Back From Business

[moustache]

Back From Business

Hi Guys, it's been a really long time since I'v seen or spoken to many of you, I took several years away from poker, pursuing a few different businesses in a few different countries but now I'm back! The short version is that I miss the freedom of both time, place of work and not having to listen to the constant bitching of customers expecting me to solve all their life problems with a day and an old transit van, so Iv packed it all in and am coming back to poker as my main source of income and mental challenges. I currently work as a class 1 lorry driver (because I need money and always wanted to try driving a massive lorry (it is rather good fun!)), I have a 10 week plan to reduce to part time to free up around 30 hours per week for poker and a 6-12 month(ish) plan to go completely full time again.

For those who have no idea who I am, my name is Matt and I was a full time professional gambler from 2007-2013(ish), I was a reg at DTD, as well as many other casinos around the uk, playing Dealers Choice when it was running, Omaha when it wasn't and Texas in and around that lot (I was a quiet part of the furniture in the legendary games involving Alex, Mitch, Stato, big American Mike etc...). Live tournaments were a regular part of my play too. I played online a lot as well, mainly sng's and mtt's. I have also been known to take part in a bookie promotion or two when it was +ev, but it was rare!

I was rather quiet and very private before but seeing as I have a fresh start I thought i'd try being more open and an active member of the community this time around! There are loads of blogs and posts around the topic of turning pro and the highs and lows that follow such a decision, and the voices of experience so often recommending against doing so, but I haven't seen one yet from someone who was already a successful pro coming back for a second round. Hopefully I can provide something interesting for people to read from a slightly different angle.

I'm happy to take questions about my poker past and present, my adventures between the two and try to share some interesting stories every so often as well as post updates about how my new/old career is developing.

Thanks in advance for the warm welcome back in to this crazy, high variance existence that I have deeply missed and I will be seeing a lot more of most of you in the near future!

[redsimon]

Favourite game in Dealers' Choice?

Biggest pot won, biggest pot lost in cash?

Good luck with the diary.

[RED-DOG]

Subscribed. Good luck Matt.

[tikay]

Hi Matt,

Good to see you posting, hope the Diary and the poker goes well.

Where are you planning to play, Online & Live?

What sort of lorry do you drive? Love lorries, & at one time I entertained the notion of marrying one, but it was just a physical attraction, & it would never have lasted.

[arbboy]

Were you at Walsall junction 10 on Monday night and used to play at Stoke Genting circa 5 years ago?  Wondering if you are one and the same guy i saw at Walsall on Monday night who i hadn't seen for a while.  Pretty sure his name was Matt.

[moustache]

Favourite game in Dealers' Choice?

Biggest pot won, biggest pot lost in cash?

Good luck with the diary.

My favourite game at dc is superstud, I love the flow of the rounds of betting and the sweats, however I never choose it because it is inexcusable to give up position on your button so I usually chose Omaha hi/lo with as many cards as possible.

My biggest win in a cash pot is around £3.5k, don't remember the action clearly at all but shoved the turn with a combo draw and got there in a very active 2/5 at DTD.

My biggest loss in a cash pot was around £18k, I was playing 400/800/1600 (HKD (ex rate was around 12/1)) in Macau in a private room at Star World in 2008, Sat with 200k and was the shortest stack by miles in a loose game. Limped utg with AKo, mp raises to 5k, button 3bets to 12.5k, BB calls, I 4bet to 40k and all call. Flop KT8 with 2 hearts, Bb checks, I shove 160k, all call! Turn is an offsuit 2 and the 3 other players put the rest of the money in and the cards go on their backs, I'm up against T8, Jh9h, Ah2h.... River pairs the 2 and scoops the 2m pot!

I would add context to the hand that this was the only time iv ever  played  bigger than 5/10, I had taken 5k with me and had been there 3 weeks and done rather well at the 25/50 and 50/100 games so far. I got invited to the game (that I think was organised by John Duthie although he wasn't sat at the time) by an American I had got friendly with and was feeling pretty good about my game and taking a shot at some serious winnings. I only went home losing 3k at the end of the trip even after that disaster of a hand so it could have been worse! Still felt pretty sick for a couple of days after though!

[moustache]

Hi Matt,

Good to see you posting, hope the Diary and the poker goes well.

Where are you planning to play, Online & Live?

What sort of lorry do you drive? Love lorries, & at one time I entertained the notion of marrying one, but it was just a physical attraction, & it would never have lasted.

Lol at marrying a lorry, at the end of a 15 hour shift that's how I feel! I drive for a popular, green company with trucks with ladies names, I am in a Volvo today with a 42t load of mixed groceries on a double decker trailer.

I will play online on stars for mtt's and an iPoker skin for sng's and cash cause the rb is a bit better and the competition softer. I can cope with the worse software, I won't be playing live for a while cause when I'm working 5 days a week I want to be at home with Mrs Tache on the weekends but when I have the time I will be at Nottingham Leicester, Coventry etc...

[moustache]

Were you at Walsall junction 10 on Monday night and used to play at Stoke Genting circa 5 years ago?  Wondering if you are one and the same guy i saw at Walsall on Monday night who i hadn't seen for a while.  Pretty sure his name was Matt.

No, that wasn't me, have been to Walsall but not for a long time

[DungBeetle]

Looking forward to the new diary Matt.  Good luck!

[moustache]

So, I haven't played any poker in the last few days cause Iv been getting 15 hour shifts most days and last night I went out in Derby dancing for one of my friends' birthday. I'm planning on playing some tonight and plenty on sat and sun so will post an update about my progress.
 I'm playing small at the moment purposefully. Firstly because I work a day job now the amounts of money are counted in 'how many hours I had to work to earn that' rather than 'how much can I expect to win if I invest that?' I need to ease back in gently like it's her first time! Secondly I want to start at the bottom and work up as I prove a win rate at each level to be sure I'm not overestimating my skill level. I am very rusty and the games have moved on a lot since I was last crushing souls! I will of course be satisfied with very small sample sizes and move up levels aggressively to get somewhere that the wins are meaningful.

On that note can someone give me their opinions on piosolver in relation to sng's because it's completely unknown to me.

Ty

[moustache]

I played 20 double or nothing sng's at the €5 level to get back in to the swing of it, Iv got a lot of learning to do to get my game anywhere close to optimal but most of those players are pretty bad, and I mean bad! A win rate will be really easy to achieve which is nice while I learn my way around icm again and making notes on some opposition so I can get an idea of their pushing and calling ranges. I had a small will after the games, I won 13/20. I also remember how frustrating hem2 is when it doesn't do what you want it to! 😡

[moustache]

Well, I had a lovely weekend, played plenty of poker online, won a little bit, studied quite a lot (I'm really rusty so it's a good job I'm playing small!) but now it's back to work... Had a broken kingpin yesterday so sat around waiting for mechanics to fix it so I could go home and today up at 5:40 to get to work in the heaving rain to find out most of my work is outside today. This switch back to poker can't come soon enough! The challenge is finding the time to play and study around everything else, time is such a luxury and the wage I'm on is only just worth it, let alone the millions of people who are busting their butts for the minimum just to give it to someone else each month for the convenience of doing it all again next month from a position of relative comfort and security. I guess that is one of my main gripes with working and one of the main reasons for going back to poker. Btw I live on a narrowboat so I'm not being completely hypocritical about the work for bills and rent thing, I'm working to get out of a hole that I dug in business and to provide security and stability for a while while we recover.

[tikay]

You live on a narrowboat? How fascinating.

Where is it moored?

What sort of money do they cost to rent or buy, & how much are mooring & service charges? I am assuming you have to pay some sort of Service Charge for utilities etc. Does it have - pardon the intrusion - a chemical toilet?

What are the arrangements for fresh water & 'leccy, or gas?

Always fancied living on a narrowboat, but think the novelty might wear off after a few days.

On the Thames near Hampton Court, they have a lot of House Boats, (plus 1 or 2 narrowboats passing through), which must cost a fortune to buy, but they are beautiful.

Think the lower end of prices on Tagg Island is around £600,000.

[moustache]

You live on a narrowboat? How fascinating.

Where is it moored?

What sort of money do they cost to rent or buy, & how much are mooring & service charges? I am assuming you have to pay some sort of Service Charge for utilities etc. Does it have - pardon the intrusion - a chemical toilet?

What are the arrangements for fresh water & 'leccy, or gas?

Always fancied living on a narrowboat, but think the novelty might wear off after a few days.

On the Thames near Hampton Court, they have a lot of House Boats, (plus 1 or 2 narrowboats passing through), which must cost a fortune to buy, but they are beautiful.

Think the lower end of prices on Tagg Island is around £600,000.

Some of those house boats are stunning! Mine is much more modest, it is a beautiful way to live, Iv been aboard 2 months and have never been so relaxed or happy in my life. I love focussing on simple things and reading or playing online by a fire in a cozy space is lovely. I feel a significant "decompression" when I get back home after a day out in the real world. It is cheaper than living in a house in most cases because you are lighting and heating a much smaller area and tend to focus more on spending time than money but it is really dependant on each person. It is possible to have all modern luxuries and spend more than you would on land and it is equally possible to live a very basic life and be significantly cheaper. Yes we have a cassette toilet that I empty when required but all marinas have toilet, shower etc facilities. Gas is bottled, electric is solar panels on the roof with leisure batteries and a hookup at marinas that is a prepay meter style. Water is free from water points every few miles. We have a large tank on board. Internet is 4g but the signal is usually good. Heat is from a multifuel burner that must be kept stoked up during winter at all costs. Standard narrowboats cost between 20k-70k although you can go far north of that with custom built designs. Mooring fees depend on the location greatly, Places like London and Bath are extortionate!

[moustache]

I tried to post a picture of my boat but couldn't, the file was too big, will try again later.