Pump It Up
I managed to buff up my stats in the run up to Christmas shoe-horning in two more finals to see out the year. This did occur whilst supposedly on a two month sabbatical, but the resolve wavered and I just couldn’t resist the very local 250NL in Nottingham where I got a heads-up chop and the almost local 250NL at the Broadway where I scored my first win for 2006. In two words; most pleasing.
A clean slate awaits then and whilst still very sketchy, my rough aims for the first half of the new year are to play the Deauville, Dortmund and Monte Carlo EPT’s, the Irish Open at Easter and the majority of the Blue Square/Grosvenor UK Poker Tour events.
I always enjoy setting goals and the most obvious ones for me in 2007 are:
· Better preparation for the big tournaments.
· Buck up my patience in the 60 min+ events.
· A night on/night off regime for online poker alternating with a night on/night off the vino (the wife’s idea).
· Win enough money to get a funky extension built or I’ll be out there myself come 2008 with a shovel and a cement mixer.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Most Humiliating Experience 2006 (not to be confused with Most Humiliating Exit From A Tournament 2006)
Cardiff. Morning after my Grand Prix heat. Feeling a little fragile and looking forward to getting home but I’ve got some time to kill before my train leaves.
I wandered into the breakfast area of the Hilton and a gruff Jeff Lisandro was sat at the nearest table. Now I didn’t really want a breakfast and especially a breakfast where I was gonna feel obliged to make small talk, but he’s bang in front of me and sure that by now he will have clocked me I guess I just wasn’t hardy enough to walk on by. A couple of swift pleasantries and I’ll move on was my thinking.
I mean it's not like I know the guy, but we had played in the same heat yesterday and had played a pretty big and crucial pot (for me anyway).
An awkward remark or two later the waitress approached and I asked for just a coffee please. Breakfast will be £18 she announced and by now, feeling a little embarrassed I declined.
At this point I was beginning to wonder whether he recognised me at all when, perhaps sensing the unease he asked me,
“Are you playing in the Grand Prix this week?”
Sigh. Suffice to say, I didn’t miss my train.
Cardiff. Morning after my Grand Prix heat. Feeling a little fragile and looking forward to getting home but I’ve got some time to kill before my train leaves.
I wandered into the breakfast area of the Hilton and a gruff Jeff Lisandro was sat at the nearest table. Now I didn’t really want a breakfast and especially a breakfast where I was gonna feel obliged to make small talk, but he’s bang in front of me and sure that by now he will have clocked me I guess I just wasn’t hardy enough to walk on by. A couple of swift pleasantries and I’ll move on was my thinking.
I mean it's not like I know the guy, but we had played in the same heat yesterday and had played a pretty big and crucial pot (for me anyway).
An awkward remark or two later the waitress approached and I asked for just a coffee please. Breakfast will be £18 she announced and by now, feeling a little embarrassed I declined.
At this point I was beginning to wonder whether he recognised me at all when, perhaps sensing the unease he asked me,
“Are you playing in the Grand Prix this week?”
Sigh. Suffice to say, I didn’t miss my train.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Ding Dong
Well whadayya know my first year as a pro is over and whilst earnings-wise it fell a little short of a vintage 2005 it was still much better than I could ever hope to have eeked out from the 9 to 5; a tad more exciting too and if the mood grabs me I get to take an afternoon nap.
What is slightly worrying is that my sponsor, William Hill, put me into the majority of the tournaments I played and that their investment wasn't far shy of my net return. What jumps out when checking over my 2006 stats is that I ran well for the first half, right up to leaving for Vegas in July, but from there on I ran (and played) bad, making just two final tables compared to eight for the earlier half.
One hundred and eighteen tournaments were entered and at least when I did make a final I was going deep with two heads-up chops, five seconds and two third place finishes; I just gotta work on the kill.
Up to July, I'd been running consistently well for a good two years and one word, lethargy, probably best describes the cause of the rot since then. I played so bad at times I still wince at the memory; a woeful call all-in with a nine high three tables out in the Copenhagen EPT, and stupidly getting prematurely frustrated in just Level 1 of the nine day marathon that is the WSOP main event. These two are the easiest to recall, any others probably require some gentle prodding.
Having overplayed myself in Vegas I never made the smart move, taking a break to recover and instead ploughed on with no homework or a few steps back to see what had happened. New year approaches, a fresh start then, with a more disciplined approach to the game and oh yeah fingers crossed another year with sponsorship.
Well it wouldn’t be much of a review if I didn’t include some online musings; my flesh is weak and I'm unable to either improve or delete the software as it continues to frustrate and occasionally delight on a ratio of about, mmm, 27:1. The highs were a Who's The Daddy win for $21k on Laddies over the new year and a win in the Crypto biggie for £14k a few months back.
The lows are a bit of a blur, a steady trickle and unfortunately far more consistent; slouched, drinking, watching the telly and in general trying to do anything else rather than have to focus on 9, 18 or 27 pixel seats all point to why I am a far from successful online punter.
Will I improve? I keep telling myself that it’s possible but I know it will require a lot more concentration and probably a room with a door that can be locked; at the moment I’m just not sure that I’m hungry enough to devote the amount of discipline required.
I’m on a walkabout of sorts at the moment and with a brand new baby boy arriving in mid January I won’t be travelling until perhaps Deauville at the end of February. Plenty of time to take a step back, recharge the batteries and get the competitive juices flowing again.
Well whadayya know my first year as a pro is over and whilst earnings-wise it fell a little short of a vintage 2005 it was still much better than I could ever hope to have eeked out from the 9 to 5; a tad more exciting too and if the mood grabs me I get to take an afternoon nap.
What is slightly worrying is that my sponsor, William Hill, put me into the majority of the tournaments I played and that their investment wasn't far shy of my net return. What jumps out when checking over my 2006 stats is that I ran well for the first half, right up to leaving for Vegas in July, but from there on I ran (and played) bad, making just two final tables compared to eight for the earlier half.
One hundred and eighteen tournaments were entered and at least when I did make a final I was going deep with two heads-up chops, five seconds and two third place finishes; I just gotta work on the kill.
Up to July, I'd been running consistently well for a good two years and one word, lethargy, probably best describes the cause of the rot since then. I played so bad at times I still wince at the memory; a woeful call all-in with a nine high three tables out in the Copenhagen EPT, and stupidly getting prematurely frustrated in just Level 1 of the nine day marathon that is the WSOP main event. These two are the easiest to recall, any others probably require some gentle prodding.
Having overplayed myself in Vegas I never made the smart move, taking a break to recover and instead ploughed on with no homework or a few steps back to see what had happened. New year approaches, a fresh start then, with a more disciplined approach to the game and oh yeah fingers crossed another year with sponsorship.
Well it wouldn’t be much of a review if I didn’t include some online musings; my flesh is weak and I'm unable to either improve or delete the software as it continues to frustrate and occasionally delight on a ratio of about, mmm, 27:1. The highs were a Who's The Daddy win for $21k on Laddies over the new year and a win in the Crypto biggie for £14k a few months back.
The lows are a bit of a blur, a steady trickle and unfortunately far more consistent; slouched, drinking, watching the telly and in general trying to do anything else rather than have to focus on 9, 18 or 27 pixel seats all point to why I am a far from successful online punter.
Will I improve? I keep telling myself that it’s possible but I know it will require a lot more concentration and probably a room with a door that can be locked; at the moment I’m just not sure that I’m hungry enough to devote the amount of discipline required.
I’m on a walkabout of sorts at the moment and with a brand new baby boy arriving in mid January I won’t be travelling until perhaps Deauville at the end of February. Plenty of time to take a step back, recharge the batteries and get the competitive juices flowing again.
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