How I got started

I first learned poker from my dad when I was a kid. Back then, we mostly played 5 card draw and 7 card stud. I was a quick study to the mechanics of the game. I even invented a game called 8 card stud (just like 7 card stud, but the 7th and 8th cards come face down). I'm sure I wasn't the only inventor of this game, but I quickly realized that I could make better hands with 8 cards than I could with 7. However, I soon discovered that my opponents could also do the same. I guess that was my first real poker revelation. You see, the game isn't always about the cards that you are holding.

I really didn't play a lot of poker until the poker boom of 2003. I had watched the ESPN broadcasts of the World Series of Poker, but I never really payed much attention to what was going on. As I was flipping through the channels one evening, I came across the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel. I was instantly hooked on Hold 'Em and loved the idea of being able to see the cards.

Amateur poker leagues were forming around town and I saw an advertisement during a WPT broadcast one evening, so I decided to check it out. I recall walking into a meeting room to see over 50 people seated at tables with chips playing a No Limit Hold 'Em tournament. While I didn't do well my first time (I had A-7 and my opponent had A-10 and the flop came A high--need I say more?), I was a quick study and began to accumulate league points. While some may say that playing for nothing doesn't do you any good, I was certainly in the company of people who were playing seriously enough. I developed a tight aggressive style and even managed to win a bus trip to a near by casino to play in a real tournament.

I ended up cashing in that real tournament. While cashing in a $10 tournament isn't much to write home about, it was still a cash (It was a $10 entry with rebuys--I did a double add on at the break). I went out in 9th place (out of about 50). I had Ad-10d but had gotten blinded off quite a bit and the big blind was forced to call me with his 7-4. A 7 peeled off on the river but I won $71 for my efforts and left the casino with the confidence that I can play the game well.

I started playing in a regular home game hosted by someone that played the "free games" and soon realized that I would have to adapt my play if I was going to play with the same guys week after week. I finally headed out to one of the local casinos in January of 2005 and played some $4/$8 limit hold 'em. I lost about $65 that first session, but saw enough bad play that I knew I could make money in the long run.