One of the biggest challenges I've found is mentally handling the losses, and not getting results that I want despite the fact that I feel that I've been improving as a player. This is something that every poker player has to come to terms with, the fact that you will always get that bad beat, and lose to a worse player... poker has that element of luck in it that gives everybody a chance to win. Without this, poker would only have skilled players and the edge would be minimal and probably not worth it.
Since switching to my new coach/staker we've worked hard at going back to basics and working on getting my game fundamentally strong. I think its interesting that I've come full circle liking certain "weird off the wall" plays, and now incorporating more of a KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) style. On top of that, I've added more of a aggressive style with a lot more rejamming, which is something that wasn't in my game enough.
Below are some graphs/stats of my results since Feb when I got my staking deal;
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| Its been a struggle but BOOMSWITCH ftwwwwwwwww!!! |
Another thing that is cool is that I'm a lot more happy with the distribution. Coaching and talking to many players has really confirmed that I'm moving in the right direction and it's helped with my confidence a lot.
This is my distribution graph for 180ms, I'm happy that I'm getting a lot more 1sts then anything else which is the way it should be. In fact I'm also getting more 1sts then anything else in my STTs as well, although my overall percentage itm is a bit low (should be around 37%)
Eurocultured
I've been rather busy with a visiting friend and a festival with breakdancing competition going on. Which is why I haven't been able to play much poker these days. I took part in a breakdance comp as part of Eurocultured Festival in Manchester, which was fun. Despite the rain, I had a really good time and was really glad that my friend visited during this time, as I got to show off the best of Manchester.
Its one of the really cool things I love about this city is the fact that there's always stuff going on, and everyone is really up for it in this city!
This is a trailer from 2011, 2012 was mad rainy!!
Goodbye House MD
One of my favourite shows finished recently, and I'm sad to see it go. I've never really had much of an interest in medicine but since watching this show its given new life to it. I would say to a person that has never watched it before, its a cross between CSI and ER, where the focus is on solving the mystery and the drama that happens to the characters, of which Dr House is a very logical, smart guy, but on the other hand personality wise he is a pessimistic, miserable git! The fact that he is always right and treats every personal situation into a logical one makes for some funny situations.
Its such a super addictive show! I remember watching one episode, then the rest of that season [3], then downloaded seasons 1 and 2 and literally spent 3 days going through them all!
One of my major critisms of the show tho, was its inability to allow any permanent changes to the main character. But none the less, its really good and if I was to recommend one show to anyone it'd be this one.
One Year On...
Its been a little over exactly one year since moving to Manchester. The choice for me to move outta home as soon as I could afford it was made easier from my experiences of living independently in London for University and a year or so after that as well.
I can say that it has been a great learning experience and I don't regret my decision at all. I have a really good group of friends here, there is a good breakdancing scene, and I love the city. Things haven't been easy, but from my experience that's totally expected. How you react in those situations is the only thing you can control and get on with.
I have been totally lucky that I got to work with Glitlr on SNGProtege, for one thing it has taken a lot of the pressure of needing to win at poker. As shown above it has been a long break even stretch, making it more of a mental challenge more then anything else. Hacking it at this game gets easier in terms of learning what to do in more spots, but as time goes on it becomes harder to mentally take the strain of losing when you know that you are the better player.
Strangely enough I feel that Manchester is somewhere I'm happy to call home, even though I have spent many-a-more years in my hometown Milton Keynes, and my birthtown London. What a strange feeling!
See you guys at the tables, and GLHF (Good Luck, Have Fun) as they would say in Starcraft!
