Day 2 Busto

I busted out the WSOP main event right at the end of day 2. To be honest I wasn't that annoyed. I never got above 60K and it simply wasn't to be.

Trying to change flights so I can get back to the UK in the next couple of days. Will blog when something of interesting happens.

Main Event

Made it through the day with 33.5K from 30K starting stack. Fairly happy with every decision i made except 1. Day 2 is on Monday. Run good please!

Vegas

I've now played 4 WSOP tournaments, they have not gone well. In better news I've played a few sessions of $2/5 and am up about $2.5K on the trip.

Played about 6 rounds of golf and have started playing better. I'm averaging about 22 over but would love to get down to 18 by September, probably will not happen.

Playing the main event on Saturday, day 1C. Will post when I'm done for the day.

Vegas

I arrived last tuesday. Have played 2 events so far and failed to cash in both. First one I lasted 20 minutes, lost 2 crucial hands. First with top set v turned flush. Then AK v AJ. Second event was yesterday. Lasted 8 hours but never really built up chips. Ended up 3 bet jamming KJ against the chip leader and he called 1010. I lose.

Already played a couple of bad rounds of golf. Nice to see Rory crush the US Open from start to finish, he's a joy to watch when he plays well. Planning on playing a lot over the next month despite the heat.

Playing the $1500 on Wednesday. Hope I win.

Is it April aleady?

They say that time flies when you're having fun, the last few months have flown by! On the whole life is great. I managed to come 2nd in a £400 live comp, I've been ticking along nicely online, winter is over, I've finally had a decent win from staking and everything friends/family/girlfriend related is just groovy. I'm +$38K so far and well on the way to that elusive $100K year.

I was planning on expanding on the previous paragraph but I've changed my mind. This is mostly due to two reasons. Firstly, it's short, concise and brings me up to date. Secondly it's a lovely day outside and I'm off to play golf. Will update with Vegas plans soon.

A long overdue update

I would like to apologise to those of you who follow this blog. I haven't posted for a long time and I'm sorry.

The good news is that life is great. The new flat in Bristol is fantastic and I'm really enjoying living hear. I already feel that my game is improving and that the decision to move here was a good one. By surrounding myself with other poker players I've given myself the best chance to be successful in a healthy environment.

My results thus far have been a little disappointing but that doesn't concern me. I'm enjoying playing and have increased my volume significantly since the move.

I'm really trying to stay positive and look forward to next year. Before i can do that however i need to be honest about the last 12 months. I haven't played anywhere near enough poker and still have a lot to work on. I'm pretty much in the same financial position as i was this time last year and that isn't good enough. Just because I'm lucky enough to pick and choose when i play this shouldn't result in an excuse to be lazy and go through long periods of hardly playing.

I set myself some targets at the start of the year and i haven't come close to hitting any of them. I'll admit that winning the WSOP main event was a little ambitious but the other three were certainly achievable. To have failed so miserably is extremely disappointing for me.

If 2012 is going to be different i need to take things more seriously and dedicate a lot more time to both studying and playing. I think I've taken the first step by moving away from London to be amongst fellow professional players. If i can stay focused on making good decisions then i see no reason why next year can't go a lot better than this one has.

Away from poker the last few months have been fairly quiet. I've been in London a lot seeing the girlfriend and been on a couple of holidays. One was a trip to Florence which was very enjoyable and the other was the golf holiday to Okehampton that i somehow managed to win! I really love the annual boys trip and i really hope that we keep it up for the years to come. I was really happy to win but i felt a bit guilty playing off such a high handicap having played so many rounds leading up to the competition. Looking forward to getting down there next year and defending my title!

I'm heading home for Christmas tomorrow and then will probably be back in Bristol for the new year. Hard to say when I'll next blog but i will try to keep it going, certainly think it's a positive outlet for me. Anyway happy Christmas to you all.

Life Update

The last six weeks have been fairly eventful. I've played some online poker, bashed up Broadstairs folk week, moved out of the London Pad and even won a live tournament! I'm now back in sunny Broadstairs whilst a few friends and I sort out a move to Bristol. I didn't really feel like blogging until I had something to write about and I now feel like this is a good time for reflection.

I'll start with an online cash update. On the whole it has gone quite well. I'm up about $10.5K since Vegas playing $1/2 and $2/$4. I've also put a solid amount of hands in which is encouraging. Usually at the this time of year I have very little interest in playing much online but I've been helped out by the shoddy weather.

I took five days off in the middle of August to come home and enjoy the awesomeness that is Broadstairs folk week. This is by far the best week of the year to be back home. The town is packed, the atmosphere is very friendly and the beers are flowing. It also gives me a chance to catch up with some of the boys from school that I don't get to see enough of. I'm going to give a big congrats to my friend Alec 'the boy' Howard for his stellar performance, getting pissed on every night of the week, you are my hero!

As usual the main event of the week was the annual half pint challenge. Now in its 5th year this particular pub crawl is going from strength to strength. 18 pubs, 9 pints, silly hats, flip cup and the Jurassic park theme tune all contributed in making this year the best yet!

The last two weeks in London have been very enjoyable but also a little sad. We've had some great nights out, most notably an absolute tear up in the Venue and my birthday meal at Goodmans. I still can't help but feel a little sad about the closing of another chapter in my life. Living with Tone, Liam, Mike, Brad and Hatz has been great fun and I wouldn't change the last three years for anything. Along with the rest of my friends they've all been very supportive of what I do and living with them has been an absolute pleasure.

Anyway the plan now is to move to Bristol for 9 months before the next WSOP. I'm looking forward to living with other poker players and I'm sure my game will benefit enormously. Just having other people to bounce ideas off and dissect hands with is great, hope I can continue to improve and put some serious volume in over the winter.

Now some very good news. Last week I won a £300 tourney at the international for £9.2K. I'm excited about this result for a number of reasons. Firstly money is awesome, secondly the field was quite tough, it's my home club and finally the structure is very unique for the size of the buy-in. You start with 20K in chips and the blind levels are 90 minutes. This offers phenomenal value for all players and it gives people a chance to play a $10K structure for just £300. It was nice to win a tourney for the first time in ages and the whole experience was a lot of fun. The club has a lot of regs and the banter was flying around. A lot of characters and a very good 3 days of work.

Anyway I'm about done on this one, very solid blog IMO! Not sure when I'll update next but the golf holiday in Okey is coming up so hopefully I can write about getting rid of that Fucking wooden spoon!