Return of the Pud!

Pud's Poker Progress / Matthew Pitt / 16 February 2009 / 8

For those of you who read this, let me apologise for the lack of updates recently. I am usually one of the more prolific of the Betfair bloggers but I have not been myself for a few weeks now and it has probably shown in the negativity in the few posts I have made.

I have been under a lot of stress which has led to me feeling depressed and questioning myself. Baby Pud is due in 38 days, which although I am looking forward to immensely, it is also a stressful time for new parents. I have also been back and forth at the solicitors trying to sort out proper access to Pudding Jr and it now looks like I will be having to go to court to fix this ridiculous situation once and for all. Whilst I am not looking forward to gracing a court of law with my presence, it needs doing so Pud Jr and I can have a proper, solid relationship.

My health has also been giving me cause for concern, but thankfully I have been given the all clear so I am feeling good about things again. To cut a long story short, I convinced myself that I had some underlying disease that was causing poor circulation in my feet and eventually they would need hacking off! Crazy I know but I had my reasons! The doctor told me I was in good health and my blood test showed everything was spot on.

When do we start worrying about our health? I remember when I was in my teens, I would not care less but I think with the recent press coverage of Jade Goody coupled with the fact a few people around me have died and I am also a father, I think I have realised that I am not invincible anymore!

Anyway, now that I know I am not dying, I think it is best to start to live up to my potential as a poker player. I have hardly played a hand since the last update, instead I have been talking to a lot of fellow poker players about my game, my ambitions and I got a great confidence booster as all of the agree I have great potential in this crazy game, I just need to sort my head out and actually play!

I am still going to play HUSNG as planned at the beginning of the year but I am going to use a large percentage of my winnings each week or month, to enter some MTT's with a higher entry fee so I will be essentially freerolling in my tournament play. Hopefully, by doing this I will be able to play in some $30-$100 buy-ins and have the chance of rubbing shoulders with some of the players I look up to and have the chance of a big score.

One thing I will not be doing anymore is making silly goals like playing 10k hands a month or anything like that. Nor will I be worrying about what others are earning and winning, instead I will be focussing on my own play and let everyone else do what they want. For far too long I have messed around and let others dictate my destiny, now it is time for the real Yorkshire Pudding to return to the tables!

One guy who believes in me is Everton Yorkie who has actually staked me for 15 MTT's. My results have not set the world alight so far, having finished 113th, 104th, 96th from 180 runners in my first three games but I did improve vastly last night but effectively bubbled the same tournament, finishing 23rd with 18 paid.

I was frustrated with the 23rd place as I was in the top 5 of chips with 30 remaining and made a questionable call on a three flushed board, holding second pair when a guy shoved all-in. I read him for a naked flush draw but alas he had top pair and I was basically crippled. I am trying to go with my instincts more, like I used to but as a result I have to accept that a lot of time I will be wrong in my decision making. That's poker!

I will leave it there for now as this post has gone on long enough. I will be getting back to the HUSNG as soon as my staking deal is over so look out for me at the tables!

As always, thanks for reading and best of look at the tables!

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Mr Origami | 16 February 2009

Hey Pud, as someone who has had to go through the court thing for their kids just hang in there with it. I sat in court and they ended up coming to me and agreeing to what I wanted without having to actually go into chambers or whatever...it's well worth it for your peace of mind etc...and it discourages awkward exes from being quite so awkward...not totally though unfortunately, but there you go! At least you know you can do something about problems if they arise!
I can empathise with the health thing too having just gone through some myself but hey..it's all up now matey!! :) GL with the pokes.
Gavin | 16 February 2009

You seem to have a fair bit on atm but are getting on with it.
Good luck with it all.
havin_a_laff | 17 February 2009

Hi Pudding. Thanks for the comment. GL
Rossi | 17 February 2009

Nice one Matt, just get stuck into doing your own thing, doesn't matter what others are doing.
Hope the court thing goes smoothly.
Acornman | 17 February 2009

Glad to see you've ditched all the challenge stuff.Just play your game and the $$ will follow.
Oh and my feet are solid ice blocks most of the time.Not hacking them off yet though :-)
SnipeR | 19 February 2009

Hi Pud, just a quick question matey...is it possible and/or do people to get staked for cash tabling?....

Cheers Snipes.
Yorkshire Pud | 19 February 2009

Thanks for all the comments, they are much appreciated.

SnipeR - staking in cash games does go on but is more common in MTT and SnG. Some of the players of the highest stakes often "buy action" of a particular player which is essentially staking also.

A few months ago, one of the best online cash players, FoxWoodsFiend, blogged about having a big losing day at the tables but it didn't hurt as much as he had sold his action for the day.

This usually happens when a player wants to play higher than normal, sometimes because of a weak player in the game, but they don't want to risk losing a large sum of money but there are obviously dozens of other reasons of wanting to be staked.
Yorkshire Pud | 20 February 2009

Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated.

For Sniper - staking does go on in cash games although it is more publically done in MTTs for some reason.

Staking in cash usually involves someopne putting up X amount of money for X amount of hands and then splitting any profit or loss.

A lot of the high stakes guys "buy action" of each other if they are playing higher than usual due to a fish being present in the games or taking a shot against well-known opposition and want to limit any losses.

For example, you might want to play someone at NL400 but don't want to risk going bust so I tell you I will soak up half your losses up to a certain amount on the presumption that I would get half your winnings over a set period.