Intro/Back To The Tables

Hello friends and welcome to my new blog! For awhile now I've been wanting to set up a blog chronicling my poker adventures but never really got around to it. I have been playing poker seriously since I was 17. Since then I've been able to accrue and, unfortunately, lose thousands of dollars (I'm 21 now).

Right now I'm on the ass end of the poker world, taking one of the greatest losses since I've started playing. Enduring this has been rough, especially since I don't come from much money to begin with. Building a bankroll and losing it within a week or two becomes very disheartening and demoralizing. Lately I have been questioning my skills in the game, but never have I questioned my love.

After meticulously analyzing my actions and players actions at the table I have come to the conclusion that many of my losses over this bad run has simply been due to a bad run of cards. It seems as though my good plays go unappreciated by other players while my strong hands never tend to hold up by the river. The other estimated 70% of my time spent at the tables is folding trash hands, which is not too uncommon for the regular poker player, but lately those hands have been too many too often.

I started playing online at Pokerstars. I would regularly play micro cash games and $11 dollar Sit-n-Gos trying to make something happen with my bankroll. I had many micro tourney cashes ($40-$50) and caught my biggest cash yet ($3500). Unfortunately a bank error issue and the "loophole legality," as i like to call it, of online poker has given me a difficult time transferring funds. I may go back to playing online in the winter, but my preference is brick and mortar poker. Real man-to-man poker.

I've played in many types of casinos. Being a "Michigander" I started playing live poker at the Soaring Eagle Indian Casino when I was 18. When I turned 19, I was able to go to Caesars Windsor in Canada (Just across the river for me). There, I've had a good amount of success with docile players who are too tight with their money. I was able to loosen up and make moves on many different players just because they didn't want to risk too much money in the pot and I would take it down.

When I turned 21, I flew to Vegas by myself for about 2 days to check out the town. I wanted to relax and have a good vacation break from classes, see the sights, have some drinks, meet some good people. You know do the whole "Vegas thing." Immediately after getting out of the taxi however, I found myself scoping all the poker tables in MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, and the Luxor. I didn't even check into my room till late because I was playing poker for about 8 hours. Fortunately I was able to pay for my trip.

This gave me huge confidence. I realized that poker was pretty much the same everywhere for me and that is a huge advantage. I wasn't intimidated. I wasn't scared. The players had the same moping faces and drooping eyes. The hotshots always boosted their ego with success stories at the tables and the oldies were always trying to trick you into giving more money to the pot. Pretty standard stuff.

When I returned home, I dominated some finals and dedicated the beginning of my summer to poker. Unfortunately it didn't take long before the wild players at MGM Detroit out-lucked me and took more money I was willing to spend.

So that brings me to where I'm at today. A prep cook at a restaurant 40 hours a week waiting to get a paycheck to take back to the tables and turn it into something significant. I'm a student at Grand Valley State University for fall/winter semesters and usually play online then.

Today is my first day back to the tables in a couple of weeks. I have a limited bankroll, but I remember times a few years back when I would buy in with my last 200 dollars and it wouldn't phase me one bit so it's time to stop being so cautious. My skill is good enough to grind and my skin has calloused. I'm headed back across the river, staying away from the MGM fools.

My goal tonight is to at least win enough money ($500) to join the 2-5 game in order to multiply my money quickly. I have the skill to win this game, all I need is the money.

I don't know what this blog will bring, mostly interesting poker experiences for my readers I hope, but I also expect some blow ups and rants about the bad luck in poker. Either way whether to keep my sanity or just to keep my readers entertained, this blog should be fun.