The Journey is about to begin...

To those of you that are new to my blog, I have been playing poker for 15 years. The majority of that was during my younger days and we would play a ton! I dabbled the past 3 years playing online with pretty solid success. I was a sit n go player and made some decent cash and had decent results in MTTs as well. My transition to cash has been up and down, but I haven't logged enough hands to really make any conclusions. I do beleive I am a slight loser in cash. Currently, I have a young son and another due in 2 months. If I want to play poker, I need to make the time I devote count because my time is very valuable to me and my family. My first lesson is set for March 7th. I am excited to get grinding...

Poker-wise, here is where I stand:

I have dabbled in cash, mainly $1/2 NL and sit n go tourneys up to the $77 sngs on Party Poker before they stopped allowing US-based players on their tables. I made decent money playing sngs, but I want to transition to cash. My goal is to move along the learning curve as quickly as possible with the help of my coach and start becoming a winning player. I am not looking to become rich or get myself on TV, but I am looking for a solid supplement to my income.

So, please come and visit and read my blog. This is going to be a fun journey and I have a lot of confidence that I can make the jump from being a casual, slightly losing player to a solid winning player. I think a little direction and a good coach will get me over the hump. I am really excited about it.

If my description of myself sounds at all like you, stay tuned and check in on my progress. See if I can make it happen!

February 18, 2009

I played a quick 30-40 minute session and emailed off my hand history to my new coach. I am looking forward to working with him and starting to work on my game. I think I just need a few preflop pointers and little more confidence. I need some help with my postflop thought process and want to make sure I am considering everything that I need to...I know I am very raw, but with some very focused direction I believe it will not take long for me to be a winning player.

While I wait for the response from my coach, I will not log any time at the tables. I have been away from poker for a while, so I want to get back into it with the proper guidance. Stay tuned, but the ball is rolling.

STAY TUNED!

Today is an exciting day for me. If you look at my last post, it was last year in late October. I was getting back into sngs and was just not progressing the way I wanted to. I didn't want to "gamble" and start playing over my bankroll to make decent money, but I was not getting the results I wanted. I was getting frustrated and impatient and was not giving the game the respect it deserves. That will be changing.

I have been following a prominent poker pro's blog for a few years now. Back in December of 2006 I asked him if he was accepting students. At the time he wasn't. Apparently, now he is looking to take on a few. Since my original request, I have focused on my career and had 2 kids. Well, one kid with another due in 2 months. I am lucky to have some money socked away and I forwarded him my email from 2006 asking if he would be my coach. I was excited when he offered me a slot as one of his students!!

I will be starting my NL cash career shortly...and we shall see where it goes. This blog has been a lot of fun for me and has been an excellent way for me to follow the ups and downs i have experienced in poker. I do not know if I have what it takes, but now i have someone that can help me along the learning curve. I am a very quick learner and believe if I have someone like this in my corner offering me advice and critiquing my game it will take me to a new level. This is what I have been searching for and I am excited that I have an opportunity to make my poker dreams come true.

My goal is not to become the next poker pro, but that would be awesome. I am a grounded guy that loved to play poker. I believe the structure a 9-5 provides me is something that I need. but, I would love to make an additional $2,500 per month. I have modest poker goals and ultimately I would like to travel a few times per year and play in some of these tournaments. If poker could provide me some college fund money for my two sons, vacation cash, and occasionally pay the mortgage, life would be grand!

I will be updating periodically and will let you know what the game plan is. This is the start of me trying to go from a slighlty losing cash game player to a winner. Now would be a great time to follow my experience from nobody to, well, still a nobody but with more cash in his poker account. :o)

Please, follow my blog and my progress and leave comments. This will be an interesting ride for me and it would be fun to share it.