If Opportunity doesnt Knock, Build a Door

My new lease on my poker life this year is going to be an open door. What I mean by that is, I am putting all my energy out to the universe to see what is returned to me. So far I’m happy to say its working.
I came closer than ever to winning my main event package to the 2011 PCA when it was snatched from my grasp by a one outter. I couldnt have played the hand more perfectly, so I had to accept that it wasnt in my destiny to go to the Bahamas. Then weeks later my karma turned. A friend had a full ride package for the PCA ladies event and she couldnt go due to a family emergency….she was “giving” me the trip package. My excitement and anticipation for a great trip knew no bounds! The door of opportunity was opened and I was about to walk through it.
The PCA ladies tournament was “The” best ladies tournament I have ever played in. There were very few novice players and many top notch players to play past if I were to reach the money. For whatever reason, PokerStars changed the payout schedule to only pay top 8, this was certainly not a change for the better in my estimation as the year before there were about the same number of players with a payout to the top 16. If PokerStars would like to build on this tournament and pull more and more numbers, paying less spots is NOT the way to do it. Things that attract players like myself to a non-open tournament like this are location, buy-in, structure/starting chips and payout schedule. I’m encouraging PokerStars to revisit this payout structure and re-consider paying more spots. I played a very steady game and took only one truly bad beat not of my own making, which did cripple me. I finished in the 13th spot out of 90+ players.
I just returned from Atlantic City where I played the Borgata Winter Open. I arrived only one day before the main event, but tried to squeeze in a couple of qualifiers to save some money but I was prepared to play this tournament with a direct buyin. The starting chips were 30,000 with 75 minute levels and a structure that rivals the WSOP main event. I knew that slow and steady would win the race, so my patience kicked in and I went into day 2 with 65,000 chips, far above the average stack. My girlfriend Roz Quarto was right there with me in chips and would dominate day 2 as chip leader. Back on my table I continued to play slow and steady picking my spots and trying to read my opponents with careful consideration. Two key hands hurt and crippled me to the point of not being able to get lucky and make a satisfactory recovery to continue. The first hand that I lost about 10K in chips was a set over set as I suspected, the other was my KK running into AA, I’m NEVER folding KK preflop in this situation so my opponent doubled thru me.
I’m now back at home, with the Venetian Deep Stacks going on and plan to play a few days of selected buy-ins. I will also be proceeding this month with continued training with Ari Engel in hopes of moving my online game to a more productive level. In short, I really need to play more online tournaments to keep feeding my live buy-ins. I also have a three day training seminar this month with Sam Chauhan, my poker mindset coach. I’m most excited about this seminar as I look to the future to build my skills and gain any edge my opponents may not have. All it takes is a vision of what you can be and taking that first step to make it happen.
My goals for 2011 are set and I have begun working towards them. I am building my mental game and keeping a poker journal in which I hope to accumulate enough helpful information to translate into a teaching tool of some level. Giving back from what I win in poker continues to drive me. I never actually thought of myself as a mentor, but without looking it happened. A close friend of mine who was looking for her motivation asked to come over to my house and watch me play. Of course I was happy to do it so we got together on a Sunday and we talked about every play and what my reasoning and thought process was behind every move. She left with more enthusiasm than she came with, and went home to play some 45-90 sngs. That same night she took 2nd and has continued to dominate a ladies league she is playing for a WSOP seat. It has become a double edge sword of sorts, on one side I have a positive motivation to continue my journey to bigger and better levels in my poker and I have the gratification of paying it forward for another poker player furthering her own poker aspirations. If it gets any better than this….I’m ready!!