Triumph & Disaster

Treat both of these imposter's as one and the same. The college football hero and the failed entrepreneur can be affected by similar falsehoods. One haunted by past perceived failures and the other held back by past alleged heroics. Our perception and recollection of past events, relationships and memories can impact on expected future outcomes. Choose your own adventure. We need to focus on the process and learn from our prior experiences without setting limits on our potential based on these past 'triumphs and disasters.'

What we perceive our reality to be now and what may happen in the future is a function of what we believe and the thoughts that dominate our minds eye now. It can be true that our self image is built upon some past experiences and experiments, but why do we let such past events be our crux?

I was told a story of a CEO who could not read or write. This was not in the 1930's. This CEO consoled in a single cab driver and not another person this private information only very recently. It has only been over the last 2 years, now at age 65, that he did learn to read and write. He had his assistants read memo's and type letters and reply to emails. I imagine he did this whilst looking busy at his desk with 'reading' glasses on his nose.

One of the most interesting people I met in the last week was the cab driver that told the story of this CEO to me whilst travelling from Sydney airport. He spoke vividly of how he still has dreams recollecting an earthquake in South Eastern New Zealand around 20 years ago that he had experienced. His parents main reason for moving to Christchurch after the first earthquake was because they believed or was told that Christchurch was an earthquake free zone. How things can shift.

He vividly described how initially there was little warning, only a tremor. Then 15 seconds later the World was shaking and there was no escape. Nowhere to hide and a sense of helplessness due to the inability to do anything and lack of control. There was nothing to do about the situation. He described the sound of an earthquake to be, 'like a freight train coming at you.' He later went on to say that he is going over to New Zealand to be with his family that has been affected by the recent earthquake in Christchurch.

I think we can feel like we are caught in an earthquake at times, trapped in our emotions and conscious thoughts of dramatic past events. We become prisoners of our self imposed beliefs and those imposed on us by others. We can believe that we are in an 'earthquake free zone' yet frequently tremors reappear or visions of such disasters reoccur. They then can become our reality. How things can remain.

Peking Duck Attracts Much Interest

After a month of solid volume, I shipped 6 figures in a live tournament in Adelaide. I lost two flips after doing a deal three handed. After the deal my AK lost to 10's and my AQ got re-shipped on by KJ and a King flopped. Heads up I had 20-30 bbs, but Octavian was too good and was a deserved champion. This backs up his 200k + score in the SCOOP and last years ANZPT final table 3rd place finish after getting it in with 96% equity. A special mention goes to Ian Parnell for a really well deserved run. He played exceptionally and I couldn't be happier for Ian.

By far this is my best tournament result. I was happy with my composure throughout the whole tournament. Having a lot of chips can put some people on a lesser known form of tilt. I stuck to my game plan and adjusted as necessary. I researched players the night before when tables where drawn. I tried to get a feel for how each person would react to the money jumps and if possible hands that they had played and had been reported in other live and online tournaments.

My preparation was excellent. I put in good volume over January. I won a satellite into the Aussie Millions 1st go. I played some high stakes 25-50 PLO in the Mahogany at Crown, felt comfortable but lost some. January was break even after winning a couple of mtt's online. I had to direct buy in through the Pokerstars client for Adelaide ANZPT and I stayed with friends who won packages which included Intercontinental accommodation.

Once I had the chip lead I stuck to a routine. I rested. I had breakfast by the pool and went for a massage before the start of each days play. I had never been so relaxed before a final table. I reviewed hands with my peers. I asked for advice going into the next day and integrated what was said into my view of how the game was being played. It was a big disadvantage having Octavian to my direct left on the final table, however the way the table was, we were both able to navigate without too many big clashes. I by no means played perfectly and was learning and adjusting as the tournament progressed.