An Update Since My Trip To Vegas

Before I went to Vegas in September I had reached a point where I had lost all interest in poker and had only played 1 game in about 3 months before. With the trip to Vegas booked and being the mecca of poker I would have thought that i’d get some sort of buzz back. It turns out that that I run exactly the same in Vegas as I do at home and that I that I think I could be somewhere else doing something else more productive instead of just folding 80% of hands.

So since i’ve been back i’ve only played a handful of games including the Circus £75 Freezeout, the NPF championships and an NPF online deepstack tournament. So the Circus game, you sit there putting up with shit hands and then when you decide that you need to make a move you do it at a terrible time or run a good hand into a slightly better hand. The online game where eventhough I played brilliantly and came 2nd there is just no buzz.  Then when you enter the NPF Championships without the desire to play because your mind is on other things.  To make it worse the first 2 hands I get I fold AJ and AQ because i’m early position and then the next hand I lose with JJ after someone hitting trips then the next hand I go bust with aces after I put a big re raise in pre from the sb only for the same person to turn a straight that I couldn’t possibly put him on.  I was never in the right from of mind to fold so I busted and was the first person to exit after 5 hands despite being one of the tightest players in the tournament so it made me wonder why I play.

So after those games I just decided that I simply don’t have what it takes to play poker very often as the desire to win is just completely gone so wasting time basically doing nothing is not very productive. I don’t know how people keep so passionate about playing the game. I’m still massively passionate about poker tough and I still love reading about it and also I enjoy seeing the success of other people which has been happening a lot recently on NPF. It is a pleasure to know that I have a small contribution to those successes because of the forum I created.

I’ve had loads of ideas for some more websites I want to make, some gambling related, some not. One idea is a site about poker tournament structures because i’m somehow really passionate about them and have developed a great understanding of them when organising tournaments for NPF. I was originally going to do posts on this blog but decided that it would work out better on a dedicated website. I also still have plans for a load of unique articles and hope to post once a week once I get them written.

Outside of poker I’ve had plenty of stuff going on but still being really limited by how lazy I am and struggling to make the changes I want. Anyone that knows me will know how skinny I am so since June i’ve been eating more and doing a strength training program in the gym I set up in my garage.  Since then i’ve gained 25lbs and now have to walk around without the button fastened because I can’t be bothered to buy some new pants that fit. Although, I see this as a bit of a mini achievement I’m still disappointed because i’ve started slacking off a lot since the weights have got heavy and can’t be bothered to eat when i’m supposed to.

I’m going away to Punta Cana in Domincan Republic again for Christmas and New year again with my parents so very much looking forward to that to relax. At first I wasn’t really bothered about going away as I was satisfied with the Vegas trip and was going to use the time off to maybe get some work done that i’ve put off for ages.  But now i’m glad we’re going away as I think I just need some and to relax.  I don’t think i’m going to take the laptop so will probably get the chance to read some books that I haven’t got round to reading yet.

I’m also planning on doing a 3 week trek across America in May/June next year and then do Vegas again for a week where a lot of the NPF crew are going out for the WSOP. I fancied doing something different, something to take me out of my comfort zone where i’ve always had things done for me and sometimes handed on a plate. I should be making most of the time I have while i’m still young because you never know what is round the corner. Hopefully, it will be a massive learning curve/personal development for me so something i’m really looking forward to.