Hardest Post Ever!

It has taken me over 7 months to find the words to write this post and even now I find it very difficult.

On February 9th 2014, my fiancée and baby boy passed away during childbirth. As you can imagine this has completely turned my world upside down. One minute I’m excited about the joys, hopes and expectations of having a new baby with the woman I've loved for 14 years and the next I’m grieving the loss of two beautiful people.

I am eternally grateful to my fiancée for the 14 fantastic years we spent together. I just wish it could have been a whole lot more!

Sue & James – I love and miss you both so much xxxx RIP.

Angel Sue with baby James

It's been a while.... 2013 - An Overview

First of all, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

As the title suggests, it has been a long while since I've updated my blog. In fact, over 6 months! Alot has happened over this time - relocating from Ireland back to the UK in June, living back at my mother's house while she was battling cancer (I'm happy to say she has won that battle now!), after some trials and tribulations my fiance and I eventually found a house and moved in at the end of October. I also found out that I am to become a father again for the 3rd time (baby due in February 2014).

With all the above happening, I haven't had time to update my blog, put in the volume for poker and when I did play I feel as though I didn't bring my A-game to the table. Baring this in mind, I still managed to make a very small profit in the year which I've got to be relatively pleased about.

Sharkscope Stats for 2013

However, in comparison to last years figures, the above stats do not look good but I still think I am improving as a player and it's only a matter of time when that is reflected in my stats. When I look back to when I started playing poker in 2009 I have come a long way.

Sharkscope Stats - Year on Year

Poker Goals for 2014
My poker goals for this year haven't changed much:

1. Play at least 100 games of MTT's / Sit & Go's per month.
2. Win a tournament with a field of over 1,000.
3. Cash over $1,000 in a tournament.
4. Devote more time to review hand histories.
5. Review strategy videos, articles, message boards etc.

I think that about wraps it up for now so until next time.... Good Luck at the Tables!

TC

Highs & Lows - A Review of May

May was very much full of a mixture of highs and lows. Early in the month I heard the sad news that my nan had passed away at the grand old age of 97. She will be sorely missed by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Also, in May I had my first holiday abroad for 5 years. I travelled to Vilamoura on The Algarve in Portugal to stay with my auntie and uncle. It was a much welcome break and myself and my fiance thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I must add a huge thank you to my auntie and uncle for putting us up for the week.

Our swimming pool

May also saw us frantically packing up the house in readiness for our move back to the UK in mid-June. This highlighted to me exactly how much junk we've got and it was a good opportunity to sell and get rid of alot of it.

May's Poker Results
Obviously, this month the volume of poker I played was low because of everything that went on in the month and realistically I didn't play optimally as I wasn't in the right frame of mind. However, I still managed to make a small profit!

Sharkscope Stats for May

As they say in Russia.... Moscow.

Good Luck at the Tables!
TC

At Last....

The problem with the Date Filter on Sharkscope has been fixed so I can give you my review of March now - eventually! I concentrated on the single table Sit & Go's on Ladbrokes poker this month as there was a promotion on. I managed to earn an extra €25 from this promotion. Overall, I think because I was focused mainly on one variant of No Limit Hold'em for the month that I played optimally. The volume I put in also increased as I wanted to try and make it onto four of the promotional leaderboards but unfortunately I only cashed in one. The profit I made for the month was in excess of $300 and I cashed for almost $2k which I'm very happy with for the levels I play at.

Sharkscope Stats for March

Return to Blighty
I've decided to move back to the UK in June after spending over 10 years in Ireland. Myself and my partner decided it was time to move back to be closer to our respective families. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time living in Ireland and although the two countries speak the same language (with the exception of Gaelic) there are some noticeable cultural differences which takes a bit of getting used to. I have made some great friends here though and I shall miss them terribly.

Anglo-Irish

That about wraps it up for now but I'll be back again soon with my review of April.

Until next time. Good Luck at the Tables!
TC.

Happy Easter, April Fools & YTD Review

First of all, I hope you all had a very good easter holiday. Did any of ye get caught out on April 1st? I didn't as I stayed in bed until gone midday - oops!

Unfortunately, I cannot do a review of March at the moment as there is a problem with sharkscope's date filter. Hopefully, their support can fix it soon! However, I am able to post my results for the year so far. The volume I have put in so far this year of 413 games is ahead of my goal of 100 games per month. I have tournament winnings in excess of $3k which I'm happy about considering the level I play at. My profit is $286 with a Total ROI (Return On Investment) of 9.6%.

Sharkscope Stats YTD 2013

Ladbrokes have got an interesting promotion at the moment called the Sit N Go Challenge (click on the link for details) which just involves single-table sit & go's. Last month I managed to finish 49th on the leader-board for the block of 10 consecutive games in the €10 buy-in level which will add an extra €25 to my bankroll! I'm hoping to do better this month.

That's all I have time for now folks. I should be able to update my blog within the next few days with a March Review providing Sharkscope support can fix their date filter!

Until next time....Good Luck at the Tables!
TC

February Review and Progress to Date

February didn't go too well in monetary terms as I made a loss for the month of $61 although I'm not too unhappy with the way I played. I've also started reading the book Kill Everyone: Advanced Strategies for No-Limit Hold Em Poker Tournaments & Sit-n-Gos which should improve my MTT & SNG play.

Sharkscope Stats for February

I've decided to show you my overall stats since I started playing poker in 2009 to show you the progress I've been making. These stats also include results so far this month but do not include results from Full Tilt Poker as Sharkscope does not cover all their tournaments.

Overall Stats

As you can see when I started playing poker I was a losing/break-even player but now through alot of studying and experience I've turned into a small profitable player! (slight brag).

I'm still awaiting my first four figure cash though so this will be another goal of mine this year but I don't think I'll be waiting too long for that to happen.

Anyway, that's all I have time for at the moment but I'll keep you posted of any major developments this month. Failing that, there's always the March review to look forward to.

Until next time. Good Luck at the Tables!
TC

January Review & The Dreaded Man-Flu

I managed to meet my target volume of 100 SNG's / MTT's last month despite having the dreaded man-flu for a week. This probably had an effect on my results for the month as I only managed to achieve an ROI of 3.8%. I did take advantage of studying some strategy videos while I was sick though so all was not lost.

Sharkscope Stats for January

New Laptop
I finally upgraded my laptop as my old one was over 5 years old and is on it's last legs. My new laptop is a Toshiba Satellite Pro C850-173 and I'm delighted that I took the plunge and upgraded. This is a much faster beast than my old machine!





I think I'll concentrate on playing the 45-man SNG's on Pokerstars again in February and see how I get on with the occasional dip into MTT's at weekends. I've also decided to stop playing on Merge and transfer my funds to my other poker sites as they've removed rakeback from the Merge network from Feb 1st.

Until next time, Good Luck at the Tables!
TC