Poker: My Life Story

So it has been a long time since my last blog and I apologize for that.Just whenever I was going to do one i ended up doing something else.So this one will be long as I will interest you in my ups and downs in poker ever since i started playing.

So it all started back in winter 2004.I played some home games with a few friends and I must say i became quickly amazed with the game.So after I played these home games for about 3 months and realized one guys name was called Gus Hansen I took things a little edge further.So a few months on since I first played I seen advertisement for a site called pacific poker.I said to my dad who had taking interest in poker a bit too and I tried the play money games.So I still played the odd home game and got better as I went along, I played all the play money games online.

I kept just playing now and then for quite a long while.I did not take the game very seriously back then, I then watched the movie rounders in 2005 a loved the film.I kept playing on pacific poker just play money and I downloaded Pokerstars but never used it cause i did not like the site back then.

Then came 2006 and that is when I really got into poker.Jamie Gold a guy who was no big superstar of poker, just a guy involved with Hollywood came to wsop main event and beat over 8,000 players to win $12 million and the bracelet.That was big for me, I was a big fan of the system he used, he told the truth about his cards sometimes and lied sometimes, I don't advise doing this though and it is also harder to do now as new rules are out these days.So that whole summer i became very into poker and started playing more online, still play money and read a few articles.I like to read stuff about the game but you can't say oh now I use it, it never works like that, take the advice and use parts but everything must come from the individual.I had a lot of other stuff going on during that year cause I had exams and stuff with school so It took a bit of a back seat but I still played when I could

After i quit school in May 2007, well after a few weeks of playing my new xbox I decided I wanted more out of the game, I wanted to challenge myself and not just keep playing play money but I wanted to try something new.So still on pacific poker and the odd time Ladbrokes and Pokerstars I decided to dedicate a whole summer apart from when I was away on holiday, I decided to dedicate it to poker.So I played 11-12 hours a day for a while 8 weeks or so.I learned so much doing that and I really enjoyed putting in those amount of hours to the game as I loved poker, it can get tough playing that much but I wanted to do if for 2 things mainly
1) To improve my game
2) To see if I actually still enjoy playing it when my whole life was poker

And that was when I knew I really loved the game, after that summer I deposited some money on Pokerstars.I started playing a few sng and worked my roll up a bit.

That whole year I just gradually built my roll up, I didn't play as much as I would have liked to.So the only problem I had which I did not think anything of at the time was Bankroll Management skills.Now it still amazes me to this day how I had never heard this being mentioned, I learned very quickly though that is for sure.So with a bit of a roll built in the low stakes I wasn't really that sure what games to play so I decided to take a shot.I played the Sunday Million which is a weekly tournament on Pokerstars, the biggest weekly tournament.It was a $215 buy in event.So there I was registering really looking forward to playing.It didn't go to plan though I played poorly and my table had solid players so a quick exit.I lost a good chunk of what i built up but still had quite a lot.The money never hurt me when i lost, the only thing that hurt me was when I played badly, I am very competitive so I like to do my best and it annoys me if I don't give my best.

Over 2009 I started playing more regularly on Pokerstars and making several Final Tables and winning some.I manged to knock a Team Pokerstars Pro out of a sat, he is called Victor Ramdin and he pushed with A K suited i insta call with A A and some other guy who was down to last 200 was all in and I won the pot.

2010 has been a okay start.In the green so far this year and I have took a big break this month as I really put in hours last month.Now i rejoin the tables at $0.25/0.50

I leave you with a few tips about playing:

1) to succeed in the game you need to have a disregard for money, kind of natural thing
2) Play games with weaker opponents and you will win mostly, game selection is a big key
3) If you take the game quite serious, keep your money all in the one, don't say here is my poker money and my normal expenses, it's the same thing