Temporary pro

Well, time for an update I've been very lazy on that front. Since my last post I was dabbling in multis here and there, trying for another big score. I cashed plenty of times, but wasn't really getting anywhere and was getting frustrated. I got a letter from work confirming that we had all been made redundant, so there was no question of going back. Right I thought, time to do something about not having an income! I looked online for jobs, but quickly realised that all the decent jobs I am not qualified for and I don't want to work in London and I wasn't about to rush in to another boring low paid job when there is 'easy' money to be made playing poker, if one can keep discipline. I decided I couldn't keep fannying about with depositing for a multi on this site, a multi on that site, so I thought the only choice I had left was to play cash again whilst I decide what the hell I want to do with my life... (no idea!).

My site of choice was Betfred because I know how soft some of the players can be. I put £250 and began to dabble about. My roll went up and down and I almost bust it because I had no real structure. At one stage it was down to about £75! However I battled back and when I got back up to about £430 I withdrew the £250 deposit which was always my plan because I didn't want to lose £250 which is a lot to me right now. So this left me with about £180, not great. That night I got pretty drunk at a mates house and probably stupidly (definitely stupidly, had I not learnt from previous posts?) logged on to Betfred at about 2:45am. In my inebriated state I played a bit of $1/$2 heads up and made a quick $50. Then my opponent left so I made the questionable decision to play some 6 max $1/$2 Omaha... Now I know the basics of this game, try and only draw to the nuts, try to have nut re-draws, bottom set usually ain't good by the river etc etc. but in the past when I have played Omaha I have been a total fish finding it hard to lay down a hand pre flop especially since the flops are often 4 or 5 way in juicy pots, and getting stacked with a full house against a better one. However, despite being three sheets to the wind I somehow managed to play very very tight, eventually leaving the table with about $750 at 5am! Amazing I managed to not only win but also leave whilst up, maybe drunk is the new sober? Maybe not.

This was great and gave me a cushion to play $100NL (Hold 'Em, of course) and I haven't looked back since. The roll is currently £800, so I have basically made £800 in 3 days since Wednesday and I haven't actually been playing that much; I tend to leave tables when I am up now, because in the past I have often got greedy and donated all my profits back leaving me feeling deflated on an afternoon spent playing and nothing to show for it. Am I finally showing the discipline that has so far been lacking in my game? Only time will tell. What I do know though is that there is a long line of clueless Euro donks on Betfred and every time I stack one of them when they call me down with 2nd pair and no kicker I mark them as my 'buddy' so as they are instantly findable in the search facility and I can join their tables quickly. Ha, listen to me I think I'm some sort of fucking shark or something! Well I ain't, but I am a damn site better than some of these players, there are some decent regs of course, but enough fish to keep me coming back for more. Incidentally, the standard in the low to medium buy in multis is shocking, you really need a hand though because no one ever folds, something I haven't been able to get so far but my time will come I'm sure.

So! I guess this means that for the time being I am a poker 'pro', laughable though that sounds with just an £800 bankroll and my past blow ups. However, I still live with my mum and step dad (although I would love to save enough to move out, I'm 24 ffs!) so I only have to pay £100 a month 'housekeeping' and other expenditures are petrol, gym, mobile, car insurance, food and booze and the £5 a month I now give to the Blue Cross! :-D. So for the time being at least it will do and I can focus on building a roll and not need to withdraw too much.

The lifestyle suits me perfectly as well; I play poker when I want, I can hit the gym in the daytime when it's not busy and full of twats, I have plenty of time for playing PS3, walking my dog and generally dossing around. I don't have to feel knackered, sitting in depressing, cold, grey, rainy gridlock traffic on the motorway every morning, feeling like Bill Murray in that film, to be greeted by the same equally bored, tired faces to start yet another day that was the same as yesterday for just enough money to pay my way, get pissed and be broke by the end of the month. Sure I may blow up and go bust and have to get another job like that, but just writing this reinforces my determination to not let that happen. I like playing poker for money, please please please me don't let yourself tilt and lose it all, make it work one time!!!

P.S. I went to the Empire casino in Leicester Square last Saturday to rail the WSOPE for a bit, saw loads of pros and Hellmuth standing next to me at the bar, meh, old news now!