Prose from a Poshboy

[cambridgealex]

I've been worrying a bit recently. Several things - in the short term about this downswing which is about $15k now, and my horses dowswing - about the same again. It's been a pretty brutal month, and looking likely to be my first losing month of 2012 which is a shame. Although it's lots of money, I'm not too worried about it - it's been long overdue and very normal swings for the stakes I'm playing. I've had a sick year, made quite a bit more than I expected to and had no big score, so it's been relatively steady, no not too stressful and swingy overall.

What has actually been worrying me is my long term prospects of making money at this game. The four main areas to make decent money imo are Tournaments and Cash, both online and live.

Live Cash - very sparse in the midlands, have played about 2/3s the number of hours this year compared to last year and next year the number will almost certainly go down again unless something changes. I can't get the hours in or the games to make decent money at this.

Online Cash - Can win up to 100 NL, never played enough higher to know whether I could win, but I've always found it pretty tough going, and never really enjoyed playing it for long periods of time (more than a few weeks) so I've ruled this out - even though from a lifestyle point of view it's perfect because of the flexible hours, and practicality. in b4 pleno.

Online Tournaments - Started playing seriously this year and accounts for 1/3 of my hours this year. Played 1500 tournaments, according to sharkscope I'm up about $1k across all sites but according to my records I'm down £2.5k. My records are pretty accurate so I'm going with that. Losing over the year for sure. 1500 tournaments isn't a lot I know. But it's depressing if this is one of my avenues of income to be losing over the year.  I know I've ran terrible and I'm pretty confident I'm a winner in the games I'm playing. Not super confident like I am live, I do find it tough sometimes especially on .com, but people I really respect have said I'm definitely gonna be a big winner long term in all the things I'm playing online and it's just variance so in a way I respect their judgement more than mine. Just gotta stick with it.

Live tournaments - all my doubts about how poker was getting tough get instantly dispelled when I play a live tournament. Yesterday I played the GPS in Sheffield and it just gave me a massive boost as I remember how incredible the value is in them. I obviously didn't make day two, getting coolered twice for big pots and then losing a 75/25 to cripple me, but that's not the point lol. If they could have tournaments like that twice a week, I'd be happy doing bugger all for the rest of the time lol.

If I was to do a equivalancy match up for live and online tournament standard of play, and this is in no way exaggerating for effect (if anything I'm understating it!), based on my experience it'd be:

£430 GPS = Big $11
£1000 GUKPT = Big $55
€5300 EPT = $100rebuy

(Not sure on the last one, thoughts anyone?)

Yes the variance is huge and you could go on downswings that span over years and years, even a lifetime (I don't actually believe this btw, edges are so huge there's no way you can say "online downswings last for thousands of tournaments, therefore a live downswing could be the same which'd take 25 years to play as many etc). But these are without doubt in my mind where the money is, and where my biggest hourly rate long term will come.

Anyway, finding a good blend of the 3 or 4 is what I've always done, and will continue to do, and just go wherever the grass is greenest I guess.

[smashedagain]

I saw your new friend comment on Facebook so went through her photos immediately. Your life's pretty sweet

[cambridgealex]

A few comedy hand histories from yesterday to backup what I was saying.

Hand 1. 75/150, guy opens utg+1 to 350, utg+2 flats, I 3bet to 1300 from the sb, he 4bets to 2450, utg2 folds, I 5bet to 4300 he calls. (I'd flat vs some people but vs this guy I had the impression he'd get super stubborn, peel loads worse and play terrible postflop so wanted to inflate the pot, and might even get in QQ or AK or maybe even JJ vs me).

So he peels the 5bet, with about 20k behind and now 8900 in the middle.

Didn't like the Q. I check to see what he does and get a read on his hand, he reasonably quickly and casually throws in one 5k chip. Never got top set the way he did it. I call.

I check. Really happy with my hand at this point, but then he bets 6700. Leaving himself about 8k. Wtf? He's pretty committed to the hand now, but I can't put him on a hand! I'm just pretty certain he doesn't have QQ or AA, so I just have to go with it. I'd seen him c/raise KQ on QT36 which was really weird/ terrible so that made it an easy decision.

I shoved and he tanked (phew!) and called with and bricked the river. No idea what he is thinking at any point!

Hand 2: 3 limpers at 200/400/50, guy shoves 22k yes TWENTY TWO (about 55bbs) from the sb. Second limper calls! Sb has AJo lol and the limper has AKo. J high board and then a hilarious conversation took place.

AK guy: "That was a big move"
AJ guy: "Well I'm not just here to makeup the numbers am I?"
AK guy: "You will be if you keep playing like that!"
AJ guy: "Hey I made the move mate, you were the one who called, I MADE THE MOVE!"

Hand 3: AJ guy proceeds to limp utg with K5o and then get to the river on a board of and shove for 31k into a pot of about 20k. Guy has and is hating life - as you would - it's a very polarising bet (or supposed to be lol). He sigh calls and we're all very surprised to see the guy with just a King.

He said "I had to make the move didn't I".

[cambridgealex]

I saw your new friend comment on Facebook so went through her photos immediately. Your life's pretty sweet

You're such a dirty perv lol! Yeh she is lovely. Pretty annoyed I can't see her more tbh. She's actually a Belarus national so she does need a visa. Estonian would've been so much easier! Or maybe someone from Nottingham lol.

[Skippy]

Whenever you make one of these self-reflective posts (edit, I mean 4 posts up), you always get about 3 pages of idiotic comments from complete life-fish like myself, so I may as well start it off...

I've always wondered why you stick around Nottingham if the games are dead. Online stuff obviously you can do anywhere, and liveaments you have to travel to anyway. I appreciate Nottingham is central, which is good for going places, but once you are in the car, what's another hour?

Plus as a self confessed posho and a connoisseur of the finer things in life, I wouldn't have thought Nottingham was your natural environment.

Why not London? I'd have thought all UK live pros would gravitate there at some point anyway. I'm pretty sure that £2 of London gambling money = £1 of Nottingham gambling money, which is great if you are winning. And there is at least £1/£2 around the clock.

[Skippy]

I saw your new friend comment on Facebook so went through her photos immediately. Your life's pretty sweet

You're such a dirty perv lol! Yeh she is lovely. Pretty annoyed I can't see her more tbh. She's actually a Belarus national so she does need a visa. Estonian would've been so much easier! Or maybe someone from Nottingham lol.

Did you pull because you're the only poker player she had ever met that could name the capital of Belarus, and all the countries next door?

[cambridgealex]

Whenever you make one of these self-reflective posts (edit, I mean 4 posts up), you always get about 3 pages of idiotic comments from complete life-fish like myself, so I may as well start it off...

I've always wondered why you stick around Nottingham if the games are dead. Online stuff obviously you can do anywhere, and liveaments you have to travel to anyway. I appreciate Nottingham is central, which is good for going places, but once you are in the car, what's another hour?

Plus as a self confessed posho and a connoisseur of the finer things in life, I wouldn't have thought Nottingham was your natural environment.

Why not London? I'd have thought all UK live pros would gravitate there at some point anyway. I'm pretty sure that £2 of London gambling money = £1 of Nottingham gambling money, which is great if you are winning. And there is at least £1/£2 around the clock.

I'm thinking about London yes Pete. The things that keep me here are my friends and DTD.

I love playing tournaments and cash games at DTD and would really miss that and obviously I live with Stato, Thigh and PJ and would really miss living with them and would just be a billy no mates in london for a while! Would be super expensive if I was by myself too.

[Skippy]

I love playing tournaments and cash games at DTD and would really miss that and obviously I live with Stato, Thigh and PJ and would really miss living with them and would just be a billy no mates in london for a while! Would be super expensive if I was by myself too.

Stick 'em in the back of the removals van. I doubt the equation is different for any of them either.

Tourney wise, I wouldn't have though <£300/400/500 was worth your time, so that's once per month at DTD.

There is no cash at DTD, that's why this conversation is taking place.

[cambridgealex]

I love playing tournaments and cash games at DTD and would really miss that and obviously I live with Stato, Thigh and PJ and would really miss living with them and would just be a billy no mates in london for a while! Would be super expensive if I was by myself too.

Stick 'em in the back of the removals van. I doubt the equation is different for any of them either.

Tourney wise, I wouldn't have though <£300/400/500 was worth your time, so that's once per month at DTD.

There is no cash at DTD, that's why this conversation is taking place.

Stato and Thigh just play online, so they have no reason to move to London, PJ would probably be persuaded but he's too lazy to get out of bed before 7pm let alone move house again.

[MANTIS01]

Yo, you say you've had one sick year and made more money than you expected to, even without a big score. You say people have said you will be a 'big winner' playing MTTs in the longterm. You say you can win playing online cash. You illustrate the value in live comps with the comedy hands. And in same post you say you are worried. My advice is not to worry. As for the live cash being slow you can bet people like Rob Yong will worry on your behalf and will be constantly working on new initiatives to make a success of their businesses.

[smashedagain]

I read somewhere Simon Deadman has moved upto Leeds. Is this poker related. Dtd would be no hold for you if anyone other than Rob Yong owned it. I can't see anyone else putting the money into the club that he does.

[tight4better]

I can't see anyone else putting the money into the club that he does.

Pretty much this

[Skippy]

The trouble is NLH cash games always die because the winners win at too great a rate. Twas ever thus- Doyle says this in his autobiography, and Barry G says the same thing in "Ace on the River". That's why Vegas casinos invented limit games.

If you want to play live cash the options are a) move somewhere where there is a large supply of people with money, which means London in the UK and nowhere else, or b) move from town to town depending on where the games are good at any given moment. (I don't mean you have to move house, just play for X amount of time in location A, then play in location B etc.)

[kinboshi]

I read somewhere Simon Deadman has moved upto Leeds. Is this poker related. Dtd would be no hold for you if anyone other than Rob Yong owned it. I can't see anyone else putting the money into the club that he does.

Shola's got a job in Leeds - that's why he's moved. 

[kinboshi]

The trouble is NLH cash games always die because the winners win at too great a rate. Twas ever thus- Doyle says this in his autobiography, and Barry G says the same thing in "Ace on the River". That's why Vegas casinos invented limit games.

If you want to play live cash the options are a) move somewhere where there is a large supply of people with money, which means London in the UK and nowhere else, or b) move from town to town depending on where the games are good at any given moment. (I don't mean you have to move house, just play for X amount of time in location A, then play in location B etc.)

Click to see full-size image.

Alex stops off for refreshments whilst on his UK-crushing tour.