OK, i posted a small reply previously in this thread, but im in the mood for a long winded answer, so here goes.
Along with Ben, we discovered poker on SBS late night TV show called 'Late night Poker'. We began playing as soon as we had a basic understanding of the rules with a dog-eared pack of queens slipper cards that mum had shuffled a thousand times playing solitaire (shes not one for computers) and a connect-4 set that we used for chips. Being a twin, anything that we decided to play against each other got really competitive, really quickly, so i guess this fuelled both of us to start learning more about the game.
Started playing online at pokerroom, mostly play money, but eventually small stakes SNG games for real cash. I remember the first ever poker night me and benny the cunt had, when he went to the bank and cashed $40 into 20c coins, as we didnt own a chipset as yet. We played 20c/40c limit that night, but i was hooked on the social-ness that is poker.
When NPL started up i went and started playing at a small pub called the old spot in gawler. Here i experienced some good success, as myself and ben had a decent head start over a lot of our competition (even though we were still really raw ourselves). My first TD was dakota, who kept me coming back each week, and Shannon after that did the same.
I would love to try and get down to the casino more often, but that last few times down there i have found the 2/3NL to be a profitable place to be
In the first 3 seasons of NPL i made the state finals each time, making a couple of deep runs in big tourneys. One was when I bubbled the final table in the first Aussie Millions satellite, and the other was a 17th place finish in the Seaford state finals. At Seaford was the one hand that would change my poker career. At this time, to be honest, I thought I was pretty good. I was smashing my venue, getting to all state finals and here I was at the seaford event, chip leader of the state final with 21 people left (almost double the next highest stack)
Anyway I pick up QQ and the button. A handy player raised for almost half his stack (100k) from mid pos, and I shoved my 220k from the button. He tank/called and flipped 88. Long story short was that the window card was an 8 and I lost a big pot, but where I really let myself down was afterward. I imploded, spewed of chips to everyone and ended up going out 17th. I was so angry with myself, and I was put back in my box – realising that I had a LOT to learn about many aspects of the game – handling beats being one of them. This was the impetus for me to start doing a little reading about poker, which the forum became a part of.
I started looking at some different internet poker sites, and currently have very small bankrolls on tilt, stars and pacific. I have to say that I am pretty terrible at online poker, and am little more than a break even player who lacks a LOT of discipline. Ill have a good run, then tilt it all back, and its still something I know I need to work on. Recently I decided to play less MTT and SNG games, and concentrate only on 6-max cashies, with some small amounts of success (at 5c/10c mind you).
Not long after the third season of NPL I moved to Waikerie to start my career as a teacher, and began playing at the Waikerie club where I have met some really top-notch people. At first I didn’t know anybody, but after a while began talking to an older balding bloke named krunchie. Both of us shared an interest in looking at the theoretical side of poker and we began talking about strategy, different ways of playing hands etc. Personally, krunchie, who had become a good mate, has been one of the biggest helps to my game. Not just for the money he donates when we play heads up HORSE, but for the fact that I always have a sounding board for any hand that I play.
This amount of discussion regarding all aspects of poker, on this forum, and with Ben and Krunchie (and later people like Aaron as well) has really helped my game, to the point where I believe I am a good live player, especially in deeperstack events.
I have reached somewhat of a plateau in my poker career however. 888pl, although exciting with its new branding, has become a little stale for me, and I attend my regular game more for the social side than the poker. Similarly, I find it too hard to be disciplined at small stakes online games, so I don’t really know where to go from here.
I would love to start playing some buy-in live events in Adelaide or other places, but don’t really know where to start off. I am also sick of grinding my $80 on small stakes cashies and would like to significantly increase my bankroll to try and go up a level or two online, however im unsure whether committing 1k or more online will be successful or fraught with danger. Will the newer challenges of higher stakes give me the extra challenge I have needed, or simply point out my many weaknesses and show me that im not good enough. Time will tell I guess.
Riskers gamble, experts calculate.
