Basically, like you say, the money is not the reason for success, yes it's lovely, yes it gives you untolds amount of freedom, but I do believe you, when you say you want to be the best continuesly for the respect as a player, the achievement, the bracelet, watches (so tight stars don't add that on top this year, lol )

Look, I'm going to say it how it is, you, 'maybe' cracked a few aces along the way and got it in bad and got there or just held when others didn't, but this game doesn't just hand things on a plate to you, you worked really REALLY hard to get to where you are today, and still continue to do that and there's a reason why you and your other stable mates are regularly putting yourselves in these positions to get the big prizes. So it hasn't worked this far or maybe won't come this year, but so what? You played well, you played with loads of HEART and you will come back next game, week, month or year fighting even stronger.

Many people get too easily judgemental on people's lives and I would say that many take some of the things you say as way egotistical, but then Gordon Ramsay didn't become one of the top chefs in the world by not having a ego, it's just a case of balance, staying focused and most of all staying true to yourself so that your mind is in the right place to keep giving yourself these incredible opportunities, because honestly Patrick, make no mistake, it is you and your hard work that allow you to lead the lifestyle you lead.

Gl for the rest of the series x

 https://youtu.be/fYNShs6I4HU

#Invalid YouTube Link#

big shout out to european, chopping the $10k high roller with WCG Rider for $460k, and playing for another $75k now! Very happy for Sammy <3 He will record both he ST and the 10K as videos for anybody who joins the stable

Personally, so frustrated! Things went so well first 2 weeks, I played as good as I could have, maybe not the best possible because I'm far from perfect, but I gave it everything and played my A game. I had a lot of cashes, in the bet with the swedes and our guys I cashed more than anybody, but that big score kept escaping me, I would lose some huge pot with 10-40 left, but kept very positive, knowing I'd get one huge chance.

This was my graph since Vegas, lots of good, consistent runs without a HUGE bink, but I didn't feel like I craved that big bink, I was satisfied with this.

Click to see full-size image.

I had lots of good runs in live games too, $200k score in Barca, $40k score in Barca, $65k score in Aria etc. I was feeling like right now I was just really in the zone and enjoying playing every day.

Day 2 of the mix max was yesterday, I started so well, the tournament format was really perfect for me, I could play a lot of pots and was able to get into levelling wars with regs etc.

I managed to get to 1/11 and had a great table 3 handed, first place was $100,000 and the WCOOP title which I really strived for. This time last year I had similar thing, great first 2 weeks of WCOOP and then a final table in the $2k shootout and then came 5th and was pretty sad and then bink in the $700 6max for $100k.

I kept myself composed, didnt reg the $10k, kept 6 tables maximum on a huge Sunday, alongside this run I was 5/120 in the $1k ultra deep, another tournament I really love. This was the Sunday I was looking forward to.

1 hour later, I was out of both.

What happened? How did I take it? How was the rest of the session? How is things now?

The Ultradeep wasn't really that Brutal. I played this hand, which is kinda interesting. we're around 15 from the money and bb is huge nit.

http://www.boomplayer.com/poker-hands/Boom/20733082_DFF6AC457C

I could take different lines, but I think this is the best. if he folds, great. If he goes all in, great. If I win a huge flip I'm one of the big stacks in the tournament, will chip up really great on the bubble, if I lose the flip I'll fold to the money. I think he's jamming worse pairs in this spot for sure and he may even think I'm playing 100% 3bet range here.

I felt pretty OK after losing it, I had the huge sweat in the mix max and was focused.

Over the next 45 minutes I lost

TT  v AT
AK v TT
TT v 99
QQ v JJ

and then one other hand that was really quite interesting.

I defend QTo vs the fish.

Flop QT5r, I had feeling he thought I was owning him in every pot. He bet and usually I'd just call here, but he was so sticky/punty, I decided to c/r big, he called.

Turn QT5A, very bad card, but I think I still have value bet, I bet, he calls.

River QT5A9, pot 400k, I bet 135k or something and he has a5.

Obviously his flop bet/cal is horrific, perhaps I should have just check/folded the river, its really gross/sick spot and really unsure what best line is vs a whale, but I just assumed he always has AJ/AK/Q9/KQ/Q5/T5 etc that I can get value from. Anyway that was really hurting.

Another hand I played bob was limping and betting flop with J8 on J92, he had 27% fold to c-bet, he calls, it runs out J9222 and he bets turn half pot and river 2x pot and I end up calling. Felt really gross spot, perhaps another spot I could maybe fold, but I'm unsure.

Anyway, busted QQ vs his JJ aip and felt really sick after. Elmerixx and Euro were both railing and rooting really hard for me and think felt my pain a lot too.

I played the rest of the session but had this frustrating run on my mind alot and let it effect me more than it should have done. My HUD broke down mid session and that was obviously very annoying.

I woke up today and didnt really want to play. I had been so motivated for the last 2 weeks and was just waiting for this one chance, accepting any other failed run, but for some reason this hit me really hard. I know last year I wrote about being genuinely sad when busting the 10k 6max KK v AK and people laughed a little, but this was somewhat similar. It's super super super standard for MTT's, don't get me wrong. The reason I had felt bad about the 10k 6max last year was because I was losing some very important flips in tournaments previously and I kept telling myself, no problem, it doesn't bother me, amazing mental game, elliot roe yo. And then when the ace hit, it all hit me hard. I think this is a little bit similar, I lost qq vs igors 88 in Aria on xxxx8 and afterwards I really wanted to say to myself and everybody that I didn't care about losing the all in. Same thing in Barca, 1/14 to 14th to Kitty Kuos brutalise, all my horses were there, I wanted to pretend its fine, I wasn't effected, I probably convinced myself too. The final table in Barca where that tool backfired and value bet the arse high of the straight vs my KK and then QQ v KK to bust. I told my parents, friends, horses "NO PROBLEM| with a huge smile on my face.

This tournament failure is just very similar to the 10k 6max last year, I denied to myself and everybody I was sad about losing and then it all crashed back down.

The fact is, when you're winning huge tournaments, winning every important flip and everybody is congratulating you you feel like the best person in the world, invincible, but when thinks don't go your way, you start interacting slightly less, you start isolating yourself a little bit more and poker can get very lonely and depressing (don't worry guys not trying to claim I'm clinically depressed this time)

I think I just needed to get that out and say, it's ok to be sad with losing, it's normal. If you don't get nervous or upset then you aren't human. It's normal to have reactions and be sad/unhappy but I think its important to realise when you are unhappy and sad. Today was definitely the lowest day of WCOOP for me, I didn't want to play, I didn't feel great playing, but its really important I turn the corner of this mini blip. All that happened was that I lost 5 all ins, I had to run good to get there right?

I will sleep well tonight, come back tomorrow and be as focused for battle as I can. The bet vs the Swedes is very close (Sams 2 scores both don't count) Euros Skype signature is "I'm going to give it my all" and that's exactly what I plan to do tomorrow. Moving forward I'm going to try and be honest with myself and the blog how I feel after sessions, really try and be honest with myself with the bad things I did in the session and be as critical of my game and mindset as possible.

The whole built up sadness is one of the worst feelings in poker, at least for me.

I know this sounds ridiculous when I posted a graph of my stable winning $700,000 this month the money really doesn't matter for me, winning or losing x$ won't change my way of life or the way I approach life, I'll still play the same games even if I win the Super Tuesday and if I go on a little downswing I will still play the same games. Its the whole "being successful" and getting something visible out of what we do as a reward, whether that be a first place WCOOP bracelet (oh wait) or whatever else.

fwiw I came 2nd in Omaha Powerfest today for a breakeven session after all!

p.s I eat minimum 2x packet of blueberries every day... How ****ing good??

p.p.s dont hate me for moaning pls

p.p.ps best motivational video/article/advice gets 1% freeroll for my WCOOP main, lfg


Don't know what's going on

Massive well done fraser!!!

Wd to all finalists seemed like a great final table.

In, sent answers ... gl everyone

Trying to send u some info on my phone but can't, will have to do it tomorrow on the computer... There is one place I know of that does ribs, steaks & chicken sweet potato fries etc near me... I've been twice it's good but service is pretty piss poor.

http://cleaverrestaurants.co.uk/menu.php

Also in Guildford there is a really nice burger place. It's literally the nicest burger I've had and hugely popular. Everyone can see them make the food, it's all fresh etc and price wise it's pretty decent for the quality.  They give u a unlimited amount of soft drink so it's more appealing to the lower class I guess as they have those machines in store and obv they don't make their money on alcohol and such like as they don't sell any. The burgers are awesome tho.

http://m.fiveguys.com/

the latter is more a fast food establishment, it's pretty funky tho and the staff are more attentive than the first one which is quite strange.

P.s any jobs about ? 😉

Just read whole 50 pages. Really interesting and as honest as they come... any chance of starting it up again for the fans?...

MediumRareStake

SpinToWin

Play
On
Krush
Every
Race

HardWorkPaysOff

Shippity dippers

Shippity Dip

So my year is coming to an end now. Not really planning on many more big MTT grinding sessions, just the remaining Sunday's. I've now started to look towards next year and some goals that I want to work towards to.

Here are some basic goals that I'll try to share with you.

[ ] play 52 Sunday sessions
[ ] play 52 non Sunday sessions in the year
[ ] play 150 days of cash games
[ ] 500k vpps
[ ] manage the stable successfully throughout the year
[ ] make the bar profitable in 2015
[ ] invest in 2 other companies
[ ] play EPT Deauville, Malta, Barcelona, London, Prague and any other stops
[ ] play 4 high rollers on the stops
[ ] play Super HIgh Roller in Prague
[ ] average 3 days/week in gym/sport
[ ] waste less than 2 flights in the year
[ ] go outside 365 days of the year

Lots of competitive goals for me to work towards. Over
The next couple of weeks I'll be working on a lot of them already.  Will be spending a lot of time on the staking website, things have taken a while to get to where we need to be but have really been a lot of applicants so we wanted to spend as much time as possible ensuring we get the right guys.

I weirdly really don't feel great about my game right now, no hige downswing or anything, I guess its not about my a game but where I let my game slip to in recent sessions. Making mistakes and perhaps not being annoyed at making them. Giving maybe 65% in sessions and expecting to scrape by. disregarding regs hair because I have them tagged as bad/weak, not thinking about some relevant stuff in hands such as my overall range, range vs range, pushing bubble fold equity too much, pushing river bluffs too much. around 3 months ago I very much doubt many players were playing better than I was, that probably sounds srrogant but it's true. I was playing very well in a style I was comfortable with but recently
I've for some reason allowed ego to creep in. I know its happening too, when I'm doing it I know it, I'm not sure if its because of my approach before playing. Previously on breaks I used to do a lot of exercises but now I've let that slip too.

The good thing is I know about all of this and not going to cost myself 100,000 to find it out. I'm going to make sure that before every session I'm really mentally prepared before stepping in and do a lot of self analysis afterwards too. I'm going to start using some sticky notes around my pc and the area which I grind which I thjnk will be really beneficial as just gentle reminders. The main thing is that I do care, I pure bubbled a seemingly
Meaningless tournament tonight with a very bad best and I took t very hard. Each time I get knocked out of an MTT it still hurts.

Im incredibly excited about 2015, I want to get off to a good start and really push on and make it the best year of my career. Il be doing weekly goals with free rolls in 2015 to help
Motivate me step by step as I thjnk self evaluation/analysis really
Is one of the big things if you want to get to top.

I spoke in my goals about live tournaments and I definitely want to prove a lot to
Myself in them. I feel like I'm playing very well but sometimes making small mistakes such as calling a little bit too wide Etc. I really want to excel in the love arena and I'm Going to prepare so well so that if I lose the only thing I will be able to regret is variance.

I don't really know what else there is to add except one thing that I'd like some help for. We need a name for our staking website, the general business model is that we have 4 high stakes elite players coaching, bankrolling and advising a group of players and help move them up stskes. We have alot of high stakes friends who will come in and do one on one sessions with our players such as ept/wsop champions and just generally will be a high quality staking site that will hopefully turn into an extremely profitable business. The problem is we don't know what to call it.

Right now we have one name that we've suggested (by yours truly) which is a somewhat biased "WugWUg" if you can suggest a name and we end up going with Ill go do u 10% of my SundayMillion double vision tournaments next week.

Very cool post...

Staking name - 'BestInTheBusiness'

100% agree with both posts. The problem they have is for some reason they tend to think they have to prove themselves to the table way more than in a mix game..

I went to the 300 ept ladies in London and I hated it. I sat down about 1 level into the game and was quite hot due to me walking quite a way and so got shown my seat and sat down tried to smile at a few of them and they just looked through you. It was only for a woman on my right who was from Mexico that saved me from getting killed with their looks. We hit it off and started chatting about the online poker regulations which in turn helped the whole table to start talking to one another and become more relaxed and friendly.

I then unfortunately got moved and this is where it became worse.

I squeezed in between 2 skinny ladies (I'm fat) one was English on my left and she seemed quiet and pretty laid back. The other on my right was Canadian and she was the loud mouth at the table. I knew of one girl I've played with a few times from equal chance a few to my right and she opens and gets the Canadian calling and I elect to 3 bet the button with 95 suited. Sb bb and the OR all call... flop was J9x all checked round and I checked the turn was a 5 and the bb shoved and everyone got out the way except me obv - cards on there backs and I have 95 she has Ak high and loses. She taps the table and says nh and goes off somewhere else the Canadian speaks rather loudly and in a very horrible tone 'wow u re raise with 95 pre flop oh my gardddd etc and basically berates the way I have played and why I'm terrible even tho she isn't in the hand and it's none of her business... I just turn round and ask her 'are u from canada' and she proudly says yes which I reply I thought so... she then proceeds to loudly boast how her boyfriend is a professional poker pro and is here playing the ept main event and she has learnt from him and he is 'awesome'... I mean seriously who speaks like this just wtf?!!

Anyway rambling could go on and on... I used to be an utter horrible person at any table I played at but I put money on that in the last 18 months people have not seen me lose my temper once. I changed because I started to see others do what I was doing and hated it. Everyone pays their entry they are entitled to play whatever and however they like.

100% agree that the majority of women are out to get the fame, they use their gender, their looks to gain fame/friends in the right places which in turn helps them get deals that guys/girls who can actually play would only dream of having.

That's why I rate Vicky and fatima so much as I've seen them both at the table and they really are friendly and take the game with a pinch of salt. Anyone who plays on there table would be encouraged to play poker, hence they are deserving to get a sponsorship imho.

obv Vanessa because she is an absolute beast, but I'd struggle to pick 5  uk females out that deserve sponsorship because the majority just come across rude, spiteful and down right nasty imho.