Playing the Circuit
It’s only natural for people to want to talk about things that are going well, and not about less successful ventures. I think this means that a very false picture can be painted of the “festival” scene. You see the winners in Poker Europa, people talk about their wins on the forums and their websites, but how often do you hear about the losses ?
Well I am as guilty as anyone, after all I have posted a big trip report about the time I won £10K in the Vic (almost three years ago). To redress the balance, I’m going to talk about what’s happened since then. The hard facts are that since that win I have played 58 £100+ tournaments in the UK without one top three finish. During this run I have lost £12,600. Add another £1000 for satellites and £3000 for an abortive trip to Vienna in 2002 and that’s a lot of money don’t you think ?
Of course if I hadn’t won the 10K then I wouldn’t have played so much (particularly at £250 and £500). The total figures since day one for UK £100+ tournaments are played 74, lost £4,400. That’s £60 a throw which probably isn’t too bad considering I had some fun and excitement and learned a great deal.
I know I’m not the best player in these tournaments but I’m sure as hell not the worst. By a long way. I think I’m a lot better player than I was 3 years ago but it’s hard to be sure in this game, damn hard. The real point is that because I’ve been making in the small games and more importantly because I have a job this £16K downswing hasn’t killed me. If you want to play poker for a living, these tournaments will break you sooner or later, no doubt. Especially if when you do win, you blow half of it.
As for me thanks to my records I was able to keep good track of this, and in fact I only played 8 £100+ tournaments last year. I am playing Luton this week (for £100 and £150), but just to take a shot. The money, £1500 or so, is put aside and considered gone. If I get a result I might spin it up throughout the year, if not I’ll forget about it for a while. If you want to play at this level, it’s up to you. But I can assure you that one of the easiest ways of going broke is to spin up your small-tournament profits in the festivals, miss out, then hit a downswing in the regular comps and end up with nothing. Happens all the time. Be aware.
Well I am as guilty as anyone, after all I have posted a big trip report about the time I won £10K in the Vic (almost three years ago). To redress the balance, I’m going to talk about what’s happened since then. The hard facts are that since that win I have played 58 £100+ tournaments in the UK without one top three finish. During this run I have lost £12,600. Add another £1000 for satellites and £3000 for an abortive trip to Vienna in 2002 and that’s a lot of money don’t you think ?
Of course if I hadn’t won the 10K then I wouldn’t have played so much (particularly at £250 and £500). The total figures since day one for UK £100+ tournaments are played 74, lost £4,400. That’s £60 a throw which probably isn’t too bad considering I had some fun and excitement and learned a great deal.
I know I’m not the best player in these tournaments but I’m sure as hell not the worst. By a long way. I think I’m a lot better player than I was 3 years ago but it’s hard to be sure in this game, damn hard. The real point is that because I’ve been making in the small games and more importantly because I have a job this £16K downswing hasn’t killed me. If you want to play poker for a living, these tournaments will break you sooner or later, no doubt. Especially if when you do win, you blow half of it.
As for me thanks to my records I was able to keep good track of this, and in fact I only played 8 £100+ tournaments last year. I am playing Luton this week (for £100 and £150), but just to take a shot. The money, £1500 or so, is put aside and considered gone. If I get a result I might spin it up throughout the year, if not I’ll forget about it for a while. If you want to play at this level, it’s up to you. But I can assure you that one of the easiest ways of going broke is to spin up your small-tournament profits in the festivals, miss out, then hit a downswing in the regular comps and end up with nothing. Happens all the time. Be aware.
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