Busto

Such an anti climax. Failed to make day 2 again! Been running shit in live tournaments since the start of the year but Ive tried to not let it bother me too much by trying to convince myself Id run like god when it mattered most. Unfortunatley that wasnt the case.Had a rough day and a tough table draw. Won the first hand of the tournament and it was a steady decline from then on. Had 11k in the last level of the night blinds 500/1k/100. Guy in mid position raises to 3k with Kc9c I ship with AQos and he calls. Flop comes Q high with two clubs, club on the turn and its gg me. Didnt play great tbh but I wasnt exactly spewing either, just one of those days when nothing seems to go your way. Two Irish made it through. Liam Flood on 78k and Derek Thorpe on 37k. Jude plays today so goodluck to him and any other Irish.

€1100 turbo at 2pm is my next tourney. Not the same buzz as the main event but still decent money at stake so plenty of time to make a profit for the trip.

Monte Carlo EPT Grand Final

Well like I said before this is the tourney I most look forward to playing each year. I know for most people its the wsop main event but for me its this. Arrived today and took the bus from Nice airport. One of the most amusing bus journeys Ive ever been on. The sceneary on the way is amazing driving down along the windy mountain roads I had forgot how stunning looking this place is. Although unfortunately thats about all it has going for it is its amazing sceneary as its really a very dull and boring place once the novelty of looking at multi million euro yachts, cars, fancy restuarants, over priced shops and hotels wears off. Not the kind of place youd come to let your hair down and party. The Devilfish best described it to me last year as "Alcatraz for millionaires".

On my own atm but Mr Ainsworth arrives tomorrow to keep me company and help fly the Irish flag. Very few Irish usually play here but Im sure theres at least a handful of others that Im not aware of. I play tomorrow (1a) and so Ill have a day off before day 2. (Hopefully) Theres an excellent schedule of side events this year especially compared to last year which was really bad. I plan on playing as many as possible if the main event doesnt go as planned. I played the nightly €330 turbo tonight but had no success.

Speaking of flying the Irish flag the wpt final 6 gets underway shortly and John O Shea is still in. Unbelieveable stuff and really hope he takes it down. John seems determined to get that life changing score this year by playing as many big buy in events as possible. John is a truely dedicated professional with an excellent all round game and mental attitude, I cant think of a player in the country right now that deserves a result more than him for the time and effort he puts into the game.

Online hasnt seen much of an improvement. Went on a nice little upswing in the hyper turbos but quickly came back down again. Played another 2 step 6s with no success making it 11/18 for the year. Last few days went well in steps 3-5 though and Ive a nice amount of tickets built up. The wsop sats have started on stars and I plan on winning a few packages Also won a package to the Estrellas poker tour in Alicante which is on the end of May so its not all bad. Anyway main focus for the next week is on the Live scene obv, Ill do an update after each day with my progress.

UKIPT Coventry

Another disspointing tourney for me unfortunately. Played on Day 1a which was Thursday. Got off to a steady enough start before losing a big flip in the 4th level. Got it all in on the flop with my 10c8c on a 6c 9c 3h against AA. turn and river bricked leaving me short. Then ran KK into AA in the 5th level for my last 6k. Kinda glad I didnt have a bigger stack at that point as I probably would have lost it all anyway. Played 8 live mtts so far this year and 5 of them I ran KK into AA. LOL

Online has been pretty shit over the past week or so too. Been playing almost only hyper turbos and have been doing awful. On a $15k+ downswing in them at the moment and its starting to look a lot less likely that its just variance and a lot more likely that I simply dont have an edge in them. Only managed to play 1 step 6 since my last update which I came nowhere in. But still 11/16 for the year so cant complain. Id like to play alot more steps but the problem is I play during the day mostly and the steps rarely fill. April is looking like its gonna be my 1st losing month of the year which sucks but March was my most profitable month ever so not too bad.

Next up is Monte Carlo. I considered going to San Remo but it would have meant I was playing a live mtt every weekend in the month of April so decided against it. Monte Carlo is the biggest tournament for me each year and I look forward to it even more than the WSOP main event. Such a big buy in and a relatively small field make winning it seem achieveable. Where as the WSOP is kinda like winning the lottery imo.

Hoping things will turn around online if not Ill just have to take down Monte Carlo I guess!

No joy

No joy in Irish Open for me this year, busted 2nd last level of Day 1. Never managed to get a stack together despite getting a lot of big hands and having a relatively soft table draw. Peaked at around 14k and it was all downhill from there. Didnt bother with the €1500 side event, gonna go on the lash tonight instead. Best of luck to all the Irish still in. Although theres very few people I know still in. Needs an Irish winner this year after last years massive dissappointment of no Irish on the final table. Hopefully this wont be repeated.......

That time of year again

Wow I honestly cant believe the year is a quarter over already. March was another great month for me meaning I havent had a losing month yet. Wont speak too soon though. Hyper turbos went bad in March and I managed to lose over $6k in them which is worrying. Until now I have been comfortably crushing them so not sure if its variance or if I no longer have an edge in them or whatever. Only time will tell I guess so Im gonna stick with them for now anyway.Main goal for March was to grind at least 100k vpps which I did so was happy about that, managed to get 108k meaning I played more in March than January and February combined. Currently on 216k vpps which is just behind current SNE pace of 249k. Got a nice $3,400 bonus for reaching the 200k milestone meaning I got well over $10k rakeback in March which was sweet. Majority of my profits for the month came from step 6s again. Havent played any more since my last update but plan on playing as many as I can over the coming weeks.

Well its that time of year again, Easter weekend meaning the highlight of the Irish poker calender is upon us. The Paddy Power Irish Open. The buy in is the same as last year €3,500 which I like. Not too big not too small. Expecting around 600-700 players meaning a prize pool in the region of €2 milliuon. This is only my 2nd year playing the Irish Open and Im 100% up for it. Got my %s swapped and Im ready to go. Not gonna stay in the hotel cos Ill only end up on the beer. Cards in the air at 3.30 so Im gonna go get ready. Ill do a very short update at the end of the day with my chipstack (hopefully)