Poker in this life...and the second

After not much poker in Nov/Dec I decided that i should play a fair bit in Jan. Out of the blocks at a fair rate of 1200 hands a day on average and within 2 weeks days I was playing like a total numpty and donking off money left right and centre. I guess I'm learning a little bit, while I played a bit too much and hit a bit of a short term burn out i at least had the good sense to spot this and stop playing at lunch time. The planned afternoon of poker went out of the window and I pondered what to do.

I'd just read an article on some bloke who'd made millions on Second Life. This is the online virtual reality life game thing that's had lots of coverage in the media in the past few month. I decided to see what all the fuss was about and downloaded it. An hour or two later and I'd created my avatar and figured out the basic controls in the training section and I was out and about in the 'real' world. After half an hour of pottering trying to figure out what to do I see an advert for a casino....DING!!!.

In the game you are given 250 Lindon$... the currency of Second Life. Now believe it or not these L$ actually have real world value and you can buy more via your Credit card or Paypal etc and cash them out when you wish. There is a proper exchange rate that fluctuates due to market demand and people can make things and sell them or offer services for money within the game ! So on my afternoon away from poker down I pop to the local casino. I make my way past the slots and the 1st table I see is a NL hold em cash game. 10 minutes later with the help of a very nice lady I've managed to sit down and buy in for my L$250 in a L$5/10 game. I've not idea how much these L$ are worth but 30mins later I've cleaned everyone out and I've got L$1200.... I then decide to look at the exchange rate and wooohoooo I'm 5 US$ up !! :) Most of the players were from the states and v poor.... I wonder where they stand in relation to the new legislation?




This prompts me to go in search of some higher stakes games and I manage to find a 100/200 L$ game and a L$5000 sit and go.. yeah right! High Stakes. Again I do ok in the games runnig up to 20000 L$ but have to pass on the sit and go as I'm a bit time restricted. All in all much fun... considering the rake the host charged I can see how people are making some money on this thing. Before I logged off the cash was burning a hole in my pocket and I needed somewhere to spend it after a fun night at the tables. Where should I go???.....



This Second Life may have more parallels with real life than I originally thought... how sad! ;o)

Review and 2007

The last post seemed to get the comments going, I'll have to be a miserable sod more often. Suppose it's time to peek out of the corner of one eye and look back at 2006 and then stare 2007 head long in the face and see what's next.

I'd say 2006 on balance was just about a success. I fell a little short of my set cash target of but still managed to exceed the basic criteria that I set out when I started playing for a living. That is, I covered the short fall in salary comfortably and managed enough on top to cover the new extension on the house. As anyone will know who's read my musings over the past 12months, things came very close to going tits up in March/April and but for a twist of fate I'd have ended back in full time employment. A month off and a new addition to the family proved to be the break from poker that was required. I cashed virtually everything out of the bankroll and started again.... with a bang! Almost immediately a 7k WSOP package won and converted to cash saw the much needed liquidity restored to the bank roll and from there it was onward and upwards, a 12K CPC seat, and two 8k BFAPT seats plus no losing cash months since May and everything was back on track, business as usual and hopefully a lesson or two learned. I was very pleased with 1st of all picking up the satellite seats and secondly my performance in each of the live events I played. It's amazing what you can do when your back is against the wall.

And so to 2007! Seeing as though I managed to miss my target of £50k I guess I may have to have another stab at it. Although I've managed to donk off 4k in the first week in Jan it would seem that I'm already giving myself an uphill battle. On the live front I'd be amazed if I manage to win as many sats in 2007 as I did in 2006..... I'm setting the sights on a WSOP seat a EPT seat and at least one other live major events either won or qualified via promos. I've got orders from the Mrs to make sure that at least one covers a week somewhere exotic for two people, she quite likes the idea of not having to pay for a holiday again.

I'm determined to keep the blog going. I'll be keeping an eye on the developments regards to rake caps etc (the crypto cap did not materialise on Jan 1st as many people had forecast but still may happen), I'll also be looking hard at trying to improve the edge further.....Finding the best deals, the best promos and searching out the value.

All the best for 2007....unless you are playing me!

Jim

The Poker Trap

When ever 'normal' people talk to me about my working arrangements they always focus on the risk of having to rely on the game for a slice of regular income. I don't really see this as much of a risk, if the worst came to the worst I could always go back to full time 5 days a weeks 9 till 5. Sure I'd most likely hate it, having tasted the freedom and flexibility that playing poker offers it would be tough to return to the hard slog. But if the chips were down (the pan) it's an option. Even if I were to quit work 100% and things went pear shaped I would most likely not have too many problems in getting a decent job on a half decent salary. I have nearly 10 year experience in the IT industry so I'm lucky I have these options.

There are a group of players that on one hand I envy and on the other hand I kind of feel a bit sorry for. I envy them because they are bright (many have or are getting uni degrees) , they are young and they have more disposable income than I could ever have dreamed of when I was 21. Of course the piles of cash of come from Poker. They travel the world stopping in 5 star hotels and want for nothing. Life is good for these guys.

But this lifestyle once discovered and tasted comes with a down-side. Once you've had the money it's tough to go back to anything else. A 2:1in Economics from Leeds Uni is all well and good but most graduate jobs start off on not much money. Sure if you do well you can progress in most companies within a few years, but having tasted such a life who'd have the patience to work 45hr weeks for a few hundred quid, half of which gets donated to Mr Brown?

Now while the poker is new and fresh, then great! But the trap is that you can't afford to do anything other than play poker, even if you want to. You don't have a fall back plan and quite justifiably can't be bothered looking one. Before you know it you could be 35 years old looking for something more from life and find yourself stuck on the shelf playing poker till the end of your days! Scary thought, isn't it?