Wow. I can’t believe 2015 is already coming to an end. Ever-so-invaluable time, moves too quickly. Recently, I’ve been making more of an effort to be conscious of my time, energy, and where my focus lies. This year, I spent a good amount of time concentrating on my poker game, helping myself and others through coaching, and traveling the WPTDeepStacks Poker Tour (among other things.)
My hard work paid off. I played 14 of the 16 WPTDeepStacks Main Events. Below are my results for the tournaments I cashed in:
25th place out of 396 entries – $1100 – Seminole Hard Rock – Hollywood, FL
15th place out of 509 entries – C$1100 – Casino Yellowhead – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
5th place out of 131 entries – $1100 – Riverside Casino – Riverside, IA
11th place out of 228 entries – $1100 – Seminole Hard Rock – Immokalee, FL
12th place out of 379 entries – $1100 – Oceanside Casino – Oceanside, CA
23rd place out of 216 entries – $1100 – Win-River Casino – Redding, CA
37th place out of 567 entries – C$2500 – Grey Eagle Casino – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I finished the year with seven cashes, and one final table. Although it is a small sample size, and I didn’t win any of the events, I am happy that I was consistent and cashed in 50% of the main events. Hopefully I can continue to run deep in tournaments. I know that I’m going to start closing them, soon. I did win a nice consolation prize though…
My performance during Season 2 of the WPTDeepStacks tour earned me the “Player of the Year” honors. For this, I was awarded $15,000 worth of buyins to WPT events and a $5,000 DeepStacks Poker Tour (DSPT) sponsorship package to be used for the WPTDeepStacks/DeepStacks tour.
[The best thing about this package is that it doesn’t come out of prize pools during the season. It is a bonus given on behalf of DeepStacks and the WPT. I don’t know of many other poker tours that are giving away prizes like that.]
Considering I’m an ambassador for DeepStacks, I passed the $5,000 sponsorship package down to the player who finished second in the POY race, Rex Clinkscales who also had a hell of a year on the tour. Additionally, I’ll be receiving a poker table, and have a cool trophy presented to me on TV during a WPT event. My mom is excited for that, haha.
(Video about the end of the POY battle / Awarding $5k Package Announcement)
It was a great experience to travel and play for most of the season of the tour. I went to a lot of different places, met a bunch of great people, learned a ton, had a blast playing poker and representing the DeepStacks brand. My time in the poker world and with DeepStacks has been quite the journey. I’ve been able to give valuable input to the company on how things should be done from the poker side of things, and gain insight from the business/industry aspect. It has been a long adventure building a foundation, consulting with the organization, and now being the Ambassador for the overall product. Traveling the tour and getting to know the people who play our events has given me a lot of wisdom to help grow the poker circuit. I’m excited to put the new knowledge I’ve learned to good use. The WPTDeepStacks/DeepStacks poker tour will only get better!
Hard work pays off, and I’m not going to slow down anytime soon. I have many more goals for my life, as well as in the realm of poker. I’m going to win more titles, win more money, and continue to grow the game that I love. Winning the POY is a feather in the cap to end 2015.
There are times when you might not appreciate something because you are wrapped up in it. I call this the whirlwind effect. It is beneficial to frequently take a step back, and admire the effort you’ve put into something, or the accomplishments/accolades you’ve received before you take your next step.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and cheered me on during this odyssey. My family, friends, fellow players, acquaintances, strangers, and GOD. I am blessed. Thank you all so much.
