2009. A year to forget.
Gary Clarke, 29/11/09 | Print this article
This year, for me, has been most challenging. I have not cashed in a tournament this year (I shudder as I write this). Poker is a game that can flatter to deceive and it can be easy to forget the long baron periods which the game can present. I have been given such a spell this year. Even the very best go through times where winning just seems impossible. There has been times this year where I certainly felt that winning was simply a dream and not a plausible possibility.
My goals for this year were simple. To qualify and play both the Irish Open and the WSOP main event, the two grade 1 events of the poker calender. Thankfully, I achieved this (albeit in last chance saloons). However, when I reflect on my goals for 2009, I would label them as ‘woeful’. In June this year I flew out to play the main event of the WSOP knowing that waiting for me on my return would be a poker bankroll of a modest $1500. My goals for the year were achieved, congratulations Gary. Now I just had to cash in the toughest tournament of them all in order to save myself from bust.
For those who are not deeply involved in poker I must stress how important it is to keep away from situations where a large portion of your bankroll is on the line. By large I mean anything over 5%. Playing a tournament for 90% of your poker wealth is basic lunacy. Granted, i never actually had the $10,000 but I should certainly have been playing tournaments which rewarded a modest cash prize rather than $500 satellites to Vegas.
So having achieved my “goals” yet not cashing (hardly surprising), I have left myself in the poker wilderness these past few months. Much like the economy that surrounds me, now is a time of prolonged rebuilding. To make matters worse, the game has become so much tougher it’s frightening. The time and investment I have ploughed into poker education over the past few years has been as consistent as any I would challenge. Yet from all my records this year, the game has not only crept up on me but is on the verge of overtaking.
So where to from here? Unfortunately for me, I really am unsure. I could take out money from long-term deposits but that too is dangerous. My propensity to risk-take is so strong that it may be becoming a major leak. Not only am I putting myself in spots that are way beyond my means i.e. playing large buy in tournaments but almost all of my eliminations from these tournaments this year have come in unlikely circumstances. They have come at times when I have had above average chips even several times average chips. They have come in spots when I’m bluffing in pots worth 100s of big blinds. What I guess I am trying to say is, I have become reckless both on and off the felt this year.
This may come across like a moaning or bitter article but that is a far cry from the person that I am. I most note at this point that I am still a very happy person and poker is becoming a game which offers me much less emotional pain than it has done in the past. I turned 23 this month, yet I almost feel like I have been around and seen as much as anyone. Once you become accustomed to the game, there is very little that can surprise you. Some might say you become immune to losses!
For 2010, my goals are very different. I want to build and grow my bankroll. I want to play lots and lots of hours multi tabling online cash and I want to return to being the consistent winner that I was at levels from 25c/50c-$2-$4 in 2007. I want to NOT play the Irish Open and the WSOP main event and instead concentrate on playing and cashing in smaller tournaments throughout the country. But most of all i want to win money playing poker! 2009 has been a losing year and I believe I have the capabilities of being a consistent winner. I just hope for 2010 that I can prove just that.
Gary Clarke can be contacted at gary.clarke@pokerireland.ie
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