I will report on the obligatory birthday mash up, but first I thought I’d outline my targets for the forthcoming year. This is not really for anyone else’s benefit but my own. I want to refer back to them during the year to see how I’m going, and if these targets are in the public domain, there is nowhere to hide.

I have a target figure from my own poker, but I’m not going to say. My target turnover is $500k and I’m confident on this one. It is unrealistic to expect to match last years ROI for two reasons. Firstly I am now playing more tables at once, so my ROI will inevitable suffer. Secondly I ran really good last year and won a disproportionately large tournament. Any positive ROI would if I can achieve that volume.

I need to work at multi tabling skills – an area I can definitely improve. Also I have found I’ve had to adapt my game as I’m playing with less table information. I hadn’t realised just how dependent my style was on reacting to table dynamics. I need to become more consistent when acting solely on cards, position and chip counts.

I’m looking forward to building up the poker backing business. It’s just difficult finding winning players. If you know any candidates then please put them in touch. So far its going really well and it’s a deal that’s certainly very beneficial to both parties. For example, we have someone running good and achieved over 10k volume last month having previously been grinding it out in $10 stt’s so MTT backing has proved seriously beneficial for him. We also want to get poker allies actively up and running to provide a forum without idiots and poor advice. Please post any tricky spots you encounter – it’s the best way to learn.

The most unlikely target to be achieved is gaining a command of the Spanish laungage. There are no excuses – we have an in house tutor in Dominique. I want to speak Spanish but a) its time consuming and I don’t have much time and b) I can’t be bothered to learn. I hope that changes but I fear it won’t.

As for the birthday party, 8 of us went for a meal and they sang happy birthday. We stayed for a few drinks afterwards on the Tauranga strand. Its perfectly adequate strip of bars and restaurants but I think I will miss the variety that London offers. Apparently the town really picks up in the summer. Should be fun.

Ps – I still suck at my chosen profession; I’m down for September . For all those that think I have it easy, I’ve been starting at 6:30. So mum, who’s in the real world now?