place once my exam results come in however. Hopefully all goes well and we can begin a cracking year on all fronts. Things are on the up and I'm chuffed!

Had a bit of a beat over the last few days as my girlfriend moved out due to commitments requiring her to be elsewhere as of next year - as well as a financial burden. I won't go into details. It shouldn't make too much of a difference as we effectively have two homes between us and are still half an hour apart. Its an odd feeling nonetheless.

Anyway, the positives. I effectively have "my pad" back and its pretty awesome, especially with the World Cup starting. I've re-organised things today and its effectively injected a new lease of life in me. I even dug out my massive England flag and put that out on the balcony so all those travelling on the A12 during rush hour can wake me up with the sound of their horns at 7am! It best be worth it - Stevie G lifting the cup a week before my 21st would be a peach and make my endeavours with the flag seem worth it!

So, I'm all sorted and raring to go. New, flash, "look at me" suit bought, flat spotless, work sorted, exams completed, parties ongoing. Life is sweet. I hope it continues.
One of my aims is to hit the gym intensively now. I followed up FAR too many take-aways over the exam period with some serious consecutive drinking sessions for 10 days after exams. I now feel pretty unhealthy! So not only do I want to get back to the gym to feel better but I also think it will help with the discipline during some mammoth grinding sessions.

I intend to ease myself into it this week with about 5 full-day sessions. That will either be regging from 5pm onwards or doing two split-sessions. I'm not going to entirely isolate myself and will go out if I am asked to in advance. I am also wary of a few mates finishing exams this week so anticipate some more drunken antics ensuing and that might jeopardise the schedule a tad this week. However, I am definitely in London until mid-July, if not beyond, and most people start working down here in about 7-14 days and when that happens I can be left to my job of grinding, in between work placements etc. Until then I'll be playing a flexible full-time schedule, if that makes any sense whatsoever!

I'll comment in more detail on the poker schedule tomorrow. I intend to sort out Ladbrokes and Betfair tomorrow and then devise several playable schedules which will enable me to adapt accordingly

For now, I'm back and raring to go!

Mammoth Session tl;dr

OK, I'm going to get a lot of my thoughts down, starting with a brief review of an epic session I put in last night.

I started playing at 3.30pm yesterday and eventually finished at 7am this morning. Although I was up for the night its not as exciting as it sounds! I played 39 tournaments and managed to profit about $530, with two 4th places on ipoker and bwin, for $350 and $300 respectively. Then at 7am, having been 1-tabling for a couple of hours I bust 11th in the Stars $5.50 2R1A for $150 ish. SIGH!

I also had the 3 SCOOP events, none of which went particularly well unfortunately. What became readily apparent is the stark difference in ability between the likes of the $22s and the $215s, or even just the $109. The $109 was the main event and on par with the $250k in terms of field size so you get your fair share of fish but as we got deeper and approached the bubble there were a lot of capable players on show and I don't think they become obvious until well ITM in the $250k. The $215 was something else altogether, with you effectively needing to 5-bet to see a flop lol. I exaggerate but yeh, I was definitely outplayed and out of my depth so I know not to bother with them again! It was an experience though and I managed to learn things. I felt comfortable in the $109 also but these are minute sample sizes to compare with anyway!
That said, I only managed the one $90.64 cash in the $22 1R1A so it meant a loss for the series - apologies to those that staked - next time!


I'm pretty happy with how the night went generally - earning money is a plus always, whatever the amount and the amount itself is respectable in this case. It's always frustrating to ft bubble, particularly as it was on Stars but that would be stupid to get downbeat about it! The main talking point comes from the session in its entirety however and the fact that I played for 15 hours. Its literally destroyed me! I mention it because of my plans to start playing full-time as of a few weeks. Although my schedule would be different and it was only late last night due to SCOOP, whether or not I could hack that night after night remains to be seen and whether I could hack it during any downswing remains to be seen! Can but try I guess...


On that note. My last exam is a week today so I won't be playing any more poker until that but I will be playing that night before going out the following night. It then gets a bit tricky as my girlfriend's mum is coming to stay with us for a few nights and I've then got a couple of trips etc planned. I hope to be able to put in the odd session but its going to be anything but consistent. I will then be free as of 09th June so intend to hammer it out then.
However, it gets even more complicated! I'm flatmate-less, so as of mid-June, unless any alternative is arranged, I'd have to pay the entire rent myself. This clearly isn't feasible for too long and not worth it so I'm not sure what to do and what I can do. Its all well and good sorting something temporary for the summer but it could all change as of September depending on whether I decide to go back into halls. It may be that I keep the flat until mid-July, grind full-time until then and then move home for the rest of the summer before moving into halls in September. The problems then however are that my internet at home is utterly useless and I wouldn't get the privacy anyway. The internet in halls also wouldn't be able to handle 12 tabling for 8 hours. Further, I made the mistake of being a tad anti-social during first year so I best not do it to the same extent!
A lot to think about on that front as well as arranging it around any holidays.


When I am able to start playing full-time again I shall be using Betfair and Ladbrokes as well, adding them to my toy chest! I'll put the money I withdraw back on via those sites, which brings the roll just shy of $10k. I'm not too sure about the Betfair software but they ring me on a monthly basis and are adamant that improvements are constantly being made, so I'll try. I'm also attracted by their satellites to live events - something that was in my list of goals for 2010!
I'll be sorting out a schedule next week so will look at it in more detail then but I think I'll be registering for everything within br from like 4pm-10pm every night and then putting in the odd afternoon/morning session where possible. I'll just have to chop and change it i.e. when there is a WC game I'll play during the morning/day. The need for flexibility is paramount I think and a benefit anyway.

We shall see!

Some not-so-fun times...

Well its been a while since my last post so I thought I'd provide an update, especially as there are a couple of things around the corner, on the poker front. Plus, I'm just bored!

I'm right in the thick of exams at the moment, having finished 2/5 as it stands, with two more next week before the fifth and final one in two weeks time. Its been ridiculously stressful, exhausting and downright anti-social! I just hope to god I have done enough to get what I need in the first two and remain focused to get some good results in the final 3. Anyway, I won't go into details of that, Liverpool failing to reach 4th (despite my prediction!), or the General Election. Instead, I'll keep it poker-based in the main!


So, I haven't played a tournament since my 4th place (I think) in a $5 turbo on Stars a month or so ago. I have messed around on cash tables with a couple of friends on the odd occasion but other than that I haven't manage to get near the felt! In all honesty, I haven't had that much desire to either. I've tried to be really committed with my exams and pull my head out the clouds, so much so that I just haven't even wanted to play. That's beginning to change now however. I was going to play tonight but I'm exhausted so intend to just get an early night for a change. I have also had 2/3 of my full credit exams this week (yeh ok I said I wouldn't ramble about it...). So, touch wood, and without sounding complacent, I have two of the half credit exams next week which don't require as much information across the subject area as a whole, just more specific knowledge on a particular topic within the subject, which I find slightly more manageable, again, furiously touching wood.

So, based on that and the fact I have an eleven day gap I will be playing a few SCOOP events next week. I was gutted to see it clash with the exams themselves so I'm happy to be able to play a few events next week and at least take a little part! Hopefully its 3 final tables in 3 nights.... ONE TIME!

If anybody reads this and would be interested in staking me then comment on the blog. I will set up a 2p2 thread at some point over the weekend. Firstly offering it to friends and fellow grinders I know.

Anyway, the schedule, with adjusted times (GMT):

* May 14th - 7pm: $22 1r1a NLHE ($250,000 GTD)

* May 16th - 6pm: $22 NLHE ($200,000 GTD)
* May 16th - 6pm: $215 NLHE ($750,000 GTD)

* May 16th - 2 day Main Event: $109 NLHE ($1M GTD)


Total Buy-In: $412

1% = $4.12

5% = $20.60

10% = $41.20

20% = $82.40

25% = $103


I will only play the $215 if I manage to sell at least 50% of my action but other than that, I will be playing regardless. I think I will sell 50% easily, for the record. The structures are insanely good and I just think it would be stupid to miss out on playing when I can just about afford the time.


I'll be playing a normal full schedule on those nights but they're the only SCOOP events I am able to play unfortunately. Beyond that I will then be taking a break again until exams finish in their entirety. When I start my full-time esq schedule is also debatable. There are multiple holiday ideas flying around at the moment (which again I will refrain from rambling on for multiple reasons) as well as my need/desire to obtain a vacation scheme-come-internship. Again, I should know more on this come the end of the month but I still have the same aim in so far as I want to play as much as possible in June and over the summer generally.

After the next round of exams next week I'll also post my thoughts on the schedule and resultant ideas I have for June, when I do get round to playing full-time. Until then, good luck all!