It’s actually been a pants start to 2010, nothing awful has happened just lots of tiny nuggets of bad luck. We went to see that Avatar film but the battery went on my car en route just as the snow started belting down, meaning we missed the film and had to buy a new battery from the AA man. Then the car got stuck in the snow while my girlfriend was on her way to work, had to abandon it and we had to go and rescue it later on, just as we had a problem with our plumbing and had to get a plumber here on the most disrupted snow day in years. Also had my annual slip on the snow this morning, thankfully nobody was around to see it, I will be braving the rest of the ice this year using my Dad’s tried and tested method of socks over the shoes.
Also started the year running very badly at the tables, but because it’s just the start of a whole 12 months that hardly seems worth mentioning.
Finally saw Avatar and it was worth the wait, though perhaps not the £120 it cost me in total.
Some good chirps though, UK Pokernews has been nominated for an APAT award for Best Media Provider. You can vote for us here by joining their forum and voting for us (Also vote for Blonde in the best forums category). Very nice just to be nominated, though I think the Nutz.tv will win because they have a community following, Pokernews are more of a service like the BBC website, while the Nutz.tv are more of an interactive fun thing like facebook or someink. Both very good at what they do, both very different animals though.
The book has started coming along well, after a lot of planning we are finally into the ‘writing words’ aspect of it. It looks like it’s going to be tough but rewarding, Jared is learning and developing as a writer from my influence (Put your own joke here) and I am learning his material more and more, which is obviously going to benefit me as a player. Lots of other things are getting in the way, such is life, but hopefully we will have a more than finished product ready way in advance of the World Series of Poker this year.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Monday, 28 December 2009
Personal Trainers, Writing Books and Other Stuff People Make Big Claims About at New Years
I for one have totally and utterly checked out for 2009, I did about 8 days ago in fairness but the whole Xmas thing got in the way of me updating things blogwise. I probably wont even bother playing again until 2010 brings that familiar surge of motivation that being the first day of a new year provides.
I havent mentioned this yet, but I am now because I do not want people to think this was spurred on by a post Xmas stint of guilt, but in November I started using a personal trainer at the gym. I have regularly gone to the gym for about 10 years now, but the last three I have turned up, coasted, done the bare minimum and done very little to progress that. In fact its quite scary to remind myself that I have been working hard to MAINTAIN my current hefty frame, so god knows what would happen if I had given up completely.
My PT is a power lifter called Ian Thistlewood and lifting weights is something I have always avoided/done the bare minimum. A month with this guy and I absolutely love it, the big difference maker has been the changes he has made to my technique, which was terrible before. Now I feel stronger, fitter and although I haven’t changed weight much my body shape is changing noticeably (Or at least the missus has been kind enough to pretend it has) and the biggest motivator is that I am already paid up for another bunch of sessions so I am locked into it. I even went as far as going to the gym during Xmas at my girlfriends parents town (The mighty Kings Lynn) - although running a marathon wouldn’t have changed the mince pie injection I have put my body through this last week.
The other big news which is very exciting (for me) in 2010 is I am working on a book. Jared Tendler (Referred to here as the sports psychology guy) is bringing out the book version of the groundbreaking mental game coaching he provides and I am helping him out with it. I will be very quick to point out that the content is NOT from my poker brain, it is 100% from the mind of Jared, who is a counselling therapist who works with poker players and athletes, I am just going to be helping edit it, doing a lot of the housekeeping work, marketing and helping to provide a poker players voice (Jared doesn’t play poker but he has been working with them for years). Jareds content is rock solid, as is his programme which many high stakes regulars swear by and I am really lucky to be on the ground floor with it all.
There are many many poker psychology books out there, but as far as I know Jared is the first person to write one who is actually a psychology professional and his work is from years of working with poker players and sports professionals. The book is based on genuine concepts in psychology and from field experience from a professional, rather than just observations from experienced players. Its nothing to do with metagame, sould reading, outhinking players, its not about putting people on tilt and its not about any of that 'visualise the ball going in the back of the net' crap that a lot of people associate with sports psychology. The book is all about getting to the route of all the things that stop you playing your very best all the time, about how to increase the number of tables you play, how long you can play, changing your attitude to things like money, winning, losing and how to teach yourself to be a much better learner and studier of the game. I can only draw on my own personal experiences with the guy and say that in just a few months he has cured a crippling risk aversion I developed, helped my increase from 4 tables to 12 and I am playing better overall to boot, turned what was set to be a huge losing year into a (small) winning year and changed my attitude to studying poker away from the table.
I'm obviously not (yet) the best example of his work, someone like Dusty Schmidt who has won $1 million each year the three years he has been working with him, but the changes he has made to my game and my life (I wouldn’t be going to a personal trainer if it wasn’t for him) have been massive. We hope to have the book out by May and I am taking a break from a few things to put my all into it. I wont be stopping playing or Pokernews in the interim, but I will be taking a break from magazine work for a while and also sleeping less to get this book looking great. If anyone wants to know any more about Jareds services then by all means drop me a line.
A lot of people who read the blog have asked me a couple of times about the G Casino in Sheffield, well I went to the VIP launch night earlier this month and have come back with mixed feelings. First of all, the 'VIP' night was a bit lol because we walked in to see an old lady eating the pastry off sausage rolls and put the meat back on the buffet, which felt almost like being at the playboy mansion. That said, the venue looks good and the card room is big. Unfortunately the tourneys are self deal, which I think is pretty awful for a G Casino, but I have been assured this is just a temp measure. I will probably play the cash games there this week and festivals, but I doubt I will be a reg for the time being.
Plans for 2010? Well the book is the big one, hopefully that will be out in May and then I will be going to Vegas with the missus in June/July for her birthday and to promote the book (And play poker and watch the World Cup). Nothing has changed with Pokernews and I am planning for that to be bigger and better next year. I also am looking forward to being a judge at the European Poker Awards in Feb and hopefully do a decent enough job for that to be an annual gig. Playing wise, no major goals, I have a financial goal (Not telling) and I am tempted to say I want to make it onto a sharkscope leader board in 2010. Not that many live events I consider a 'must attend' however I will almost certainly play the European Deepstacks, the DTD leg of the UKIPT and all the Sheffield based GUKPTs - thats probably about it really.
Other than that I plan on getting a weight lifting goal set up from my personal trainer and plan on teaching the dog the trick where you balance a biscuit on his nose.
I havent mentioned this yet, but I am now because I do not want people to think this was spurred on by a post Xmas stint of guilt, but in November I started using a personal trainer at the gym. I have regularly gone to the gym for about 10 years now, but the last three I have turned up, coasted, done the bare minimum and done very little to progress that. In fact its quite scary to remind myself that I have been working hard to MAINTAIN my current hefty frame, so god knows what would happen if I had given up completely.
My PT is a power lifter called Ian Thistlewood and lifting weights is something I have always avoided/done the bare minimum. A month with this guy and I absolutely love it, the big difference maker has been the changes he has made to my technique, which was terrible before. Now I feel stronger, fitter and although I haven’t changed weight much my body shape is changing noticeably (Or at least the missus has been kind enough to pretend it has) and the biggest motivator is that I am already paid up for another bunch of sessions so I am locked into it. I even went as far as going to the gym during Xmas at my girlfriends parents town (The mighty Kings Lynn) - although running a marathon wouldn’t have changed the mince pie injection I have put my body through this last week.
The other big news which is very exciting (for me) in 2010 is I am working on a book. Jared Tendler (Referred to here as the sports psychology guy) is bringing out the book version of the groundbreaking mental game coaching he provides and I am helping him out with it. I will be very quick to point out that the content is NOT from my poker brain, it is 100% from the mind of Jared, who is a counselling therapist who works with poker players and athletes, I am just going to be helping edit it, doing a lot of the housekeeping work, marketing and helping to provide a poker players voice (Jared doesn’t play poker but he has been working with them for years). Jareds content is rock solid, as is his programme which many high stakes regulars swear by and I am really lucky to be on the ground floor with it all.
There are many many poker psychology books out there, but as far as I know Jared is the first person to write one who is actually a psychology professional and his work is from years of working with poker players and sports professionals. The book is based on genuine concepts in psychology and from field experience from a professional, rather than just observations from experienced players. Its nothing to do with metagame, sould reading, outhinking players, its not about putting people on tilt and its not about any of that 'visualise the ball going in the back of the net' crap that a lot of people associate with sports psychology. The book is all about getting to the route of all the things that stop you playing your very best all the time, about how to increase the number of tables you play, how long you can play, changing your attitude to things like money, winning, losing and how to teach yourself to be a much better learner and studier of the game. I can only draw on my own personal experiences with the guy and say that in just a few months he has cured a crippling risk aversion I developed, helped my increase from 4 tables to 12 and I am playing better overall to boot, turned what was set to be a huge losing year into a (small) winning year and changed my attitude to studying poker away from the table.
I'm obviously not (yet) the best example of his work, someone like Dusty Schmidt who has won $1 million each year the three years he has been working with him, but the changes he has made to my game and my life (I wouldn’t be going to a personal trainer if it wasn’t for him) have been massive. We hope to have the book out by May and I am taking a break from a few things to put my all into it. I wont be stopping playing or Pokernews in the interim, but I will be taking a break from magazine work for a while and also sleeping less to get this book looking great. If anyone wants to know any more about Jareds services then by all means drop me a line.
A lot of people who read the blog have asked me a couple of times about the G Casino in Sheffield, well I went to the VIP launch night earlier this month and have come back with mixed feelings. First of all, the 'VIP' night was a bit lol because we walked in to see an old lady eating the pastry off sausage rolls and put the meat back on the buffet, which felt almost like being at the playboy mansion. That said, the venue looks good and the card room is big. Unfortunately the tourneys are self deal, which I think is pretty awful for a G Casino, but I have been assured this is just a temp measure. I will probably play the cash games there this week and festivals, but I doubt I will be a reg for the time being.
Plans for 2010? Well the book is the big one, hopefully that will be out in May and then I will be going to Vegas with the missus in June/July for her birthday and to promote the book (And play poker and watch the World Cup). Nothing has changed with Pokernews and I am planning for that to be bigger and better next year. I also am looking forward to being a judge at the European Poker Awards in Feb and hopefully do a decent enough job for that to be an annual gig. Playing wise, no major goals, I have a financial goal (Not telling) and I am tempted to say I want to make it onto a sharkscope leader board in 2010. Not that many live events I consider a 'must attend' however I will almost certainly play the European Deepstacks, the DTD leg of the UKIPT and all the Sheffield based GUKPTs - thats probably about it really.
Other than that I plan on getting a weight lifting goal set up from my personal trainer and plan on teaching the dog the trick where you balance a biscuit on his nose.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Poker Awards, G Casino and Teaching My Momma Poker
Probably should have updated this weeks ago but sometimes when your job involves your writing thousands of words a month you can’t be bothered, but here goes:
Teaching My Momma Poker
My mother, who reads this blog (hi mumsy), has all of sudden (about 6 years after I did) took an interest in playing poker. Only the play money tables right now but I have been giving here some pointers. We have begun on the play money SNGs rather than the cash tables, because at least there is a smidgen of a chance of people folding in those things. It’s been quite fun, kind of reminded me of what it was like to start off in online poker and also reminded me of some of the important fundamentals of the game. She has a habit off getting very good very quick at new hobbies, so watch my joy and insanse jealousy when she starts winning more than I do (Which should probably take her about 7 weeks at the moment).
Sheffield G Casino
A few people asked me about updating when I know more about this so here it is. The new G Casino opens on December 9th at Queens Road (Which is awesome news for me as its about a mile and a half away). The venue looks pretty impressive and it will have a 100 seater poker room – thank god, no offence Napoleons but Sheffield really needs a good poker venue and we might just have it now. There is also a very good chance that a GUKPT Summer Series will take place there and this for me will be a clear the schedule festival, can’t wait. I am taking the missus to the VIP Launch Party next month (Not very thinly veiled brag there) to see what its all about.
Voluuuuuume
After years of being a low volume nit, I have finally stepped into the magical world of cascading tables online. I have gone from struggling with six tables to being pretty comfortable with twelves almost overnight. Not bragging or anything as most of my peers probably have been doing it for ages, that would be a bit like bragging about being on facebook in 2009, but there you go, rakeback FTW.
European Poker Awards
Quite exciting news (for me) now. Earlier this year I approached the organisers of the annual European Poker Awards and suggested a new category – Online Player of the Year. Most of their awards were heavily (almost exclusively in fact) weighted towards live tournament poker, which obviously is not the be all and end all of poker, and with online play in fact perhaps being the bread and butter of the poker industry now, I think it needs to be included in the awards. I put together a pretty detailed brief of how easy it would be to pick out the big online successes (OPR, Sharkscope, HighstakesDB, 2+2, P5s etc etc) of the year.
Not only did they go for it and online player of the year will now be part of the awards, they have asked me to be on the panel of judges. Which means an all expenses paid trip to Paris in February to attend the event (Only bugger is it clashes with the first UKIPT event in Manchester but this is way to big an honour to even worry about a big tournament I would most likely bust out of on day 1 in anyway.). Obviously I would prefer to be one of the guys winning a gong but this is the next best thing. It falls on Valentines weekend too, so I am taking the missus to Paris on Valentines day – couldn’t have worked out better really.
Teaching My Momma Poker
My mother, who reads this blog (hi mumsy), has all of sudden (about 6 years after I did) took an interest in playing poker. Only the play money tables right now but I have been giving here some pointers. We have begun on the play money SNGs rather than the cash tables, because at least there is a smidgen of a chance of people folding in those things. It’s been quite fun, kind of reminded me of what it was like to start off in online poker and also reminded me of some of the important fundamentals of the game. She has a habit off getting very good very quick at new hobbies, so watch my joy and insanse jealousy when she starts winning more than I do (Which should probably take her about 7 weeks at the moment).
Sheffield G Casino
A few people asked me about updating when I know more about this so here it is. The new G Casino opens on December 9th at Queens Road (Which is awesome news for me as its about a mile and a half away). The venue looks pretty impressive and it will have a 100 seater poker room – thank god, no offence Napoleons but Sheffield really needs a good poker venue and we might just have it now. There is also a very good chance that a GUKPT Summer Series will take place there and this for me will be a clear the schedule festival, can’t wait. I am taking the missus to the VIP Launch Party next month (Not very thinly veiled brag there) to see what its all about.
Voluuuuuume
After years of being a low volume nit, I have finally stepped into the magical world of cascading tables online. I have gone from struggling with six tables to being pretty comfortable with twelves almost overnight. Not bragging or anything as most of my peers probably have been doing it for ages, that would be a bit like bragging about being on facebook in 2009, but there you go, rakeback FTW.
European Poker Awards
Quite exciting news (for me) now. Earlier this year I approached the organisers of the annual European Poker Awards and suggested a new category – Online Player of the Year. Most of their awards were heavily (almost exclusively in fact) weighted towards live tournament poker, which obviously is not the be all and end all of poker, and with online play in fact perhaps being the bread and butter of the poker industry now, I think it needs to be included in the awards. I put together a pretty detailed brief of how easy it would be to pick out the big online successes (OPR, Sharkscope, HighstakesDB, 2+2, P5s etc etc) of the year.
Not only did they go for it and online player of the year will now be part of the awards, they have asked me to be on the panel of judges. Which means an all expenses paid trip to Paris in February to attend the event (Only bugger is it clashes with the first UKIPT event in Manchester but this is way to big an honour to even worry about a big tournament I would most likely bust out of on day 1 in anyway.). Obviously I would prefer to be one of the guys winning a gong but this is the next best thing. It falls on Valentines weekend too, so I am taking the missus to Paris on Valentines day – couldn’t have worked out better really.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Min Cash Monkey Off My Back
Its typical, whenever I actually go out and do things of interest, I don't update the blog. I was really bored to tears by poker during the WSOPE and as soon as it was over, I loved the game again. Its really ungrateful I suppose, having the cream of the poker world on your doorstep (almost) and not loving every moment of it.
But I have been having a decent time at the tables since and couldn't wait for the IPO in Dublin last weekend. What an event that was, with 1440 players and more than a third of the field coming from overseas, I would have expected chaos, but it was actually one of the most well organised events I have aver attended and lots of fun to boot.
During the main event I was a 'bounty' and had to wear a Sunderland T-shirt, which gave people a ticket into a freeroll on boylepoker. I ran like god during the first two levels and even bust another bounty myself, but after that I got my ass handed to me a bit and reraised off a lot of pots. I hung in there and was eliminated close to the end of the night (I didn't realise also at the time, but was also very near the money). The hand was slightly exaggerated on the Boyles blog, saying I 'couldnt fold AK in a three way pot' but what actually happened was that it was me and Mick McCloskey (he had JJ) in a very big pot and a third guy had gone all in but he only had about 5bbs and was just making the pot more juicy.
For some strange reason, a French woman begged me in broken English for my Sunderland top. Footy shirts bring out BO worse than any other garment and I had spent 10 hours under a hot light wearing this thing, why the hell she would want it I don't (and would rather not) know, but I let her have it anyway.
I managed a min-cash in a side event the next day, which was a massive monkey off my back as I havent cashed in a ranking live event in nearly two years. Admitted I haven't played much live poker in that time, especially this year, but it still was good to finally get a cash, even though it was a tiny one. I also get a pretty little Ireland flag on my Hendon Mob database (When it gets updated), which as we all know, is more important than actual money. I now need a USA flag and perhaps, just perhaps, an actual respectful sum of money too....no sod it, a USA flag please.
Probably going to try out the new 20Twenty weekend at DTD on Saturday, then going to see Eddie Izzard at the Arena on Sunday (Got a feeling he wont be funny any more). To people who follow this blog, the new G Casino will be replcaing the old grosvenor casino on Queens road, which is awesome for me because it means I can actually walk there (Plus its an easy walk into town and the train station for people outside sheffield). No idea when it opens, but soon apparantley.
Here is a pic of my dog to end the blog post:
But I have been having a decent time at the tables since and couldn't wait for the IPO in Dublin last weekend. What an event that was, with 1440 players and more than a third of the field coming from overseas, I would have expected chaos, but it was actually one of the most well organised events I have aver attended and lots of fun to boot.
During the main event I was a 'bounty' and had to wear a Sunderland T-shirt, which gave people a ticket into a freeroll on boylepoker. I ran like god during the first two levels and even bust another bounty myself, but after that I got my ass handed to me a bit and reraised off a lot of pots. I hung in there and was eliminated close to the end of the night (I didn't realise also at the time, but was also very near the money). The hand was slightly exaggerated on the Boyles blog, saying I 'couldnt fold AK in a three way pot' but what actually happened was that it was me and Mick McCloskey (he had JJ) in a very big pot and a third guy had gone all in but he only had about 5bbs and was just making the pot more juicy.
For some strange reason, a French woman begged me in broken English for my Sunderland top. Footy shirts bring out BO worse than any other garment and I had spent 10 hours under a hot light wearing this thing, why the hell she would want it I don't (and would rather not) know, but I let her have it anyway.
I managed a min-cash in a side event the next day, which was a massive monkey off my back as I havent cashed in a ranking live event in nearly two years. Admitted I haven't played much live poker in that time, especially this year, but it still was good to finally get a cash, even though it was a tiny one. I also get a pretty little Ireland flag on my Hendon Mob database (When it gets updated), which as we all know, is more important than actual money. I now need a USA flag and perhaps, just perhaps, an actual respectful sum of money too....no sod it, a USA flag please.
Probably going to try out the new 20Twenty weekend at DTD on Saturday, then going to see Eddie Izzard at the Arena on Sunday (Got a feeling he wont be funny any more). To people who follow this blog, the new G Casino will be replcaing the old grosvenor casino on Queens road, which is awesome for me because it means I can actually walk there (Plus its an easy walk into town and the train station for people outside sheffield). No idea when it opens, but soon apparantley.
Here is a pic of my dog to end the blog post:
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Sports Pyschology Guy Part 2
Had a lot of interest from people about Jared Tendler the sports pyschologist, unfortunately with the WSOPE on I havent had time to go into depth about it on this blog, other than the articles I am writing for Pokernews (Parts one and two here). Once the WSOPE is over I plan on talking a lot about it, but until then here are the cliffnotes.
Had a really bad run over the last 12 months, so much so I haven't played that much this year or ventured out live. Genuinely considered stopping playing for good a few times and even went to that cold dark place of pondering whether poker was rigged or not. As a direct result, I started playing really timid and cagey, almost pre-empting bad luck and trying to get away with losing the minimum when I was holding monsters. I also was really lazy with working on my game away from the table.
Rather than all of a sudden giving me a new found confidence or ability, Jared has been working on making me understand why I do the negative things I do at the table, as well as giving me the tools to teach myself how to rectify them. A lot of my tilt issues it would appear are actually a direct result of being a poker journalist. I recall me old mucker Kevin Stevens once asking if being a poker journo has hindered my game at all and I said no, now I say yes. Years of interviewing players who bink a massive tournament had left me with a 'when is it gonna be my turn' mentality, and I reacted to the bad luck by surmising it was unfair, and it should be my time soon. Rather than actually working harder away from the table, I was just biding my time until I magically got lucky and won a big tournament. Also, because I am quite well known in UK poker circles, I was putting unrealistic pressure on myself to do well because I felt I had something to prove. What actually happened as a result was that I avoided situations where I was putting myself at risk, situations where I felt like I was being exposed as not as good a player as I actually wanted to be, and it actually took the gamble away from my game.
To get myself out of this rut, its all been about small incremental changes each and every session, rather than some big single gesture that would turn me into Phil Ivey. Jared has shown me how to effectively pick out which hands need further study, how to make small goals for each and every session as well as larger goals for the rest of my poker tenure.
Is it working? Yes. Naturally at first it went really well, by placebo to a great extent, but I had a really bad session a few weeks ago where I went on insane monkey tilt, probably worse than I have all year. That was actually a real blessing in disguise, because as bad as I played, I still played better than I had in the same spot a few months ago. Even though I was running awful, I was taking necessary calculated risks that I wouldn't have a few months ago. Since then I have been pretty fearless at the tables, and when I get outdrawn I barely react to it (I still do a little bit, but I don't throw the toys out the pram any more). What's more I am taking the time after every session to study key hands and seek out further learning.
Has he made me a better player? Not directly no, he doesnt even really play poker himself so the technical aspect is down to me. What he has done is about 95% cured me of a crippling risk aversion and victim mentality I have had for the last year. He has also shown me how to seek out and develop my learning of the game on my own. In a lot of ways I feel like I am starting from scratch again with poker (I havent gone busto btw lol) but I also feel like I am building towards something for the first time in a long time.
Drop me a line if you are interested in working with Jared, his website is HERE
Had a really bad run over the last 12 months, so much so I haven't played that much this year or ventured out live. Genuinely considered stopping playing for good a few times and even went to that cold dark place of pondering whether poker was rigged or not. As a direct result, I started playing really timid and cagey, almost pre-empting bad luck and trying to get away with losing the minimum when I was holding monsters. I also was really lazy with working on my game away from the table.
Rather than all of a sudden giving me a new found confidence or ability, Jared has been working on making me understand why I do the negative things I do at the table, as well as giving me the tools to teach myself how to rectify them. A lot of my tilt issues it would appear are actually a direct result of being a poker journalist. I recall me old mucker Kevin Stevens once asking if being a poker journo has hindered my game at all and I said no, now I say yes. Years of interviewing players who bink a massive tournament had left me with a 'when is it gonna be my turn' mentality, and I reacted to the bad luck by surmising it was unfair, and it should be my time soon. Rather than actually working harder away from the table, I was just biding my time until I magically got lucky and won a big tournament. Also, because I am quite well known in UK poker circles, I was putting unrealistic pressure on myself to do well because I felt I had something to prove. What actually happened as a result was that I avoided situations where I was putting myself at risk, situations where I felt like I was being exposed as not as good a player as I actually wanted to be, and it actually took the gamble away from my game.
To get myself out of this rut, its all been about small incremental changes each and every session, rather than some big single gesture that would turn me into Phil Ivey. Jared has shown me how to effectively pick out which hands need further study, how to make small goals for each and every session as well as larger goals for the rest of my poker tenure.
Is it working? Yes. Naturally at first it went really well, by placebo to a great extent, but I had a really bad session a few weeks ago where I went on insane monkey tilt, probably worse than I have all year. That was actually a real blessing in disguise, because as bad as I played, I still played better than I had in the same spot a few months ago. Even though I was running awful, I was taking necessary calculated risks that I wouldn't have a few months ago. Since then I have been pretty fearless at the tables, and when I get outdrawn I barely react to it (I still do a little bit, but I don't throw the toys out the pram any more). What's more I am taking the time after every session to study key hands and seek out further learning.
Has he made me a better player? Not directly no, he doesnt even really play poker himself so the technical aspect is down to me. What he has done is about 95% cured me of a crippling risk aversion and victim mentality I have had for the last year. He has also shown me how to seek out and develop my learning of the game on my own. In a lot of ways I feel like I am starting from scratch again with poker (I havent gone busto btw lol) but I also feel like I am building towards something for the first time in a long time.
Drop me a line if you are interested in working with Jared, his website is HERE
Monday, 14 September 2009
Tony Blair Lookalikes
Went to the English Poker Open party last night in Nottingham, it was fun enough. The 'entertainment' for the night was a Tony Blair lookalike. Thats just what you need for a room full of poker players who probably venture out rarely and know very little about the real world, half of them not even from the UK - someone impersonating a former prime minister. The poor bloke died on his arse worse than any stand up I have ever seen, and I used to work in a comedy club.
It did get us wondering about the life and income of a celebrity impersonator. Colchester Kev and I agreed that he probably got at least a grand for the appearance, probably two grand. This was after all an event that (otherwise) pulled out all the stops and was put on for a lot of people with money. Whats more, it reminded me of hearing about what the rate the guy who played Blakey from on the buses charged for one hour back in 1997 - £5000. Now obviously Blakey was the real Blakey, but still, nice work if you can get it.
Edit: Found out - a neat grand for two hours. A David Brent lookalike gets about £1300 for the same time and a Borat lookalike gets £1700.
Probably serves me right for taking the mickey out of him, but on the way home I broke down about 8 miles from my house in Chesterfield. Thankfully plenty of my fellow motorists saw the opportunity to beep me and call me a wanker while I was stood in a laybay waiting for the AA. The clutch went on my car, which normally would be really gutting but I had a real sense of gratitude about the whole thing, as daft as that is. Because I was lucky I broke down near my house, on a hard shoulder, the AA guy came really quickly, I have never had any problems in nearly four years with this particular car and I live about 10 doors down from a clutch specialists. All in all, it could have been much worse. I was more gutted that my naughty little dog tore up his new cushion that cost £20 when I got back than this, which will probably cost me £300 minimum.
We'll wait and see what the garage says I suppose, I am hoping to get down to DTD again at least once while the EPO is on, so lets see if I am still optimistic when I get my quote.
It did get us wondering about the life and income of a celebrity impersonator. Colchester Kev and I agreed that he probably got at least a grand for the appearance, probably two grand. This was after all an event that (otherwise) pulled out all the stops and was put on for a lot of people with money. Whats more, it reminded me of hearing about what the rate the guy who played Blakey from on the buses charged for one hour back in 1997 - £5000. Now obviously Blakey was the real Blakey, but still, nice work if you can get it.
Edit: Found out - a neat grand for two hours. A David Brent lookalike gets about £1300 for the same time and a Borat lookalike gets £1700.
Probably serves me right for taking the mickey out of him, but on the way home I broke down about 8 miles from my house in Chesterfield. Thankfully plenty of my fellow motorists saw the opportunity to beep me and call me a wanker while I was stood in a laybay waiting for the AA. The clutch went on my car, which normally would be really gutting but I had a real sense of gratitude about the whole thing, as daft as that is. Because I was lucky I broke down near my house, on a hard shoulder, the AA guy came really quickly, I have never had any problems in nearly four years with this particular car and I live about 10 doors down from a clutch specialists. All in all, it could have been much worse. I was more gutted that my naughty little dog tore up his new cushion that cost £20 when I got back than this, which will probably cost me £300 minimum. We'll wait and see what the garage says I suppose, I am hoping to get down to DTD again at least once while the EPO is on, so lets see if I am still optimistic when I get my quote.
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Sports Psychology Guy
Anyone who has seen my feature on Pokernews will know that I have been working with a sports psychology expert lately. He is actually a very well respected figure in online poker,Jared Tendler, who is a Stoxpoker coach. We are working on a few worky things together and he is giving me a taste of his program, I must say its been an amazing experience so far. The article is here and its actually a few weeks behind and we are deep into the program. He wont make you a better player, but he will give you the tools to always play your best and learn to become a better player. When I met him my biggest issue was that I have had this victim mentality after year where I thought I ran worse than anyone in the world. A few weeks on and I dont feel like that (as much) any more and although I ran quite bad, I have realised that I am not as good a player as I thought I was and wasnt as unlucky as I thought either.
It sounds awful, to admit you are not as good a player as you thought, but it actually feels liberating. The world seemed small and progressing as a player seemed impossible a month or two ago, because I was so poorly equipped to handle the massive downswing I went on. Now it feels like I have something to work towards and I am processing information and learning at a much faster rate than I thought possible. The other day I had a sweat session with someone and probably had the most complex mathematical discussion I have ever had, and it all went in, whereas normally I would just agree and look for a spot to change the subject.
I'm not crushing or anything, in fact this is only just a winning year for me (Partially because I haven't played much at all, barely played live either) but what I am learning is basically, how to learn. Making small incremental changes each and every session and documenting everything, it makes a massive difference and with the exception of one particularly awful session, I havent tilted at all (Tilting for me, btw, is playing passive and defensive).
Whats more, I have been able to apply what he has been teaching me in my day to day life. I have become much better at managing my time overall, I have been really consistent with going to the gym and have even started to review my spending habits, which were getting out of control.
I know sports psychology seems a bit wishy washy to some, and many turn their noses up at in in poker circles, but its all really solid, commonsense stuff, small useful, incremental changes that all add up. I'm going to go on about it a whole lot more on this blog, but dont want to go ahead of myself on the pokernews articles I am writing.
Finally, this made me lol
It sounds awful, to admit you are not as good a player as you thought, but it actually feels liberating. The world seemed small and progressing as a player seemed impossible a month or two ago, because I was so poorly equipped to handle the massive downswing I went on. Now it feels like I have something to work towards and I am processing information and learning at a much faster rate than I thought possible. The other day I had a sweat session with someone and probably had the most complex mathematical discussion I have ever had, and it all went in, whereas normally I would just agree and look for a spot to change the subject.
I'm not crushing or anything, in fact this is only just a winning year for me (Partially because I haven't played much at all, barely played live either) but what I am learning is basically, how to learn. Making small incremental changes each and every session and documenting everything, it makes a massive difference and with the exception of one particularly awful session, I havent tilted at all (Tilting for me, btw, is playing passive and defensive).
Whats more, I have been able to apply what he has been teaching me in my day to day life. I have become much better at managing my time overall, I have been really consistent with going to the gym and have even started to review my spending habits, which were getting out of control.
I know sports psychology seems a bit wishy washy to some, and many turn their noses up at in in poker circles, but its all really solid, commonsense stuff, small useful, incremental changes that all add up. I'm going to go on about it a whole lot more on this blog, but dont want to go ahead of myself on the pokernews articles I am writing.
Finally, this made me lol
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