You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Essexphil's May 2019 diary
Essexphil
Member Posts: 8,874
It's about time I did one of these-probably 2 years since my last one.
This will not have any formal "aims"-I will leave that to the entertaining thread from SR23, which I will read with interest. However, I hope that this thread will entertain in some small way.
It is intended to be a 1 month snapshot in to what it is like to play poker semi-professionally. I have been playing poker as a semi-pro for 13 years now. I have been lucky enough to make a profit in all 13 of those years, although I am most unlikely ever to become rich through poker. I am confident that I am one of the top 10% of people who play poker, but there are many people who are better than me.
To give a little background for those who don't know me, I am a 56-yr-old former Solicitor, who decided to take early retirement some 3 years ago. Poker-wise I am very much an MTT player, although i have been known to play STTs/MTTs (not very well).
I specialise in mid-stakes MTTs and Qualifiers-my first ever live Tournament was the WSOP Main Event, and I have been fortunate enough to play that 4 times. I will be going to Las Vegas for the 9th or 10th time in June, having won a seat to the SPT there via topping the leaderboard for the recent UKOPS.
This thread will detail some MTTs, talk about both this site and others, and provide some info about my views on playing poker. However, the most important part will be other people joining in, giving their viewpoint, and agreeing or disagreeing with points made herein.
I did not play poker yesterday, as the mighty Spurs took precedence. The "highlights" of Monday were 2-fold. Firstly, I won a small Bounty Hunter on Good Game Poker. At some stage I intend to talk in some detail about Bounty Hunters on there, because they involve totally different strategy to any other site.
The 2nd highlight was a 2-day MTT on Unibet. I was in 14th after Day 1, 3 places behind RSPCA12. Halfway through Day 2 I am still in about 12th, but Dog Bloke was running away with it. Then (as sometimes happens to us all) the wheels fell off for Chris, and he finished 21st. I spent some hours in the bottom 3, but (to coin a Tikay phrase) I stayed on past beaten horses to finish 7th. Won 1k, but missing out on 6k for 1st always hurts.
This will not have any formal "aims"-I will leave that to the entertaining thread from SR23, which I will read with interest. However, I hope that this thread will entertain in some small way.
It is intended to be a 1 month snapshot in to what it is like to play poker semi-professionally. I have been playing poker as a semi-pro for 13 years now. I have been lucky enough to make a profit in all 13 of those years, although I am most unlikely ever to become rich through poker. I am confident that I am one of the top 10% of people who play poker, but there are many people who are better than me.
To give a little background for those who don't know me, I am a 56-yr-old former Solicitor, who decided to take early retirement some 3 years ago. Poker-wise I am very much an MTT player, although i have been known to play STTs/MTTs (not very well).
I specialise in mid-stakes MTTs and Qualifiers-my first ever live Tournament was the WSOP Main Event, and I have been fortunate enough to play that 4 times. I will be going to Las Vegas for the 9th or 10th time in June, having won a seat to the SPT there via topping the leaderboard for the recent UKOPS.
This thread will detail some MTTs, talk about both this site and others, and provide some info about my views on playing poker. However, the most important part will be other people joining in, giving their viewpoint, and agreeing or disagreeing with points made herein.
I did not play poker yesterday, as the mighty Spurs took precedence. The "highlights" of Monday were 2-fold. Firstly, I won a small Bounty Hunter on Good Game Poker. At some stage I intend to talk in some detail about Bounty Hunters on there, because they involve totally different strategy to any other site.
The 2nd highlight was a 2-day MTT on Unibet. I was in 14th after Day 1, 3 places behind RSPCA12. Halfway through Day 2 I am still in about 12th, but Dog Bloke was running away with it. Then (as sometimes happens to us all) the wheels fell off for Chris, and he finished 21st. I spent some hours in the bottom 3, but (to coin a Tikay phrase) I stayed on past beaten horses to finish 7th. Won 1k, but missing out on 6k for 1st always hurts.
Comments
A few questions if I may be so bold...
Which do you prefer and why - online or live poker?
What kind of things do you do off the table to improve your game and are there any particular learning resources you'd recommend for an MTT fish like myself?
If you could go back in time 13 years and offer the younger, greener you some advice, what would it be?
Who do you consider to be the top 3 Sky MTT regs?
What's the best accompaniment to apple pie - cream, ice cream or custard?
Obviously feel free to ignore any/all of the above but thanks for starting this and I hope it gains some traction.
Good luck out there
I too have a question:
What does a 'typical' poker day in the life of Essex Phil look like? I remember chatting to you at the tables one afternoon where you said you were 4-tabling 'as a break' before the heavy evening grind!!
What kind of things do you do off the table to improve your game and are there any particular learning resources you'd recommend for an MTT fish like myself? Try and ensure I put in significant volume with sufficient days off to avoid going stale. I watch and listen to good players, but little other than that. There are some books etc for the basics, but you are no fish.
If you could go back in time 13 years and offer the younger, greener you some advice, what would it be? Not to be afraid of getting it in behind, provided pot odds are sufficient
Who do you consider to be the top 3 Sky MTT regs? Difficult question. Could make a case for lots-first thoughts are @MattBates @loololollo @chicknMelt
What's the best accompaniment to apple pie - cream, ice cream or custard? Ideally, 3 apple pies, and 1 of each. If 1-cream
Obviously feel free to ignore any/all of the above but thanks for starting this and I hope it gains some traction. Pleasure-with questions like this, hopefully it will-about time there was more poker than politics on the forum
What is your mix of tournaments between sites on a standard day? Do you tend to play the same games or mix it up? Will do some more fun questions later.
So, to give 2 examples. On Sky, I will always play the 8pm, but rarely the Sheriff, as I can earn more, easier money elsewhere. If I do, then only via the £11 multiseat qualifier at 7:45.
On other sites, I like to add one site and remove one site most months for variety. These days, the only constant is Sky, although that did not used to be the case.
Subscribed.
And +1 to this;
Well May is shaping up to be a good month for forum blogging then
Chuffed to bits to see a resurgence in the Challenges & Diaries. It's tough to rev this Forum up sometimes - tell me about it - but a well written Diary or Challenge always gets good views & interaction, which is exactly what the Forum needs.
With any luck, we might get a few Vegas Diaries showing up next month too.
I play a little on Unibet, and will try for some live satellites so maybe see you at the tables, or better live events. GL
Really pleased to see you here, always a gent at the tables.
Good luck in Vegas , hope to see you in Brighton.
Best of luck in Vegas - I'm sure you'll be playing a few more games out there aswell as the SPT.
@glencoelad I like playing the Unibet UK tour-v similar to SPTs. Similar venues, not as friendly. Also trying to qual for Unibet Open London next month
@tomgoodun Met you in Vegas as well as Brighton. Expect to see you at Brighton, but would be great if you could qualify for SPT Vegas too
@IrishRose Too true. Hopefully some PLO8 tournys, and the WSOP Seniors event amongst others
GL all
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose ?
Would you eat squirrel ?
How much money would you have to lose , to consider not playing poker again ?
Hows the puppy doing ? ( photos required )
''At least this thread (Brexit Party) is a welcome distraction from the self backslapping " How good a poker player am i " glux of diary threads emerging...egos are strong on here ..lmao''
Looking forward to this, I've not shared much time with you on the tables but have been owned when I have. Good times.
Will watch with interest and good luck in Vegas.
1 picture of new dog. Lakeland Terrier Cross, 5 yrs old. Loves humans, hates dogs. also hates birds, postman and especially cats. Suffers badly with "Little Dog Syndrome"
Nice pic and good luck with the poker btw 😊
Great photo.
PS - you need to fix that intumescent strip on the edge of your door.