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Author Topic: James "MC" Atkin: In the Well  (Read 114330 times)
Marky147
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« Reply #105 on: December 23, 2009, 02:38:59 AM »

great post James - had no clue about some of this stuff.


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Sighmuns
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« Reply #106 on: December 23, 2009, 03:12:09 AM »

That long post was a bit odd James.

It was riveting reading and everything, but it just didn't rhyme at all.

Looking forward to the next bit, as long as it's a proper rap.

Smiley

and +1 on anyone who appreciated the honesty of the last post.
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Horneris
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« Reply #107 on: December 23, 2009, 03:22:47 AM »

enjoyed the last post. good read.
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mike saban
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« Reply #108 on: December 23, 2009, 03:53:47 AM »

an excellent well so far, looking forward to reading more.
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maldini32
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« Reply #109 on: December 23, 2009, 08:41:23 AM »

enjoyed the last post. good read.
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DaveShoelace
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« Reply #110 on: December 23, 2009, 08:47:44 AM »

Totally amazed at the long post, not that its an unusual story in poker, but simply because of all the discipline you show grinding the low stakes games these days.
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« Reply #111 on: December 23, 2009, 09:08:59 AM »

Wow fascinating post, it so doesn't fit into the way I would have imagined you would have got to this point in poker. Looking forward to the next part.

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Cottonbud
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« Reply #112 on: December 23, 2009, 09:22:48 AM »

Really interesting stuff James. Looking forward to the next post!
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810ofclubs
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« Reply #113 on: December 23, 2009, 09:39:52 AM »

Well werent u just a sick puppy! Sick gd read dude, keep it coming
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Jake Mfkin Cody lols
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« Reply #114 on: December 23, 2009, 09:42:53 AM »

Best well so far, easily.

More please...
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« Reply #115 on: December 23, 2009, 09:43:19 AM »

I'm sure this will come into the 'grinder' section, but with your new appreciation responsibility, bankroll management etc, what is your criteria for picking a live tournament to play (Including permission from her indoors)?
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Rupert
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« Reply #116 on: December 23, 2009, 10:26:52 AM »

A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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MC
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« Reply #117 on: December 23, 2009, 12:32:29 PM »

That long post was a bit odd James.

It was riveting reading and everything, but it just didn't rhyme at all.

Looking forward to the next bit, as long as it's a proper rap.

gtfo! Smiley
« Last Edit: December 23, 2009, 01:46:54 PM by MC » Logged

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« Reply #118 on: December 23, 2009, 01:37:57 PM »

Okay so something I remembered since my last post. Tribeca had ceased to be, and Blue Square moved onto iPoker somewhere in the midst of my second semester at Uni. I absolutely couldn't get on with the new software, I hated it (still do), so this is probably another reason I stopped playing at this point.

Sadly this iPoker software had this damn blackjack button. I think I actually broke even on it during May 2007, and perhaps after a loss recouping session I decided I'd invest in going to Las Vegas for the World Series. I booked 3 weeks out there in the Monte Carlo, but the stupid thing was I didn't arrange to go with anybody. I knew that I could catch up with people there, but I definitely don't recommend going there by yourself based on my experience.

Things couldn't really have started better as I came 2nd in the Bellagio $1k nightly tourmament on my first night there. I had been awake 30 hours straight by the time I'd finished. Two days later I chopped the same tournament 6 ways, again having been up a ridiculous amount of time. It was like 7am and I was falling asleep on the table. I got about the same amount of money as I had coming second because there were a bunch more runners. So I'd now won $30k and was probably $25k or so to the good. I spent the next few days doing a mix of playing tournaments and sunbathing in the nice pool area at the Monte Carlo.

Somewhere about 10 days into being there the blog updates I wrote stopped, so this must be about the time it all went wrong. I remember playing some $30/60 limit in the Bellagio and doing quite well a couple of times whilst I'd been there. This time the guy on my direct left was beyond wasted, he spilled 2 mojitos all over the table in the course of the night, and probably should have been asked to leave really. He was raising every single hand without looking at his cards. You might think, wiii gold-mine, but I tried to get involved way too often and didn't adapt to the situation and was about $5k down. I was aware of how bad my position was, and somehow I managed to snap up a seat two to his right whilst still playing. I proceeded to win back $3k cos he was still playing like a loon, but by this point in time he'd done all his money.

I guess Vegas can do stuff to you, cos I had only played Roulette perhaps twice ever in my life, but for some reason I felt compelled to try and win this $2k back this way. Hey I was in Vegas, you gotta do this kinda thing in Vegas right(!). Wp me for choosing the game with the gayest odds and two zeros. Someone told me I should go play in the high rollers where there was only one zero, which I probably did after I had already lost half my bankroll over the next day in the hotel I was staying at. My safe that had been filled with Bellagio chips and a lot of dollar bills was soon empty. I watched PPV films (no not the kinky ones) in my room all the next day, and I remember eating Chocolate covered blueberries, which were part of the hamper that the Sickly Pit Boss had sent up to my room after my losses. Yeah, that will offset the dosh.

I had another week and a bit in Vegas, but I just wanted to get out. I tried to change my flights but couldn't so I just bought the first flight home I could. I didn't care about the £800 it cost at this point. I was living with my parents that summer and I don't think they could understand my mood because they knew I had binked two results in the first 3 days I was there, but I couldn't bring myself to tell them I had gambled it away. I still haven't, although I'm sure they have their suspicions. This felt much worse than my previous losses, because I had kicked ass in the poker I had played.

I made sure I bought a new car because my other one that my brother had bought me just as I started to make money from poker decided to explode whilst I was going 70mph on a dual carriageway before I went to Vegas. I also paid off all my student loans, about £13ks worth. I just didn't want this hanging over me. In retrospect I haven't had a job since then so it seems a bit silly, but I just wanted that off my shoulders whilst I could afford it. And I'm happy I did it, because that's money I had won but could never touch. I think it was around this time I gave my parents a wodge of my money to take care of.

Over the next couple of months I think I tried to find a new poker-home online, and battled with this gambling addiction that I had now picked up. One that was worse than before because at least then it was under the guise of being skill related. Obviously I got Blue Square to ban my account, I really wanted to stop, but sadly there were many skins out there I could sign up to, and would eventually give in to. This downward spiral gradually fizzled out because I was losing money, and I was conscious of the fact I didn't want to obliterate my bankroll completely. I think there were a few times when I played over the next year, but absolutely nothing in comparison to my stupidity in Vegas and immediately after.

It was some point around this time where I stopped focussing on having to win the money I had lost back. This is obviously a standard gambler's downfall. But that £100k bankroll that I had when I was on top of the world was gonna send me busto if I wasn't careful, and I knew it. I realised I had to draw a line under my gambling losses, otherwise that was going to send me busto, because I wasn't exactly learning to count cards and I knew that was the mathematically likely outcome if I continued as I was doing. So I started to play stakes that were within my bankroll, and I stopped gambling. I wish I could say I adhered to this 100%, but it was more like 95%. I'm sure I jumped limits a few times when I shouldn't, and when on complete monkey tilt I may have clicked the blackjack button once or twice.

Generally I was good though and I would play mostly €100 and €200 heads ups on Boss Media, and there were some soft limit games. I would generally go on 3 week steady runs, then perhaps have a day where I blew half my profit. I obviously had some inbuilt tilt button that couldn't take a loss that was perhaps worse than a standard swing for the game I was playing.

I was aware that I was capable of having heads up graphs that went up in a nice straight line if I stayed sensible, but it did dawn on me that the games generally were getting harder, and that my Tribeca glory days were truly over. I pretty much bumbled around like this until the end of 2008. I was probably only making a just about what I was spending. It's kind of a sad story really, I was this young kid with so much potential, but my inability to deal with the gambling and losing aspect of the game eventually drawed me in to straight out gambling and losing, and although I never let myself go busto, I was still clinging onto the game and refusing to accept that my time had passed. Although actually my outgoings were quite a damn lot, so in reality I was still doing okay, it just didn't quite feel the same as when I was a student with no outgoings making more money than I'd ever dreamed possible.

I should probably point out that although my poker story is rather depressing, in my personal life I was happy through this period. I started seeing my girlfriend in November 2007, and we lived together from the outset because we were house-mates before this. Also, anyone who knows me knows I am quite a bubbly-outgoing person.This was how I was away from the computer, and there were obviously enough highs in this time to keep me wanting to play. If I thought I had become a losing or bad player, I hope I would have stepped away. I was just a good player with flaws.

Things changed at the end of 2008, between Christmas and New Year. It was like 11am and I was having my standard lie in, when my girlfriend came and set next to the bed. I rolled over and told her to go away I was sleeping or something, and she retorted with "I have something to tell you..." Uh-oh! After she told me she was pregnant I turned on the TV and watched it for about 2 hours as I pretended she hadn't said anything, and we both just layed there. LOL. Anyway, it turns out that not only was this a great thing because now we have this amazing little baby, but it had the most positive affect on my poker career.

Bumbling around was no longer good enough. I had to prove that I could support a family. It was either this, or go get a job.



Okay, another breather required. I think part 3 should finish up the poker story. I'm sure there are still holes. Feel free to ask me questions if I've missed stuff out that interests you.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2009, 01:52:31 PM by MC » Logged

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« Reply #119 on: December 23, 2009, 02:12:36 PM »

Just be glad I didn't waste this gold in the degen thread Smiley
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