Staked To Play: Live (25/03/14)

& Other Life Events

Update as not done one for a long while. One of my previous backers offered me a new deal to play live poker. I said on my Facebook status I was interested in doing a deal and he messaged me. It was a great result. It's been a month so far (March 14) and I've played 3 out of 4 weeks, playing once a week with sessions lasting 4 to 5 hours, but they can go on for longer. I started end of February. I've done really well so far and I'm delighted with it all and I know he is very pleased with me as he is odds on to make relatively a lot of money without hardly lifting a finger.

Dealer's Choice

I've been playing £1/£1 Dealer's Choice at my local casino. The game is insanely good and I've won every single week so far. It is almost comical that I have built my reputation in the game as a very tight solid player who always has the nuts yet the other players continue to firstly remind each other of this fact and then proceed to dump chips to me. I am not complaining one little bit; I love it! So far I have encountered only one other player that plays like me. The rest are whales, er, I mean, recreational players who adopt a sub-optimal playing style. So far I have won £1110, having started with just £500. I am buying in for £100 (100 big blinds), and right now my average win is £370. Of course I will continue to post my progress with regards to these numbers over the coming weeks and months as this is my new little hobby.

Bouncebackability

Of course it could just be that everything is falling my way and I'm bound to have a set back or two. One of the three weeks did not go to plan but I still came away with a £37 profit. I was £125 down (having bought in for £100 initially) and kept at it, eventually exhibiting some bouncebackability. I am hoping that was a "bad" week, because if it is, I am going to be able to have a £50 pound note bath in a year's time. Sessions so far:
Week 1: £+507, Week 2: +£37, Week 3: Did not attend (had a cold), Week 4: +£566.
Total Bankroll: £1610.

Tipping

I've decided that I am not going to tip waitresses/dealers or pay for food out of my bankroll. The numbers get screwed up too easily. I know I am a dealer and we rely on tips and it's expected that we tip back, but I am not at the poker table to give money away. I would be OK with it if I was not backed and had a lot more bankroll, but for me it is just poor bankroll management to give money away like that, however small. And let's not forget, it's not my money I am playing with until the staking deal is done.

Other News

In other news I am doing very well in life I think. My living standard has rocketed over the past year due to a series of fortunate events. Last year I was working for Dusk Till Dawn as a dealer, living on my own, sharing a place with my landlord. I was single, smoked quite a lot and it was a relatively poor existence. Then I met my girlfriend, Emma, who has become very special to me. She works so hard and has an immeasurable kindness and generosity about her, and she will do anything to keep me happy. After seeing her a while, late in December '12 I lost my job at Dusk due to my timekeeping and attendance issues that I had the whole year I was there. They fired me. So I didn't have any money coming in. Then my friends asked me to come and help them out with their agricultural business and they needed me to move away from Nottingham. So I did, they came with a van and I loaded my stuff up and spent the next 2 months living on a farm. Emma was in frequent contact and missed me. She was sad to see me leave. I told my friends I was going to see her and so I got the train back to Nottingham and spent a week with her. I then got a phone call from a friend saying that I couldn't come back to work with them because the business wasn't working out and I would need to collect my stuff. I told Emma and she said I could stay with her. So I asked my friends to deliver my stuff to me but it turned out that we ended up, Emma and I, going down there and picking it all up in her car. Let me tell you, driving round Wales is a fucking nightmare, and I had to rely on Google maps on my phone. We ended up going around in circles because I am a terrible copilot and Emma panics a lot under pressure. We made it back though and here I am. Anyway, after that, I was unemployed from March to June and it was a pretty stressful time for us because I put her under a lot of financial stress because she helped me out a lot in that way. I was getting my social security benefits but when they didn't come in because of sanctions (when I didn't make it to the job centre on time) it made things difficult for us. But we were determined to get through it and I was applying for jobs left right and centre.

Improving

As luck would have it, I was granted an opportunity at a local casino in June '13 and I've been a dealer there ever since, so about 9 months now. I've been working there, paying off my credit card and splitting my rent/bills with Emma according to how much we both earn (usually works out about her paying 55%, me paying 45% of everything), and now I've got this staking deal. I've been buying little bits and bobs like shoes, clothes and generally life quality improving stuff, alongside saving up for this TEFL business that I am confident will go ahead come September. Even work has improved, with a refurbishment scheduled at some point, our card room going from strength to strength and I have become well respected amongst my peers. I even got a new bank account, credit card, and savings account for my poker money to go in. My relationship with Emma is flourishing still, and life is good. Really good. And I am happy.

Over and out

-LV