On a Mission

Pokerstars has begun to run qualifiers for EPT Barcelona now. As time progresses, they will begin running qualifiers for the rest of the EPT events as well. Since none of my other goals are going even remotely well (more on that below) I am going to put some effort into qualifying for at least one EPT event. Since Barcelona is the first tournament this season, it is getting my immediate attention.

EPT Barcelona:
I have played three qualifiers now, two $35+3 qualifiers and one $13 rebuy qualifier. In my most recent $35+3 tournament I was able to get a ticket to the $475 direct qualifier on Saturday (thanks again to Miamivice for taking care of the dirty work at the final table). In this next qualifier, 1 in 18 get a seat for Barcelona, and Pokerstars is guaranteeing at least one of them. Does it have my name on it? I will be able to tell you on Saturday night.

I was at the innagural EPT Barcelona event back in 2004, which was the first ever EPT event played. I was there mainly for vacation, though, and so I only played one tournament, which was a €500 NL freezeout. I only lasted a few hours into the tournament. I have to admit, I wasn't very good back then, so I contributed €500 of dead money into the prize pool. I'm sure whoever won the tournament appreciated it.

Because I enjoyed Barcelona so much, I think that even if I do not qualify for the Main Event, I will still fly down to Spain for the week of the tournaments anyways, in hopes to play some side cash games and some smaller tournaments. We'll see.

Total investment Barcelona thus far: $101

Other EPT Events:
Looking through the schedule, other events that catch my eye are certainly London (September 21-24), Baden (October 7-10), Copenhagen (January 17-20 2007) and of course the Grand Finale of Monte Carlo (March 28 - April 1 2007). As soon as qualifiers begin, count me in.

July summary:
July total profits: +$56.20
I really don't know what the problem is. I just can't seem to win any money. The same decisions that made me thousands just a couple months ago are now basically just wasting my time. I have played precisely 62.3 hours of poker this month, for an hourly rate of $0.90. That's 90 cents! I could go collect soda pop cans and make 10 times more than 90 cents an hour! I am really just puzzled. It feels like I am just treading water and have been doing so since June! What's my problem?