Despite your improved standard of living do you ever have a nostalgic hankering for the old days?
That lean and hungry student grinding the £20 rebuys at Gala Nottingham, with a bit of £2 a point backgammon afterwards, topped off with an angry spin-up on roulette?
Oh man there's so many good and bad things I recall about those times. If I could wind the clock back and just relive those days for a week I definitely would even though I am very very glad that is behind me now.
Not sure I would have completed my studies anyway as my course wasn't what i expected but gala times didn't help for sure.
Anyway, good memories from the gala days:
Meeting many friends like nick hicks, pete Linton and Maria who remain good friends to this day.
I have since never had such a big love and urge to play poker as I did every day back then. My routine would be roughly waking up at 5pm ish each day, calling a taxi, jump in the shower and getting ready to head to gala. Playing the tournament/cash/roulette/blackjack/backgammon/kalooki etc until 6am when I would walk with Aarun and Donovan to maccie d's before sharing a taxi home from town.
I guess it taught me a good lesson for the future too.
Bad memories from the gala days:
Not learning much poker wise and despite probably being able to tick by it would always degen off my money playing house games.
Distancing myself from my studies and my uni friends.
Living a lifestyle that would not make my family proud or happy.
Random memories from those days:
The atmosphere in the card room, despite being filled by 50% of people who I would never associate with outside of poker, being just awesome. I really loved being in it and a part of it.
I remember once I'd done in all my savings that I started dealing on and off as well as playing and you used to get a 10 quid food token to use each day so for about a year I ate 3 different meals. Chicken quesadillas, jacket potato tuna beans and cheese and finally crispy duck and pancakes. Loved it.
Bubbling the first big comp I ever played there. Exiting in 11th after getting in ak vs the 88 of chris Bruce and losing. At the time I thought chris Bruce was Julian thew and for about 6 months I took a lot of pride in telling people that story of how the top uk pro sponsored by William hill knocked me out in a flip playing for a lot of money. But not only did that hand hurt a lot but all the gala guys really thought my 3bet shove of ak was just overplaying my hand and as I wasn't first in I should have just folded. Until I actually found blonde a year or so later and really started to learn to play I really beat myself up about that hand.
