Busy, stressful, ultimately successful month

Well, maybe not that busy. In fact by most peoples standards I was downright near comatose! Stressful is true. Midway through the month I was checking my bank account expecting to see my gov't monies from my new claim there.....NOT THERE. Looked again and actually they had shipped my cheque but only 15% the amount I was expecting! Needless to say, panic ensued and a few phone calls later I was not very assured about the prospect of being reimbursed at the proper rate. I was caught in a technical and bureaucratic mess created by my former employers inability to fill out my paperwork properly! It took a week and quite a bit of pleading and arguing my case before everyone saw and sorted out the error. All is now good on that front for some time.

On the poker front, I am doing well...I played one week of the 6.50s x45s to help prove myself to my backer; (who seems like a good guy albeit maybe a bit quiet at times when I want some feedback).... Over 210 s@gs I had about a 16% ROI. I'm still proving out at 12x45's and with very similar results....356 games played with a 15% ROI. My volume is still not where I want it to be at only about 20 sit and gos/day. I expect to move up soon to either $16x18's or $27x45's. The reason to go to the 18 mans is about volume. They just go off much more frequently than the 45's and as I move higher that could become a problem. So, I want to get some experience at this level now rather than take a step back later.

Some people close to me have wondered why I have bothered being backed when I have the bankroll for the stakes I'm playing right now. My answer is that it is for mental reasons. It is true I could do this without backing. But mentally to keep on track and not get sidetracked I have found this experiment really worthwhile. I can play without worry and my inner br nit has been kept mostly at bay. And ultimately I want to play outside my own br in the near future...this gives me the confidence that I will be moving up soon without the worries of bankroll. I am also concerned I may have to at some point raid my bankroll for real life at some point again soon before it is suitably built up. Having backing now alleviates a lot of that pressure.

I listened to most of the live audiocast of the WSOP ME final table earlier this month. It was a crazy final table and the bad beats were more plentiful than expected. Ultimately those beats and coolers decided the chamipionship which was disappointing from that perspective, but from an entertainment point of view it made for great drama. While Moon played some questionable poker to get to heads up and at one point was reported to be nodding off at the final table....I thought he was surprisingly good against the HU specialist Cada until the end when he made a very questionable call with QJs. The funny thing is that he was correct in his assessment that Cada had a smaller pair, but flipping for $3 million dollars at that point was not a good choice.