what you don't know about me

To those of you who don't know me, here's a bit of my poker bio to get you started. I'll try to keep it brief.

I don't like to call myself a part of the Moneymaker era, but I found poker along with many guys after his groundbreaking win in the 2003 WSOP. My first time playing in a serious NL holdem game I cleaned up and busted almost every player in the game (it was a cash game). It was only $350, but to a high school senior that was alot of money! I kept playing regularly with those players and by the time I entered college in 2004 I had won more money playing poker then I had working my part time job.

I started making my first online deposits in late 2004 when I finally opened my own checking account. I was the traditional deposit $50, lose it, deposit $50, run it up and lose it player, but I always had money from home games so I was always up money overall. Near the end of 04, beginning of 05 I started finally reading strategy articles online and watching other players play. I was amazed at how they played the game, as up until this point I really did nothing besides playing the cards (amazing how successful that is verses weak players). My game took off in 2005, but I found a love for Omaha Eight or Better, and spent most of my time learning this out-of-the-limelight game.

I left college in 2005 for a handful of reasons; a big reason being my disdain for my major and for studying, but secretly I had a love of poker and a dream of making it big. I had success online for the end of 2005, but I really had no motivation or direction to my play. That would be a major theme throughout 2006, but although I tried my hardest, I couldn't sabotage my plans.

I spent 2006 trying to focus on my cash game play, specifically no limit holdem. It lasted a whole 3 weeks before I was spending more time jacking off then I was playing poker. By May my bankroll was sitting around 100k, and I made my first trip to the Bahamas to play in the Conquest of Paradise. I played well, though I didn't cash, but it was my first experience in a big live event - I loved it.

In July I won the Pokerstars Sunday Million for $147,000. I hadn't been playing many MTTs at all, so it was pretty huge for me. I also crossed my goal for the year which was $250,000 in winnings. July I finally knew that I could really put poker into a lasting career. I just had to put in the effort and the rewards were paying out in spades.

Unfortunately, that's not what I did for the rest of the year. My play was marked by inconsistency, and I just flat out wasn't putting in the time or effort. The only thing of note in the 2nd half of 2006 was my first WPT cash at the North American Poker Championships in Niagara Falls.

My best experiences from 06 were on the road playing on the circuit, so I took that and decided to spend 2007 traveling and playing on the circuit. My bankroll going into 2007 is $150,000 (not including my investment accounts). While I know it's not alot, especially for someone traveling the on the circuit, I'm going to see what I can do. I'll be playing events, but I'll also be playing cash games online on my laptop. I hope that the online cash winnings will be able to smooth out the swings of big live MTTs.

I'm definitely jumping into this. It's a long fall, so hopefully I'll be able to fly.

- later

Intro

Over the course of 2007 I plan on using this blog to write about my travels on the poker circuit. I plan on spending most of my time this year on the road, so hopefully I have some interesting experiences to write about.

You should be able to find many different things in this blog, including stories, event recaps, results, pictures, and maybe even a video or two. On the right hand side I'm listing my travel plans, so you can follow where I'm at, and where I'm going.

My first stop on the circuit is going to be in the Bahamas, for the yearly PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. I was at the Atlantis last year, so I should be comfortable sitting in paradise, no matter what happens.