Didn't make it

I actually never had a chance to compete for a place because of the points system that was used to determine the 20 finalists that would be interviewed on Sunday with the 10 packages on the line.

I had seen in the web that the points would be awarded as follows: 35% Online poker skills, 25% live poker skills, 20% ambassador potential, 20% poker community.

I knew that if they followed this strictly I would not have a chance because in the first category "online poker skills", it was mentioned that the points would be based on whatever amount of play and results you had gotten on the two months that the promotion ran in Everest Poker. The problem is that I never thought that they would just ignore any other results that you had on the other important sites. So even though I am one of the best online MTT players in Spain I obtained 2 points out of 35 for not playing at their site.

If I were involved in selecting 10 players I would consider every single result they have had not only those of two months, but that was their decision and I obviously can't say anything about it because everyone was playing under the same rules.

The second category though ended up being a total joke. You would believe that to measure your live poker skills they would take a look at your live results in tournaments.... WRONG! They decided to award those 25 points based on the RESULTS of 2 Turbo Sit & Go's and a 2 hour cash game! LOL! Again, you could argue it's a fair system because everyone plays under the same rules, but it was luck basically what determined how many points you got in the Live Skills department. So in this one, again actually having won 6 live tournaments would count for nothing, while people that ran good in a couple of sits would get maximum points.

The third category was well conducted. It was an interview to measure your abilities in front of a camera which is something very important if you are going to be representing a site around the world. Actually in my opinion only having this count as 20% was too little as it's going to be a big part of the job during the year to talk to the media.

The fourth and last categoty was again pretty absurd in my opinion. Points were given according to how many everest poker players voted for you in your profile. So if you basically convinced a lot of your friends to do it you would get better marks. I can't really see why that would make you a better candidate for the package...

I guess a lot of people may believe I'm ranting because I lost, but I'm not. I'm actually happy to have seen a very good friend get picked deservedly (ENHORABUENA JAVI!). But what I do believe is that the system chosen to select had so many flaws that it was borderline absurd. Almost 45% was decided upon playing 2 sits, 60 hands of cash game and convincing your friends to vote. That's not a serious way to choose the best 10 players amongst the 200 that turned up.

As for myself, I knew I had a big handicap because it's not the site I usually play in, but I tried to make up for it composing a 30+ pages CV in which I had all my results documented along with my appearances in the media, the articles I have written, the training sites I've worked with, etc...

I was a fool to believe that they would at least take a look at it and see that I was well suited for the job, but following an absurdly designed "fair" system seemed to be more important than to try to see which were the best suited players for the job.

I will keep working hard on my game and there's no way I will be stopped by any setbacks on reaching my goals. I still plan on winning a big one day...

New Year

Well, I must say that the start of the year has not been as good as I would have liked...I've been stomach sick for the most part!

But I'm super excited because this weekend I have the chance to become a sponsored player thanks to Everest Poker's Live the Dream promotion!

The casting will take place on Saturday, when they will trim the 180 players or so that have qualified to only 20, and Sunday, when the best 10 will be chosen. I think I have a good chance, but you never know with these things, so keep your fingers crossed please!

As soon as I finally know whether I'm chosen or not I will then decide my goals for the year, and how I want to achieve them. And also what plans I have for this blog!

Happy new year to all!

Happy holidays

Last time I wrote I announced that I still had one tournament left.

The grand Final of the CEP in Alicante was everything but grand. They managed to make a worse structure with 3 days to play opposed to the usual 2, and that's something that is really hard. Props to them lol...

My tournament was absolutely awful and to cap it all off I busted when I pushed in on a 764hh flop with 55 only to get called by 55 and lose to running hearts to his 5h.

Tha last couple of days I've been thinking about the blog and how I have left it aside for the past year or so, and I think I want to start posting a little more often, although I don't know if I want it to become merely informative or adding some strategy.

My real hopes at the moment lie in the Everest Poker promotion which will take place in a couple of weeks. It would be the best possible way to start the year, and if I made it I think everything would be much easier. Even the blog would revive for sure as I would have a lot more to write about.

Well, what this post was actually about was wishing you all a very happy holidays with your family and friends, so......

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

No gain

Day 2 started off really well when I doubled up with AA vs AQo, but then I played JJ passively preflop and thought I had found a great spot on a ten-high flop vs a donk bettor which I thought had TP or a flush draw. So I got it in on the turn and as it turns out he had outplayed me with a set of 8s.

My 14 bbs remaining finally went in from from the button and I also lost that one to bust.

Next weekend is my last tournament of the year. The final of the Spanish Championship in Alicante...let's see if I can close the year on a high note!

FTPS Madrid

Yesterday I played day 1 of the best ever tournament to be played in my city.

It's Full Tilt Poker Spain Series and the buy in was 3200€.

226 players including Gus Hansen turned up, 24 will cash and 1st prize will be €200K.

The structure is insanely good. as an example I will say that it has the 250/500 level and the 350/ 700 level!

We started with 30K in chips and I'm a bit dissapointed to have just below 20K (19550), but it was an 8 hour grind where I could find no cards and no spots.

Today the first level will be 300/600, so I have just above 30 bbs left, and I'm still planning on giving a hard time to every one in my table.

I'll keep you posted

Busted 3rd level

I'm not usually a player that takes a whole lot of risks, but this time I did so and didn't come out well.

I had gone down to 15K from the 30K starting stack, but I managed to double up with 99 vs KK on a Q99 board, so I was playing again with 30K.

I raised to 500 in MP with QsTs (blinds 100-200) and I was called by the HJ, button and BB.

The flop was Jd9d3s. I bet 1200 and got raised to 3300 by the HJ (french player). I called.

Turn was 6s. I elected to check raise all in his 6800 bet and he quickly called with a set of 9s.

River was another 9 to give him quads and that was that.

Do you guys hate my play? Would you rather be more passive?

EPT Vilamoura

I just arrived in the hotel I'll be staying during the tournament and as usual it's pretty nice.

I play tomorrow day 1A, and I hope I can start accumulating chips early, although the structure is insanely good and with 30K stacks and blinds starting at 50-100 I think you can wait patiently for good spots.

I'm very pumped up and ready to make some noise...