Welcome to Poker Adept!
I created this blog as a place to exchange ideas, information, tactics and techniques in the game of Poker.
My History with Poker:
I suppose I first played poker when I was a kid, I think my mom might have taught me, right around the time I graduated from Shoots-n-ladders to Monoply.
In high school, I spent many nights playing until sunrise with my friends, usually quarter ante games that were chock full of wild cards, silly games, and lots of laughs.
In college I rarely played, but I do remember one game in my dorm at Frostburg State University that litterally went on for weeks on end, it was a 24/7 game of poker in one of the “study rooms” that never ended. As soon as a seat was free, it was taken by someone else, on and on, I rarely played in this game, maybe one session of round the clock “Guts” was all I played, but it was an epic game, heck, it may still be going on to this day 20 years later.
When I first moved to California from the east coast, I discovered that card rooms that dealt poker were both legal, and the norm. It was then I was introduced to Texas Holdem in the early 90’s. I played a few times, got my ass kicked, and gave up on the idea of playing in California card rooms rather quickly.
Throughout the mid 90’s I played in some regular games with friends (they still play), usually wild card games, but sometimes some solid games of holdem and omaha. I really sucked back then, I was a firm believer for many years in the “Any two can win” strategy for holdem, a strategy many donks online still hold precious to their heart to this very day.
I really didn’t start getting serious about Poker until around 2003, 2004. Thanks to Chris Moneymaker The TV/ESPN craze was starting to happen, and online poker was just starting to boom. It was then I read my first Poker books, Phil Helmuths book, Doyle Brunsons book, the book of tells, the pyschology of Poker, and so on. It helped my game a lot, it turned me from a horrible Holdem player into an average one, which was saying a lot, as there were, and still are, a lot of horrible players online.
My first real big successes came in the fall of 2004 when I won some small buy-in tournaments on Paradise Poker, I won $2,300 with a first place win in a $20 Buy in event, and took $5,800 and 2nd place in a $50 buy in event. After these two events I thought that maybe, just maybe, I might be good enough to do this fulltime.
But… not yet.
I took a break from the game in 2005, and came back in late 2006. I won a few small sit-n-goes online, and won a tournament or two (30 people events) at my friends house, but nothing major. My big win came in May of 2007 when I took first place in an online $55 buy in event on Poker Stars, the $11,280 was an awesome win, but even better was coming ahead of 1,200 other people, that did a lot for my confidence.
Since then? Not much to report. I took down $700 in a 45 person sit-n-go (on Poker Stars) last December, and for the first time finished in the money in a live tournament at a Casino, 2nd place ($510) at Harveys (lake tahoe) Sunday $110 event, last March.
So there we are, still not a professional poker player, still have a real job, but I’m trying to improve my game all the time, and that is what this site is all about, sharing knowledge and trying to improve our games.
I hope you enjoy what you learn here, and the people you meet, and maybe someday we’ll face each other down at a Final table!