And the winner is...

Firstly a apology regarding the blog. I have been very busy lately with non poker/gambling things so been unable to update the blog. I also have had flu recently over Xmas /new year but on the road to full recovery. So now the blog is back to normal.
firstly a quick update on our financial situation.

To summarise quickly we finished the year with a total balance of £17,980.00 which from a starting balance of £10,000.00 is a massive achievement.

We have made £7,980.00 in 17 weeks which is fantastic.
Certainly further ahead of where I thought we would be at this time.

Since new year there have been no poker, no bets and only a little bit of trading. Rather than add this to our balance I will add it next time.
Poker will be taking a back seat this week as busy and only a little bit of free time.
I also need to think which direction to take in the future.

I mentioned in previous blogs about changing habits and goals. Well to be honest I have become a bit down lately or to put it another way unmotivated.
The drop in prize money at local level has been of concern but also the fact that financially I reached my goal I set myself many years ago. This £ figure should with careful money management allow me to enjoy my later years with out concern, however I really wish the credit crunch would go away.

I have been so unmotivated I have only played once at local level since new year which as you all know is not like me.
However a source of inspiration came from a unlikely source this week. Someone I met recently less than a week or so ago provided a spark which was the proverbial kick up the arse I needed.
And considering they are from non poker& gambling is even more bizarre but hey ho lets go.

2008 REVIEW.

last year in the poker world was a bit of a roller coaster for myself.

The year started of really good with a first place in Brighton in the £300.00 freeze out and a 22ND in the main event which resulted in a £9,000.00 profit in the first month.

After that it seemed to get more and more frustrating on the grosvenor and gala tours. Four times I came back for day two in the main event with a really healthy chip stack (with in the top 20) only to become totally card dead and exit before the money.

However on the gala tour of which I played most events there was only one minor cash, certainly room for improvement there this year (goal number 1).

Sandwiched in between was the unexpected online win on mansion in their big deal competition. A first place in April resulted in a prize of a massive £96,000.00.
They retained a % as I play for them online with there money and also me good mate Michael Jackson received his % for his outstanding contribution.

At local level Teeside and Newcastle I struggled through out the early part of the year to make any progress and was running at a loss at Teeside until the summer and was a bit concerned.
However a good second part of the year allowed me to finish in profit for the 6Th consecutive year, so hopefully I can continue that into 2009 (another goal).

Trading activity has been the years biggest positive. With out going into any detail it is something that will increase in 2009 as the rewards out weigh the effort.


Now to our Annual awards.

Congratulations go to non other than...


James "Hollywood" Browning who has the honour of winning the first N.A.P.P.Y award.(Northeast Poker Player of the Year).

The voting numbers were very successful, thank god for face book.

I would like to thank all the 72 people who took time to vote.

I will be presenting James with his award as soon as I bump into him and hopefully will be able to get a picture posted on here.

I have decided to do the blog on a monthly basis as it is very time consuming, however a update will occur if there are any major happenings in the crazy world of poker and gambling.
If I travel for instance I will update on my return.
This will help as the blog will not become repetitive and stale.

The first festival I have my eye on is not until the end of February in Walsall but I am constantly keeping my eyes open for opportunities.

Well time is of the essence so until next time (first week in Feb) .

L8