My poker Journey

Bulgaria and the business

2011-05-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

I thought i should update my blog as alot has happened this month. I won a seat to go to EMOP Bulgaria next month for week so its going to be nice to get away from the online grind for a while. Im still playing poker there a couple of days, but something different. The only thing im not happy about is a connection flight in Vienna. One thing I noticed moving to Prague is that its not easy to fly from. I cant really complain though when my flights are paid for by the poker site.

I have been having a rough time of it this month online. but then this year has been very up and down so far. last month I won just over $4k, this month im breaking even. very annoying as well. It comes at a bad time because i've just started coaching and staking with a good friend of mine Chavarov. I have no financial problems but it would of been nice to have a good month this month. We have both been really surprised by the amount of guys with have playing for us. The money we make from this should take off any pressure that the online grinding gives.

Myself and Chavarov are offering coaching/staking at the 180s on pokerstars. The sessions will be conducted in spainish or english. We use skype along with team viewer/mikogo. Coaching will be 1 on 1 reviewing HH's.

All students must agree to be staked and coached. Not one or the other. If u are interested skype me gavin_555 (czech rep) or chavarov(mexico)

living in prague 2011

2011-01-13T02:12:00.000-08:00

I havent done a blog entry for ages due to fact that I have been lazy updating it. Since the start of 2011 I have been living in prague.I decided towards the end 2010 that living in a sleepy part of England wasnt really me anymore. I have always lived in the same as house and just needed an adventure. Normally I dont put things that arent poker related on here but to be honest reading a few other poker blogs, reading"im doing well or doing badly" just gets a little boring.

I guess you could say me moving to prague is poker related as poker has funded my move here. If you havent been prague I recommend at some point you make the trip here. Its a really nice city with friendly people. Its a really small city so you wont spend time running around the sites against the clock. Living here has been a big change with food,language and just the way of life. but def something that I am enjoying.

Poker since I have got here is going unbelievably well. I had my targets and goals set for the year and I know we are only 2 weeks but I am playing tournaments that I wouldnt expect to be able to play for another 4-6months. Its a very exciting time atm and 2011 could be a big year.

Time for a change

2010-08-04T07:33:00.000-07:00

Since at the end of last week I have been thinking about where my poker career is going. I was comparing that to my goals that I set out when I first started playing poker for a living. If I look at where it is now I would say...content. Its going reasonable well but if I stay on the same path I know there is ceiling to what I can achieve and maybe not achieve all my goals. I think content is dangerous mind set to have if you play poker or even in life in general. Its just shows your happy to go stale and not improve or move forward.

As people who follow my poker career they will know that I play 18man Sng's. I have been playing these for about 10 months now. Even though I haven't achieved everything at the 18's....far from it, I believe I know what is achievable. I think playing the sng poker is the hardest way to make a living in poker and its def a grind. looking at the players at the top of the 18man game, they are the only ones that making a very good living from them but they also make a lot money from coaching and staking other players so even though they have hit the ceiling they are making money from other ways apart from playing.

I have decided that I am now going to move over and play 180man mtt's and play the 18''s alongside. I feel this the right move for me now. I want to start earning better money so that I can open more doors to me(buying into more live events, travelling and online mtt's) that would be harder to do at grinding the $16 18mans. I'm not knocking the 18mans I will always consider myself a 18man player but for what I want out of poker I need to add something to my game. If I learn how to play the 180's then this will help my game adapt better to MTT's for when I travel round europe playing the live circuit. plus it will also help me fund it obv.

long time without an update

2010-07-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have been so lazy with updating my blog, its been about 3 months..oopps. In the last 3 months a reasonable amount of things have happened. I went to Munich for a couple of tournaments and I have dropped my staker (sponsor for the people who don't know what that is).
Back in May i went to Munich for a couple of days to play 3 tournaments for a seat in World series. To be honest I actually enjoyed the holiday side of things more than poker. The thing is with Poker in Germany is that its still a couple of years behind everyone else. Its actually illegal or very close to play for money in the casino's. With this in mind there isn't chance for people to play. Most of the players over there are really bad and so are the dealers. some of them didn't have a clue what they were doing which made feel very comfortable. With the poor organisation of the 3 tournaments as well i really didn't give a shit(plus we basically trying to win holiday not money). I was an hour late for the second tourney because i was at the football stadium and then the third tourney i was 2 hours late because i wanted an afternoon nap.lol.
Out of all the places i have visited this year I think Munich is my favourite. If you fancy a sight seeing and shopping holiday I recommend Munich. The food over there has been the best as well, closely followed Vienna.
I had dropped my staker a couple of months ago so that I could go it alone and start making more money. which has been a great decision for me as i really feel things are moving quicker now with my online game and the goals that i set at the start of the year seem a lot closer.

I'll leave it there as I have been rambling but I'll update in couple days with more updates about whats been going on.

A month to forget

2010-04-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

April I think will be a month to forget. I didn't run well or even average apart from a 4 hour spell. I don't want to bitch and moan on here becuase its not interesting to read for anyone. Compared to last month I had a nightmare, the only money made this month is from rakeback or from the Battle of the planets. This month I have tried so hard and studied my game trying to find out weather its me playing badly or variance. I guess in a good way I found out its variance but its still leaves a bad taste in my mouth this month. When you are running bad and getting staked it makes it feel even worse because you have to split even the smallest profit.

I was discussing the luck factor with someone a couple of days ago and even though there is more skill than luck in poker, it still has a factor. I play against bad regs everyday that have some many leaks in their game but manage to run 6-8% roi which is amazing considering how bad they are. I consider myself to under achieve at online poker but I also an unlucky player online. If it wasn't for live poker the 6months i don't know where i would be.

I should prob play so more today but I feel so shit about my last couple days. I have something like this in Decemeber. So i must take experience from that I keep positive because if I carry on playing the way I am I will make a good money. I have proven it to myself before.

Munich package and maybe WSOP!

2010-04-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

I think its been only been a week or so since my last blog but I have a few things to update on. Last Sunday I won a package to go to Munich which has 3 tournaments with 4 seats for side events for the WSOP in each them. Then those 12 players play for the main event seat which is compared to other qualifiers has unbelievable value in all them. I really looking forward to going to Germany as it will be my forth trip abroad this year because of poker. Obv if I win a seat to go to vegas then that would just be amazing.

Online has been a little strange this month. I started playing sets of 20 SNG at a time and was breaking even which felt like a long time but it wasn't. As I wasn't playing as much the period of time felt long than it was. So I have gone back to playing 2 hours sessions where I usually play around 40 SNG's. Since then things have picked up again and I think I have a chance of good month if I play as much as I have planned.

Today I ran pretty hot and I am now sitting top of the leaderboad with a score that should see me win another ticket to monthly final(battle of the planets). I still haven't been able to use the first ticket I won.lol

quality Vs quantity

2010-04-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't played alot this month, trying to get back in the swing of playing online again has been a little hard this month. Just before I went to Emop Portugal I was playing sets of 20 SNG'S instead of playing 2hours sessions which I was doing before. I think this is how I'm going to construct "my working day" previously I was playing as much volume as possible and maybe not being forcused on every SNG 100%. I think playing now playing the sets of 20 SNG I can forcus on each one alot more. My volume is going to suffer a little more but what I lose in volume I hope to improve on in hourly rate by playing better as just be more conscience of whats going on at the tables. I haven't started the month very well but I feel I am more than experience enough now to deal with a downswing at the start of the month.

Last night I was thinking about my next trip abroad.I know I have only just got back but I like to think ahead and set goals. I am confident that I can win a seat for EMOP Italy for the end of the May but I can't really bank on it. I was looking Kiev in the Ukraine as they have some reasonable tournies in May. Dominican Republic have the world poker showdown at the end of May but the flight is expensive. The only other tournies are in italy 2 weeks after EMOP Italy. These tournies I think are ifs, buts and maybe's. If I don't go away for a couple of months its no big deal.

EMOP Lisbon and hanging out with Devilfish

2010-03-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

I got back from Lisbon in the early hours of this morning. It took 10 hours to get from portugal to England which is just a joke. I can't really complain about the trip though. I one a package online for 20euros and cashed in the tournament for 2.3k euros, which about $3k. The tournament played pretty soft as expected but on my first day I had a pretty tough table with some online mtt guys and devilfish to my left. I thought I managing to cash was an outstanding effort really as I was card dead for most of the tournament and limited spots to steal. I always managed to do enough to be around the average stack or just below.

I think the most memorable thing about the trip was hanging out with Devilfish. At the table apart from 1 other guy we were the english guys at the table. we spent the best part of day 1 chatting which helped past the hours when i was card dead. he told me so many funny stories about Phil ivey, phil Hellmuth and the mouth who he said is a bit of nit when its comes to nights out. He gave me his phone to show me some jokes and have a look at some pics. One pic was fergie from the blackeyed peas sitting on his lap taking a pic of them together!....i may never was hands after touching the same phone as her.lol. Its was also cool that he wanted to eat dinner with me as well at the break which i thought was really cool.

winning a Battle of planets ticket

2010-03-08T12:28:00.000-08:00

Last week I started playing the $16 18mans again. I got off to a really good start and managed to get on the BOD leaderboard. I won $110 for 6th which was a nice added bonus and a chance to win 12k when I the chance to play the BOD tourney. At the moment I mixing the $6 and the $16's when playing my sessions which are obv are bigger swings. I trying to to ignore the bad sessions because this downswings are to be expected. All I can do is play correctly and keep forcused.

Last night I was watching the EPT Berlin robbery which got me thinking about when I visit Lisbon. Obv the money is no where near the same but surely the security is going to be alot tighter now. At poker tournies the security is so soft I wonder how no one has tried it before. When I went to watch the WSOPE in London there £850k on on platform with one unarmed security guard next to it.lol.

Haven't really got much more to say but thought I should try and keep this as update as possible.

learning curve of 2010

2010-02-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

For the first time these last 2 week since maybe mid december I am feeling like i'm enjoying playing online poker again and have the burning desire again to play online poker again. I've always wanted to play online poker but I guess now I feel like I have a purpose and remembered why I wanted to play poker professionally. Maybe I was running so bad online,winning money play live poker and I wasn't short of money. Running bad online almost became the norm and getting up early in morning and getting volume lost importance for me.

This year so far I have been travelling alone to poker tournaments in Europe, which has given me plenty of time to be alone with my thoughts and analyse my poker career path.I think in Vienna I realized how playing live poker is easier money and another form of income but not so frequent. In Dublin I remembered the most important thing...grinding online poker. Having these large periods of time alone I learnt so much about myself and how to keep myself disciplined and focused on my career. Its so easy to get lazy or find excuses for doing other things.

At the start of 2010 several people said 2010 was going to be a big year for me.I believed them then and I still believe in myself now. I am sure I have learnt more about myself and what it takes this year than the last 6-months of 2009. I will never let myself lose the importance of getting in volume again even when I am running bad. I will also remember that online is my bread and butter.Playing live and travelling is secondary.

A case of being more professional

2010-02-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

Since just before I went to Dublin I have thinking about my online and how I should be disciplined and professional about it. I have always had a problem with the amount of volume I play. I guess I always ran ok and that meant I was always had enough money to survive. Its not until a ran bad I realized that I had picked up some habits and a bad mind set. I always knew volume was key to making a living from poker but I guess I was just being lazy. Its funny that my coach mentioned the amount of volume I play and what I should be playing yesterday,which got thinking in more detail today.

Playing poker for a living is like running a business and the only way to make money is play. I have always known this but now the preacing has to stop and I have to put this words in action more often. I was thinking about my goals that I wanted to achieve when I first started playing the 18mans and how I was going to achieve them. I must remember these goals and carry on pushing towards them. I know from watching other people play and looking over my HH's that I have a good knowledge of the game but I must put this in practise.

Ages since last blog so a lot to say!

2010-02-18T15:43:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since I last blogged here due to fact I kept putting it off. 9 days ago I got back Dublin which on Poker terms was a nightmare but to be honest the trip ended up being more of a holiday. The side event I was doing got due to unexpected amounts of entrants in the main event. Which I felt ok with in way because I wasn't feeling to good the first night. The second night a played 300euro event and only lasted a couple of hours.AA cracked by 99's and then hit a set of 4's and I guy hit runner runner straight. The final night I didn't want to play as there weren't enough entrants in the tourney with 3 other events already started. So I ended up spending the weekend doing the tourist things in the City and watching Arsenal lose....again.

Last week I decided I want to play some bigger live tournaments and carry on travelling. So I was keeping an eye on the european poker sites for any worth while satties during the day and found 5euro rebuy step1 with 5 runners into a sunday final(200euros). I decided this was to good to miss and jumped in it, the players being so bad I took it down and made the final. The sunday final had 8 packages with 81 runners which was so soft it was unbelievable. 3 hours later I won a package to go to Lisbon for the European Masters of Poker. The package consisted of 1.1k buy-in 350 spending money and 4 nights accom. With over 90% of the field being qualifiers from 2and 5 euros buy in tournies I know I going to have a big edge over most of the players.

This month online has been some what of a rebuilding job after a poor jan. I so disappointed with my volume from jan that I want to make sure I had a reasonable amount volume in feb. I started the month running ok then i hit a bad patch...thinking oh no not again. After speaking with coach and studying alot more the couple of days have been better and things are looking up!

If anyone is laking inspiration at the moment, Vertek has got some must watch videos on his blog which will def help.

Thats more like it!!!

2010-01-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

I think/hope that my bad run online has come to a end. I've been playing the $6 18mans to get some recent results behind me along with confidence. I'm running at $1.5 a game since I took a break from the $16's. I'm not as pleased as I should be, but I guess I feel that I have to get some better results at the $16's before I'm happy about where I'm am in regards to online. The only issue I have had this month is volume. I'm going to struggle to hit 800 games which is pretty shocking for someone who plays full-time. I know that I was in Vienna for a week but I don't want to use that as an excuse. I should of grinded harder to make up for it. I can't complain about running bad when I am turning out that sort of volume.

I'm going to Dublin next week for 3 live tournies which after Vienna, I am feeling very excited and confident about.Its a good feeling knowing that I use these live tournies as a second income with Online being my bread and butter. If things go to plan to Dublin I'm planning to go to Barcelona and Hungary in March. Atm I trying to get into euro masters in Lisbon but I have win a seat for that.

(note to self: don't get distracted by live tournies to much and make sure that my Online volume is my prioty for feb!!)

F/T in Vienna...Bring on Dublin!!

2010-01-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

I've been back a couple of days now from Vienna. It was a successful trip with me Final tabling and taking down $2.5k in one of the tournies. I played 3 tournies in the space of about 5 days. The first one I played badly and didn't last to long.In the second I played well,got that bit of luck you need and ended up on the final table. The final table played alot like a super turbo which was weird considering most of the tournament had some play in it. I think really the antes got massive which obv changed the situation(not to mention the blinds). I am generally pleased at coming in 8th out 296 runners and along with 18th out 140 runners in the third tourney which was actually the bubble. I set myself the target before I went out to Vienna that I wanted one FT and make 1.5-3k profit which happened. I knew the tournies were going to soft with 100euro and 200euro buyins but I realized its possible to make a good income from these type tournies. I have recently played 4, ft 2 of them and 18th 1.

I am now all booked up and ready to go to Dublin where I am going to play 3 more tournies at the start of Feb. I can't wait.

I have taken a couple days off from Online due to trying to get my sleep pattern right and also just being busy. I plan to get as much grinding in from Monday as possible until Dublin.

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=111919

2010-01-08T05:56:00.001-08:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 636606

Digging in deep and being patient

2010-01-08T05:11:00.000-08:00

Well 2010 has started off where 2009 left off.... on a downswing. With December being an expensive month as predicted having a downswing couldn't come at a worse time. For 2010 I was hoping for a good start but that hasn't been the case. I have been studying my game alot more lately and discussing my bad run with other people which is really helping me. I find looking at other peoples sharkscope can make me feel better if I have a couple of bad days. Boku87 for example was break even after 22k games so it didn't come to him over night.(now sitting on nearly $200k profit)

I think everyone is different when it comes to studying. Some people like to review and reasure themselves that their game is good. when I review i hate looking at bad beats because i'm just reliving it and thinking about lost money. Atm I getting little frusrated with things because i have put so much hard work and time in poker and i'm not getting the rewards I deserve lately. I'm running bad at $16's atm and actually running worse at $6's...explain that considering their meant to be softer. Comparing games from 3 months ago to now it reasures me it only a matter of short time before i making a killing as I am playing alot better now than I was 3 months ago when I was making reasonable money. I understand that I have to be patient and I things will start clicking at $16's like they did at $6 earlier in 2009. Every successful player has been through the same thing and I am just going through the standard bad run at the start.

I'm going to Vienna on Wednesday for 3 poker tournaments which I am really looking forward to. It's going to be my first Poker trip abroad so its going to be an adventure. I'm pretty confident of having an edge in these tournies and it will be a nice break away from the online grind. IF I get a cash over there I am planning to go to Dublin for Euor deepstack festival in feb. The weather in Vienna is like -15c and worse so i better wrap up warm lol.

reviewing 09 and looking forward to 10.

2009-12-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

I haven't really been playing at all over Christmas holidays. I decided it was time just to a break from it and get ready for having a big 2010. Earlier this month I was pissed off things weren't going my way this month but i hadn't had really bad month for a long time so maybe it was due.
Looking back at 09 I have come along way and learnt so much about Poker and what it actually takes to make a living from Poker. In the jan-feb I was playing $27-$38 18mans and doing ok but i realized that hadn't built a my career on solid foundations.I then went looking for a coach for some advice and found Vers. Vers got me playing $6,$12 45mans and was making good money. In August i managed to a win a live tourney for £1300/$1800 which then paid for my holiday to Florida. When I got back from Florida i want to play 18mans in the morning as the $45mans weren't making enough money for me and $12 weren't filling up. This is when I got introduced to reasons14 and he has also taken my game to another level.With coaching from this two very good players/coaches i have seen an amazing transformation in my game.(theres still plenty of room for improvement). The only downer this year was i wasn't really happy with the results that I either wanted or showed the true reflection of where my is atm. The result were just ok.

2010. targets:

To make +£30k for the year.
To get up to playing $27,$38 and $60 18mans
Start staking on PTP
To win a live tourney in Europe +£100 buy in
Travel Europe more overall
To have my own place buy/rent.
retain Supernova status on Stars
(I want to add to list but yet decide what)

bye notts..hello vienna

2009-12-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

Well i have decided against playing Notts this weekend and instead I am going to tackle 3 tournies in Vienna,Austria in Jan. Two 100euros and one 200euros which i am selling stakes off. At the moment I have sold 35% of the 50% planned. I'm really excited about it because its not just a chance for me to play 3 tournies abroad for good money but its also going to a be great adventure/holiday to a new country. I want to start to conquer the live tournaments in Europe and England more in 2010. 2009 was a good year for me playing live so I feel this is another form of income. I am trying to win a seat at the moment for the European masters in Gran Canaries for the end of jan. The sat's are playing so soft its ridiculous. Most of the players are sat winners as well. So I should have a good edge going into the tourney.

Online this month has been shocking. I guess everyone has bad months and this is my first month down since feb. Ok i know i had months where i haven't made much but thats been because of my volume or holidays etc. I guess i have to be patient at the $16/18mans as it has been to a slow start on them. I can kill the $6/18mans but if i am to improve my game and make good money I must play the $16's. I'm playing well at the moment and I am just getting ridiculously unlucky.

Happy Christmas!

looking forward to Nottingham

2009-12-16T05:26:00.000-08:00

This month to put nicely has been the worst month for a long time for me. The Only thing that I have got to look forward to this month poker wise is the £100 Nottingham that I ft last month. I might do some other smaller buy-in live tourneys as well but with Christmas coming and the need for a new laptop I know i can't go mad.

I'm still being staked but I have been moved down the $6/18mans due to my bad run. I have always been someone who likes to be moving forward so going back the $6/18mans is liking banging my head against a wall. Trying to make a living at the $6/18man is possible if you get in a good volume and on your own bankroll but if you are being staked its like playing $1 or $3. I think the most frustrating thing atm is I know that I have the game and confidence to beat the $16's and I was so determined to break even this month which is coming harder to do at the $6's.

I'm looking for to my xmas traditions this year with my friends. we all go to this massive shopping center this weekend, xmas eve is a Chinese meal and boxing day with have big party which is always awesome.

I was planning to play football/soccer this weekend but its now snowing so maybe not.lol

At least I have Supernova rackback.

2009-12-12T02:19:00.000-08:00

I pretty sure that December is going to a be write off. I am in a bigger downswing that I ever thought was possible at 16s/18. I never understood the saying with sport teams "they have forgotten the winning feeling"..I do now. I think i have only had the one winning session all month and its become the norm that I finish a session down. I am delighted atm with a break even session.. You don't have to a be a poker expert to see that i playing well and getting bad beats in most tourneys. The only motivation for playing this month is getting the Supernova rackback. I think otherwise I would want to top of myself. putting in volume is so hard when running so bad.

I am trying to set goals in my life that don't involve poker at all. I have always been guilty of getting tunnel vision on something and forgetting other important things. I really want to learn a language but I haven't decided which one yet and I been watching a sport on tv for a couple of years which that looks really fun,cheapish to take up with funding and you don't need to playing the sport from an early age. which is the case with most sports. I don't want to say the sport because it i don't do it then I look like an idiot.lol

regroup and start again

2009-12-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well I started the month with the biggest downswing for the amount of games played in my career. Its really strange, its almost like everything you have learnt and studied means nothing. When your AA's,KK's,QQ's etc are losing more than winning along with losing when you have people crushed and then losing every coin flip. I don't think anyone can plan me for not wanting to put to big sessions in.I know people will say "play more and get out the swing" but it can really suck the motivation out of you and then you just end up playing not focused. I have taken the day off to forget about it and do something completely different. I am staying positive and confident as much as possible in which is probably my biggest test so far.Since I turned pro I have realized it's not all about turning on laptop and firing up a couple of tourney and seeing how it goes. What makes a pro is someone who stay focused and motivated through the downswings,plus be able to pick themselves up day after day of sick beats. Along with the fact that one month you may not make hardly any money at all.

I watched the World Cup draw today which is always exciting. Its funny watching it and seeing what it means to so many countries and people. Its the only sporting event in the world that can be every country involved to a stand still...apart the US. England drew US,Algeria,Slovenia. I'll take that.

thinking positive

2009-11-30T16:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't played tonight but I have been thinking about what has happened this month. looking back i believe its important to take the positives out of any month, regardless on whether your having the best month of your career or the worst. For this month I have seen more improvement in game for sure which is giving me more confidence even if I have a bad day....honestly. I am playing at higher level(the 16's) which is exciting for me knowing its possible owin same amount of money in one day than I could in one week at a boring office job. I am also happy....now at running deep in a live mtt which brings my live winnings to +$2k over last 4-5 live tournies which is always a nice bonus on top of online grinding.lol

I think i am going to set some goals for December and make sure I stick to them. To often i get side tracked or start making excuses for not hitting them and then they lose all meaning. Maybe a nice reward for myself is in order if i hit them but i have yet to decide what. Last month I was disappointed in my volume even though I felt like a played a lot. This might be because I was playing more sets than before and getting yourself set mentally 3-4 times a day to grind a set is worse than doing to 2 3 hour sessions in one day...in my opinion. So even though i'm not going nuts and playing +3k games amonth, I think 2k is good amount to target.

Final table @ Nottingham

2009-11-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to add a new blog since the weekend but I been a having a lazy week...again. I played the £100 Nottingham on Sunday with my brother and I managed to get to the final table. The was field was almost a sell out with 271 runners. It played pretty soft with the exception of about 10 good players. Even though I finished 9Th I took down £500/$850, I went on to the final table 2ND in chips and had real good chance of taking down the £8k/$14k. I felt really sick the way I went out and when i was handed the £500 it really could of been £10 at the time, it really couldn't mean less.(now I feel more content with it). The way I went out, i pushed from the cut off with A9 against the three short stacks they all folded and then the dealer saids call..... I'm like wtf!!! the big stack has limped under the gun and was hiding his cards under his hands and big sleeves!!! i was expecting to see a massive hand but it was 10's!.he risked 2/3 of his stack on that call. It held and he went on to win the £8k. I had been awake 18hrs and focused for the best part of 15hrs after a big detour drive to pick my bro up from north London. So maybe if i was more focused i may of been able to see that trick. I checked thehendonmob.com which is like sharkscope for live players and the guy had $1million in tournaments and a wsop bracelet! Maybe that was dirty a trick he picked up in vegas.lol.

Online has been going well lately in $16/18 man so i can't really complain about things to much atm,

16/18's, playing Nottingham and others.

2009-11-14T22:54:00.000-08:00

Since the start of November I have been grinding the 16/18's which I feel now this is the least I can play since the improvements in my game. I have been really surpised how weak the 16/18's are at the moment. I have played at 27,38's and 16's before this month but i don't really remember. I have admit I have only played 600 games this month which really isn't a lot considering we are at the end of the second week of november. I know I am avoiding some of the good regs due to the hours that i am playing but still i am aware of only 5-6 good regs. I am not saying I am one the best at 16's, i just expected a lot more good regs. I am playing a lot of my games atm at 7-11am UK time for the reasons being that this is softest time grinding and if i decide i want to put in a big volume one day i still have the afternoon or evening to play.

I have decided this month that i am going to start playing live poker more often again. Before i started grinding online this year i really considered myself more as a live player due to the fact i had more successful results to my name. There is tourney in Nottingham next weekend £100(about $140) where the winner takes about £6-7k. i also live about 15 min drive from a card room which has a tourney every night and they play really soft. I managed to win the £60 85 runners in August and took down £1300 which about $2k... i think. When it comes to live poker i really have a big choice of places to play. obv Nottingham which is about 2 1/2 hurs drive.(they have £300 tourney first w/e of every month. winner takes £28k.(+$40k about) that has ept winners and wsop bracelet winners in it... so you are looking for a challenge!!!. Living close to London there obv the Vic(home ept london) plus 5 other casino/cardrooms of the top of my head. With some many live tourneys i can really cherry pick. I understand since playing poker for a living i must use all my resources available to me and if that means playing live then so be it... it will be fun!

End of the month

2009-10-30T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well October wasn't a good month regarding results overall and i am glad its over on that side of things. There has been a lot positives to take from the month though. I've been getting staked from the 9th oct and getting alot more coaching. This has brought my game on a long way in a short period time. My confidence is back on a high where it was about 2 months ago plus I now know that i can beat the 6/18's without playing well everyday now.

From the start of next month i am moving up to the $16/18's which I am excited about for two reasons. 1. I will be able to make alot more money now obv. 2.i am a step closer to achieving my goal on 18 man's.(to be grinding the 27's and 38's).
I think I am more confident about where I am at the moment in my poker career because I have improved so much over the 3-4 weeks. Previously I had coaching on 45's and was grinding the them pretty well for a couple months but I think I started to create leaks in my game and then started to doubt my decision making. Looking back at it now I now believe I have resolved the leaks and I shouldn't of doubt myself. I was just running bad at times.

My motivation is back as well which I believe is helping my game improve a lot more now than maybe back in September. I am a strong believer that a positive mental attitude will bring more success to any one's career or life. Since I have been getting staked this has helped me actually sit down a play, where before I was getting lazy and doubting myself. The other day I watched a Will Smith inspirational clip on Vertek's blog. It was awesome and I recommend that you haven't watched it, you must. Its really helped me and I will def watch it again soon.

One of my best friends has been written off sick from work for weeks and I doubt if he is going back. He wants to be a poker pro and grind online. The first month has had its highs and lows. He won a $3 rebuy for $6.4k and picked up a few some cashes. On tournament winnings for the month he sitting on $4.6k. Unfortunately he has a soft spot for playing medium stake HU's cash games where he is a losing player atm. It would be cool for him to become a poker pro but atm he breaking the rules to build his career on solid foundations. He plays very low volume, miles outside his bankroll so if he loses it's not even worth thinking about. I think if he was able to have good bankroll management, stop playing sng's, high stake cash and insisting on playing Russian roulette with his bankroll, I believe he has the talent and game to be a very successful MTT poker pro.

Away from the tables

2009-10-24T05:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't played as much as I should have the last couple of days. I have been trying to sell my Mum's car she left me last year, which has been a right pain to sell. It's a nice car but for some reason I can't sell it. On wednesday night I played football(soccer)and for the first week in ages I had an average game. Being a goalkeeper if you have a bad game everyone will always tell you. Luckily the team we played weren't great and the rest of my team had a good game. last night I meet up with some friends for drinks and watched SAW 6. Watching it last night I couldn't help feeling "same shit different day". I think it will be the last Saw I watch as it just getting stupid now.

I did manage to play for 3 hours before I went out yesterday. I played about 60 $6/18 mans and made about $300 profit. yeah I ran pretty hot.lol.

I don't think I will play today either. I'm pretty much where I want to be regarding games played this month. There's football on tv I want to watch and then I'm going round a mates later on. If there is time then I may watch the NFL game at Wembley but I doubt I will.

keeping focused on the long term goal

2009-10-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

At the moment I am grinding the 6/18's and taking some time off from the 12/45's. I am currently being staked and coached at the 18's which I mentioned in my last post. To be perfectly honest the 6/18's are the most exciting to play and the financial rewards aren't amazing either. I understand though to become any good at playing these I must start from the bottom and build my way up. My main goal at the 18 mans is to grinding the 27/38s. Every time I sit down and play a session I think about where I want to go and what I want to achieve. This really helps me with motivation on days that I am not really feeling it but I know have get in my volume.
Taking 10 minutes out before you play and thinking about short/long term goals, timescales etc. can really change an outlook on a days play.

When it comes to 18 man I am really excited about the future and how my game is improving. I think my game is improving quickly thanks to a very good coach who is always willing to discuss situations and HH's. If anyone was asking for a quick sum up on the 18's I would prob say "work in progress". I did play at the start of the year some 27/38s and ran like god. I think after 150 games I was $1.7k profit, which i know is a small sample of games but even so it some positive experience to use when I get back there.

I must admit I am missing playing the 12/45s at the moment, even though it has only been two weeks.lol. I miss playing the good and bad regs which is sounds a little because if you speak to anyone about an ideal table is full of fish.I find if I am playing a reg their usually a little more predictable and their not going to try any crazy plays as their prob multi tabling unlike the fish at the table.OK there are good regs might call me lighter but there are a lot of regs(nits) at $6,12 that struggle to adapt to other regs pushing ranges and call off to tight. plus if I get to knock out reg/rival then its always a nice feeling.lol. I have had a quiet a few exciting $250-$700 days at the 6/12 45's which have yet to happens at 18's....watch this space lol.

The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows.

2009-10-18T21:02:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at doing anything like blogging so bare with me on this.

To get you up speed I am 24 year old "poker pro" from Surrey, England. I am living/chasing the dream depending on what you call a poker pro. I Currently play low stake 45 man and 18 man tourneys on Pokerstars. I have recieved coaching from two well known online poker players which have made some amazing changes to my game.

previously I have worked as an Estate agent in Guildford,Surrey. I worked there for 2 and half years where I didn't realize until the end of job that it was actually taking over my life.
In June 08 while in holiday in Spain my Mum Died. It was the worse thing ever in my life and I hit a new low. Shortly after this I decided I wasn't happy with my quality of life and quit my job for poker. I have been playing poker ever since and living with a lot more positive outlook on life.

Today I want to make sure I get in my volume on the 18 mans. Since I have been staked at the 18 mans I have found my discipline at getting in the volume has improved, which has always been my weakness. Hopefully after a reasonable day yesterday my bad run has come to a end. I've got up early today so I should be able to get in my required amount of tourneys and still have time in afternoon to look for a new laptop and get few others things done.

I think for my first entry that will do!