Where do I begin?

I really haven't decided what direction I want this blog to take. I envision some cathartic exercise in self-expression about how poker has been integrated into my daily web of kids, wife, friends, work, etc.....or maybe I'll use it as a soundingboard for hand analysis, bad beats, funny anecdotes, or as a barometer of my online performances. Either way, I want it to be a true picture of what it's like to be a 37-year old professional with a wife and 3 kids who can't stop thinking about poker 24 hours a day.

My evolution into a poker player began with basically with two things. The World Poker Tour and Party Poker. I remember watching the first season of the WPT and being infatuated with every aspect of the players, the production, and the poker. This somehow led me to find Party Poker. I remember playing dozens of play-point SNG's and keeping track of my results on a piece of paper on a corkboard next to my computer. As time progressed, I thought that may results warranted putting some real money in my account so I did so and the rest is history. My first big score was a 3rd place in a $20 MTT for around $1,500 which I got while in a hotel on a business trip. (You will find that to be a common theme throughout all of my poker successes). I used to play the 8:10 PST $33 MTT on Party every single night. I considered it my personal tournament. The first time I ever won it for over $3,000, I remember jumping around my house and waking my wife up saying, "I WON THE 8:10!" She thought I was a complete idiot...

I ended up taking 2nd in the same tournament the next week for over $2,000 and I was off and running. I would continue my steady profit margin on Party for most of the first 18 months of online play never really knowing anything about STARS, FullTilt, or especially pocketfives.com. These were all things that would come to be integral parts of my life in the coming months and years.

Stay tuned next time as I share my various WSOP adventures and my thoughts on balancing a family and a poker obsession....

Thanks,

W2D