They, clearly, haven't met Jac35 who I met for the first time at the Brighton SPT last Sunday and who semi-railed me but was fully ace. Other people who I met in real life for the first time after playing them/seeing them around here for years included DTM (he may have had a few drinks, was ace), Mumsie (kindly picked me up, was ace), Tikay (obviously ace) Curt360 (saw him all-too-briefly, but ace), Matt Bates (ace), Melty (ace), Conga38 (ace), Alvez (ace) lots of other ace Sky (playing) regs/recs and a heap of Sky (working) dudes who were all, predictably, ace.
I think I might need to dig out my adjective dictionary.
Perhaps that will do for the fawning.
Actually, let's do a little bit more. The whole weekend was marvellous. It was great that the guarantee was obliterated and great too that pretty much everyone was full of bonhomie. I didn't even really fancy going as my game was in the trenches but I dragged myself there for day 1a, fully expecting to bust within four or five levels. Unfortunately, when you flop nut straights and sets and river straight flushes, it's quite difficult to bust so I headed home on the 5:15am train to Bournemouth and came back on Sunday with 126,000 chips (av 73,000, I think).
The plan was to get it in good (I know: sophisticated) and if it looked like I could squeak into the money, then to nit up and try and squeak into the money. After some reasonably heroic call downs (with A2 on a KQ299 board, for example) and winning a few all-ins when ahead, I survived a fairly harrowing bubble and was in the money with six big blinds. Six big blinds quickly became lots more big blinds after I got it in with KJ versus JT and held, flopped two pair against an overpair and held and lots of other fun stuff.
I went into the final table fifth, I think, and was out within an orbit or two after losing AK-88 aipf. Actually, I didn't quite go out there. I jammed my following hand UTG with roughly 1.5 bigs and 54s, flopped an OESD, and turned the nuts. That gave me 4-5 bigs which I called off blind against the button's shove on the next hand. I was actually ahead with A7 against A5 but went horribly behind on the turn and that was that. Winning there would have put me right back in things but it was the first time all weekend where I had lost an all in when ahead so I can't really moan too much. Plus, I was in for free. Plus, I was probably on my 26th or 27th beer of the weekend.
So, eighth for £1,980. It makes going off to play £5/10 next month that bit more likely and my faith in my game has been (somewhat) restored. So, you know, thanks Sky.
Thanks too for all the people who I met for being so interesting and friendly (and, sometimes, drunk) and for saying nice things about this diary.
Peace out.
This simpleton enjoyed most of this, one very obvious error but other than that a solid write up.
You too mate. Think the most harrowing journey I've had post-poker was getting the Megabus back from Aberdeen to London. I booked then missed two in a row (because drinking/pokering), caught the third just about at around 2am, woke up at about 6am half-drunk/half-hungover and had ten delightful hours until London without food, water, or anything to read/occupy my mind.
The pint/water/Argentinian Malbec and steak frites* I got in Victoria was one of the finest meals I've ever had.
I was reading this post and intrigued by it...then I realised who you were. I am the young(ish) gent who congratulated you on your FT at Brighton when on the Bournemouth cash table on Sunday afternoon and then soon made a bad call with top 2 when it was clear the other gent had a straight! I’m going to hopefully do a similar challenge to you mate. But you’re smashing it! Well played and hopefully play a bit more at the casino and on here! Ps does Larson still think you’re the worst cash game player ever? 😂
I was reading this post and intrigued by it...then I realised who you were. I am the young(ish) gent who congratulated you on your FT at Brighton when on the Bournemouth cash table on Sunday afternoon and then soon made a bad call with top 2 when it was clear the other gent had a straight! I’m going to hopefully do a similar challenge to you mate. But you’re smashing it! Well played and hopefully play a bit more at the casino and on here! Ps does Larson still think you’re the worst cash game player ever? 😂
Hey Larson is a forum good guy. I’m sure he would never make comments like that
I was reading this post and intrigued by it...then I realised who you were. I am the young(ish) gent who congratulated you on your FT at Brighton when on the Bournemouth cash table on Sunday afternoon and then soon made a bad call with top 2 when it was clear the other gent had a straight! I’m going to hopefully do a similar challenge to you mate. But you’re smashing it! Well played and hopefully play a bit more at the casino and on here! Ps does Larson still think you’re the worst cash game player ever? 😂
Yo, I remember. Seeing you, that is and, vaguely, that call. I'd had one or two. Best of luck with the challenge dude and keep me/us posted.
I've done Megabus once and I shall never do again. I was travelling from London to Newcastle after a longhaul flight and a few bevvies. Was looking forward to getting the head down for a few hours. Turns out there was a religious group that thought it would be fun to humm/chant on the stroke of every hour. Marv! They didn't see the funny side when I hit back with some 'Wonderwall' on every half hour.
This challenge is looking decidedly dicey. And by "decidedly dicey" I mean that it's probably not going to happen - not yet, at least.
This is a shame.
Going from £40 to playing £5/10 live (even as a one off) in a few months seemed somewhat ambitious but completely doable. And it would have been completely doable if people had showered me with work, but since the beginning of August my career has been in tatters. And I don't want my career to be in tatters - I want it to be in the opposite of tatters, whatever that is.
But them's the breaks and as such I've had to shovel large parts of my poker income over the last few months - I'm not sure how many grands, four? Five? - into my living expenses. Good old living expenses.
Dusting off £800 playing live on Friday hasn't helped. Nor has my increasingly fragile mental health helped. Nor, further, has my ballooning drinking helped as a way (a not very good way, mind) of coping with my increasingly fragile mental health. Good old fragile mental health.
But, readers, there are glimmers of hope. We all love glimmers of hope, right?
First, every time I've gone through tough times at the tables I've come through the other side with a stronger, more creative game. That's something. Second, these trying psychological times have helped me to realise (I think) what I really want to be doing with my life - principally, helping other people who are experiencing tricky times in their heads. That's something, too.
Third, although this challenge is looking like it's off, it isn't off yet. If I bink a tournament or two or rattle through micro to low to mid stakes cash then, well, who knows.
Whoops, bit bleak for a dreary Monday evening. Sorry about that. Good luck out there, everyone.
Hi Steve Helping others sounds like a really good plan, when you do it gives you that nice warm feeling in the inside., spreading a little love is so underrated - and the even greater thing about it is the poker ups n downs become irrelevant as it dawns on us mere mortals what really matters in life. Have I just solved the meaning of life? 😀 Apart from 42 of course. Keep up the good work, good luck in both/all your quests.
It seems that we have reached the end of December.
In many ways this (harebrained) challenge has been a success: I've managed to spin up a £40 deposit into around £5-6K - mostly in the last three months or so. (Not bad, especially considering that I managed to spin the initial £40 down to £25 in the first day or two.) Other good stuff includes meeting lots of fine Sky regs (and staff) at the Brighton SPT, final tabling said SPT, playing some of my best ever poker in October's promo, starting to put up youtube vids of me playing, starting a poker blog (I know: modern), playing live regularly and generally enjoying playing poker a bit more than I used to.
So, good.
But in other, more accurate, ways this challenge hasn't been a success at all: I didn't get to play £5/10 live, which was kind of the point of it. I didn't get to play £5/10 live because of a number of reasons, the keenest being that (a) I am sometimes lazy, and haven't really tried finding work, so poker profit has been funnelled into life expenses and (b) I love drinking and going out, manage my money like Michael Carroll, and generally take poor care of myself.
Perhaps it's time for a bit of a change. Tonight is the first NYE that I've stayed in since I was 15. I've turned off my phone. I haven't drunk. I'm planning to take a cold shower, eat some oily fish, meditate, then play poker. I have big plans for this challenge still going into 2018 and four day benders aren't going to be featuring too heavily* but oily fish and cold showers will.
Some plan, readers. Some life.
Thanks everyone for reading everyone and hope 2018 is all you want it to be. Or at least pretty close.
Comments
That train journey back North nearly ended me
The pint/water/Argentinian Malbec and steak frites* I got in Victoria was one of the finest meals I've ever had.
*steak and fries, for non-French speakers.
Larson is a forum good guy. I’m sure he would never make comments like that
How did you do at Brighton?
Jac is very good and solid at pokers
As for tips...run well? Think I owe my deep run in Brighton more to that than anything else. That and a lot of patience, I suppose.
Don't get me wrong, I love Bournemouth. Good beach, affordable beach huts, not a little bad train station, & so on.
Somewhat genteel & geriatric though. Pretty sure I was the youngest person there last time I visited. I also showed signs of life.
Where I am - the druggier, more beleaguered bit - we now have two-storey overnight beach huts which are the nuts.
This challenge is looking decidedly dicey. And by "decidedly dicey" I mean that it's probably not going to happen - not yet, at least.
This is a shame.
Going from £40 to playing £5/10 live (even as a one off) in a few months seemed somewhat ambitious but completely doable. And it would have been completely doable if people had showered me with work, but since the beginning of August my career has been in tatters. And I don't want my career to be in tatters - I want it to be in the opposite of tatters, whatever that is.
But them's the breaks and as such I've had to shovel large parts of my poker income over the last few months - I'm not sure how many grands, four? Five? - into my living expenses. Good old living expenses.
Dusting off £800 playing live on Friday hasn't helped. Nor has my increasingly fragile mental health helped. Nor, further, has my ballooning drinking helped as a way (a not very good way, mind) of coping with my increasingly fragile mental health. Good old fragile mental health.
But, readers, there are glimmers of hope. We all love glimmers of hope, right?
First, every time I've gone through tough times at the tables I've come through the other side with a stronger, more creative game. That's something. Second, these trying psychological times have helped me to realise (I think) what I really want to be doing with my life - principally, helping other people who are experiencing tricky times in their heads. That's something, too.
Third, although this challenge is looking like it's off, it isn't off yet. If I bink a tournament or two or rattle through micro to low to mid stakes cash then, well, who knows.
Whoops, bit bleak for a dreary Monday evening. Sorry about that. Good luck out there, everyone.
Hi SR,
Good luck with untattering everything.
Helping others sounds like a really good plan, when you do it gives you that nice warm feeling in the inside., spreading a little love is so underrated - and the even greater thing about it is the poker ups n downs become irrelevant as it dawns on us mere mortals what really matters in life.
Have I just solved the meaning of life? 😀 Apart from 42 of course.
Keep up the good work, good luck in both/all your quests.
And thanks very much for the good wishes - will be updating on both fronts.
All the best mate, hope things are all good with you.
It seems that we have reached the end of December.
In many ways this (harebrained) challenge has been a success: I've managed to spin up a £40 deposit into around £5-6K - mostly in the last three months or so. (Not bad, especially considering that I managed to spin the initial £40 down to £25 in the first day or two.) Other good stuff includes meeting lots of fine Sky regs (and staff) at the Brighton SPT, final tabling said SPT, playing some of my best ever poker in October's promo, starting to put up youtube vids of me playing, starting a poker blog (I know: modern), playing live regularly and generally enjoying playing poker a bit more than I used to.
So, good.
But in other, more accurate, ways this challenge hasn't been a success at all: I didn't get to play £5/10 live, which was kind of the point of it. I didn't get to play £5/10 live because of a number of reasons, the keenest being that (a) I am sometimes lazy, and haven't really tried finding work, so poker profit has been funnelled into life expenses and (b) I love drinking and going out, manage my money like Michael Carroll, and generally take poor care of myself.
Perhaps it's time for a bit of a change. Tonight is the first NYE that I've stayed in since I was 15. I've turned off my phone. I haven't drunk. I'm planning to take a cold shower, eat some oily fish, meditate, then play poker. I have big plans for this challenge still going into 2018 and four day benders aren't going to be featuring too heavily* but oily fish and cold showers will.
Some plan, readers. Some life.
Thanks everyone for reading everyone and hope 2018 is all you want it to be. Or at least pretty close.
* but, you know, will probably feature somewhat.
Look forward to more updates next year.
Good luck.