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Gambling Related Essays and Reports by Andrew W Scott


2008 Wrap Up (The Long Run - Part 3)

December 11th 2008

Reprinted courtesy Bluff Australasia and Andrew W Scott

Being on the professional poker tournament circuit may seem to the uninitiated to be an endless round of free parties, huge prizes, media attention, exotic locations and beautiful people. And to a certain extent it is. But the tour also can be an exhausting run of long-haul international travel, a roller-coaster of emotional bad beats and lucky breaks, incredibly expensive, mentally sapping leading to bad poker play, and even downright lonely at times.

To keep on top of everything and be successful in the long run, pro players need a great amount of discipline and self-control. They need to be honest with themselves about what is working for them and what is not. In my 22 years of advantage play, I've constantly and objectively assessed and re-assessed my play, focusing on keeping what's good and changing what's not. A natural time to do that is the holiday season. Each year around Christmas I examine my tangible financial results and other intangible factors in order to make changes or focus on new areas - the aim being that each year is better than the last. In that spirit, here's a brief look at my 2008 on the tour.

In 2008 I played 65 live poker tournaments. That included the Aussie Millions, twenty events at the WSOP, all the main events and all bar one of the High Roller events at the APPT, and a few other smaller events. 65 tournaments is not enough - I must try to play more next year. My total investment in those 65 tournaments was US$152,504 (I always think in USD for my tournament poker play). My total return on that investment was US$281,462, a return on investment of 85%. That's not bad, especially considering it was my first full year of major tournament poker play and I'm still learning the ropes and developing my own individual style. My profit of US$128,958 was fairly heavily eaten into by travel expenses - I've travelled internationally about once a month in 2008 and spent about 200 nights of the year in hotel rooms. So one lesson of 2008 to take home is either find a way to get the travel expenses down or play more tournaments with the same amount of travel.

Some other highlights and lowlights of the year:

Best result: Coming second in the APPT Macau High Rollers event, on my "home turf".

Quickest result: Busted out of a tournament on the very first hand. At this year's World Series in a short-stacked event my KK ran into JJ on a Jack-high flop. I only have myself to blame, most of the money went in on the flop and I felt pot-committed by the time I realised I was in trouble.

Best party: The Pokerstars party at the end of the World Series in Las Vegas in July. Five hours of top-shelf drunken debauchery and fuzzy memories, totally funded by our good friends at the world's biggest online cardroom!

Best plane flight: Cathay Pacific first class Hong Kong to LA. Gorgeous flight attendant: "Mr Scott, we've landed, it's time to disembark". Me: "Please, no, let me stay, can't I just live on this plane forever?"

Worst plane flight: Stuck on the tarmac at JFK airport in New York for 2.5 hours, before finally taking the 35 minute flight to Boston. In cattle class and they ran out of water. Suffice to say I caught the train back!

Luckiest break: A WSOP event in which 126 made the money. Right on the bubble with 127 left in the hunt, my KK runs into AA. It all goes in there pre-flop. I hit a miracle two-outer King on the river. There is a God, after all!

Worst beat: That's a tough one. Two contenders. Beat 1: Losing more than half my big stack on the third last hand of day 1 of the APPT Sydney main event with AK suited on a (7-7-K)-K-9 board that ran into pocket 7s for flopped quads. Beat 2: Got it all in there pre-flop very deep in a WSOP event as second chip leader with AA against the chip leader's JJ. The board ran out (5-8-9)-7-T. If I had won that one it was final table for sure, and a genuinely serious shot at a WSOP bracelet.

Most surreal moment: Playing a crucially intense hand at the WSOP main event against a man staring me down wearing a piano keyboard tie over a T-shirt that (quite accurately) read "Old Bastard", with fluro orange braces and bright green hair in a mohawk style!

Most glamorous moment: Cruising around Vegas for hours in a super-stretch limo, sipping champagne with a bunch of girls far too gorgeous for me! Most unglamorous moment: Losing a $5,000 chip down the toilet in my hotel room and having to retrieve it! Have a great Christmas and New Year, and I'll see you at the Aussie Millions in January. And remember, always do what's best in the long run…

© 2008 Andrew W Scott

 


 

 

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