Malta Mindset

In the time since I last blogged, I've been living it up over in sunny Malta. My buddy Jack kindly offered for me to come stay with him and his brother, Louis, for a couple months - so I thought I'd come check it out.

I really didn't know what to expect when I came here. But it's been a really awesome experience - and I'm glad I came. There are two sides to Malta: the quiet, laid-back place, where you can chill by the water, watching the world go by; and the high-tempo, non-stop party island.

It's fair to say that I've seen quite a bit of both. My introduction to team Scandi has led to some pretty sick - and definitely high-octane - nights in Paceville, the party hotspot in Malta. I've been staying in St Julians, just up the hill from the tranquil Balluta Bay.

Away from the partying, the scenic highlight would have to be the trip I took to Blue Lagoon with my brother and his wife, when they came to visit the other week. It's simply stunning:

As well as enjoying the many delights of Malta, I have been focusing very hard on my poker. I recently started working with a mindset coach, who has helped me a ton as I worked from some issues that were affecting my game and my results. Over the past month or so I've been extremely motivated and back to playing close to my best poker. I'm working particularly hard on my NLHE MTT game and studying a lot with some really great players - so expecting some big things in the near future. As always, still love playing the Omaha games too and pretty excited for the big SCOOP tournaments next week. I hit a $30k score in one last year when I came 3rd in the $2k SCOOP but would love to go all the win and win a title this time around.

This weekend I'll be flying back to Scotland and it will be great to be back for a night out in Edinburgh and then a few days back home with the folks - nothing in the world can beat a bit of Mum's home cooking. Then it's off to Vegas for the World Series. So much happening in the next couple of months, really excited to see where it goes...

The pursuit of happiness

It's been far too long since I've done this. I used to write all the time - and then I stopped - and now I'm back.

As a male of the species, I'm probably not always the best at expressing myself - and my job (I've been a professional poker player for the past three and a bit years) probably doesn't help in that sense, as it's a very individual thing.

I think my best ways of expressing my thoughts and feelings are through music, writing and talking to friends. I feel incredibly fortunate that I have a lot of good people in my life - that love me and care about me. They want me to be happy, just as much as I want to be happy.

So I guess the key subject of this particular piece of writing, is happiness. And, since this is a personal piece of writing, my happiness. Do I feel happy? Sometimes, yes. I'm naturally an incredibly positive person - I almost always try to look at the positives and believe in the power of positive thinking. but it's difficult. The last six months have been the hardest of my life. This time last year I was probably the happiest I had ever been. I was living in a beautiful house in Edinburgh; I was crushing at poker; and I had an amazing girlfriend. Fast forward a year and that's all changed: for one reason or another, I can no longer say any of these things.

The last few months of 2012 were incredibly difficult for me; I felt depressed and lonely, especially when I was on my own. Fortunately, I had some great friends and family around me - to help keep me strong and put a smile on my face. And that's what I miss most - that feeling of being happy. I guess, as humans, we're guilty of taking things for granted. Once your life gets to a stage where it feels that good, you expect it will always be that good. And when that changes and you know longer have that feeling, it's incredibly difficult.

In some ways, I'm an incredibly strong person. The nature of my job demands that - 99% of people could never last three months doing poker for a living, let alone three years. You need thick skin - dedication, discipline, commitment, stamina, patience and skill. Just like any sport, you have to work extremely hard and continually be willing to work on your game - but even then there is no guarantee of success. Poker is a game of skill - but also a game which has a high degree of variance. This can lead to some big downswings - and it just so happens that I am experiencing my biggest ever one right now. Sucks, huh?

But that's life - you have to take the good with the bad; the highs with the lows. 'Nobody said it was easy' - Chris Martin was definitely right about that. But life goes on, things change and you have to accept that things may never be the same again. For better or for worse, that's just how it is.

Travelling is my escape; it's my 'go-to'; my getaway. Maybe it's running away from one's problems - or maybe it's just incredibly fun and mind-blowing to go and see new places, experience different cultures and meet amazing new people. I love it - and I feel truly fortunate that I have been to so many wonderful places so far in my life. But I made it happen. My commitment to poker and my hard work has enabled me to go to these places and have these experiences. Some of the people I have met will be friends for the rest of my life.

All I want is to be happy, successful, prosperous and healthy; to make people smile and want to pat me on the back and say: 'man, fucking good job - we're so proud of you.' There's nothing better in life than to make other people feel good. That's one thing I miss about being in a relationship - that feeling of being so valuable to another person, how happy you can make them and the positive influence you can have on their life.

Ever since I started playing poker professionally, people have challenged me or questioned me about it. I fully understand that; it's quite difficult for non poker people to fully comprehend it. I guess the best comparison may be to an investor in volatile markets, such as stocks and shares; it's all about risk vs reward. Would I recommend it to someone as a profession? Well, maybe not; not only do you have to be talented at the game, you require a huge amount of mental toughness. Like finance, it's an incredibly competitive environment; and like my ex-girlfriend used to say: 'there's too many professional poker players!'

Whatever I do, I just want people to support me. I want my friends, my family - the people that matter to me - to get behind me and back me 100%. I'm thinking of going back to university and doing a course in  economics and finance - I'm thinking about my future. My heart lies with poker, but my head tells me I should probably go back and study - gain more knowledge, forge new interests and open up new opportunities for myself. Poker will always play a big part in my life - but there's other things out there too.

Just as the last six months have been the hardest of my life, the next six months could be the most important of my life. I need to be calm, focused and rational in my decision-making and set myself on the right path.

So to anyone who reads this and cares about me, I hope you'll help me on this path and support me in everything I do. How can you do that? Encourage me to work out, eat well, get enough sleep, talk to people (don't keep things to yourself), have fun, work hard, stay focused, keep believing and never, ever give up.

I will find happiness again.

#justdoit   #impossibleisnothing

The life and times of a poker pro

Hey, guys. It's been a very busy couple of months...lots to update!

At the start of June I flew out to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a holiday with my girlfriend - it was our first time there and we had an amazing trip - really beautiful place.

It was great to spend some time relaxing on the beach and totally unwinding after a hectic six months online - and a nice way to celebrate my success in SCOOP. I also got to try out parasailing, which was super cool...nice warm-up for a potential sky dive sometime in the future!

Apres Mexico, it was time to head back out to Sin City. First stop was the Vdara hotel, City Centre, which was my home for 25 nights.

The first few nights were really nice as my girlfriend was there and we went shopping, had great food, went to a Cirque du Soleil show and clubbing with friends. After my girlfriend flew back to Europe, it was time to get down to the serious business of playing poker. It turned out to be a mixed Series - the tournaments were frustrating but I made up for it by doing well in the cash games.

Since I got back I have moved into a new flat in Edinburgh and got back into the swing of playing online. I also took a trip out to Zurich, where my girlfriend is now living - so it was great to spend some time out there with her. I even managed two final tables in my Sunday grind out there. Here's a pic to give you idea of how Zurich looks.

I have now started listing as a poker coach on 2+2 and anyone interested should check this out and contact me: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/187/tournament-sng-poker-coach-listings/mtt-sng-coaching-omaha-hold-em-giffordonian-1221518/

I am also selling action for my largest ever online MTT package so far - it starts Monday: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/163/staking-selling-shares-online/giffordonian-stars-com-stars-fr-one-week-package-all-action-99-97-opr-1227093/

Sunday is my birthday so I'll be celebrating with friends Saturday night and then hitting the tables Sunday afternoon.

Poker Stars SCOOP 2012

And so the annual SCOOP championships on Poker Stars reached its conclusion this past week. Although I played a relatively light schedule, it turned out to be a really successful series for me. I made two final tables - taking 5th in the $109 1r1a PLO turbo and 3rd in the $2100 NLO8 - and had a number of other deep runs.

My recent success underlines the importance of remaining positive even when things aren't going your way. I was actually in the midst of a downswing until SCOOP came around - now my MTT stats are the best they've ever been. I'm ranked inside the top 500 (from over 1 million players).

The online grind will take a back seat soon. I'm flying out to Vegas, then on to Mexico for a beach holiday with my girlfriend, before returning to LV to hit up some tournaments. It will be great to go back to one of my favourite cities in the world - but definitely need that beach time first!

I will leave you with my new MTT stats (next stop 99.99%!!!)

It feels like a good time to make a comeback on the blogging scene. 2012 has been an exciting year and a lot has been going on. At the outset of the year I set myself a lofty goal of making $100,000 - I feel like it's good to have goals to work towards and to set high standards.

January was a great month. In the space of a week I had three $6k+ MTT scores - getting 2012 off to a flying start! Bearing in mind that I sell a lot of my action, I didn't get to reap the full rewards of these profits but still enough to make it - by far - the best month of my poker career. I also had the satisfaction of knowing that I had made my friends and investors a lot of money too.

My MTT results have been improving all the time and I think that's in no small part down to the fact that I've worked really hard on my game, putting in a ton of hours playing tournaments. I've also spent a lot of time discussing hands/strategy, etc with my buddies in our Skype group. We have a select group of pro and semi-pro players, who are all working together to improve their games and it's just nice to have people to talk to and share things with as poker can be a stressful and challenging enterprise. My top five MTT results have all come in 2012 so I know I'm heading in the right direction. The next step is to have a five figure score - I know it's only a matter of time.

The tournament scene is buzzing right now, with SCOOP.fr and Winamax events on going. I'm hoping to have a great couple of months before the WSOP in June. SCOOP in May will obviously be a big deal for everyone and I'm excited to see the final schedule for it. I'm also looking to get in some good volume at the cash games tables. I played 10/20 PLO8 for the first time at the weekend and enjoyed a good session. Just gotta stay focused and disciplined and the results will keep coming :)

Next week I'm off to Nottingham for the £1m guaranteed UKIPT event. I'm looking forward to playing a big live event again - it's been a while. There's a good schedule of events so will be starting up with a turbo on Thursday night, nice warm up for Day 1C on the Friday. Hopefully I'll get a big stack going and go on a hot streak.

That's it for now. Ciao folks.

Vegas - Week 1

Aight, so thought I'd write a little something here...

I've been in Vegas for almost a week now - having a pretty sweet time.

The journey here was quite daunting...all was going smoothly until JFK...it's just not a very nice place, is it? Considering it's NYC's main airport they could really do with enhancing it. I guess it's tough going there after being in Schipol, Amsterdam earlier in the day - it's infinitely better. We had a two hour delay after we boarded the plane, cos they hadn't properly loaded the fuel tank - not cool! I really didn't feel well and was relieved when we finally touched down. The view flying into Las Vegas at night is incredible - window seat ftw!

So I eventually arrived in Vegas around 3am pacific time, Monday 13th; I took a cab to the hotel, checked in at the Orleans and hit the sack.

After five hours of much needed rest, it was time  to get up - my first WSOP event was kicking off at Noon. I got some good stuff in me at the breakfast buffet, then made my way down to the Rio. It was pretty exciting to finally arrive at the venue of the world's greatest poker series! Walking down the corridors you feel a sense of history - I knew I was at a special place.

My first event was the $1500 PLO. I felt very comfortable at my table and managed to build nicely on my starting stack of 4500 - getting up to around 8000 when I busted the table's most aggressive player; my set of 6's crushing his set of 4's. I took a pretty big knock soon after though; after check-raising with the nuts on a KJ9ss flop, I picked up one caller and had to make a reluctant fold on the turn, when he shoved after the third spade arrived. Pretty sure I was drawing dead.

Around level 4 of the day (each level lasts for one hour and the blinds go up accordingly at the start of each new level) I was moved tables. I had British pro JP Kelly two to my left. I made a nice play when I trapped a dude on an A55 flop (flat calling his flop bet with my trips) and only taking the lead on the turn, when a J arrived - improving my hand to a full house. He tanked/reluctantly made the call, complimenting me on my enticing bet size.

Unfortunately I couldn't get too much going thereafter. I saw a couple flops but wasn't hitting a great deal or finding the right spots to try and outmaneuvre opponents off better hands. PLO is an intricate game, which requires a lot of thought and brings so many different hand possibilities on each street.

My run came to an end midway through level 5...after flatting in position with AJ84 double suited, I raised my opponents c-bet on a 1075dd board - he called putting me at risk. With a gutshot to go with my flush draw, I was about a 45-55 dog against his two pair - he held.

The disappointment of busting the event was negated by the feeling that I'd played well and I felt good about my prospects going forward. As it happened, my buddy Rafe Kibrit went on a sick run in the same event - eventually taking 2nd place for $181k. It was a really fun rail in the Amazon room, with Sherif, Lee, Serg (our backer) and a bunch of Rafe's friends. Heads up he was against a French guy and there was some pretty good banter between everyone and a great atmosphere. The main stage in the Amazon room is awesome - the lighting, live commentary and all the action makes for great theatre. I'm determined to make a great run this Series - it would be a great thrill to play on that grand stage.

On Thursday I played my second event - a $1500 NLHE. It was actually similar to my PLO tourney; started really solid, ran up my stack, then got chipped down a bit and eventually lost a flip (AQ-88) to bust.

Aside from the tournaments, I've been playing quite a bit of Omaha cash - and doing well. It's good to have the balance between tournaments and cash. The latter is a little less intense; I have a few drinks when I'm playing and engage with the other players. I've played some really sick hands so far - and won a couple of very nice pots (most notably with a royal flush and another where I made quad aces!).

Away from the felt, I have picked up my media pass and now have official access to the interview room - the plan is to get a couple interviews with some big name players while I'm here and write up some articles based on these for Poker Player magazine.

It's not all poker though here in Vegas. We have a huge pool at the Orleans and I like to spend some time relaxing outside, catching the rays. It's 100 degrees plus every day in LV...it's awesome but I do tend to stay inside during the hottest part of the day. Mid-late afternoon is a nice time to get out there. I'm hoping to sport a nice tan by the end of my trip.

I've also had some really good food here; my best meals so far have been Asian cuisine; we've been to a couple ace Japanse/Korean restaurants in town.

Vegas is an awesome city. The poker is great; the atmosphere is electric, the girls are gorgeous and the air is hot! I'll be playing my third WSOP event tomorrow and hope that I'll be immersed in that for the next three days. Whatever happens, I know there will be plenty of fun to be had...never a dull moment in Sin City!

Vegas 2011

Today I embark on my big trip to Vegas - for WSOP 2011!

It's going to be a huge journey. My scheduled departure from Edinburgh is @ 13.35 - first stop is Amsterdam (that is kinda the wrong way, right?!) - but at least Schipol is a cool airport. Then I have an eight hour pond-hop to JFK airport, NYC. And then - providing I successfully navigate the immigration authorities (not always an easy task!) - I will catch my third connection, to McCarren International, LV.

All being well, I should arrive in Vegas around 12.30am local time on Monday June 13th. I'll be staying at Orleans Hotel & Casino; I'm looking forward to checking out what looks like an awesome pool and fitness suite. I believe they also have some pretty sick amenities, such as an eighteen screen cinema! I'm hoping I get a room with a great view as Las Vegas is stunning by night.

Ok, time to get some breakfast and make sure I have everything I need. Hope you enjoy my Vegas blog.

Peace