A Fool and his $100 - Introduction

(originally posted on my journal at www.bet-the-pot.com )

A Fool And His $100

The journey of a micro-limit beginner poker player

I've been surfing and lurking here at Bet-The-Pot for some time now. I figured it was time that I start contributing to this great site. So why not start my own little poker journal. Hopefully I can give some entertainment to all you readers, and also learn something from all you out there. And maybe one day, I'll be able to impart some wisdom on some of you.

First I should introduce myself. I just turned 30 and live in the great state of Minnesota. I work as an Electrical Engineer, am married and I have 1.8 kids (2.5 yr old and a -2 month old).

I started playing online poker in June of 2005. My gambling experience prior to that is not too much. During high school, a group of us would play cards at lesat once a month for nickel and dimes. My most exciting casino moment is right after I turned 18, a bunch of us went to Grand Casino Mille Lacs, and I won a $1000 jackpot on video poker. $1000 to a college kid was huge! Other than that, that is it. I've never played poker at a casino. And I've just started hosting home games, but none of my friends take poker too seriously.

I've read a few poker books, including Small Stakes Hold 'em, Winning Low-Limit Hold 'em, a couple Phil Hellmuth books, Harrington on Hold 'em I, and I am currently reading Sklansky's Theory of Poker and Harringtonn on Hold 'em II. I also have Poker for Advanced players, and Hilger's Internet Texas Hold 'em as an Ebook, and I've been going through those here at work during slow times.

After playing with play money for a few months, in June I deposited $50 into my Poker Stars account. Poker Stars has been the only place I've played poker so far, and I have had no complaints (except for my bankroll not growing too much). I started out playing .01/.02 NL, and .05/.10 limit. I am now playing .05/.10 NL, and .25/.50 limit and .50/1.00 Limit, plus $5 and $6 SNGs. I love playing SNGs. If I had the time, that is all that I would play I think. Much more exciting than limit. I only play about 6-7 hours a week, mostly for an hour or so before I go to work.

That starting $50 had been to as low as $25, and as high as $129. I am currently on a huge downswing. Below is a detailed look at my bankroll for the last two months. As you can see, I probably need to stop playing Omaha. And I am thinking of playing a little bit more ring NL than limit. I've done pretty good the last week or so at .05/.10 NL.

(images of spreadsheet removed)

So, Welcome to my blog, and please, any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

Mark aka TheGardener