We’re finally here. My Grading finished where it began, on a nice session of runbad, but considering my start, I’m proud to be here at the end. The week ended with London Live, a triumph of an event that seemed to be enjoyed by all. A well-structured event with a buy-in that sends no one broke but offers bonuses equalling a serious amount of change in anyone’s pocket? They could be on to something there. Luckily, for more players than people will realise, Channing rungood ensured the event was not won by anyone eligible for the top bonuses meaning similar events are much more likely to be put on in the future.

So, that’s it, all done. The last hands have been played and all of my hand histories have been zipped up and are winging their way to Black Belt HQ.

TWTGTW? Not one of the latest Poker Tracker stats, but older readers may know what I am on about…

Thinking back to before the Grading Selection (doesn't that seem a long time ago!), I had got to a stage where I wanted to take my game to the next level but knew I didn't have the bankroll to have a serious crack at it. I was therefore looking for two things: firstly, a possibility to become a funded player, and, secondly, a forum where I could exchange views with my peers. When I discovered Black Belt Poker, I was delighted to find both these objectives were more than met.  

Well it's the last week of Grading and I have enjoyed all the workshops and meeting all my fellow Graders. I knew coming into this I probably wouldn't be able to do the hours but I wanted to try and see what I would gain from the experience anyway. The thing is I was playing poker the whole time during the Grading, just couldn't do the levels that were required of me because of my current financial situation at home.  Living on benefits and having a husband who is on Statutory Sick Pay from work is not a fun way to live but that's what we've been doing since October. I've hated not being able to do the hours but didn't want to quit because I've loved learning so much during the workshops and reading the boards and contributing. I think if I would've had the bankroll to do the hours I would've been in with a shot because I've done all the required work in all the areas of commitment and contribution, etc and, like I said, I've played poker almost every night for at least four to five hours a night during the whole process, just not at the levels I'm supposed to. So, hopefully there will be another Grading in the future for another chance.  

The final Grading week has dawned and I have mixed feelings.   

Well… things have taken a turn. I had a pretty smooth five weeks and had no big downswings to speak of. Week Six has been different. I have 100 percent done my balls in the past three nights. On the wrong end of a lot of coolers and my timing is a bit off as a result. Part of me wants to take a day off and clear my head, but that isn’t an option with Black Belt London Live this weekend so I’m going to have to change approach tonight. My image is fairly cultivated so I figure I can try and grind a pretty low variance style and still get paid in spots so I’m going to resort to that. Fingers are crossed for some run good. My graph looks like it died.
 
On a plus side, really looking forward to the tournament this weekend. It’ll be nice to get back to playing live which I haven’t had the chance to do over the past few weeks. While I love the handiness of online poker, I just prefer live poker. I started playing live before making the transition to online, and the novelty value has not, and I hope never will, worn off. Field looks pretty tough as well, and the fact we start relatively deep means we get to have some good times and set up some fun plays. Pretty sure my girlfriend has forgotten what I look like over the past six weeks, so I think I will take a well deserved night off on Monday… maybe.

As the Grading draws to a close, I have to say what a valuable experience it's been. I've met a lot of nice people, and learned a lot about poker and myself. I think the workshops were really great, everybody was involved, and my only complaint would be there weren’t more, as I think they got better and better as the weeks wore on and we all got to know each other.

… I did it my way. :-)

I truly think I have been looking forward to this week more than Christmas or birthdays!