Remember When Poker Was Fun...

... well it still is to be honest :-)

I was just looking through some old screenshots and came upon the one above. This was my very first MTT win on March 19, 2010 in the $4.40 4 max 1000 capped game on Stars. I wasn't very good back then so I have no idea how I won this tournament. Well  I guess that would be luckboxing for sure because I had little skill then. 

What's the funniest thing about this is how excited I was to win $640. Now I bitch and moan if that's all I win in a tournament, and unfortunately with only being able to play on the remaining US facing sites $640 is often 1st and 2nd place money in so many of the tournaments available. So I guess this is the part that's no fun really.  

Poker is just so much more stressful now for several reasons. First not having the big field MTTs that we had on PokerStars or Full Tilt makes the payouts so small it's very hard to win any significant money. Second playing the same real good regs in almost every game is extremely tough. Third playing for my only source of income (well household secondary income to be honest), especially in the current US conditions, is very stressful. So while I still enjoy playing and wouldn't give it up for anything it's just not the fun past-time that it used to be. 

There are some positives to the current situation though. I've had to really work much harder on my game than I ever would have if I were still playing on PokerStars, as I'm sure I've said previously, but all in all poker was just way more fun on Stars and Full Tilt.

On a different, but somewhat similar note, I'm contemplating spending a few weeks in Rosarito, MX playing back on Stars and the soon to relaunch Full Tilt. I don't have enough details to make a decision right now but it is currently an option. It would be so much fun and a great experience, not to mention an opportunity to make much more significant money. Some of the people going are really great players and it would be a great opportunity to learn from some the best, which makes it even more enticing. 

Hoping to finally have a good weekend, especially a good Sunday, this time so I have my fingers crossed. Making lots of money is always fun.