Amateur Poker Association & Tour
Poker Forum => General Discussion => Member Blogs => Topic started by: dwh103 on January 07, 2013, 00:43:52 AM
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Good luck :)
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Good to see this Dave, looking forward to further updates mate. Sure there"ll be far more creative stuff to come and hope the support from friends and family help to pick you up after the bitter blow of losing your dad.
Stay strong and you"ll get back on track in no time.
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This has potential to be great gl with it.
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Cheers Chris, Grant and Steve.
Been a good few days. Night out in Southampton to see a friend off to New Zealand for the year. See Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin out and about with friends/family on the next table.
As luck would have it, one of our party was called Morgan. Cue endless conversations mentioning him by name, and chanting of "Morrrrrrggaaannn, Morrrrrrggaaannn". Poor guy was paranoid within half an hour - must"ve thought we were Pompey fans taking the piss.
Bankroll has received a welcome 50% boost. After a year of not winning a single tournament at my local casino (Southampton Grosvenor) I"ve gone and taken down a 36 runner £20+20+20 comp, using only two of the three possible buy-ins. Cashed for £630 but foolishly swapped 10% with a friend at the start of the final, ended up with £525 profit, not to be sniffed at.
1 from 1 for the year. Maybe I should stop going.
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Nice start to the year Dave, why stop now when you can obv make it 2 out of 2 8)
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Looking forward to reading this Dave hope you had a cracking xmas and new year mate ps whatever happened to... http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=11123.15 ? x
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Looking forward to reading this Dave hope you had a cracking xmas and new year mate ps whatever happened to... http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=11123.15 ? x
Ah yes, Sorel Mizzi"s health challenge.
Not something I held out much hope of being victorious in, but I did ok. I had 2 weeks in Las Vegas in the middle of it, and then my dad"s health deteriorating immediately after that so it fell by the wayside to be honest.
I"ve always hated commercial gyms, but more accurately the advice from the unimaginative personal trainers inside, seemingly reading from a one size fits all crib sheet when it comes to devising a programme. I"d taken advantage of a LivingSocial voucher to visit Winning Health Solutions:
(http://www.awesomegyms.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/36283_492337764569_1040818_n.jpg)
You might see a giant tractor tyre, and some Atlas Stones. If, like me, you"ve spent part of the Christmas break watching Worlds Strongest Man, you"ll know what"s done with these. And no CV in sight.
I"ve attended for a good 6 months now, fairly on and off for a variety of reasons (the one above, financial, and laziness), and I"m an abject failure at keeping grip of my diet. I"ve lost zero weight, but my lean mass has increased by 7kg, so I"ve basically dropped a stone of fat, body shape has improved a little, and I"ve gotten a damn sight stronger. My trainer also correctly identified nerve problems in my left shoulder, so it"s not just the personal training I"m getting.
Really, the results aren"t awesome, but the best thing I"ve gained is the knowledge that I can actually enjoy going to the gym (and what to do when I"m there and not there!). That"s more important to me and I have the faith that I"ll get to where I want to be eventually. I"ll just stubbornly do it my own way.
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Been feeling really lethargic the last couple of days. My brother"s had an "upper respiratory tract infection" and has been feeling rubbish for a few weeks now, so really hope I haven"t got that.
Nice start to the year Dave, why stop now when you can obv make it 2 out of 2 8)
Grant, I took your sage advice and popped in Thursday"s £50 freezeout at the local. 20k starting chips on a 25 minute clock, reasonable structure. Picked up 36 runners so around £650 for 1st.
Had one piece of luck (just the one) in level 4. Blinds at 150/300. Weak-passive UTG limps out of 23k, relatively straightforward yet perceptive player UTG+1 limps, bad MP limps, tilted HJ limps out of 7k, CO limps. I"m in the SB with ATs and pop it up to 2200. Weak-passive BB cold calls the 3bet, UTG calls, couple of dwell folds and the short stack jams his 7k in.
I know the guy well, and absolutely positive he"s gambling, so shove the lot in to iso. BB folds, and UTG dwells for a good 30 seconds before calling...with KK. WTF?! Shortie has 93o and I bink an Ace on the turn to win a monster pot.
(BB had 88, UTG+1 TT, MP had 22 and would"ve flopped set)
UTG isn"t happy. She"s chuntering under her breath, moaning what a bad player I am. No-one agrees (of course/fortunately*).
*delete as appropriate
Poker gods are fickle though, it just ensured I spent the maximum amount of time for zero award. Busting just short of the FT in 13th after doubling up shorties on 6 occasions. I"d swapped 20% with a WSOP ME/EPT ME cashing friend who went onto the FT above average and came out 9th with top 6 paying. Standard.
Really feel like playing today, but also don"t. I"ve got a Ring Game Ticket on Full Tilt, so popped in some micro-stakes Rush just now. I"d say I was just keeping the ticket active, but in reality with a 2-figure roll on Full Tilt it"s all I can afford at the moment. Definitely not feeling it, game all over the place and stopped after 13 minutes, fortunate to be a buck up.
May pop along to the local Saturday tournament, try and win it two weeks in a row. Will more likely veg in front of the telly. FFS.
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Losing v 6 shorties Dave, that"s pretty brutal running :(
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Little in the way of poker, but should probably write down some stuff regarding 2013 goals.
P5s Worldwide ranking: 11,121 (target 5,000)
OPR: 64.72% (target 95%)
That"s the starting point, given I"ve only managed a handful of tournaments at the start of the month. Still trying to job hunt, a few irons in the fire but nothing concrete.
Am pretty much decided on a change of direction in the mid term. Really want a career where I can control my own destiny, and in the time it"s controlled by others I can be recognised for my skills, rather than how many years I"ve spent in a soul-destroying job. My existing experience incorporates a number of front and back office Operations functions, and I"m looking toward shifting towards IT/development. Will be starting from a pretty low point, but hey ho, no-one said it"d be easy.
In other news, I attended my first strongman events session at my gym. I was rubbish. All the guys were gym rats, personal trainers, or amateur strongmen. I didn"t get anywhere near them (not helped by dodgy back and shoulder - excuse in!) but at least I was stronger than the women. My technique was also dreadful in the events, which certainly didn"t help.
45kg log lift
6x40kg log lifts in 60s
130kg deadlift
And couldn"t budge an 80kg Atlas stone, though I wasn"t using tack which increases the difficulty.
Gives me some PBs to shoot for in the future!
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Got a job at long, long last. Just temping, supporting a load of Merchandising Analysts at a large retailer. Crap pay, crap company, crap job. But it"s a start.
Going to try and move in a more IT focused direction long term, but with no programming experience or academic qualifications in IT it"ll be tough to get a foothold in the industry. A developer friend of mine is teaching me C#, Java, ASP.Net, HTML and a couple of others, and we"ll get some projects on the go. Fingers crossed it pays off long term.
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Oh, and the work vending machine stocks Nice n Spicy Nik Naks.
Diet fail.
:(
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I want to head in a similar direction, i was out of work from may ish last year until January where i got employed by an online shopping company who host 4 or 5 different websites selling different products. Foot in the door is putting these products on eBay . amazon etc and hope to progress from there. Already learning a bit of Html along with a lot of other things i have never touched on before. Hope it pays off in the long run, good luck :)
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I want to head in a similar direction, i was out of work from may ish last year until January where i got employed by an online shopping company who host 4 or 5 different websites selling different products. Foot in the door is putting these products on eBay . amazon etc and hope to progress from there. Already learning a bit of Html along with a lot of other things i have never touched on before. Hope it pays off in the long run, good luck :)
I don"t hold out much hope for your future with the company if you can"t count up to five.
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I want to head in a similar direction, i was out of work from may ish last year until January where i got employed by an online shopping company who host 4 or 5 different websites selling different products. Foot in the door is putting these products on eBay . amazon etc and hope to progress from there. Already learning a bit of Html along with a lot of other things i have never touched on before. Hope it pays off in the long run, good luck :)
Thanks Chris, same to you. I"m being moved at quite a pace by my developer friend. C#, Java, ASP.net, SQL, HTML - have touched upon all of these.
Completely frying my brain, but some things are sticking.
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There are that have had better days than me.
Mate pops round, do a bit of shopping, grab some lunch, do some work on a project of ours. It was a nice afternoon.
Until I get back at about 5pm. No keys. ****. I always used to keep my car keys and house keys separate, but since my keyring had broken they were all together. Now I"d offered to drive but my mate insisted as his car was already warm. Out of pure habit I leave my car keys behind - with house keys attached. Just as well I live with my brother...
...but he was on the latest of his late shifts, finishing as late as 11:30pm. Right, will have to find something to do - I know, the local casino runs an ok £30+30 at 6pm on a Sunday. My bro can pick me up when he finishes. Perfect, I"ll just get some money out...
...or not, as my debit card decides to stop working. Doubly irritating with Nottingham looming large, but I"m not getting very far with £15. Borrow all the money in my mates wallet, and scrape together the buy in...
...until I find out there"s no game and they"ve replaced it with a Kalooki game. Let"s just say that"s full of people you wouldn"t want to be sat down with in a self dealt game of information - not that I remember the rules off the top of my head. Not a problem, the cash game that kicks off in the evenings is £1/£1 and I can at least grind there, albeit with a short stack...
...nope, the game"s been running since last night and it"s now £1/£3 with an £80 minimum sit down. I"m broke anyway so 1/3 isn"t in my range, but the game is stupidly soft so I would"ve borrowed a buy-in off one of the other players and got to work. Still, there"s 3 names on the 50p/£1 list, that"ll surely start soon...
...2 hours later I borrow £50 to top up to a full buy-in. Given how the day"s been going it"s no surprise when As 5s bricks on a 6s 3c 2s board. Lose the minimum. Then Jh 9h fires twice on a Ah Qh Js 9c board, then an 8c river prior to one of the resident donkeys significantly perking up. Goddammit, down to £40.
Then it all swings.
Get a near treble with AQs on a Q high board vs pair+flush draw, and a double with Jc 9c v AK on an Ac Kc 7c. £200, what"s this? Could all the above pain work out ok? Call a raise in position with AQ. 3 way to a flop of KJT! Naturally have to make hero fold after turn J (I get the clock called on me after 30 seconds by some ****er not even in the pot), river A with orig raiser betting all 3 streets. Still on £150. Brother drops me a text, saying he"s finishing early and can pick me up in 15 minutes. Sweet, I"ll just play one more round.
Next hand, same villain above calls my UTG raise with QQ in position with T5, raises my cbet on a 753 board. I pass over the rope for him to hang himself with nearly a quarter of effective stacks already in.
Which I guess he would"ve done had a 5 not turned.
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Well, my first bit of APAT staking is pretty much settled. Sold 60% of a 7 tournament schedule and thinking it"s about time things turned for me.
It can"t go any worse, a bit of ranty post.
RANT BEGINS
In my last ~300-400 hands online/live.
AK v AQ on KQx, turn Q
KT v 95 on K73xxd, turn Td, all in, river the third diamond.
A5 v JTdd, I"ve 3bet pre with a stack size he should only pass or 4bet jam against. Obv he flats OOP and flops Ad5d4d
A8 v A7 on Axxx7
KQ v 85, Villain limp-calls 6x UTG for 1/3 of his stack, flop T8x and he dwell calls and holds.
A9 v 55, Villain limp-calls for 1/3 of her stack, flop T77 and she dwell calls and holds.
A9 v J6hh, Villain cold calls a 3b 10x squeeze OOP for 18% of his stack. Flop Axx two hearts. Villain CRAI and gets there.
QQ v AJ on J423. Villain hangs himself and moves in on turn. River 5.
QQ v T5 on 753, quarter of eff stacks in on flop, turn 5.
AQ v AJ on KJT, turn J, river A.
TT v A9 AIPF, turn A.
This ignores the various flips, combo draws missed, the half hour period of playing 3 hands, hitting top pair or better, and running into 3 sets.
I have of course, run like god when one of the above has left me with sod all chips. Can"t help but win 55 v AK v QQ and KK v AA then!
/RANT ENDS
Never tilted though, obv saving it up for a big one! Stakees (is that the right word? It"s late) need not worry. We all know poker is always putting yourself in profitable situations and the long run will take care of itself.
It"s obviously a bloody long run.
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Nothing like a good moan or rant to get it off your chest, see my blog plenty of moans in there, eventually get there, may not be life changing sums but pays for the extras.
Good luck over the next few days, don"t worry about the stake side of it we all know variance can be a bitch at times, just give it your best shot, that"s all you can do.
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Come on Dave, please keep this going.
Hows the Diet?
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Come on Dave, please keep this going.
Hows the Diet?
Mate, my blogs never keep going!
But I"ll do something about this one :D
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Ok Dwayne, you asked for it!
Back at the start of the year I had some Resolutions...
- Play more than 2 Nationals, and win one
ONGOING: Played the Main Events at both Nottingham for the S6 WCOAP, the APAT Masters and S7 Coventry. Blew up in Notts, made day 2 at Wembley and had the second-best hand in Coventry a hell of a lot. Missed opportunity at Wembley for sure, but never been anywhere near a position to make a FT, let alone win one.
Win a medal at the WCOAP
EPIC FAIL: Made final two tables in both the Stud and the Razz without threatening a deep run. Ran horribly, played pretty average in some events, and had to share a house with the rest of the newly formed Team Gotham, watching them win bracelets and cash multiple times.
Play 2 GPS Main Events
FAIL: I was hoping to play Southend next month, but my financial situation is such that this won"t happen. APAT is all I can muster at the moment.
Get back to Vegas for the WSOP
FAIL: Same as above with the financial situation. Next year hopefully with some of Team Gotham.
Actually make a FT in a large field Stars MTT, rank top 5% on Stars on OPR, and crack top 5,000 on the P5s ranking (basically volume dependent, sigh).
SUCCESS: Made 2/570 in a $5.50 Omania MTT on Stars. Tenuous claiming this as a large field, but I"ll take it!
SUCCESS: As of today I"m ranked in the top 4.53% of Stars players on OPR!
ONGOING: Still ranked in the 14000s on P5s. Not put a dent in that yet.
Get a 4 figure cash online
ONGOING: The above Omania score was just under $800. Stars has been horrible for me and good scores. Had a couple of $500+ scores recently too, and given I"m beginning to enjoy playing online a bit more (part born out of necessity) I"d be disappointed if I didn"t bink 4 figures somewhere this year.
Not take any money out of my online bankroll unless I win an absolute shedload.
FAIL: Yeah, aforementioned dodgy personal situation responsible for this. I"ve had a good 3 months which has been absolutely critical for me.
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The p5"s ranking def something I want to persue over the next 6 months, volume, motivation, job and seeing the missus get in the way :/ (hope the missus doesn"t read this :))
Also the four figure score eludes me, been close a lot but run really really bad when down to two tables :(
Side bet maybe on either of these if ur ever up for it? Added motivation to play is always good.
Never saw that comment before John ... Needless to say you we"re right :(
I still have a job really ;)
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The p5"s ranking def something I want to persue over the next 6 months, volume, motivation, job and seeing the missus get in the way :/ (hope the missus doesn"t read this :))
Also the four figure score eludes me, been close a lot but run really really bad when down to two tables :(
Side bet maybe on either of these if ur ever up for it? Added motivation to play is always good.
Never saw that comment before John ... Needless to say you we"re right :(
I still have a job really ;)
Intriguing proposition! What do you suggest?
I"m happy with it being some friendly rivalry, or perhaps a small prop - I"m not confident of having the time and/or inclination to put the required volume in! Especially as I"m now focusing on Omaha variants so there aren"t a great deal of tournaments that meet P5s criteria.
I cracked the top 14k yesterday though. 13,867th to be precise.
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Im outside the top 14000 at the mo, i really need to play more :\
I"ll have a think, i"m not confident either as i need to spend time in a gym in an evening and i work 9 5 all week but def up for some sort of prop :)
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I"m 13110. Career high was 6k
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4 figure?
I predict that you will skip this one and go straight to a 5 figure cash.
And the diet?
A prop bet on that one sir? I desperately need motivation.
Just checked P5s and my ranking is currently 9086 previous high 1129, oh how good am I running.
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Any updates pending?
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Any updates pending?
lol
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
Cheers Grant, ran pretty good tonight! :)
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
Cheers Grant, ran pretty good tonight! :)
I hope it doesn"t have to take a 1st and a 3rd to reignite this blog dave....sort it out. Im sure at least 3 people (myself included ;) ) would read it
Wp
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
Cheers Grant, ran pretty good tonight! :)
I hope it doesn"t have to take a 1st and a 3rd to reignite this blog dave....sort it out. Im sure at least 3 people (myself included ;) ) would read it
Wp
Im 50/50....
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
Cheers Grant, ran pretty good tonight! :)
Had me well sussed as well :P
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
Cheers Grant, ran pretty good tonight! :)
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii what do you play as on APAT? Is it the usual dwh type handle?
PS I"d be up for some sort of diet prop bet motivation
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Also in for the diet prop bet motivation
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Well played in the APAT onlines tonight Dave, a couple of nice results mate 8)
Cheers Grant, ran pretty good tonight! :)
Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii what do you play as on APAT? Is it the usual dwh type handle?
PS I"d be up for some sort of diet prop bet motivation
It"s Xzyzx - which really confused the presenters on the TV tournament show!
"Can"t believe you got beaten by someone whose name looks like a quadratic equation"
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As for a weight prop bet - maybe sometime soon!
Combine it with a Pocket 5s ranking prop bet :)
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Bump!
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Goddammit Dwayne, I can"t handle the pressure of being expected to update this!
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Bump!
+1
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Goddammit Dwayne, I can"t handle the pressure of being expected to update this!
Sigh!
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Goddammit Dwayne, I can"t handle the pressure of being expected to update this!
Sigh!
Got a new job. It"s good. But temporary. Manager"s really good, am learning a lot and she should be a really good contact for the future.
Attempted to do the 5 1/2 mile journey to work by bike. Got about 500m (it was all uphill) before realising that was a terrible idea. Cue some training to get me to a point where I can do that distance.
So am working again. Have been approached by some longer term, better paid jobs - doubt I"ll get either but will see what comes of that.
So a few things on my plate, hardly played any poker. The Vegas league has started well though, even if it"s on a bit too late for my liking. It"s the third Vegas league I"ve ever played - got a pretty good record:
League 1: PKR - Won the first tournament, and the league overall for a $4k WSOP Experience Package (plus around $3k of cashes)
League 2: Genting - Won the first tournament, ran dreadfully to not win the league, but won one of two $7.5k packages on offer in the SNG for those 2nd-11th.
League 3: APAT - Won the first tournament...watch this space!
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Goddammit Dwayne, I can"t handle the pressure of being expected to update this!
Sigh!
Got a new job. It"s good. But temporary. Manager"s really good, am learning a lot and she should be a really good contact for the future.
Attempted to do the 5 1/2 mile journey to work by bike. Got about 500m (it was all uphill) before realising that was a terrible idea. Cue some training to get me to a point where I can do that distance.
So am working again. Have been approached by some longer term, better paid jobs - doubt I"ll get either but will see what comes of that.
So a few things on my plate, hardly played any poker. The Vegas league has started well though, even if it"s on a bit too late for my liking. It"s the third Vegas league I"ve ever played - got a pretty good record:
League 1: PKR - Won the first tournament, and the league overall for a $4k WSOP Experience Package (plus around $3k of cashes)
League 2: Genting - Won the first tournament, ran dreadfully to not win the league, but won one of two $7.5k packages on offer in the SNG for those 2nd-11th.
League 3: APAT - Won the first tournament...watch this space!
:)
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Um like BUMP!
Seriously 6 weeks!
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BUUUUUMMMPPPPPPPP!
Jeez, if a nice tournie bink isnt enough to reignite this blog then i despair
Pudding Slug
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BUUUUUMMMPPPPPPPP!
Jeez, if a nice tournie bink isnt enough to reignite this blog then i despair
Pudding Slug
U suck
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Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
Ditto
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Back on the wagon (partially cross-posted from Blonde) for 2014. Therefore I"ll sound like a broken record, but that"s because this years aims are the same as last years!
Poker:
Self-appointed poker hero naturally - hamstrung by life busto and lack of volume. On a serious note, I tried the full time route one time and just did not enjoy it, so happily recreational though I do still have the belief and ambition that I can achieve more than I have done. I"ve cleared around £20k profit lifetime from MTTs live and online so poker"s been good to me - biggest bink of £7.6k at Brighton"s 25/25 in December - really hope I have some bigger binks in me sometime! Had a couple of shots online, three at the WSOP and a couple of EPT sides, none to fruition. Boooo.
Life and job busto has caused a few problems, what was a healthy roll has been decimated and I"m starting from below scratch again. I do believe that online NLHE cash is fast approaching unbeatable for rec players out there as it"s moving so quickly - I came across some old HHs from 2008 where I had a few shots at $2/$4; man, the gifts I was getting - you wouldn"t see it at 0.25/0.50 these day. Anyway, enjoyment is key for me, and that is linked to non-NLHE games (also feel my relative edge is biggest here) - though of course that pretty much rules out live poker and split-pot cash games online. Left with the feeble non-NLHE tournament schedule on Stars, PLO cash online and some live MTTs.
I"ll probably do all three, though the title of the blog (whether it"s changed from "Confessions of a LAG" to "PLOlz" I don"t know) gives a clue as to where I think I should go. So the bulk of this should hopefully be me playing PLO, posting some hands etc. I"m confident in my base PLO game (certainly in tournaments), but feel I need to work on some of the maths/statistics nuances within. My maths/stats/mental arithmetic ability is ridic good and something I can apply at the tables to a greater extent than most people - just not fully clued up with the PLO side of it and lack deep PLO experience.
Anyone in a similar position, or looking for a PLO/mixed games sounding board, I"d be more than happy to share learning experiences.
Aim: Get to Vegas and play a WSOP event. Be able to have a dedicated poker bankroll again by the end of 2014 (suspect I"ll need £5-6k profit this year to make that). Actually play something decent at DTD. Improve my PLO game.
Non-Poker
I love sport. Have dabbled in karate, cricket, rugby, darts, golf, pool and football, also coaching the latter until I screwed up my ankle (lateral collateral ligament, I think) one time too many. Now it"s more watching and the occasional sports/fantasy bets over playing - though that"ll be another part of the blog as I try and get into better shape before I turn 30. I hate photos of myself, but hoping to go to Vegas for the WSOP this summer with one of my best mates and want some pictorial references to (hopefully) good times! Also been inspired by another good friend of mine, Dwayne Stacey, who"s training for the London Marathon - he was pretty much the same build and size as me before he started training.
Just started getting a better diet in - going toward the Paleo route thanks to a previous personal trainer who was awesome and from whom I learnt a lot. Going to combine it with a tilt at the Couch to 5k training plan. I haven"t done any running since being forced to do cross country at school. It might be tough as my ankle issues mean I can barely do 9-12 holes of golf without serious pain - but won"t know unless I try. Hopefully things get better with less baggage to haul around!
Aim: To reach 16st prior to a planned Vegas jaunt in June. By that time I"m hoping to be able to have run at least two 5k"s.
Here"s to good luck, for me and you all. Happy hunting.