Going Out with a Bang

This week has completed the rollercoaster of my albeit short proffesional poker career. Monday was another massive winning day untill I decided to head to The Gutshot in the evening and took some huge beats in the £1-2 PL Holdem game, to leave me slightly down for the day. I'm not one to harp on about bad beats, but - to give you an idea - I was a 93% favorite when all of the £500 went in on the turn. Ouch.

Tuesday was then my worst day ever. I dont think I even had as a bad a day as Tuesday back when I was playing $15-30 limit. Most of it was my own fault - playing with a horrible head cold was downright stupid. I made a small dent in the red over the course of the rest of the week, but overall my roll is muchly depleted.

The good news is that I got the formal job offer in the post this morning (still conditional on references) so barring anything unexpected from my referees, I'll be starting on the 27th of this month.

Mrs. Pink and I are heading to the Pyraneese next week, so I've essentially hung up my boots as a 'pro-poker player'.

Overall, I won just about enough, but not as much as I was predicting or would have been happy with. I found it hard to put enough hours in - probably averaging less than 30 hours a week. Overall, I hugely enjoyed the experience - I've certainly been a very content Pink. I'm very pround that I managed it and I'm fairly confident that I could return to it in the future if the situation required it.

It's been 9 months since I applyed for this new job, so I'm pretty exited that the moment has finally arrived. It's a long-term career, so here's hoping it lives up to expectations.

Week Four Update

So, what do you think of my catchy new post titles, huh?

It's been a monster week. Huge. It's been a combination of three things. I've been running well (always helps); I've been playing higher stakes; and I've revamped my style somewhat...

I've turned super loose-aggressive preflop. Combining this with betting any flop, heads-up, means picking up a lot of small-pots against weak opposition. If they play back at you then it's easy to get away from crap if you haven't hit. Equally, you get paid off massively on your big hands. It's been a rollercoaster, but a profitable one so far. It still needs some tweaking: I'm not picking up on the calling stations quickly enough, and that's costing me some.

On the real job front, everything's going to plan. If my references check out then I'll be starting on the 27th of this month. I should be getting the offer this coming week. Final crossing of fingers required.

Mrs. Pink and I are going away for the week before the 27th, so this is my last week of playing starting tomorrow. Here's hoping I go out in a bang and don't decide that's it's ok to stick half of my bankroll on the line for the last day!

Week Three Update

Nothing untoward to report. Week Three was a winning week, although not as winning as I might have hoped. I felt I played reasonably well. I'm definately ironing out some leaks and cutting down on the silly mistakes, but there's a long way to go yet.

On the real job front, I've heard that I passed all the final checks and it now should be a matter of weeks before I start. Almost time to celebrate; it's been a long time coming.

When we first moved to London I was keen to set up a regular home game. I tried Friday nights, but it didn't really get off the ground. I hosted a game this Wednesday and it seems as though it might become a regular event. There really is nothing quite like small-blind, deep-stacked, NL Holdem with mates. At one point the average stack was about £80 with 10p-20p blinds. Much fun was had. I didn't take notes as I promised. I'll try and do better!

Mrs. Pink and I are also looking into getting our feet onto the property ladder. We've started looking at a few places, and with my new job on the horizon, we may be able to have somehwere in place for August when the tennancy on our current place expires.

I'll leave you with the following. My first royal flush. Getting two people all-in was just a bonus. One had a flush. The other had a broadway straight. Thanks guys.