Her ability to dictate her own hours and decide when she was going to work, was something completely new to Jackie and she couldnt quite believe why she hadnt been her own boss earlier.
For me, I had pretty much always been my own boss and dictated what hours I worked and who I worked with, so I could see why Jackie fell in love with this.
Her time as a cash game player however was a roller coaster of emotion, having great days and having horrible days, was certainly a tough thing to see from such close quarter's but I also understood more than anybody that living a life with passion and following a dream is the definition of Success.
For me, Success is having a passion to follow, believing in yourself and doing everything in your means to make sure that you can follow this path for as long as possible.
Over the past 2.5 years as a tournament player has been such an amazing experience for both Jackie and I, trravelling the world together and being able to share in experiences such as Jackie's Wins along the way. Her thirst for winning has been in her blood as a young tennis player, winning a high percentage of the matches she played created a mentality to win.
In Poker, this will lead to disappointment a high percentage of the time. Jackie has had her fair share of Wins, the 6 handed at ANZPT Melbourne, The Venetian Deepstack $1K Buy-In event and recently her best Win at the 2012 Melbourne Champs Main Event. One of the biggest Wins for her from my eyes was in the 1st event of the Melbourne Champs Series, The Joe Hachem Deepstack Event where she came 2nd for $35K. Now the 2nd place or the money wasnt a big deal, but what she said to the following day was one of the best steps in her poker career. She told me she was sick of beating herself up for any result other than a Win. Great poker players win approx 1% of the events they play, so as you could see, Jackie was setting herself up for failure 99% of the time.
Funnily enough, the week she begins to think like this she goes on and Wins the Main Event. This week was an extremely important one for both of us, as we had decided that we were going to give the 2012 WSOP a miss, as it was just too expensive to go to Vegas for 6 weeks, even though Jackie had been successful there the past few years, we just had to make a decision based on trying to keep Jackie in the game long term.
Sometimes, to be successful and live the dream, you have to make sacrifices and step aside for a little while, just to keep your head above water and give yourself opportunities down the track.
Jackie has actually begun doing some copy writing for a friends website company to bring in a little stable income, to help her stay afloat during the tough times.
Living your Dream and being successful is NEVER all roses! It is full of up's and down's just like a roller coaster, but we both have decided to live a life of excitement and follow our dreams, no matter what anyone else says's!!
It's our Life, just like your Life is YOUR LIFE!! We decide to live our life the way we want and as long as we are not hurting ourselves or anyone else, we decide to stay focused and follow our dreams.
TO US, THAT IS SUCCESS RIGHT THERE!!!!
Believing in yourself and having trust in YOU, we perceive is one of the most important things in life!
After Jackie's Melbourne Champs Main Event Win, the 2012 WSOP was back on the schedule.
How quickly things can change!!
Jackie's 4th event of the series was the $3K NLH event. This event had 1300+ players and with a bracelet on offer and $750,000 the field was stacked with ALL the best online and live players in the world!
This is a great opportunity for Jackie and I to see how good she really is, up against the best in the world. What we found was pretty damn exciting. After day 1 Jackie finished with a nice healthy chip stack and feeling like she was playing great poker, which is all we have gotten her to focus on. At the end of Day 2, 30 players were left in the field and Jackie was 2nd in chips. We were really enjoying the journey and seeing her play so great in such a great field, brought so much happiness and joy to me, I pretty much could have died right there and then!!
Seeing my wife living her dream, having SOOOOOOOOOOO much fun doing it and also having the confidence in herself that she is a great player, is pretty much all I could ever ask from life!
As a Mental Game coach, seeing this in my clients brings me such an amazing feeling, but when it is your Wife, tears just begin to stream down my face! But all the time I knew, devastation was around any corner, as the closer Jackie got to winning the bracelet, the higher level of emotion she would experience if she left there without that WSOP Bracelet!
One step at a time and Jackie made her 1st WSOP Final Table, coming into the FT in approx 4th in chips. The action was fast and hard and the numbers dwindled pretty quickly, with Jackie staying out of the way and letting others players put there tournaments at risk! Pretty soon, Jackie found herself Heads Up in her very 1st FT at the WSOP, and although she was guaranteed $458,000 for 2nd, this was the toughest spot for Jackie. She has always said, she would prefer to finish 10th than 2nd, even though the money is amazing, when she is so close to the win she can taste it, it makes the devastation that much greater if she doesnt come away with the W!
Well, no fairy tale ending here, but without a shadow of a doubt, the fairy tale for Jackie and I is that she is following her dream and riding the roller coaster of life EVERYDAY!!
The win would have meant so much to Jackie as well as the obvious perks that would have come with being a WSOP Bracelet winner, but Jackie has won the biggest game of all and that is having a passion and love for something that excites every ounce of her being when she is playing poker. The joy on her face, the way she feels when she is playing poker, is something that as a husband, I HAVE to make sure we can continue for as long as possible, because seeing your wife living the life of her dreams is truly the greatest thing I could ever ask for!!
It was a tough ending to what was one of the greatest days I have ever had, Jackie ended up finishing 2nd and was completely devastated, but I know she will WIN a bracelet one day and when that day happens, we will appreciate it like you wouldnt believe.
The support Jackie received both here in Vegas and back in Australia, was overwhelming. Actually the support from all over the world, was just unbelievable!
You all made the experience that much greater and all we can do to say thank you, is to hope that YOU are also following your passion and dream, no matter what it is!!
Here are some pics from the FT and as you can see, Jackstar is certainly having fun:)
Hi Jamie & Jackie, "Great Stuff you guys" & all the very best for the future. To me, coming second in that lineup was "Awesome" Keep on Keeping On.. Ross
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