Vegas

I've inched a little closer to a poker comeback. I've played the 8-game mix at Stars a bit lately, one good session, one not so great session. Yesterday I played the two tournaments at 5pm, both have fairly deep stacks and give you some scope for play. Sadly I picked up one hand in three hours and just couldn't get anything going. I did the classic Chainsaw min-cash in one of the tourneys, meaning I finished a princely sum of 85 cents ahead for the day. I'll put all of that towards the Vegas fund. Incidentally, Vegas is booked don't y'all know! April 2010. Countdown clock begins. Excited doesn't begin to get near to explaining how I'm feeling.

Update

I guess I should blog. I've been twittering a fair bit (or is tweeting the preferred vernacular?) lately.

I'll admit that I'm now becoming a little worried because poker still isn't lighting my candle. I continue to put in the hours on Football Manager 2009. I'm currently in season 2023-24 and plundering all pretenders to my crown. To give you an idea of how far the game has progressed, I've just released Cesc Fabregas on a free transfer at the age of 36.

Will I return to poker? Someday, sure. I've still got a bonus at Stars to clear by August, so I'll likely hit the cash tables for a while and see if I can't run anything like normal.

The WSOP has had some headlines in the opening couple of weeks. Ivey winning bracelets six and seven was huge! That's -$400k for Daniel Negreanu, probably a lot more for some others in Bobby's Room. When Ivey has his game face on, he's simply untouchable. How do get to be that good? What percentage of it is just god-given talent that can't or won't be repeated? Anyway, he's now on seven, which seems a lot closer to Hellmuth's eleven than it did when he was on five.

Ashamed

Poker is playing an increasingly small part of my life. I returned to work this morning after four days off, having played in just one tournament online. I can't even specify what I did with all that free time, except that I wasted it spectularly. I think it was Football Manager, a lot of gin and internet porn. Something like that anyway.

I'm starting to get a little worried that I'll not 'get the bug' for poker anytime soon. I've just not got the desire to sit and grind cash games for any length of time. Even if I could simply enjoy one or two tables, that would be something. I guess that's what losing does to you. There's only so many times you can flop top set, lose the pot and still come back for more. One day you're not going to stick your head up anymore. Well, we'll see how it pans out. I'm going to Vegas in April and my game is going to be sharp, that's for sure. If I have to make changes, so be it, but I'm going to play tough and aggro.

Not much else going on at the moment. I'm going to see Oasis in a couple of weeks time, then a day out the cricket the week after. Both of which should include plenty of booze. A visit to the strip club has been mooted too. June sounds like it could be a fun month.

WSOP

It seems confirmation of poker's deflation can be found in ESPN's schedule of broadcasts for the 2009 World Series. It's all No-Limit Hold 'Em and it's essentially coverage of two events, the $40k and the Main Event. They're chucking in the ante-up for Africa thing too, despite celebs playing poker being rather passe these days.

So, that's no $50k HORSE and no PLO. To true poker fans and poker players, this is a huge loss. From ESPN's viewpoint, I guess it's understandable. The general public appetite for all things poker has certainly dwindled in the last 18 months and embracing games that aren't NLHE probably just isn't going to happen. You also have to recognise that television coverage of poker has followed the fashions of the players too. First it all was all tournaments, now the focus is mainly cash games. High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark have moved into pole position. Some talk on the forums has suggested that Scotty's behaviour during the $50k final table last year may have been nail in the coffin, perhaps, but it would be a shame to think that was the case.

Nevertheless, the WSOP gets underway in a few weeks, it's an always an exciting time in the poker calendar. Once again, it'll be interesting to see if any of the internet tournament stars make an impact. It'd be pretty cool if Tom Dwan started stamping authority on things but he'll probably be far too busy in Bobby's Room playing cash games, especially if Sammy Farha is in town. The player I'd love to see win a bracelet this year is Patrick Antonius.

In a vaguely-related topic, it's less than a year until I visit Vegas for the first time. Our flights are still not booked but that's something that we're hoping to rectify by the end of this month. I have the money ready to pay for them, it's merely a case of organising things. The hotel can wait a little longer, we're going to pick and choose the right deal. To say that I'm excited would be an understatement. It's the one place in the world I want to visit and all my efforts are going into making sure I'm ready and well financed. The only problem is the poker! I've not played in over a month. No motivation, no desire, nothing. I hope something sparks inside me soon, so that I can get back into cash games. I don't want to be going in cold into the Bellagio in April 2010 with my game rusty and my instinct out of whack. Hopefully commencement of the WSOP will light the fire.

Twitter

Ok, I'm on that old Twitter thing now. Y'all can find me at username Biko180.

This blog is being updated once in the preverbial blue moon, I don't know what you expect me to say on Twitter on an hour by hour basis. I predict nonsensical ramblings about Football Manager and my love for Asian women. That's all for now. Have good weekends folks.

Nothing

It's occurred to me that it's been a long, long time since I blogged. That's because nothing much has happened. I've still been primarily occupied with Football Manager 2009 and I'm into season 2015-16 at the moment. I've not felt the need to play poker and I don't feel especially motivated to play a bunch of tables. I might dip back into a couple of tournaments this weekend though, I feel I'm nearly ready for a return.

On the positive side, the trip to Vegas in April 2010 is fast becoming a reality. We're looking at booking flights in the next two weeks. My saving is going great. I'm living life very economically right now, enabling me to push a decent amount of cash into my ISA. I reckon I'll be in a position to take several thousand dollars with me to LV. How long that will last, I don't know. I have a reputation for enjoying strippers and gambling. That says it all really.

Champions

Very short post today as I'm stupidly busy at work. I guess you have to earn your money for at least a few weeks per year right?

I'm still playing a ton of Football Manager and no poker whatsoever. I won the Premier League and Champions League double last night. Some achievement. I'm kind of a legend around the Emirates these days.

Update

I finished second and lost to Bayern in the semi-finals. Not the greatest of seasons but ironically, the best so far.

I bought Serio Aguero for £40m over the summer and beat Champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the opening game of the season. It could be a good year.

Currently my team looks something like this:

Akinfeev
Sagna-Toure-Sakho-Marcelo
Marquinhos-Fabregas-Dzagoev-Mata
Barotelli-Aguero

Plus a ton of other great young players to fill up the squad and hopes are high for 2011-12.

Champ

Would you believe me if I said I had Friday thru Tuesday off work and I didn't play poker on four of those five days? No? Well, start believing, 'cos it's true.

I rediscovered the wonders of Football Manager, and started an epic career game with Arsenal. I'm just coming to the end of my third season and have a Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich to play for the right to meet either Barcelona or Real Madrid in the final. I've finished third in the Premier League in my two seasons so far and look on course to perhaps snag second place this time around. I'm planning a solid title challenge in 2011-12 though. I've made a lot of changes to my squad and suffered at the start of the current campaign as a result.

Towards the end of season three and the following players have been shipped out: Adebayor, van Persie, Song, Bendtner, Djourou, Almunia, Silvestre and Bischoff. I've attempted to acquire as many wonderkids as possible and my strikeforce is beginning to look particularly potent. I have high hopes for the next season, especially as I've still got upwards of £50m to spend. Federico Fazio is my number one target from Sevilla. Sadly, I still haven't yet been able to get them to relinquish with a £30m offer. Fun times, I've missed the days of 25-30 season games on Champ...

FML

I've just had a situation pop up which perfectly describes both my life and the way I run at poker.

Down to five players in a Sit & Go. Amazingly, a player playing 98 per cent of his hands remains in the tournament. I shove and he has Aces. Welcome to my life.