In the Beginning...

They say poker is a game of decisions based on imperfect information. You make a decision to bet, raise, check, call or fold based on the information laid out in front of you. For me this just mirrors life. You make decisions in life with the best intentions and on the information you have, but a percentage of the time you're going to be wrong.

I can't remember the first time I played poker, but i do remember it was 5 card draw. I more than likely played with friends, and more than likely we played with little or no knowledge of the rules. Like most poker players these days i play the variation called Texas Holdem, although in the last few weeks i've been playing more Omaha. I watched Late Night Poker in years gone by and over the years fell in love with the game.



I am most definitely an amateur player, but have qualified for and played in the World Series of Poker Main event in 2007 and other live tournaments. I qualified for the WSOP through the Gutshot in London , which is where i've played the majority of my live poker over the last few years. I also post on the www.gutshot.com forum as Deeve and play poker under moniker of The_Chimp.

I decided recently that the main obstacle stopping me from becoming a 'winning' poker player was bank roll management. I have an excellent grasp of the game, and in the short term have no trouble either progressing to final tables of tourneys, winning SNG's or making advances in cash games. What is letting me down is the inability to control which level I play at and therefore for third time in my poker career this week I bust out.

A fellow member on the Gutshot poker forum posted this link for me to read.

http://www.bluffmagazine.com/magazine/Kelly%27s-Criterion-Phil-Laak-1295.htm

Although the article was nothing new to me, when reading it in such basic terms I decided (for once in my life!!) to take the advice on board.

This week i'm taking a poker time-out to reread Harrington on Holdem vol 2 and also his new Harrington on Cash games. As of next week i'll deposit a bankroll on Gutshot and start the grind playing tourneys, SNG's and ring games to build that bankroll. I will post session reviews, some (yawn!) hand histories and hope some readers might find it interesting to read and make comment.

I played in the WSOP 2007 and by no means disgraced myself losing to a runner, runner on one of the final hands of Day 1b in a 70k chip pot. I'm committed to going again this year to (unless I qualify before) play a super satellite in Vegas and maybe one of the $1,500 bracelet events. In the meantime i'll be attempting to improve my game.

http://www.gutshot.com/bforum/