Sole Survivor

It turns out planning a year of poker is one hell of an undertaking. So much so I accidentally planned a tournament on me and my girlfriend’s anniversary. She noticed this right after I told her I’d be away for five weeks split between the Caribbean and Las Vegas while she would be in the freezing cold north east of England. Cue difficult conversation and some desperate replanning. Sorry UKIPT Swansea I can’t come as it may result in my girlfriend kicking my ass. She’s a predator posing as a house pet.

Other than that little hiccup I’m getting really excited for next year. My first game as the Paddy Power Poker Sole Survivor will be the £500 Deepstack at the Dusk Till Dawn poker club in Nottingham. Not a huge buy-in but a nice warm-up and I’ve really enjoyed my trips to DTD so far. It’s also a good chance for me to use the knowledge gained from the reading I plan to do, I got three new poker books that I want to digest before my first European Poker Tour event.

I was planning to play Estrellas Poker Tour San Sebastian for €1,100 but it would involve three connections with no time to arrive early because that would overlap with the girlfriend’s birthday (it’s a good job I love her). I’ve decided that whenever I can I will get to a venue two days early to get used to the time difference, enjoy the area and generally relax and get in the right mindset before the tournament starts.

August 15-25 is one I’m really excited for — EPT Barcelona which incorporates Estrellas Poker Tour Barcelona. That’s two main events over the course of 10 days, right on the beach in sunny Spain. What’s more is that my parents and girlfriend will be on the rails cheering me on. Does it get any better? Oh wait it does, Paddy Power is covering the bill!

After that it’s the UK & Ireland Poker Tour in Newcastle followed by a trip to London for back-to-back events. The Unibet Open is followed pretty much immediately by the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour which means I’ll be in London for almost two weeks of solid poker. Bliss. GUKPT Luton closely follows and then it’s back to one of my favourite cities in the world, Dublin, for the Irish Winter Festival.

Then it gets really exciting. My girlfriend is green with jealousy over this jaunt. It starts with Dusk Till Dawn’s fifth birthday celebration. A £3,000 buy-in tournament on the Caribbean island of St Kitts. Then I’ve got five days to enjoy the islands of the Caribbean before playing in the Unibet Open St Maarten event for a €1,500 buy-in. Then I’ve got a nine-day gap before the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas and I’m very tempted to spend those nine days in Vegas testing my skills against the daily tournaments on offer. That’s five weeks spread across the Caribbean and Las Vegas playing high-stakes poker. Get busy living or get busy dying!

After that it’s Christmas and New Year’s with the family to recharge and hopefully count some winnings. Early January I’ll be playing in the Bahamas leg of the EPT. Then I’ve got a choice between EPT Deauville or EPT London. To finish the adventure I will be returning to Dublin to play in the Irish Open 2013 and passing on the mantle of Sole Survivor to whoever is strong enough to outlast the qualifiers next year.

After that I intend to play some satellites from my own bankroll to play in the WSOP 2013. That’s one hell of a year planned out and it’s got me thinking about my own expectations from this year. Before winning the Sole Survivor package I was just another poker player dreaming of making it to a final table of a major event. Now that I’ve done that I’d love to be able to secure a win at one of these events and take down a trophy. With a bit of variance on my side and some hard analysis and further improvement of my game, I’d like to hope it’s possible. Time will tell. ♠

Science teacher Ian Simpson came fourth in the Irish Open 2012 for €107,500 and, as the last paddypowerpoker.com online qualifier standing in the main event, won the Sole Survivor contest netting himself another €100,000 =- €50,000 in cash, €50,000 in tournament buy ins.