I’ve been part of the poker/casino industry for close to six years now, and during that time I’ve been lucky enough to travel to some amazing destinations.  I’ve covered events in Monte Carlo, Las Vegas and all corners of the Asia Pacific.  I’ve enjoyed the experiences, the people I’ve met and the fun times I’ve had.  It’s rare to be able to find a job that you genuinely have a passion for.

That’s why it’s very hard to step back from such a job.  But unfortunately it’s not the kind of gig one can do forever.  I’m at a different stage of my life to where I was five years ago, and I’m now looking to finally settle down.  We’re moving back to Melbourne, with a little chicklet due in October, so life priorities will change.  I won’t be travelling so much that’s for sure.  I will probably stay involved, but try to pick and choose which events I travel to.  I’ll also still be involved with Poker Asia Pacific to ensure that remains the #1 poker news and information website in the region.

Spending more time at home has allowed me to get back into the grind of online poker.  For a while I’d totally removed myself from my usual heads-up grinding as it was so hard to get any action at decent stakes.  I tried Zoom Poker for a while but that was pretty disastrous, so now I think I’ve found a routine that I’m comfortable with.  I’ll play MTTs on Mondays and Thursdays which is when the bigger tournaments run, and then if I feel like playing poker on the other days then I’ll grind heads-up cash.  Hopefully that will only be in the mornings, because when I get the itch to play cash at night it usually ends with me being unable to turn the laptop off when I’m stuck!

The MTT grinding has had some mixed results.  I’ve been playing across PokerStars, 888poker and Party Poker.  I had a deep run in the Sunday Million a little while ago for a top 50 place, and have picked up a couple of small FTs here and there.  I’m definitely due for a big online score, and it frustrates me that I’ve been unable to achieve that.  I’ve never really taken MTTs seriously, and I envy the guys that can handle the brutal variance that comes with them.  I think it’s much better for me to grind cash, and take shots at MTTs as mentally I handle that a lot better.  Hopefully the big online score is just around the corner.