Worry not though kind readers! This will be less of a dictation, and more a presentation to you. Below I have cut/copied and pasted my statistics and notable scores for each site I played on.
Online
Stars was a bit of a bitch in 2011 to say the least. I felt I ran way below Expected Value (EV) in some pretty huge hands/situations, and this was confirmed by my stats on Hold'em Manager. It's hard to get an exact idea of how you "ran" over a year playing MTT's because you could run well below EV for every single tournament, and then run pure in the Sunday Million/WCOOP, not lose an all in, and the stats may be scewed and say you ran above EV for the year. I suppose it comes down to them elusive two words, sample size! WAIT! I'm not moaning here, I just want to show some statistics and then justify why they may be low, high, different from last year etc etc. Throughout 2011 on Stars my HEM stats show I ran at 82% of what my EV should have been. How bad that really is I'm not too sure. I have nothing to compare it with, and have not discussed it with anyone. All I know is $18,000 profit on a site that I play my most volume isn't what I was hoping for at the start of the year. I also know that with the huge field sizes Stars have, it is going to be tough to have a great year without running above EV in a number of situations (i.e. Deep in big tournaments) . And I remember just not running good enough deep in a number of big tournaments, where the difference between winning and losing the all in was just huge ($ wise). That's not to say it is all down to me not having as much luck as my opponents. I know I am still a step behind the best players out there. Although my game is ever improving, as it has to stay near the top in this game, I know it needs tweaks to constantly be at the top with the best.
There will be no moaning about running below EVon Party Poker though. I ran good, I played full of confidence, and the weak fields meant for a good year. In 2010 I believe I finished the year with $3,000 profit from Party, so it just shows how "swingy" MTT poker can be. I had what was (until January 2012) my largest ever score, winning the $530 High roller outright for $27,500. I am a little surprised I only played 640 tournaments total for 2011, and will look to play a lot more in 2012. I done enough in them 640 to be ranked 7th for the year, which is nice :)
We all know what happened with Full Tilt Poker last year, so I won't go over all that again. I had a mini heater just before they were closed down, and therefore have quite a large amount of money stuck on there. Because the US Government are involved it's a painfully slow process. Any news about the whole affair has been drip fed to us over the last 6-7 months. News of a Takeover, has raised hopes I will see my money again, but until it is all set in stone, all I can do it wait with everything crossed.
Live
Below is a list of the tournaments I played in 2011 and their Buy-in's.
UKIPT Nottingham -£560 (Total Package value $1500) ^
UKIPT Manchester - £550 (Total Package Value $1500) ^
WPT Barcelona - 3500euro*
WSOP Main Event -$10,000*
Venetian Deepstack - $330 (£210)
Dusk Till Dawn Monte Carlo - £1,090*
DTD Grand Prix - 60euro (£50)*
GSOP Greece - $1650*
*won buy-in/package via on-line satellite, therefore won't be deducted from total profits.
^Pokerstars includes the value of tournament packages won via online satelites in total prize money/profits on Official Poker Rankings. Party Poker does not. The value for the 2 UKIPT packages will therefore be deducted from yearly profits below.
Total = £210
Cashes = 325euro (£270) -- LOL!
Profit/Loss = +£60
2011 Total Profit: $114,576 (+ Live cashes $462) (- $3000 Live Buy-ins) = $112,038
Wrapping it up:
Overall I can't be disappointed with how 2011 went. I made a large amount of money, doing something that 90% of the time I love doing. I'm my own boss, I play when I want and I have huge freedom from playing poker. It definitely has it's pro's and con's of which the advantages massively outweigh the disadvantages, and I am lucky to be able to play essentially, a card game for a living. 2011 was a little less lucrative than 2010, but I won't be losing any sleep over it.
I was able to Travel to some great places, and stay in some fantastic hotels/resorts, and hope I can continue to qualify for Live tournaments in 2012 and onwards all over the world.
I think this is a good time to give a shout out to a few people that mean a lot to me, and that I would struggle to get by without. Firstly, my parents. After graduating from university in 2007 with a degree in Business Studies, I was just setting out on my poker career. I was making small amounts of money playing tournaments and Single table tournaments. I knew I had the right mind set and ability to be able to do it for a living and was completely in love with the game. They obviously pestered me to get a job and use my degree, and I was forced to send out CV's to get a 'real' job. I come from a Middle Class background, and my Dad worked his arse off to provide me, my brother and sister with a nice house in a nice area, nice holidays and generally a very good quality of life. My Mum done a great job in bringing us all up, and would do absolutely anything for all 3 of us. So seeing me playing a card game for a living was hard for them to take and understand at first. I can imagine telling friends and family, that essentially I gamble for an income was tough when they were asked "what's Ben doing with himself now then?" After the results consistently came rolling in, and they realised that what I was doing wasn't down to luck, and I was making a (reasonably) steady income that was 5 times (or more) as fruitful as what I could be receiving stuck behind a desk (with the bonus of enjoying what I do, not answering to anyone and visiting places I would never usually get the chance to) they became a little less hesitant and have since been nothing but supporting. They always ask how I am getting on, and although my Degree is gathering dust, I know now they are proud of me for being able to do something that I really enjoy. I hope in the near future I am able to repay them with a really nice treat. OK, that's enough about my parents, I love them very much, and wouldn't swap them for the world, but I'm worried about breaking my keyboard as I am getting a little emotional.
Side story: In the middle of writing that, I got a phone call from my Dad saying him and Mum have ran out of petrol on the way to a shopping trip 10 miles down the road. I have to go and bail them out, after being told many times by my Dad I "shouldn't let my petrol run down too low because it drags through all the crap at the bottom of the tank.. yada.. yada!" Was fun using that quote on him whilst passing him the Petrol Can haha!
OK, I'm starting to wonder why I am doing this, because It's not as if I've won an award, or I've hit a pivotal point in my career to have to start thanking people, but I've started... and as I don't have James Corden in the room to cut me off like he did with Adele at The Brits, I will quickly finish..
My girlfriend Char is just the best. She puts up with a lot from me, and I am going to take this opportunity to thank her for that. She does get the Perks of coming with me on my travels when she can get it off work, but I wouldn't want it any other way.
My elder brother Craig is always great to have with me when I go away. He has come with me to Vegas the last 4 summers, and often stands railing me when I'm in a tournament. It's love having him with me, and I will always remember our trips to Vegas. He's one of my best friends, and we always have a great laugh, usually on someone else's expense because they vaguely look like a celebrity or someone we know haha!
Poker aside, I have to mention my Big sister too, Cara. She is super caring like my Mum and She has always looked out for me and Craig and I love her very much too.
Back on the poker track, I have to mention a good friend of mine Liam Dolman. I am often talking to him on MSN during an online grind, and many times he has stopped me from tilting whilst in a tournament, kept me company and made me laugh speaking his normal rubbish haha.
I don't really speak to people about poker, unlike most Regs. There is one person who is an exception to this though, who I met up with in Vegas a few years ago. James 'Jimbomber' Finnigan. He's a great lad and was willing to help me when I was first getting started, he used to crush in the old Paradise Poker days, and I am sure he will be crushing again very soon. All of the old Paradise crew deserve a mention: Hammer, Sprout, Dempsey, Spaggy May.
That's it, apologies if you thought that last bit was soppy drivel but I felt it was a good time to mention these people that have helped me throughout my Poker Career. There are many more Top Beavers that I love to bits outside of poker (Seaweed, Eddy etc) but I'll save that for when I win an EPT or a WSOP Bracelet ;)
I've made a little slideshow of a few of the places I went to in 2011. See you soon! x
