I've been in my new job now for 4 weeks. At the moment i am really enjoying it. I work a mixture of shifts from 8am to 10.30pm 7 days a week.

Although the project is to help homeless 16-25 yr olds, the reality is most are 16-18. Some of the stuff I have come across is amazing. It makes me realise how lucky I am. Some have genuine issues as they were abused at a young age and some have just been made homeless because their parents have split up and can't afford to look after them.

The most distrubing thing though is the waiting list. We gaurentee 6 months accomodation. The theory is; within this time we give that young person the lifeskills to make sure they are never homeless again. Some spend this time to get proper counseling and psychological help, others need this time to learn about budgeting, general household tasks and finding work etc.

Anyway. Before taking this job I had to think long and hard. I've come from a background which was pressurised and focused purely around making money. At no time during my day was I worreid about other peoples feelings or even making friends. As long as I earnt my bonus, I was happy. It was also a cut throat industry where only the fittest survived. It was regular practice to get screwed over by my work colleagues and if I got one up on them even better.

However I liked this. I knew the score and simply played the game.

Now, my life is different. I am in an industry which focuses around people. Everyone at work is friendly. Most are welcoming and all talk to me in a polite, gentle manner.

This is improving my personal life a lot too. Instead of coming home in a bad mood, stressed and spending the evening worrying and planning the following day, I now arrive home relaxed and content.

And the best bit of all, for the first time in ten years i am now working 40 hours per week and not 80! This has had a massive effect on my life. I'm starting to walk the dogs more, eat dinner at sensible times with my wife and now have more time to do the things I want to do.

One of which is playing poker!

Before I started this job, I considered the pro's and cons. One of the plus's was the hours. Before I would leave for work around 7am, arrive home at 7pm and then work on the laptop until 11pm+. I never got time in the evening to do much and when I did I had to play cash tables as I couldn't guarentee my time.

Now I am working shifts I am able to get to the gym a few times a week which is a bonus. But best of all, and I didn't realise this fully until last night, because I sometimes finish at 10.30pm, I can now go to the casino to play poker! Even better than that, I am arriving sober!

So, last night I went with a group of mates to the casino for some food and realised that this could be the break I'm looking for. I can finish work and visit on my own during the week probably on a weekly basis.

Although I've been playing poker for years, very little has been live so this will be something new.

It could be a massive learning curve. We will have to wait and see.

Of course, because of the change of career it's also a change of salary. I'm now on far less and therefore got to take better care of my bankroll.

I'll keep ya updated on my progress. Hopefully I will play my first session this Tuesday or Wednesday, so wish me luck!

nice one.



Hows things now jimbo?

Good question Ciso-myster.



I didn’t actually finish work until about 11pm, so arrived at the casino around midnight. There were 5 tables in play. Two were still playing the later stages of the 8pm tourney; the other three were cash tables. One was a £1-£2 NLHE & Omaha (alternates every rotation), one was a £0.50-£1 NLHE and the other a £0.25-£0.50 NLHE table.



There was a seat available at the £0.50-£1 NLHE, but as I want to make the casino a regular weekly thing, I wanted to look after my money a little more and therefore decided to wait for a space at the £0.25-£0.50 NLHE table. However there was a waiting list for this, with 8 players in front of me. So I ended up 9th on the list.



So with this in mind, I half thought they might open another table. I suggested this to a guy stood next to me who also seemed to be waiting, but as he assured me, half these players are already sat down playing, so as soon as one player leaves, everyone else moves around.



So I thought I would use this time productively and decided to watch the £0.25-£0.50 table. I observed the play for around 80 minutes. The standard was shocking. There were obviously a few experienced players, but the average was happy getting all their chips in the middle on the flop with bottom pair.



After this I walked back to the waiting list. I was still 9th. It was now around 1.30am and the casino closed at 4am. I thought I could be waiting another hour, so I decided to walk off and play a little roulette instead. I was at the roulette table for around 40 minutes when they called my name over the tannoy system. I left the roulette table around £10 down.



So this was the moment I’d been waiting for. It was now around 2.15am and I was just sitting down. I instantly realised the guy to my right was the bb and the guy to my left the sb, so unless I wanted to pay to play I knew I would have to wait another rotation. I’d waited this long and couldn’t be bothered to wait any more, so I paid my 75 pence and got my cards. K9 off suit. I got 6 limpers, the flop is K23 rainbow, a couple of players bet small, I raise and take down an £8 pot. One hand played, one hand won!



Over the next hour not a lot happened. The table was very loose, and there was plenty of action. I limped a few times in position with connectors or Ace-junk suited, but folded soon after. There was some excitement in the tourney when the chip leader cut his arm after knocking his drink off the table, so there was a short delay when the casino staff ran around looking for a fist aid box.



And then came my one and only poker decision of the night. I got dealt pocket Jacks and raised it 8xbb. I got two callers which was kinda expected. The flop was 347. I bet £16 and they both call. The turn is a 9. The first guy bets and now it’s my turn. I don’t like the situation. I feel I’m in second place at least, may be even third. These guys have been winning with junk all night, but I get the impression I’m beat. I think for a while and fold. The other guy calls, the last card isn’t nothing much and it’s the showdown. One guy shows 56 for a straight, the other shows pocket nines for trips. My fold now looked pretty spot on.



So that was pretty much it. I stayed until around 3.30 and felt myself falling asleep. I had an hour drive home so decided now was the time to leave. I left the table £21 down, but got the impression I can definitely beat this game in the future.



I think I need to get to the casino around 9-9.30pm to sit down straight away, so I’ll need to look into that a bit more.



Apart from coming out down, I really enjoyed my night. Hopefully I’ll start making some money over the next few weeks.

Sorry about the lack of paragraphs. For some reason it won't let me do it!

"yum yum" opponents sounds like to me. Very Tight + Agressive will probably see you crush that kind of game.