Been a long time

Hey everybody. Well it turns out that I don't make a great blog writer, as you can tell from my complete lack of updates for nearly three months!

To be honest, I haven't had a lot of time to do as much poker related stuff as I planned. I went and got a job you see. This wasn't quite what I planned as I was look forward to some time out, but an offer came along that was simply too good to pass up. And, best of all, after the first few months it's going to be a part time position!

So I've pretty much put my assault on the poker world on a back-burner until then. I have been playing a bit, trying out a few different sites and different types of game and it has kind of got me hooked. But I'll be patient until I can have a real crack at it.

The majority of my bankroll is preserved - I've lost a little bit on poker and a little bit more on my old friend blackjack. I try and stick my head into my Harringon Books reasonably regularly as well.

So bear with me, I will be back and the plan is still similar - just a bit delayed. I'll probably post periodically with some news about what and where I'm playing too, so please keep checking back.

Cheers for now!

It's time!

Had a busy week with non-poker related stuff, but have still been doing a bit of Harrington reading.

I've made some decisions anyway so for any of you remotely interested, here goes.

I'm allocating roughly half of my winnings to be my "Official Bankroll", so $5,000. I've deposit $500 onto Bodog, which is where I'm going to start playing. I got a fifty dollar instant bonus too, so I'm in profit already!! Not sure this will last for long though! I'm going to start with some $5 tournaments and see how I get on. I'm out tonight so wont get to start til tomorrow, when I shall keep you all informed about my progress.

Starting Bankroll - $5,000
Money on sites - Bodog, $550
Money in account - $4,500
Total current Bankroll $5,050

Cracking on

I've read some more, and I think I'm starting to get a (basic!) handle on things.

I'm itching to play now to be honest, and I think it's going to be sooner rather than later. I watched the game I mentioned on Wednesday and it was really interesting. I'm not sure the standard was particularly good really - I certainly don't think I'd have been hugely out of my depth playing. There were only a dozen or so people playing, and some of the hands being shown down really surprised me, based on what I've been learning so far.

I have a few plans this weekend, so probably won't be doing much poker related. But I'm going to have a think about which site to start playing at, and what to start playing. I think I'm leaning towards tournaments rather than cash but I'm still not sure. Also need to have a bit of a think about what stakes to play -they'll definitely be pretty low though!

I plan to make a decision by next week, so expect to start reading stories of abject failure soon!

The Learning vs Playing Debate

I've been reading. A lot. Web stuff and my Harrington book. My head is starting to hurt.

One piece of advice I've had from a few places is that I need to play as well while I'm learning as it will help it all sink in.

So last night I had a few friends over for a game of cards. They all play online quite a lot and have regular home games too so I was obviously outclassed. But to be fair to them, despite the fact that we were actually playing for money, they did try and help me out a bit. When they weren't after my chips that is.

We played three tournaments and I wasn't first out in any of them, so it wasn't all bad. But it was a bit difficult to try and remember everything I've been learning and actually put it into practice. So I guess what I've been told about playing while learning makes sense, a more gradual learning curve is perhaps called for.

I'm going along to a local pub tonight with a couple of mates. There is a weekly poker game at the pub in some kind of national poker league. I think I'll abstain from playing tonight and perhaps just watch and soak it up, but I might get tempted!

I'll update tomorrow, hopefully without tales of embarassing failure!

Weekend details

I'm fully rested and ready to update you all on my weekend, and fill in a little more background detail about what I'm doing.

You may recall (if you don't just read it again!) in my first post, that I mentioned I won a bit of money soon after I'd been made redundant. Well that "bit of money" was actually £5,000.

Shortly before Christmas, I joined The VIP Card Club having been referred by a friend of mine (thanks Martyn!!). They run a prize draw each month for new members, and I qualified for the draw at the end of January, and won it!! Five thousand pounds!! Luckily I didn't get the money straight away (as I think I may have been inclined to deposit a big chunk of it online and probably lose it playing blackjack!!) I had to wait for a cheque. It was while waiting for the cheque that I first started thinking about what to do with it, and that's when the whole poker thing came up.

I spoke to the guys at the VIP Card Club about what I was planning to do (I even offered to write my blog for their site, but was politely declined! Although I have asked them to link to it as I would like a few more readers!!) Anyway, they were pretty helpful and gave me a few tips and pointed me in the direction of a few other places to read up stuff.

I got a call on Friday from them, explaining that they had a space this weekend on "Sky Poker Boot Camp" and would I be interested in going. They'd run some kind of promotion to give away this ticket and the winner had had to pull out at the last minute. Lucky for me! Of course, I accepted and went along on Saturday morning.

Now this was a course for exisiting players who were looking to go onto the next level, so I was a little bit out of my depth. I kept a low profile and tried to take everything in. Some of it was bit much for me, but most of it made perfectly logical sense. The trainers were fantastic, including a couple of professional players who everyone seemed to know but me!

I had to miss the tournament on the Saturday night as I had a prior arrangement, but was back Sunday morning for the second training session and more of the same. Slightly disappointed to miss a chance to actually play for the first time, but I may have embarrassed myself anyway!

All in all a fantastic experience. I fear it may have come a little too early for me to have taken full advantage of it but a lot of it has lodged in my brain and I'm sure having so many things verbally explained to me will really help. So thanks Sky Poker, thanks VIP Card Club for a great weekend.

Now, I can actually start with the book, although that seems a little boring after being trained in person by professionals!!!

Interesting Weekend

I never got round to reading Harrington at all this weekend.

I've just got back from Bristol, where I've spent the weekend on a poker training course! Completely unexpected, but what a learning experience.

I'm absolutely shattered as I've just got back.

I'll fill in the details tomorrow.

Time to start reading!

Harrington on Holdem Volume I has arrived. It's a big book!!

It seems that's my next few days sorted ploughing through this weighty manual. I've done a bit more browsing on the web and read up on some basic strategies and, specifically, bankroll management.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be right for me to start at the low stakes at work my way up. Given the sort of bankroll I'm going to be starting with, I don't think I'm going to struggle "playing with in my 'roll".

Once I've read this book I should hopefully have Volume II to get through so it's going to be information overload I think!

I guess I'll then have to start thinking about where to play to start with and also which games. I've got an idea of the bankroll I'll be starting with, but I'll write more about that later.

Ok, time to start reading!!