"Form" that mystical intangible that rules poker players’ lives. Forms give it and forms take it away. When we're in form the worlds all rainbows and lollypops, when we're not, every day looks like a scene from Se7en.
Over dramatic? Definitely, but every player will know what I mean. When we're out of form we grasp for any sign that a downswing might be about to turn. If we win a race or fade a flushdraw, book the smallest win or cash, we think maybe just maybe the tide has turned and we're on the up. It's all very irrational I know but it is what it is.
This year has been pretty shit one for me. Most of it my own doing, I simply don't play enough these days. A run of bad results over 15 tournaments probably means a whole year for me, for many that's a bad night.
I've been grasping for a bit of form all year, a morsel of that intangible that gets me feeling I'm not dead money. Truthfully I had totally written off 2012 and my illogical thought process told me 2013 would be immeasurably better. With this in mind it was nice to find a little form last weekend.
On Thursday, Ciaran rang me and asked me to play the WPT satellite on Boyles as he expected an overlay. Only Twelve players and one seat but I ran pretty well and won it handy. Now when things are going well winning that wouldn't even register, but when they're not you start thinking, hmmm maybe just maybe a bit of form.
The slight optimism continued into the weekend when again I ran pretty well chopping (taking Trophy and 4k) the Macau Winter Festival. The tournament is not the touch it once was. I won it in 2005 getting 20k and it's boasted prize pools of well in excess of 100k for a few years. These days the event is reduced to a €350 entry 15k guarantee total prize pool (which it didn't quiet reach). Still it made for my most enjoyable drive home in a while.
I played no better or worse then I have in any event for the last six months, I just found that bit of "form".
Shout outs to my roomy and regular travel companion Ian 'Bops' Rohan who clocked another final table appearance finishing an unlucky 4th, and Limericks Jamie 'Jamfly' Flynn who put in a determined title defence too finish third.
