Coming out of the shadows

[tikay]

I started playing poker in about 2002. Just a little monthly home game with my dad, brother in law and a couple of mates. Of the original seven players, I was the only one to take it any further than that. My dad plays a bit of micro-stake pub poker, but the rest of them get together two or three times a year max for a couple of £5 STTs, which I still sit in on for nostalgia value (and rarely win).

In 2004 I made my first trip to Nottingham Gala. I thought it was a £20 rebuy so I took £60 which I thought would be plenty. Turned out to actually be a £60 PLHE rebuy. Against the odds in a chip thrower like that, I made it to the end of the rebuy period with £30 still in my pocket, so took the add-on. At 4am, there was a three-way chip count and I took 2nd for £1670. Easy money.
I played 30 times at Gala that first year and made 10 finals. That included an outright win, which was probably the only final table that year that a deal wasn’t done. I remember arguing with the cardroom manager and half a dozen players about how the blinds went heads up. I lost the argument and had to play the whole heads up match with the Button posting the Big Blind. I think I also met Tikay and Thewy that night, both of whom gave me lots of valuable advice over the following months which helped with the steep learning curve needed. It was pre-blonde, but there was an email circular that went round with hand histories and tournament reports from about a dozen or so contributors. Wish I’d kept them. They’d make great reading now.
I was working in a high street bank at the time and hated every second. I hated it so much I left and got a job in a factory short term, while throwing myself at poker. In spring 2005 the factory let everyone go. I decided to take a shot. I set up a poker T-shirt company called Shuffle Up Shirts and got stuck into $30-$50 SNGs. Long story short, I ran bad. Company never really got off the ground, never really adjusted to constant drain on bankroll from household bills, exhausted by new baby and school runs for eldest kid. By 2007 a drastic change was needed. The T-shirts were still not making any money, I hated poker, and I was pretty shitty to be around at home. I wasn’t a lot of fun on Blonde either, getting my back up at the slightest thing and falling out with some pretty decent people. I got a job testing fruit machines and after playing the opening weekend games at DTD (and finalling the first tournament  ) I put the cards down and stopped playing.
I also walked away from Blonde before I said anymore I couldn't take back.

Three years later and I’ve steadied the ship. A couple of good promotions have put me in a pretty well paid middle management job. Family life is fantastic and I’m in a much better state of mind for poker. About this time last year I started playing Super50s when I could fit them in. I Chopped one for £2500 just before Christmas which was a nice pre-Christmas bonus. Took another one down early this year for just over £3k as well as a few other finals. Played a few multi-day events too, making day 2 of a UKIPT, and cashing in a Grand Prix and APAT event.

It’s been a bit of a challenge adjusting my game. It’s changed a bit over the last couple of years. In 2004 I was Moneymaker boom new school. Now I’m old school. There’s no point in me trying to butt heads with the young bucks at the tables. Just got to make my own moves work. I think I’m doing ok adapting to the current pace of play so far, but will keep working on it. That’s something I might write more about at some point, because it’s something that’s needed considerable thought over the last year.

So, the plan. Not formulated it exactly, but it’ll be something like;
- Grow and protect the bankroll.
- Hit the 2012 APAT season pretty hard.
- Play most, if not all £300+ events at DTD.
- Keep fishing in the Super50s
-Although I don’t really enjoy online poker, look for more ways online can supplement my live bankroll.

In fact, I can convert those to some specific goals.
-Finish 2012 with a dedicated £10K bankroll
-Two APAT final Tables
-Two £300 Deepstack final tables
-Two outright live tournament wins
-Five new entries on the Hendon Mob database

Bring on 2012.

Crikey, that's rung a few bells with me! I still have them all somewhere, but if they ever got published, we'd get mocked to death by the usual suspects. Times have changed in poker, & on Forums, & it'd be almost a hanging offence to describe how we played 8 or 10 years ago.

Those "round-robin" e-mails were sort of the precursor to me writing Tourney Reports, first for THM, & then blonde, & eventually, all the print magazines, & then on to other stuff.

The e-Mails were a sort of "self-help" thing - bit like the "Groups" that learn together these days - & the cc list included, as I recall, you, Thewy, Ian "Belly" Oldershaw", Greg Hill, Jim Moult, & a few others.

Anyway, welcome back. Without divulging anything to anyone else, or opening up old wounds, your last e-Mail to me (5 years ago, or similar?)  was, to be honest, "pretty painful" given the circumstances, which I was not really in a position to reply to, as it was all a bit delicate & current.

Life has moved on, so have I, I'm into the "peace out" phase now, as I enter the final chapter, so to speak.

I hope you enjoy it here more this time.

[AdamM]

As I said above, circumstances with family, money, poker, business, etc made me pretty unbearable.
My natural character is really easy going, but I was the complete opposite and I'm sure a said, posted and emailed a lot of things I'd like to take back.

As that's not possible, I'll have to settle for any clean sheets people are prepared to give me and make a conscious effot to not take myself so seriously and most of all, THINK before I hit send.

[AdamM]

Any Blonde who see me at the club are welcome to say hi and help me put a few faces to names.

[redsimon]

Any Blonde who see me at the club are welcome to say hi and help me put a few faces to names.

tidy chip stacks ftw

[Lucky]

Hi Adam

I was on your starting table on Saturday, two to your right.

I think we were both fairly quiet, leaving most of the action to others.

It was just getting interesting as the table broke. Would've been fun.

Alan "Lucky" McBride

[AdamM]

Interesting is an understatement.

I'm always pretty quiet at the table. One of my reasons for doing this actually.
There are people there I've been playing with since 2004 who don't know my name.

[AdamM]

So, up until Friday night my plan was to play the Saturday 8th Super50. The attack on the Deepstacks and other big events wasn't supposed to start until next year. However, prompted by a bit of DTD spam, I threw €50 at a satellite. Only 39 runners and 10 seats guaranteed. Made a seat pretty easily, so might take another look at them this month. I cancelled a few plans for Sunday and went out a little earlier than expected to play the Deepstack.

The early stages of the tournament were a bit of a grind. I was pretty card dead, no pair higher than 5,5 and the occasional rag ace. Had to nick what I could. Biggest pot I won on my first table was when I had a crack at James Atkin’s BB with J,9, bet two streets  and spiked a Jack on the end to beat what he said was a small pair. This was the now infamous table where the clock was called on James. My take on it was that he was talking a bit in a few pots, not just with Paul but in a couple of others too. Not excessively for me, but enough to get a few eyes rolling. I did think the clock was called prematurely, and for me personally to call a clock on a hand I wasn’t involved in, it’d need to be pretty exceptional circumstances.  Well, I Imagine it would, because I’ve never done it.

Finally got out of the blocks in level 9. The key hand that started me off was this (a bit light on detail, as I didn't know I'd be writing it down);
I was SB at 400/800, UTG makes it 2200, button calls, I call with     BB passes.
Flop is  , ,
I checked to the raiser who duly opens fairly small, Button raises and is talking to the opener as he does so. I catch him a bit by surprise by shoving. He'd taken his eye off me.
Opener folds and Button tanks. He tells me he can’t see how I can not have it. Eventually he semi-repeats himself, saying he can’t see how his Queens can’t be good and passes face up. I showed him the 9,10 in return. His mate gave him a hard time in the break about the pass, but I like it. He must put me on a set of 7 s, 8 s, 9 s, J10, or at very best 10,10. The only hand he has crushed is if I’m playing JJ really funky. Even with the hand I have I’m about even money with his Queens. I’m pretty sure he was reading Blonde on his phone so perhaps if he sees this, he can add a bit of detail.
That got me ahead of average for the first time. 42k against a pace of 37k. Managed to move up a gear for the last session and get myself to 90k by home time.

My seat draw on Day 2 could have been better than it was. James Atkins, Nick Hicks and Jamie O’Connor in traps 1,2 and 3 and me stuck in 5 facing a three bet on every hand. I pushed back when I could, but I was fighting a losing battle.
On the bubble James had a go for my remaining chips on my BB. Before looking at my cards I looked round and there was no one standing at the other four tables, so no knockouts imminent, looked at my own cards and found 8,8. Call. James shows J,9. Door card is an 8 but by the turn I was sweating a gutshot and flush draw. Ducked the lot and James is down to the felt. Four way pot to knock him out next hand, which I pick up, along with a healthy side pot with a set of 4 s.

Our table broke straight after that. I doubled up through Orlando Anderson when I flopped another set, again with 4,4. He defended his BB with a good old fashioned stop and go with A,7. He got them all back shortly after though in a straight forward 9,9 v A,Q race.

All in all, I was pleased with how I played considering how card dead I was for most of it. Hit a few sets late on when I was in survival / double up mode. £600 isn’t a bad consolation from €50. Will keep me ticking over.

Playing the €10 Deepstack on DTD every night this week as usual (8th/150 last night)
Next live game is Super50 Saturday 15th.

[Claw75]

Welcome back adam - sounds like you've had a pretty good and productive couple of years, good on you.

[gatso]

can you still do 100 pressups?

[AdamM]

never could.
Got up to 65 in that programme and tore my shoulder.
That was one of the injuries that took months to heal that made me start reprioritising.

Might have another go at that at some point.

For those that don't know there was a 100 press ups in 8 weeks training programme a few of us had a go at.
Not sure if anyone nailed it in the end.
Left about then.

[snoopy1239]

never could.
Got up to 65 in that programme and tore my shoulder.
That was one of the injuries that took months to heal that made me start reprioritising.

Might have another go at that at some point.

For those that don't know there was a 100 press ups in 8 weeks training programme a few of us had a go at.
Not sure if anyone nailed it in the end.
Left about then.

I did.

[AdamM]

Well played
Right, I'm going to have another go.
First test Sunday
sets Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Did you video it like we said we would?

[gatso]

they've released an app for it now. much easier to follow, does all your sets and rest periods for you, much easier to follow, you should try that

[AdamM]

excellent.
what's the app called?

[millidonk]

this one is 100 in 6 weeks: http://hundredpushups.com/iphoneapp.html might give it a go myself.