Transient Bay

This is Transient Bay, my latest venture into racehorse ownership. Funded by my poker profits I have a five percent share. He is trained in Middleham, North Yorkshire by Phillip Kirby who is really making a name for himself and his expanding yard in 2013. If I was to compare him to a poker player it would be to Tom Middleton. Relatively unheard of until a couple of years ago this northern poker pro has had some notable wins this year, including EPT Barcelona. Like Tom, great things are expected of Phil over the next few years and hopefully I have joined the Kirby bandwagon just at the right time. Poker and horse racing certainly share the common theme that both luck and skill dictate the level of success or failure. Neither need to worry too much about the latter.

I have recently started a new blog which is the story of my journey to all the British racecourses. At the moment I have completed fifty of the fifty eight. I am recording my latest visits to new courses, such as Fontwell and Goodwood earlier this year and also reflecting on my earlier visits. Like my poker blog it exists primarily for me but if anyone else finds it of interest then that is a bonus. Check out:

 

www.alltheracecourses.blogspot.com

 

If I don't see you at the virtual poker felt then maybe see you at a racecourse sometime soon.

 

Daily Double Delight

My life and my poker are running pretty good in October. Last night I had the perfect mental setting for what became my best poker night of the year. I started playing straight after England qualified for the World Cup in Brazil next year by beating Poland 2-0. Whilst this gave me a massive mood boost my general sense of well-being is at a highpoint. We are busy at work. My daughter looks increasingly like getting into a wonderful secondary school. We are currently voting to name my latest racehorse. My family are all enjoying good health and we have just booked the holiday of a lifetime at Disneyland Florida for next year. I also recently watched my first live NFL game at Wembley Stadium. OK so I look like shit and am always tired but you can't have everything!

Anyway I played the Full Tilt daily double games, around one hundred and fifty players competing in each. My returns for my 2 x $12 investment and around three hours of my time were as follows:

$90 for 5th place in game A

$90 for 5th place in game B

$6.96 for cashing in both games

$37.14 for the best average finish in both games

$371.41 for final tabling both games

I played really well and also got good cards or won some key coin tosses when I needed to most. Just shy of $600 is a pretty good nights work and I have generally been doing well in these games and the Dirty Dozen Jackpot games in October. To keep my feet on the ground my tentative action on Pokerstars continues to be for no reward.

Good luck
Jason (Kartajana)

Fourth Quarter

In the fourth quarter of the year I am focusing on only specific games per site. Following a more random approach I have found some games I can both enjoy and exploit. In terms of the search for a Jackpot win I am dropping down to the lowest level for now, the $2 Dirty Dozen games (Four wins equals $2000). Not a life changing amount sure, but it would be great to win one and I am confident I can make a few cents per game along the way. The discipline of sticking to the same games will help with both focus and tilt control.

I recently attended the Minnesota Vikings v Pittsburgh Steelers NFL game at Wembley Stadium. In that game the Steelers were seventeen points adrift going into its final phase. Like me they needed a good fourth quarter to turn things around. They gave it a good shot, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger using all his experience to put them in with a chance. I need to do the same.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!