Welcome!

So welcome to my wonderful blog here, I guess I'll begin with a personal introduction. My name's Brian, and I've been playing poker since the summer of 2004 or so, thanks to ESPN and all the Chris Moneymaker mania that I found myself so mysteriously intrigued by. I started playing the typical No Limit Hold'em with friends, entertaining myself with some basic Yahoo Poker between little live games. Soon enough I was downloading various online poker room software and trying to scrap together a bankroll without depositing a dime of my own, playing exclusively in freeroll tournaments, and gradually taking my share of teeny prize pots to the micro-limit tables. Over time I learned more and more about the game, becoming a better player as I slowly moved up levels. Obviously I was becoming a richer player as well, turning my initial $0 bankroll into several thousand.

When the U.S. Poker Apocalypse struck in 2006, I was forced to withdraw the majority of my bankroll funds from some of the more popular online poker rooms. I made the decision to put pretty much all of my winnings into savings, keeping $1,000 on hand for any live games that might pop up with friends (pretty rare these days with all of us out of college and working all over the place), and an additional $200 at Full Tilt Poker, which remained open to U.S. players and continues to be my favorite site to play on.

This brings us to my current position in the poker world, starting back in the low-limit realm, trying to take my initial $200 deposit as high as I can. I haven't been able to play as much as I'd like to since this all started, but so far I have been able to push my initial $200 up to over $500. I started primarily with the $2+.25 SNG's, then moved up to the $5+.50's when the bankroll was right for it. I also like to throw in some of the $5 90-person doublestack MTT's, which I had a great deal of initial success with, finishing 3rd three times, 2nd once, and having a few other final tables in about a dozen or so buy-ins.

Who knows where all of this will lead, but for me it's still basically one giant freeroll, having never actually deposited anything. My poker experiences have, and primarily continue to be, purely recreational, but I have a genuine appreciation for the game and all of its dynamics. I thoroughly enjoy analyzing different situations, with all the math, logic, psychology, and strategy that can go into each excruciating detail. It's something that continues to fascinate me and encourages me to continue along my poker journey in learning as much as I can, becoming more experienced, and rich in my poker wisdom as well as my bankroll. Of course the thrill of catching a 2-outer on the river makes it all enjoyable as well, as long as it's one of your outs :-)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading about the ups and downs and twists and turns of my journey to the poker promised land, be it a bad beat rant, a reflection about the parallels between poker and life, or a hand that I played badly and just cannot finish ridiculing myself for. All comments, questions, and discussions are definitely welcome, and feel free to share your own poker experiences here.

Enjoy, and best of luck at the tables! ~ B