2008 was a swinging year for me... I got off to a good start in January but went down, down, down after that, my 2nd place win in May's Irish Deaf Poker Open put me right back into the black until a disastrous June & July brought me to a new low and I had to fight hard to regain some sort of bankroll (never mind making a profit!) October and November brought decent wins at both tournament and cash. December was break-even... up in tournaments, down in cash.
Playing at the cash table is my biggest leak. If I cut out playing at the tables I would be up by 3k... Not the €1370 that my records currently show. Pretty sobering thought eh? I will take a leave out of Cee's book and 'swear off' them for a while! Maybe I just stick to SnG/Tournaments like BigMickG does? I usually get off to a flying start in tournaments, become one of the chipleaders at some point, reach the final table even but then I crash.
In fairness this is my first year playing outside the Deaf Poker circuit, so I shouldn't complain! We can't all expect have spectacular wins in our first year like DOKE... hmmm!
Highlights of 2008 include coming 6th in UK Deaf Poker Open and winning 2nd place Irish Deaf Poker Open (May 2008); organising a charity poker event in September which raised an impressive €1,781 for DeafHear despite a low turnout; joining the IDP committee and organising the Deaf Deepstack Classic in October 2008 - our best tournament yet. Meeting and getting to know some of the notable players on the scene, and putting a face to the people who comment here and on Boards.ie! Playing with and dealing to some brilliant (very experienced) poker players, I really learnt a lot, my game has improved from being at the same table as some of them too.
2009 looks big for Deaf Poker, both here and abroad. As well as IDP's two events in May and October, I'll be venturing to Sweden and the UK for some meaty action.
I've registered for the UK Deaf Poker Open on 30th January, which is being heavily (and unfairly IMO) criticised by Deaf players for the lack of dealers and high reg fee etc. UK Poker is only new, the first UK Deaf Open event last year was organised by players who had never played outside of their home games, Stephen Draper has taken over the organising this year and is a highly capable and experienced player, so lets give this event a chance guys...
Swedish Deaf Players added an interesting dimension to our Deeepstack event, I met some quality players and heard a lot about one pro-poker Deaf player who resides in Sweden. I've promised them I'll make a trip over to play at at least one or two of their main tournaments this year. With six events to pick from I better get a move on and decide pretty soon... hurry up with the dates guys!
On the regular scene I'll definitely play the Irish Ladies Poker Championships 2009 that Poker Ireland/Titan Poker are organising... and attempt at least two other big events (not the IO - I'll hold back till I have more experience me thinks! :-D)
2009 Poker Resolutions:
1. Stay away from the cash tables till I get some coaching.
2. Play all the IDP events, the UK Deaf Poker Open and two of the Swedish Deaf Poker tournaments.
3. Play at least two of the big tournaments on the Irish Poker scene
4. To show an 100% increase on my current poker profit for 2009
5. Improve my tournament game more
In a nutshell: I need to win... win more... win big!
Happy New Year Folks... may the river be good to you in all your races!
10 comments:
ha.. my aim... cut down on poker...and when i do play..win more :P
I hear ya sister! ;-D I will make a point of being more selective of where I play... ;-D
Good luck in 2009 and yeah, I'm a total luckbox really :)
Only at the start Doke, only at the start... you've improved BIG time since ;-D
Good luck with your poker goals in '09 especially your foreign sortees.
Do they speak the same sign in Sweden as they do here?. I was surprised to read somewhere that not all sign is the same. I think this was after an American left a comment on one of the deaf poker videos saying nice clip etc but i havent a clue what you are signing!?. I just assumed it was standard sign worldwide?. Come to think of it spoken language isnt the same worldwide so is this the same difference?.
No, we all sign differently! But we can make ourselves 'understood' to each other... Does that make sense?
I understand the French and Swedish Deaf more than I understand the British(!) LOL! That's saying a lot! I'll be slapped big time by the British Deaf poker players (who read here) when I go over later on this month! But the truth is our signs are a hybrid of the original LSF (French Sign Language) which spread to some parts of Scandivania
too. But British (BSL) is a class of its own...
Sign language is more centric to each school/area really, even though they may develop from the same source, they evolve with use. In Ireland we have gender differences in Irish Sign language (ISL) because the girls and the boys schools were never allowed to mix, deaf people only met up later in Deaf clubs/church meets/sports gatherings during adulthood. We also have 'regional dialects' too, where different signs/context are used; we also have old 'Total Communication' sign as used by old Deaf people and new 'pure' ISL. We can have up to 7 signs for just one word!
....and poor Smurph wants to learn!? :D But when she does, and she passes her first exam (I have no doubt she will!) you'll understand/appreciate what's involved! ;-D
Thanks for the detailed reply. I was thinking of Smurph alright too. And shur all us catholic boys were in same sex christian brothers secondry schools too, thats why the standard of football is so strong in school and it wains once you get out!.
LOL! Sorry... I do run away with it at times... out of habit really, comes from the job. I get asked that question a lot the answer just rolls out on auto-reply. Just don't get me started on Access/Equality issues.... :-P
Christian Brothers - great education... f*ked up minds! LOL! I'm getting worried about ya now!!!
i meant thanks aswell and i like long answers, i often get slagged by family for drawing out a story but or whateverthey love it really.
Ah brother Edmund Rice founder of the christian brothers what a statue he was. Dont worry they didnt turn me, still an unblemished record of staunch hetrosexuality ya know!.
LOL! Yep... I well believe it! LOL!
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