F
Falian
Rock Star
Silver Level
In mythology, a phoenix is an immortal bird that, when it dies, bursts into flames and is reborn from its own ashes.
I feel that my current "poker life" has come to an end and this is the perfect time to arise a new, better player. My latest staking agreement ended with me flatlining the BR. I will now make one final deposit, I am giving myself one final opportunity to make something of myself in the poker world. I invite you all to follow my new journey as a poker player in this thread.
But before I start off on my new beginning, I feel it's appropriate to talk about the old:
During the beginning of my second semester of freshmen year at the University of Tennessee a brother in SPE (which I was pledging at the time) introduced me to the world of online poker. I was immediately intrigued and as I left his dorm room I could not keep it off my mind.
Having almost no understanding of the game, much less BR management, I deposited $20 at pokerstars and started playing $1 9-man SNGs. I hit $0 fairly quickly. I then decided to give myself one more shot, so I deposited $10 more dollars. Hit $0 again. Luckily for me, I was A. Not Degen and B. Smart enough to understand I was playing wrong.
So, I decided to do some research on poker and I was like a blind man suddenly able to see. odds, Position, Starting hands.. As i'm naturally a mathematical person this only served to increase my interest in the game. I decided to deposit $25 into Full Tilt.
with the $25 I started playing $2 45 man sng's and I actually did fairly well, grinding my BR up to around $60. Then the same friend that originally introduced me to the game told me "the real money is at cash games." I naturally followed his advice and made the switch, with absolutely no preparation. Donked off $20 rather quickly. I then had the brilliant idea to grind it back up by signing up for $2 45 mans with my whole BR. Obviously my first time 20 tabling was not a success and I hit $0 again.
This process rinsed and repeated a few more times, until I started learning enough about the game to become a small time winner at the nano-limits. I then started getting staked, blah blah blah. Now I'm here once more with $0. Yet, I do not regret any of it. The money I "lost" was really the same as paying for a poker book, lessons, coaching, etc. It got me to where I am now.
Well... where am I now as a Poker Player? Well considering, with cash game players at least, people normally evaluate their skill level in terms of their stakes this is me:
I currently have the knowledge of a 25nl player.
I currently have the application of a 10nl player.
I currently have the dedication of a 5nl player.
This all changes now. Until now, I have allowed myself to run on auto-pilot through life. I had the brains to make a 4.0 easily but a 3.0 required no effort. I had the athletic ability to play College Football but I decided ****ing around in high school was more fun. I have the ability to beat poker but until now I haven't dedicated myself.
I will be depositing $40 into PokerStars tomorrow. This will be the last investment I ever make towards my poker career. It is enough for 20 buyins at 2nl.
I don't know whether I will succeed or fail but I can, at the very least, promise you that this will be entertaining to follow.
In the next post you will find my rules, which I will be allowed to amend every two weeks.
