Guilt update

Weird, it's been quite a while since I did one of these updates, maybe I should write one up.

So, where am I at?

Well, I've just moved most of my money off Pokerstars. It's nothing against Pokerstars at all, I do think it's the best site on the internet, but unfortunately I don't qualify for any rakeback bonus', whereas I will be able to get it on Full Tilt. That's 5k or more a month I'm earning just to switch sites, so I'm in the process of making that switch. Therefore, there hasn't been much for me in the way of online poker lately, I play a little every night, but not as intensely as I had been for the last few months.

I'm really eager for the FTOPS events kicking off this coming week, I think I'm in a good frame of mind poker-wise, and I feel like my tournament game is coming around a bit. I've been doing alot of reading and watching on card runners the MTT videos and entries to see if I can learn anything, and I'm more comfortable than I was a month ago playing an MTT. Some progress was shown at the live tournaments I run. I had played in(without an actual count), 15 or so events, and made 1 final table(finished 3rd), up until this week. This week I've played 2 events, and won them both.

The first event on Wednesday I felt like I got fortunate in some spots where I normally don't get lucky. One big spot was a 10/10 vs AA showdown where I caught a 10 on the flop. I felt like I played well though, grinding my way through some card-dead spells, and maximized opportunties.

Tonight however I think was a big turning point. Almost from the onset I felt like I dominated the tournament, there was hardly a moment I wasn't either chip lead or 2nd in chips. Granted, I ran fairly well(made 2 sets of quads, only got paid once for them), but I think the big thing tonight was I had a remarkable efficiency in pots I was in. Typically I'm very good at big pot poker, because I rarely put my money into a big pot when I'm behind. However, I find that I bleed chips back trying to play smaller pots and slowly widdling back to the pack before I double up again. Today was the opposite, today I won every big pot I played, but found a better rythmn in the pots around those big pots where I was just further extending myself from the field. I felt basically from 15 minutes into the tournament that I was going to win, and it worked out.

My tenative FTOPS schedule is now finalized, the only ones I know 100% for sure are I'll be playing Event #1(6 handed NL Hold'Em) and Event #3(PL Hold'Em) on Wednesday and Friday respectively. After that there are a bunch of question marks, although I deffinitely want to be in the 2 million dollar guarantee main event. Most of these will be straight buyins.

As for other poker, I went down to Fallsview on Tuesday and saw Marc and Bill there, hung out for a while, saw Marc roll a little bit, unfortunately I had to leave for work mid-way through the day and later found out he had been eliminated, although I'm fairly certain this was still a pretty good month for him, what with the marriage and all. His track record is one of the "new wave" of players who continue to amaze with their consistency. Guys like Scott Clements, Marc, Jared Hamby and other internet pros that have taken poker by storm not just by the magnitude of their accomplishments but by the consistency they accomplish these feats showcase how far poker has come and how well some people can play the game these days.

On a personal note, I got some fantastic news(hopefully, assuming from here on out things go well), that I got a job at Brantford Casino as a dealer. I'm making fair money playing poker, but the ability to have a well paying job and keep my poker bankroll seperate from that will be key, because were it not for constantly taking checks out for living expenses from my bankroll, it would be over $40,000, instead of the over $20,000 I cashed out a while ago from Pokerstars. This should make the run I'm on a little bit easier, both because I don't have to worry about finances at home, and because I don't have to take money from my bankroll. At least that's the hope. I'm very excited about that, obviously under the assumption I pass a credit and criminal background check.