Having decided a few months ago that the way to regular profit was through playing high volume sit-and-gos, I have turned my Stars SNG stats from -$600 to over $2000. So I'm pretty pleased. And a much better SNG player than I was 1000 games ago.

But now I'm stuck with the problem of making future forecasts for my profit and constantly checking my Sharkscope stats to see how I'm doing. I'll play a couple of SNGs, check my stats, play a couple more, check them again and so on. And I sit checking all the sub-categories too, like how much i make from six-max games, how much i make on a monday, how much i make per month. I've become totally obsessed. So how do I stop this craze? Or maybe I shouldn't. Maybe it's the best thing to do being as it keeps me focused on the task at hand.

Of course, as soon as I hit a downswing I probably won't check it from one week to the next. Such is poker - when you're doing well you love finding out just how well. And when you're not, it's not worth bothering with.

Online poker isn't a hobby, it's a way of life... Read more

Moving into the digital age has been an easy transition Read more

I recently returned from my first trip to Las Vegas. It was fantastic and I can't stress how much you'll love it if you love poker. I didn't really know what to expect in terms of playing standards or my own success, but it was a mixed bag in both respects.

After a decent start - $700 up after the first two nights – I was brought back down to earth with a bump the next day losing $500 in a NLHE cash game in the Rio after losing a pot worth over $1,000 when some doddery old fool rivered a flush after I'd made a set on the turn.

I then played a couple of biggish tourneys – a $200 affair in Binion's Horseshoe and $540 Venetian deep-stack – both of which were excellent, affordable alternatives to the WSOP. Unfortunately, I cashed in neither (both had big starting fields) and so I blew all my original profit and more. Oh well, that's what holidays are for.

It's back to the much safer waters of the internet for me now in a bid to rebuild my bankroll and pay off my credit card. And it started last night with a $560 cash in an MTT. I guess it's easier to run over a table with the anonymity that a computer screen affords me. Whatever pays the bills...