It All Begins Here

The begining of a new year sounds like a fitting time to start a poker blog. Of course, being in a pretty bad downswing at the moment is somewhat of a discouraging point of contention for me, but lets overlook that for a moment and allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Steven, and I am a San Diego boy, born and raised. I started playing poker with family when I was pretty young. In fact, one of my earliest memories is sitting with my dad, and having him explain poker hands to me at our dinner table. Throughout high school I played card games, like big 2 and killer, during lunch breaks (and occassionally during class). At the time, the $20 or so that I won seemed huge to me, and I knew that there was something so alluring about playing a game and having people, essentially, pay you to play with them. It was an idea I fell in love with.

In San Diego there is a pretty healthy community of card rooms and casinos, and as soon as I could, I started playing in them. It started with black jack, and after that bored me, I moved to poker. The depth of the game intrigued me, and I dove into it with way more exuberance then...well anything. Fortunately, I had a girlfriend who lived close to one of the casinos so I became a pretty regular player.

When Moneymaker hit, roughly a year or so after I started playing more seriously, it was crazy. Tournament poker blew up and I got swept up with the bug. Everyone and their brother played cards, and I did my best to adapt to the no limit climate. I took a shine to the game, and found out that although I was a mark in the game early on, I picked up the concepts quickly. Being in college at the time, it was perfect for me to skip class to play cards. What harm could that ever do?

Over the last few years I have played with varying degrees of seriousness, ranging from casually playing once or twice a week, to playing for portions of my income. I have recently been playing a bit more online, as the accessability just can't be overlooked (especially because I'm pretty lazy, and if I can avoid driving I can and will).

With the start of 2009, I am coming off a pretty bad downswing, and am aiming at putting a decent roll together for the WSOP in the summer. Im not sure exactly where I am going to go with this blog, as in snap shots of my life, or hand histories, or somewhere in between. Most importantly I hope that this provides a place for me to write about my thoughts on poker and chronicle my journey to the WSOP and beyond. So lets hope for some laughs, and some good stories as the year goes by.

The cast of characters in my life are as follows:

Ashley: My girlfriend, best friend, and running mate in poker. We have been together for a few years and she has started playing tournaments with quite a bit of success in the last 6 months or so. She still works on her cash game, but her love is the tourny scene.

Pops: He taught me how to play when I was young, and now I return the favor. He really enjoys playing but because he owns his own business he doesnt get to play as much as he would like. A pretty solid player that claims to always have an edge on me if we play pots heads up.

Manny: My current/former student. He has went busto a few times, and is in the process of rebuilding his roll with his regular nine to five. I have known the kid since elemntary school, and he has the right notions about the game but somehow can't put it all together and make it work.

Sean: My long time friend, and partner in crime. He doesnt play too much anymore but still makes random appearences at the table. One of the big influences on me when I was coming up, and someone I will still talk poker with when I find myself in interesting spots.

Johnnee Persian: A friend from college who is currently grinding out SnGs fulltime. I like his game even though it can be pretty different then mine in many ways. I usually talk to him through the power of the interwebs but he provides some interesting comments about hands and gives me a very different perspective.

Tyler and Anthony: Poker friends of mine who I play with pretty frequently and whose games I respect. Probably some of the only people I personally know that I talk poker with, and actually am interested in what their responses are.

Will: A newer player who is still learning the ropes. I talk to him about strategy and general poker concepts. He is possibly one of the nicest guys you could meet at or away from the table.