_ Between September 2007 and March 2011, I made my living as a poker player yet when asked what I did by strangers, I would respond ‘I’m a writer’. Curiously, since March, I have been working as a writer yet when asked the same question, I respond ‘I’m a poker player’. When I try to deconstruct this, I come to only one conclusion. While I have been very successful in poker, I am not proud of my accomplishments nor do I anticipate a good reponse from others. Now, if I had enjoyed similar success as a writer, I would be proud of that but to my own chagrin, I haven’t.

In 2005 and 2006, I wrote a 60,000 word thesis on Hermeneutic Philosophy, Psychoanalysis and Literary Theory (which has thus far been read by 3 people). In 2007, I wrote a TV Show called ‘CIRCUS’ which was commissioned by the Irish National Broadcaster. Unfortunately, three episodes into the six, the project was shelved. In 2008, I wrote a feature film called ‘Nothing Left To See’ but made no effort to get it funded or made. 2009 and 2010 were big years for me in poker so I wrote nothing in that time (apart from this blog) and instead concentrated on an altogether different type of story-telling.

Post Black Friday, I caught the writing bug again and quit full time grinding, putting in less than 15 hours a week on average in the last 9 months. My new baby is ‘ROLL’, a 4-part drama series set in Ireland. It follows the adventures of two immature young adults on the periphery of society who inadvertently become embroiled in the money laundering efforts of a criminal gang. In June, I enlisted my good friend Ray Kane to co-write the show and to date, we have created a cracking Series Bible (a scene for scene breakdown of the entire show). The plan is to get started on a pilot soon but as per my new year’s resolution, I will be putting in more hours at the tables to keep the wolf from the door. If the show gets picked up either here or in the UK, I will be giving it my 100% but until then, it will be a balance of 100 hours of poker with 80 hours of writing each month.

2012 has started brightly with a handful of solid results. Last Wednesday, I won a live satellite to the WPT Main Event (€2500). On Sunday, I took 3rd in the WPT side event (€4250). Then, on Monday, I won two online tournaments on the same night (one on PokerStars and the other on Irish Eyes) for a combined total of almost $3500. I have also had three other modestly profitable sessions on the cyberfelt.

Next week will be more of a writing week as I get started on the script for Episode 1 of ‘ROLL’. Next week, if you ask me, ‘I’m a poker player’.

 


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