I apologize for the length between posts. My wife and I are in the process of buying a house so last week was filled with the inspection and a myriad of other fun things related to that process so I didn't have a ton of time to sit down and write (or play) for that matter. This weekend was a whole different story. I managed to squeeze in a fair amount of play, mostly live which was actually fun. My family got together on Saturday for a big BBQ and we spent a huge amount of the day playing Omaha. Sunday we picked up where we left off playing NLHE and had a continued great time. Unfortunetly my brother is really the only other serious player in the family so it makes some things more interesting, especially when we are HU, but overall it wasn't a bad game and the more I play live, the better I feel and the more comfortable I am. Speaking of live, the new tour schedules are starting to be released and I am working on picking out what I would like to play over the next year. I have decided that I am going to start to try to play live a little more, especially since I am in a region that has a lot of good access to stops for events. First up for my this year will be the WPT @ Foxwoods. I haven't been there yet, but I know a few people who have played and from what I understand this is a don't miss. I am going to be playing in the side events so I am waiting for that information to be posted at the WPT site, but I know that it should be in mid October-ish so I am pretty excited. It gives me a few months to buckle down on my tourney game and make sure that it is in top form. With the Main Event kicking up shortly this means that the WSOP will be annoucing the schedule for the WSOP-C and this is the other I can't wait for. I am really hoping that there is going to be two Atlantic City stops again this year as I will try to hit both of them for a couple of tourneys. I really had a great time in March, not just playing but hanging out and meeting folks and I am looking forward to it again.
It was a bit of a downer last week for me as I was watching on my Twitter feed when Pokerstars announced the WCOOP schedule. Makes me miss the good old days and I am hopeful that the current bill in the House Energy and Finance Committee will make it to a vote in Congress this year. I'll be the first to admit that it is really sad to see all those tourneys and know how many STEP 4 tickets that I had that could be used for buyins to the $215 tourneys and how many chances I could have taken while playing so much better. I played a few last year and had a couple of close calls and that was well before I understood really how structures and deep stack tourneys worked. With all of the knowledge and skill I have built up, this could have been a good year, but alas it wasn't meant to be. I guess I'll just have to keep training hard and hope that things resolve so those of us in the US can jump back into the big time online world.
Last note, speaking of the online world, it was a big week last week with the shutdown of FullTilt poker. I have been following as much as I can about it and I am eager to see if the deal with the new investors will bring back operations for the site as well as repayments for US players. I don't have $1million tied up there, but still I would really like my BR back as this would make a really nice addition to what I got back from Stars to make for my Live BR. It is certainly a lot harder to grind a live BR up, but it isn't impossible. It takes a lot more discipline to managing it for sure, given the expense of playing live, which is why I have spent so much time working on my cash game to help it. There are ancillary benefits to playing cash, when combined with strong push/fold play can make you a strong tournament player for sure (it does leave gaps in the 20-40bb range for sure, but hey, that is what we are here to learn) and strong and dangerous are pretty sweet things. I am wondering in the coming year how the tournament landscape is going to change if at all. I know a lot of folks at the WSOP have been commenting on the number of young online wizards playing, and I am sure that the numbers are going to start to shrink, but not sure by how much. I get the feeling that for the tours it is going to be a different world, but I guess I am just going to have to wait and see.
Last little diversion before I wrap it up. I saw on Twitter that Doyle is not going to play the ME this year because he said he has lost a lot of passion for the game since Black Friday. It is sad to me that an icon of the game is going to miss its biggest stage, but I certainly can understand his position. I think virtually every US player seriously reconsidered their poker world that day, and some came out feeling stronger, some weaker and others somewhere in between. I just hope that things in the US can settle back out and re-invigorate the poker playing populace (and new players) to get into the game with the same passion and flare as was before. This is the Gman signing out! GL at the tables!!