In the beginning

[HaworthBantam]

Finishing 3rd in season 1, Wayne, was a fantastic achievement.

And don"t let anyone tell you that you can"t play live, you"re welcome at my table anytime  

I"m assuming thats because you think he can"t play live and you fancy your chances ?

Wayne and I sat on the same opening table in Dublin last year....very profitable...  

[nosey-p]

That was only my 3rd live game; I have improved since then so Ian I will be glad to sit at your table, bring it on  

[HaworthBantam]

....we need to organise that home game.....

[nosey-p]

OK don't forget to ask Stuart, easy money  

[SirPercival]

OK don't forget to ask Stuart, easy money...for him  

FYP

[nosey-p]

A J

[nosey-p]

The Dark Day's    



     There are only three things in life which are certain, you are born, you pay taxes and then you die. If you play poker for any length of time there is one thing that is certain, you will have a bad run. The question is how you cope with it. I would imagine that most of you have been there if not then you will be.
      My bad run came at the end of season one were I went 6 consecutive months of loses. I deposited £20 about four years ago and straight away I was making money, month on month I was in the black and then about one year ago I had a loss then another and then another. This by now was starting to concern me. I started to look at my game and tried to work out were I was going wrong and how I could turn it around but found what ever I did the run got worse. So I posted on the forum of my troubles and got good advice on what to do from different people especially from Daniel (Kinboshi) a lot of them I tried from taking a break, moving down a level, moving up a level, changing to a different game, but with no success.
      In an earlier post I mentioned that I had cash out most of my winnings to keep the wife happy. Now my bank roll was down to the last $100 and I said to my self "when this goes I would pack in poker". I was that down at the time that I was actually considering not playing any more. By now season two had started with the introduction of the live regional games. This is when I met Stuart (Sirpercivl) were we talked about actual hands, which helped me. I also made the FT finishing 9th which gave me confidence (I also learnt how not to play AJ). By now I was starting to win small games $2 STT (that's how low I got) but a win is a win no matter what the stakes are.
     I had gone back to playing how I played before the slump, trusting in my ability, hoping that things would turn around and slowly they did but still not making a profit but not loosing ether. Then came the game of my life a $5 MTT with 1600 runners. You have herd the expression "in the zone" that was me, I was on fire. 7 hours later and $1600 richer, I finished 1st
       The slump is over, all is well, the sun is shinning, and life is good. When you go through times like this, it's good to talk to other people but most importantly believe in yourself.                      
                   

[monkeyman]

Quality post. Well done

[APAT]

Great post Nosey.  I remember this downswing well.  I saved a bundle on postage to Wakefield.

[SirPercival]

The Dark Day's    

     This is when I met Stuart (Sirpercivl) were we talked about actual hands, which helped me. I also made the FT finishing 9th which gave me confidence (I also learnt how not to play AJ).                      

Great post Wayne,
3 observations
1. Why is meeting me in a post titled "The Dark Day"s"  
2. Glad that you recognise it was you who first jinxed AJ.
3. Are you saying I helped you win $1600? In that case, where"s my cut?

[nosey-p]

The future (Garlic bread I've tasted it)

So for I have looked back to the start off APAT. I am going to gloss over season two as it's been a disaster for me and look into the future. (Crystal ball at the ready)

How to improve for season three, does it need improving? What's wrong with season 2?

In February I put a post on the forum   http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=1106.0
Were I gave my thoughts on the online game. So to go over a few points.

1 The cost should be $50
2 Only one game per month
3 To have added money
4 To be played on a Saturday

If you want to know why, read the post

Please leave any comments on here or on the post  

[Jon MW]

The future ...
Were I gave my thoughts on the online game. So to go over a few points.

1 The cost should be $50
2 Only one game per month
3 To have added money
4 To be played on a Saturday
...

I vaguely concur.

Although I"m a little more flexible about 1 and 2.

1. I think between $20 and $50
2. Between fortnightly and monthly (depending on the answer to 1.)

I definitely don"t think it should go above $50 as this would price some people out and I don"t think people really want to have to satellite into an online game.

Another thought that was briefly brought up but largely forgotten was a non-ranking online event. If for example there could be an unashamedly expensive tournament with a super stack and super slow blinds (ie something new for Bluesquare) then some people might fancy their chances of satelliting and playing in that for the value of the prize pool and the super duper structure.

[nosey-p]

Sacrifice  

    The date of the first APAT forum was announced, it's to be on the weekend of the 19th/20th of July. "Now how do I get in the team" but wait a minute that date rings a bell, s**t I have already got something booked for that day. I go to the test match each year at Headingly, this year it's against the South Africans. So do I now cancel the cricket so I can play poker or do I go to the cricket with my work mates and get rat arse like we have done for the past six years. First of all how do you get in the team? As it happens I would have had no chance off getting in, if they were five APAT teams I may have just got in as the 10th member if I was lucky.
    This got me thinking, what would you cancel to attend an APAT event? Now if you arranged to go out on the town with your mates, well that's easy you just go and play poker and get drunk, it's just that it's a different set of mates. What about a night out with the Mrs? Again easy there is seven nights in a week, just go out on a different night (its ok Mrs Nosey_p does not read this) how about a family party? Well for me again it's easy, with the size of my family nobody would even know I was not there plus we seem to have them every other week. But then it gets difficult, what about birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and the birth of your first child. I could go on and on but you get the idea.
     The one sacrifice I made was at the end of season one, well I say sacrifice it was more like I was told to do something and I said no. With me in second place in the championship, we were down to the five on-line championships when the boss calls me in to his office and tells me that I would by working in Luxemburg for five days, it just so happened to be the same week as the games. I would miss four of the five games. So I stud my ground and refused to go, after about two hours off arguing I got my way (but it did not give my promotions any good). Let's face it, who wants to go to Luxemburg anyway.
      Now if I was prepared to get the sack so I could play on line, what would you sacrifice so you could play live? (I would not have got the sack, I don't think I would have )  

[HaworthBantam]

I"ve cancelled 2 gigs in order to play APAT tournies, when the clickfest was on a Saturday. Rest of the band weren"t too impressed but, priorities.....priorities......

I now ensure that we don"t book gigs on tourney dates.....

[Swinebag]

I missed a City game to play in an APAT tourney

I also tend to get injured when indoor cricket clashes with clickfests.

I"ve never let poker affect my work though.........................yet!!