Hey people! Still squeezing in an hour or so a night and things are going really well at the moment! Still loving the CAP tables it is just full of degen gamblers sticking the money in with one pair hands! I thought the £900 would be optimistic but im knocking on the door now with time to spare and no rakeback yet

Sod the £900 goal bro it looks like you can hit £1000!

Just playing man slow and steady wins the race n all that.

How much you now expecting in rb?

I haven't played a great deal of volume so probs only £60-80! I didn't start this at the start of Feb tho so I'll play until the RB goes in which is usually the 5th or 6th on sky! So 1k isn't totally out of reach!

I haven't played the last 2 nights tho and won't get much chance over weekend as its my last day at my current job tomorrow so going for a meal after work! Then I'm at Leeds on Saturday for a pool comp! Will continue to squeeze in what I can tho

Hey people! Been busy the last few days! The up your game promo on Sky finished at midnight last night and I just managed to scrape over the line and double my points for January which means I qualify for a 10k, 20k and 30k freeroll played over the next 3 Saturdays! I think this has been a really great promo and is a fantastic prize! Great opportunity to win some serious wongaaa!

As far as how the poker has been going well variance has reminded me hes still boss the last few days! Has been really frustrating but as you can see below it hasnt hit me too much overall! It could have been alot worse tho so Im happy with the way Ive handled it and minimised the damage! Gonna keep this little challenge going til this Friday when RB hits like I said!

I dont know how much time I am going to have to play this week however as I start my new job tomorrow!! Gonna be driving 150 miles per day aswell as working full days so gonna be a grinddddd! This is all on top of filling in forms etc for new place and arranging viewings etc for my place! Stress is not the word people! I literally cannot wait until its sorted and I am up there and can concentrate on getting my teeth into the new job! Great news is that the Mrs has an interview for a job up there next week woop!! Was the first one she has applied for too so im really chuffed for her! Be perfect if she could get it as it is walking distance from the new flat! Fingers crossed!

Away from poker as some of you will know from this journal I used to play alot of English 8 ball pool! I have been pretty much completely out of the game for 2 years but I played my first competitive tournament for a couple of years yesterday in Leeds! I was very rusty as you can imagine but i managed to win through 4 rounds before losing in a deciding frame in the last 16! One out of the money (bubble boy ) More importantly though I really enjoyed it! I stopped playing as I was not enjoying it and it had just become a real grinddddd! So it was really nice to enjoy it yesterday and I am def going to get back into it though not quite at the level I used to!

Think thats about it folks hope you are enjoying the journey as much as me

Ps. some of you will have seen that I posted a comment on Jons fitness thread the other day! It has really annoyed me the way the guy has gone on and I had a big long reply typed out on it ranting back at him but I managed to bite my tongue before hitting send! Just think it isnt helping Jons thread at all which is the aim of it! I cant be bothered to get into an ego war with somebody so I have just unfollowed Jons thread for now as fitness is a real passion for me and I get really irate about poor advice IMO!!!!!! Haha! So its a shame as I think Jon is great and wish him all the successes in the world but the best thing I can do for me!

Hey Jeff,

I here you with the last paragraph, not read all of it as Jon's thread advances by about two pages every time I click on it but better to take the higher ground than get into a flame war, trust me I've been in enough online.

160 miles? damn. Not trains near you kid, what's your routine look like now? Don't think you will be grinding too much either, but best of luck with your new job, don't forgot to bring cakes on the first day for everyone.

Yeah Harv that's what I think! I know Jon is clued up anyway so he will make the right choices in the long run!

Yeah I had a quick look into the train but you have to change so it takes abt 3 hours total each way!! It's only short term tho so shudnt be too bad!

On another note I really hope this staking thing with donkmeak is some weird mistake! Will be a sick blow to the community and an even sicker blow to Jon who seems like one of those guys who will do anything for anyone! There is not many people like that left out there!

Hey man gutted you stopped replying tbh, hope you can just forgive and forget and help me out ...... im the only one being punished by you not posting bro and i need all the help i can get. Sometimes you just gotta shrug your shoulders and ignore something you didnt like. PLS get posting again.

Anyways congrats on your journey of the month in Feb. PM me your details and ill get some merch shipped out to you. Now the decision of who is stickied up top in March is up to you! Pick wisely!

Yeah no doubt I will not be able to resist chirping in Jon I will just let the dust settle as they say

What about this one:

https://www.pokervip.com/en/forum/my-poker-journey/dealing-with-dealing-and-playing-poker-on-the-side?page=8#54f5f00ca525114a318b4751

I think that dust settled a very long time ago!

Ok i have left a message for Ed and hopefully he will take up the challenge.

Hello people! Thought I would like to try and resurrect this journey and make a new start!

I haven't played online at all the last few months after giving the staking a shot and it really not working out! I really underestimated the commitment of the staking and quickly found it was not something I could really manage/give my all too! But I really don't want to dwell on it and see if I can start afresh!

If you read back on this blog a page or so you can see that I started a new job in March this year which meant re-locating etc so the last 8 months has been super stressful! But things are now on the up as I love the job and have just bought a brand new house in my new location of the Scottish borders! I still have not sold my old property in Newcastle yet so still a bit stressed but fingers crossed that will go soon!

I have just created an account on Party Poker! It is a site I have never played before but the deal looks good and love the new no hud rule etc so hope to make a new start! I am gonna start at 10nl and see how it goes! I will just be playing 'casually' due to other commitments etc but hope to still make a slow and steady profit and more importantly learn and enjoy it!

oioi good to have you back and will look forward to this. Party is an interesting choice now the HUDs have gone!

Thanks Jon much appreciated! Yeah I have never been a big hud guy anyway only started using them in the last year or so and never really made the most of it! I think poker is heading in the right direction with these changes accross multiple sites and think it will really boost the overall economy!

ah yes ofc you was on Sky at the beginning right?

Yes most of my time on VIP has been with Sky! Only quit coz of the changes in RB system! I have dabbled a bit with Ipoker too but never enough to build up a decent enough size DB so only used very basic stats!

I also want to play a decent amount of MTT's this time around so Party seems like a good mix! I have always done reasonably well in the limited MTT's I have played so really want to start and take them a bit more seriously!

Hi guys sorry for the pathetic lack of updates

I have been super busy the last few weeks and have been away from home every weekend! So I have done next to zero grinding! I am all set up on Party though and even managed to work out that although there is no huds on Party I can still upload hands to PT4 for graphs etc! I could not get it to let me view hands individually in PT4 though if anybody could help if it is even possible?

Anyway will post some graphs etc when I have a half meaningful amount of hands! Roll is currently at $250 and the plan is to play 10nl and try and increase to $500 then take shots at 25nl! There is also some great looking value in the tournies on Party so Im determined to start playing them and taking them a bit more seriously as I find tournaments really enjoyable!

AFAIK the tracking for individual hands will be blocked from the PT4 and HM2 side as they have to keep up with the new rules for each site. So basically i think you can get the numbers just not the reviews. This is essentially what Party aimed to do so yeh i think thats the case.

Think the roll targets look solid and should be well achievable. Some will say about having more roll for the shots etc but i think stick to it and make it happen!

Yeah thought that would be the case! No biggie!

Yeah I know in general people wud advise at least 30 bi to take shots but I'd rather do it aggressively and drop back if need be! Initial deposit was only small so wudnt really bother me if I busted the lot tbh!

I hav been away from home again this weekend so no grinding unfortunately! Living away from family at this time of year means a lot of travelling back home to see people and attend things but needs must!

I did play the $5 Jab last night on Party just on my phone while watching X factor! Think there was about 2.2k runners and I finished about 180th to triple my buyin! Only played 2 tournies on Party and gone deep in both! I've just read an ICM article and really gonna put some time in on Tournies coz I think the value is so much better than cash and I actually really enjoy them!

I've been following the market place threads and think it is a great idea! So I'm gonna try and build up a half decent record then maybe dip my toe in the market place

Tournaments do indeed taste better when you win money from, but always keep in mind that variance is higher and u might commit to play more hours than you should/Could.

If you get in the market place i will check the threads.
Good lucks in your future ventures!

Thanks buddy I am by no means planning to switch to tourneys altogether just play a higher percentage of them and take them a bit more seriously!