Brief update

Apologies for the lack of blogging just haven't fancied blogging much but im still alive and in reasonable health :). Im back living in Newcastle renting in Jesmond and have been for around 6 weeks, loving life back here and its a great place to be with plenty going on and a mini hotbed of poker talent it seems. Originally i was looking to buy a 2bed house in Jesmond however i hit problems getting a mortgage. Little bit annoying since i was putting down a 60% deposit with my dad as a guarentor for a 40% mortgage but suffice this hit a snag as i didn't meet some of the criteria for which my bank classed my occupation as a "professional sportsman". Nevermind im renting for 6 months here and i'll review my situation again then but atm my attitude is one of slight contempt for the financial industry so i'll do what i always do rely on myself to make some dough then buy a house outright so i don't have to deal with the incompetence from some of these guys.

Pokerwise im doing ok nothing special. For the 1st time in a long while i've put it on the back burner avg'ing 75hrs per month which is v poor but i've been enjoying life playing a lot of golf and badminton and probably too many nights. Im up about $60k +rb in online cash games which is probably par for the course for me. Im struggling to beat 5/10 im probably b/e at best, the leap in standard from 3/6-5/10 is probably comparable to that of 1/2-2/4 which it took me a little bit of time to adjust a few years ago.

  Live poker i've almost completely put on the back burner. I went to Melbourne for the Aussie Mills and bricked everything which instantly made me stuck $20k for the year in January. Online Mtt's im also a v healthy loser probably to the tune of -$10k no real scores but a number of deep runs. I make so many mistakes its shameful. I think i have a serious ego issue which is probably why i dont beat mtt's, I see people do dumb stuff all the time, so i feel left out and often join them in losing my mind. Nevermind im hoping something will click one day and i'll stop the bleeding.

I've also decided not to go to Vegas this yr. Firstly i have a stag do to attend in a couple of weeks and secondly i just cba. I remember how lazy i was there last time, i managed to book a decent winning trip but with no online poker and not being a massive fan of live poker i feel its more financially prudent for someone who's at best a mediocre mtt player whilst the cash games and mtt's online should hopefully be printers. Theres an outside chance i might go for the ME however unlikely, i'd also like to wish the VBOL to all the British guys going out there.

December results

Online cash game hands: 31,883
Online cash game profit: $13,742

Rakeback: $1695
Milestone Bonus: $2600

Online MTT Profit: -$4900

Live cash game profit: $1500

Live MTT's: 0

December Results: $14,637

November results

Online cash game hands: 26,393
Online cash game profit: $10,631

Rakeback: $1450

Online MTT Profit: - $600

Live cash game profit: $12,620

Live MTT's: -$5472

November Results: + $18,629

Its November!

Long time since i last blogged i've been fairly busy with moving back home and sorting stuff out for travelling. Firstly in September my computer broke as i spilt a beer on it so ive temporarily lost my HEM database again! so annoying. Online was pretty tough i think i was down around $3.5k but i made around £5.5k from live poker. I managed to bubble the EPT HU, which was the only tournament i played.

October started really rough i was playing live since alot while i didn't have a laptop and was stuck around £10.5k from 2 sessions at the Vic, one £5/10 where i lost a monster pot with A9hh in a 3bet pot vs Kcks on a 9 45hh board. After a 3 week break online i got back to the grind and made $5k in cash games in around 20k hands which was abit of a struggle as the games seemed tougher than usual.

The weekend just gone i went to Newcastle to celebrate Ellwood's bday. We had a night out in the toon on the sat and there were about 8 of us grinding on the sunday. I was playing cash until about 8pm but decided to load up a few mtt's since everyone else was playing them. Many hours later hungover and very tired i managed to win the $10r for $15k+ change and the $33 quad for around $4.6k netting me a +$20k day. It was nice timing as ive just booked up for HK/Macau and leave 2 weeks 2moro.

Yesterday i played my 1st round of golf since August and went round in 89, fairly solid but it was winter greens so the holes were a good 50 yrds shorter than usual. I even managed to drive just over the green of a 247 yrd par 4. My driving and long iron play is pretty decent, i guess my short-iron and putting is always going to be inconsistent when im playing infrequently.

Yesterday i turned 26, i guess in footballers terms im at my peak. (in reality im in the worst physical condition ive ever been in!) So im officially a dinosaur of the online poker world. Stars were kind enough to give me some run good as a netted a $5k winning day. Im guess the next couple of weeks im going to grind really hard so i can reach the 200k vpp bonus before the end of the year, before playing alot of live cash in Macau with a couple of the better comps they have thrown in there aswell.

October Results:

Online cash game hands: 20,284
Online cash game profit: $5027.24

Rakeback: +950

Online MTT profit: $18,650

Live cash game profit: -£10.25k
Live MTTs: -£750

Staking: +£500

October results: +$7821.24

Not a huge month but pleased to get out of the hole.

swings and roundabouts

Well i have not had much of an Indian summer, Im down about $9k in cash games online this month and probably over $10k if you include MTT's. I took a few days off this week as i struggle to motivate myself to grind when im downswinging. Its funny in the early days i used to book wins alot and grind heavily when i was losing, now it seems i grind hard when im winning and loss heart/cut my losses when i sense im struggling. One problem i need to cut out is grinding a little to long when im losing. Generally my sessions are 500-700 hands 6 tabling when my mindset is sound, however i do grind longer to try and get even usually playing 1k-1500 hands and its amazing how both my results and red line are so much worse towards the back end of sessions.

Luckily the day after my previous blog i had a remarkable session at the Vic, i was grinding £2/5 until a seat opened in a juicy £5/10/25 game opened. There was two spots in the game and luckily i ran hot and booked a £11.4k win. The game was unlikely any i haev played in recent history, both these players were playing every hand and 3betting over half, so although it was a great game i had to tighten up a little preflop to avoid opening/peeling 3bets too wide, or raise folding, when you know they won't let up on any street.

Theres some live MTT's at the Vic, so i'll likely play the £500 6max on wednesday and the ME (£1070) next weekend. I think online i'll take it abit easier and start adding some HU tables so i start winning some money. Looking towards EPT London i think i'll probably not be playing unless i bink something, i've got alot of outgoings coming up with travelling plans to finalise. I'll probably look to buy a few pieces of friends who are playing.

The bubble has burst

September hasn't been a kind mistress thus far. Im down about $6k in cash games and had no real results apart from a min cash in the 6max WCOOP. Ive ran pretty bad but what was most worrying was tilting off a few stacks this afternoon which was reckless and something i haven't done since well before Vegas, its pretty immature and something i shouldn't have in my system since ive been playing over 4 years. Despite this i played the WCOOP HU, which tbf is probably not the worst competition to play tilted but i bust in round 3 which was disappointing, 4bet jamming 60bb's with dueces vs a 25% 3betting range getting snapped off by KQs (I think we all know theres only one winner here). I think im going to take a few days off from online and play some live cash, luckily i don't really tilt live probably because im far to self-consicous.

I've also decided to give up online mtt's for the short-medium term. Basically i can't be bothered with them and am unsure if i have an edge. I've never put in time or effort to learn anything about them and until i do, i think its irresponisble to keep punting off and not learning anything. I will play WCOOP 6 max and HU comps as i feel i have a legitimate edge in these comps as they are games im familar with. I'll also continue to play sat's for live events, i think i might do okay in live Mtt's since the fields are generally weaker and the structures are better/deeper than online which will suit my game. Its probably no coincedence that the event i finalled in Vegas i played had a 2hr clock and 60+bb average stack throughout the comp and on the final was 90bb+. It was also just about the toughest competition ive ever played live.

Looking towards the coming months it looks like hopefully i'll be getting a tan this winter! plans are been put in motion and from Mid-November i'll be going to Hongkong>Macau>Manila>New Zealand>Sydney>Melbourne>Dubai. I think myself and Ben Jenkins are going for the whole trip, with Ellwood/Spinks joining for new year in Sydney and the Aussie millions. Im pretty excited, i think we intend to play APPT Macau and Manilla as they should be good events in fascinating locations. After that a poker free 2 weeks in New Zealand in early December with hopefully some outdoor activities followed by Xmas/New year in Sydney.

Since i won't get back till maybe sometime in February i've decided not to live in London next year. London's expensive and since i don't intend to be in England more than 8 months next year it's probably more prudent to get a place in Newcastle where i could live like a king for 1/2 the price. I've felt a little stagnated been down here since i've returned and so moving up north between february and Vegas next year (May time) will given me time enough to decide where i want go from there. Another reason for moving north is to look into getting on the property ladder. Buying down here is impossible at the moment, so i'd like to go lower risk and look into buying a 2 bedroom property in Newcastle or Durham. If i really like it and the location suited me i'd consider living in it, but its more likely im looking at buying to-let. I currently know very little so i need to a) make good money over the 6 months so i have a decent roll for the games i play b) do some serious research. I might try and purchase some books for when im travelling, although im unsure if books are really a source of information for this sort of thing. If anyone has any tips/helpful knowledge i'd be eternally grateful.

gl at the tbls

JP

August results

Cash games online went well this month, grinded hard and made good profits. Probably 85%- 3/6 the rest 5/10 with a smidgeon of well timed 10/20 shots. I ran well and played solid, finishing the month in the top 5 winners at 3/6.

Online Mtt's however have been an abomination. I think im down around $5k this month, unable to make any significant deep runs. I really don't have a clue whether i just suck at mtt's or whether its variance. My hourly at cash games for the last few months has been in excess of >$200 per hour so at some point im going to have to consider not wasting my time with online mtt's apart from WCOOP's where in theory i should do better with deeper stacks and better structures.

Didn't play live poker this month much. I played 1 cash session, playing £2/5 ROE which was pretty stupid as i don't really have a clue what im doing in PLO and dropped £2k donking around in it. I also played GUKPT Luton where i bust the last level of the day, nothing particularly interesting happened but i came away realising i haven't been to many worse places than Luton. I did play the £250 6max turbo mtt the night before the main and bubbled. It was agreed that the bubble boy would get a "saver" however i never caught the winner the next day so that lucky man is likely £250 richer.

Im really looking forward to WCOOP and grinding hard online for the next month, after that i might looking at drawing up a schedule for EPT London + sides and selling some action. Will have to have a think about it though.

August results:

Online cash game hands: 32456
Online cash game profit: $24,732
Rakeback: $1500

Live cash hours:5
Cash game Profit: -£2k

Online mtt profit: -$5k
Live mtt's: -£1k

Total August profit: $16,350

Pretty disappointing results considering how well cash games went. Im really happy with my game and hopefully i can get something going in 1 or 2 wcoop events :D