When I Was A Child I Wondered What If My Name Had Changed Into Something More Productive
"When I was a child I wondered what if my name had changed into something more productive, like Roscoe", lyric to "Roscoe", by Midlake
One of, if not the, greatest lyrics of my life. I love it when a band present you with a song and then refuse to define it. Pink Floyd"s "Wish You Were Here" being another. You can have all the explanations and analysis you want, but if it means something to you that nobody else has picked up on - hold on to that and use it in whichever way you choose.
When I was a child, I played cards sometimes with my Dad and my brother. It"s a familiar story, like a "jumpers for goalposts" anecdote, but "matchsticks instead of money" here. I had always been fascinated by the potential my fantasy of Wild West poker playing conjured. I had no idea that the game was what it was across the Atlantic and that it would come to the UK online and live in the way it has in the ten years since I first turned on Channel 4"s Late Night Poker show, captivated by the names and characters - "The Elegance", Jacarama, Bambos, and a very nerdy looking Phil Hellmuth (think Eugene from the musical film Greece). But this blog is not a trip down memory lane, or my story of how I found poker, made a small deposit online, ..........and sleep.
This is about the now. And it is about the future.
Something happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I unloaded on my girlfriend.......I was struggling to find motivation at work, I was giving myself a hard time perhaps, and my view of the World has been better (and worse). The next day, I felt clarity and invigorated. Some times we just need someone to listen to us (and to hold us).
Raise your standards and change your limiting beliefs. Anthony Robbins said to, and he is a huge guy, so who am I to argue? This is where it started for me. Believing in myself again. Without the vision we cannot begin the journey. With the belief in place, we simply will find away. I promise not to preach throughout, but this has meant a lot to me recently.
So what do I believe and what are the standards to which I will hold myself? I truly believe in being responsible for my own future, in integrity, and that there is a giant inside us all waiting to be awakened. Copyright attributable to the aforementioned Mr Robbins.
Blogging
I want to blog, and I want people to read. Why? I like communicating. I have newly discovered the medium of Twitter and can see so many opportunities. Unlike Facebook, Twitter allows you to talk to the people you "follow" instantly and hear back from them, if they choose to reply. Where the person you are following has millions of "followers" it is obviously much less likely that they will even see your "tweet" (shall I continue with the quotations?) but I have been able to talk directly to Barry Carter (who has promised to read this blog, so Hi Barry and thanks for looking in), Jared Tendler (both he and Barry have authored the excellent Mental Game of Poker - the bible on modern poker psychology), and I am currently stalking a number of other people I would like to make connections with in the poker world and beyond (relent now and save us both some time as I will hunt you all down eventually).
I have found myself becoming a master of the multi-task communication, often live-talking to an actual person I can see in front of my own eyes, tweeting someone else, chatting on Facebook, answering an e-mail, and flagging Morse code, whilst feeding the baby! This means that I can speak to the World and all those who live in it 24/7 on all manor of subjects.
Publicity for professional poker players is something which has grown over the ten years I have been playing this game for and we now see that growing a profile has many advantages. I want some of that.
This is the first of a new focus for me in blogging. There are some other bloggers (and their blogs) around that I admire - James Atkin, the Black Belt Poker bloggers, Daleroxxu, Victoria Coren, and many more, for both writing ability and in some cases the beauty of the blog itself. What do my readers like to see when they read blog? Is this plain black on white with no distracting backgrounds preferable over something more designed and individual (could you stand starting at my tiled face in the background?) I will start to add bells and whistles - blog links, maybe one or two affiliated links to some sites I admire and recommend, and some other stuff I haven"t thought of yet. The affiliate links will be very carefully added and I will only recommend those sites, or products which I understand and believe are value - this will not solely be an exercising in spinning some income.
Also, Wordpress or blogger.com? All input is greatly appreciated as I write for you to read and for your enjoyment, as well as for my own reasons.
Breakthrough Poker Training
We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
But can you still recall
The time we cried
Break on through to the other side
lyrics to "Break On Through" by The Doors
Nick Wealthall sends me stuff (not just me) all the time. The man is a pest! It"s usually free (groan) and the stuff I have got around to watching or reading is also useful, intelligent, fresh, and sometimes humorous (please stop clogging up my online storage system which actually has no impact on my life whatsoever).
To put a cherry on the top of it, he only then went and badgered me about some twelve month training course he is selling, with a month free trial and no tie-in beyond thirty days, even reminding me on the day the offer ran out. OK Nick - if you stop this I will sign-up.
The course is delivered online, in pdf and mp3 format (it"s like getting sent your ring binder, dividers, and four weekly parts per month with attached cassette, only a bit more 2012) and you have access to the Gold members area, a monthly webinar, opportunity to ask questions (all of which are replied to by Nick personally) and contributions from Kevin MacPhee and a few other guys who have won the odd million or five playing poker.
To compliment the package there is also a poker goal setting template which I will be turning my attention towards this week, together with the first part of the first month"s training on pre-flop aggression and playing against other aggressive pre-flop players.
Nick also delivers on the topic of mental game and the only video of his that I have watched to date was pivotal in focusing me back on playing poker, as opposed to clicking buttons. The advice I recall was simply - enjoy playing, enjoy the challenge, and if you don"t then go and do something else where you do.
Half a Dozen Live Tournaments
I"ve played live poker, from pub poker to private members" clubs, going back over about five or six years now. I have only just recently ventured as far as the Vegas of the North (which is the casino closest to my locality) in Blackpool.
I played 132 runner £50 re-entry the weekend that the Sky Poker Tour was in town and played again a couple of months later in a slightly smaller buy-in event with half the runners. I felt very comfortable at the tournament and cash tables and I know I can make money down there.
I want to devote some bankroll and effort to finally experiencing some of what the UK has to offer on the tours and in a large local event with a poker club I have had involvement with since inception, although that involvement has waned this year. Northern Poker Stars, of Cumbria, hold a £200 + £20 event and have run the biggest legal poker prize pool in the county of just over £10,000. The player pool is made up of some very good talent and the banter is second to none.
I am going to look at the UKIPT series, GUKPT series, and new kids Genting series - which on current bankroll will have to be satellite opportunities. I have long wanted to play one of the excellent and very highly regarded Black Belt Live tournaments and await the announcement of the 2013 calendar with much excitement. Finally, another organisation I have flirted with and would like to get tighter with is the Amateur Poker Association Tour (APAT) and I will probably pay the £75 buy-in direct for the closest tournament on the tour to me, which I think will be Glasgow.
What I now want to do is form a Band of Cumbrian Brothers to travel with, satellite alongside, and go and take these tournament felts by storm. When Neil Channing and Jamie Burland visited us in February we asked them to name famous players they knew from Cumbria and they gave answers for players from the North East. We are North West chaps (they don"t get past the Watford Gap too often I don"t think). I want them, on their next visit to the lands of mintcake, sheep, and hills, to breathe our names in answer to that same question.
The Boy - Roscoe
This brings me back to my opening line. I hope to not only share tales of a rising online poker star, or a fearsome live tournament shark, but I also want to share a little of the human side. This is where I hold up a nice picture of some fluffy kittens. In fact, I have a family photo session booked soon so perhaps one of those naked from the waist up holding my naked son photos would better illustrate. Although if you have seen the amount of hair that sprouts from my front, back, arms, and neck it would potentially lose what few readers I currently have and I"m trying to build something here, not knock it down.
The boy was born on 4th December, 2011. It"s a cliche, because it"s true, but life has changed - beyond recognition in many ways. The first three months were all about a tiny baby that needed us for everything and struggled with many things life presented. The next three months were about establishing routines, getting him in his own room, baby groups, and dealing with a baby that could move of it"s own accord. The last three months have been about gaining some control over a very strong-willed character with a disregard for danger, an amazing sense of humour, and a determination that has left me astounded. The connection we have made in the last month or two has illuminated my soul and helped me to believe in myself. The boy looks at me in a way I have never experienced before and he only needs a smile in return to splatter a wide open-mouthed smile across his beaming face. That is a powerful moment.
I purchased a new toy last week, and I"m not usually a boy"s toys kinda boy. It is a Sony HD camcorder. Do the Oscars have a best home movie category? I really wanted to make The Blair Witch Project before it was made. In fact, as I thought of it first, I may be due royalties. The other question: has anyone ever made a home movie that anyone outside their own family would want to watch? If not, I"m sure we will have many hours of fun. Not those home movies either.
Health & Fitness
Has long been neglected. I think my diet and lifestyle is reasonably healthy but my fitness level is only maintained by a thirty minute walk to and from work five times per week and wheeling the buggy round on a weekend. We did venture out into the Lakes a couple of weeks ago for a stroll around Tarn Hows near Ambleside. I might take up tennis. Anyone for tennis?
I close what I hope has been a refreshing, enjoyable, informative, and inspiring read. If I"ve set my sights a little high with that goal then I do not apologise. If I have failed to reach it, then I promise I will work harder next time to get there and I would really appreciate you sticking with me as I do.
Please add your comments as with your feedback and investment in this blog - big things could be achieved.
