Magical Mystery Poker Tour

Quarterly Review

4 min read · Part 1 of 4 in Quarterly Reviews

Well, I guess to keep on top of your game you need to consistently evaluate how you’ve done, and set yourself goals for the future, so I thought this would be a good point to review progress. The Labour government would be proud of my box ticking and target setting, rather than getting on with actually playing. There is a job in Town Hall for me some day.

Review (Jan-Mar)

  1. London Tournaments (7/10 Rating)
    A little under 4k USD profit for the quarter - pretty steady stuff and I’m happy with that. I’m well placed in the WSOP league at the LC, so should start the May final with a decent stack. I’ve found the Gutshot relatively straightforward to play on my 6 visits there, cashing 3 times and since they get bigger fields that makes for decent paydays. I also broke my City100 barren run during the period, although the monthly BetterPoker 60 runner event continues to deliver outdraws and I have never cashed in that. I gather the Loose Cannon regulars ruled the roost in that one last night, however.

  2. London Live Cash (3/10 Rating)
    I’m down for live cash - 246 USD. This is pretty poor considering the hours I’ve played it. I’ve seemed to grind out a lot of smallish wins, but twice I’ve lost 1000 USD + in huge drunken sessions, with various reckless plays. This will have to stop going forward, or I may as well not play cash. When I’ve had a couple of drinks I’m a decent cash player, when I am drunk I am a manical fish. The invention of the “Cannon” drink in Dublin has not helped this area of my game.

  3. Professional Circuit Tournaments (6/10 Rating)
    Only one pro-event attended so far - Irish Open. Lost a little over 9k USD over the weekend. Certainly proved I can live with that company during Day1 of the event, but tilted pretty badly after an outdraw on Day2. I was knackered going into Day2 of the event (and not because of late night partying), so I think there is a question mark over my mental stamina at the moment. I was pleased to hold my own playing Omaha with the pros in one of the side events though.

  4. Omaha (7/10 Rating)
    Has improved a lot this year, after more felt time and after reading several books. Will target High-Lo next year I think. 700 USD profit.

  5. Online Tournaments (9/10 Rating)
    One big win, and several final tables in daily tournaments. Has provided the bulk of my profits - 53k USD profit. I’d play a lot more of them, but it is simply a matter of time constraints at the moment as they take so long. I’ve only sat down for about 10 sessions so far, so the return has been pretty amazing.

  6. Online Cash (7/10 Rating)

16k USD profit. Most of that came from a drunken 4 hour rampage on the 25/50 tables, but the returns on the 1/2 tables have been pretty consistent as well. Again, I probably have not played enough hours to evaluate this area properly. I definitely have to stay away from the high roller table, as I certainly don’t have the bankroll to support that and this won’t happen again. (Well at least not for a few years).

GOALS - (APR-DEC)

  1. Cash in a professional tournament.
    I have yet to achieve this, so it would be nice to get the monkey off my back. I have 6 more shots this year - 4 WSOP events, 1 UKPT event and the UKPT Grand Final. I’d like to play more events than these, but it’s difficult as I need time for work and also time to spend with my son.

  2. Stop playing live cash after 6-8 pints
    This is a total waste of money. I definitely play better after a few drinks, but my live limit will be 4 Magners/Pints from now on I think. Any drinking of wine tends to have disasterous consequences also. And certainly no Cannons ;)

  3. Online cash challenge (1k-100k)
    A slight variation on the Chris Ferguson 0-10k challenge, I am going to see if I can turn 1k into 100k by the end of the year, solely playing online cash. The tight budget should ensure bankroll discipline and it will mean picking stakes according to the current bankroll. This will be one of those challenges that will be either a roaring success, or will be an embarrassing flop within a month. Either way, I will report progress.

  4. Play more online tournaments
    My biggest money spinner, and probably the strongest part of my game. I have to try and find the time to play these, even if it means cutting back on live play at certain times of the year.

  5. Continue London tournament success
    I’d be happy to continue at the current rate on these - if I can clear 16k USD profit at the end of the year that will have to be considered a good year.

  6. Turn live cash around
    If I finish the year down on live cash I’ll be pretty disappointed. I need to claw back the loss on this and move on from there. I’ll set a pretty modest target on this one, perhaps finishing 3k USD up for the year.

So that’s it - overall a strong quarter, but the strong leaning to online play troubles me slightly. Would be nice to see the live areas of my game catch up over the coming months…

Next tournament report will be the City100 at Loose Cannon on Wednesday night.