Don't like the idea of being stuck in a well too much, but I will kick it on a street corner with just about anyone, so here we go (plus, an homage to David Simon's Wire precursor).
Planning on doing some errands and life-enjoyment stuff in the next couple days, so hopefully I'll have plenty of time to hang out on "the corner" answering questions. (Feel free to skip to the asking question part and ignore the fragmented bio).
I am 33 years old, and I've been around the 2p2 community since I was working a soul-numbing job as a CSR in Manhattan in 2002. Greg Raymer and Paul Phillips (on RGP) probably had the most/best influence on my poker-forum education, so I have a lot of appreciation for their wisdom and clarity, and their accessibility to the community. Back when poker educational supplements were few and far between, their knowledge of subtle donkament strategy was at a higher level than the field. They, plus a couple of chess players I met at the time, really helped me make the (slow) transition into being a full time poker player.
I have always taken the "stand on the shoulders of geniuses" approach and just tried to absorb whatever I could from people much more adept at the game than I am. This is still the case--when I hear a young 2p2'er or other 20-something poker genius effortlessly parse a poker hand and explain dynamics that I wasn't even thinking about, I am reminded how much work I have to do to maintain my poker mind. Also always reminded that I have leaks that need to be plugged, so it's also still a struggle against myself and my own bad habits.
In general, a major theme for me in 2011 and with this new Pokerstars Team Online gig is: Doing it right this time. I'm still busto, but what I have is an opportunity to grind hard and with a lot bit of work and a bit of good luck, get myself right-side up by the end of this year or ASAP. Build from the ground up but with a head start.
There are certain simple things, like owning an RSA token or using an HUD, that I am just beginning to utilize. So it's basically taken me six years of being a professional poker player to become a professional poker player.
Years of disregard towards money before I understood the basics of bankroll management and years more to begin to train myself to implement them. Spending habits, pit leaks, and a generally careless attitude towards money when the money seemed easy is what did me in.
If I can impart anything to people about the most important things in poker, it's the simple one: Money management. Turning off the disregard for money and practicing delayed gratification with your spending and bankroll decisions might be the most important thing in poker. I'd rather be a "rakeback pro" than "Patrik Antonius" if the rakeback pro has a lower risk of ruin than Patrik.
Someone making 80K a year with zero risk of ruin is, to me, essentially a "better poker player" than nosebleed guys with much higher EVs but no self-control and the possibility of total self-destruction.
In this sense, I think the younger crowd in this game greatly benefited from starting out understanding the principles of EV, whereas my fascination/interest with poker started with an AC weekend blackjack habit.
I love Billy Bibbit's posts for this reason...he always talks in a very sound and practical manner about being an MTT pro without being an MTT lunatic, and I think I have learned a lot by trying to incorporate his advice. Same goes for Shaun Deeb, who, despite being quasi-literate, helped explain very well some of the fundamentals of being a true blue MTT grinder on these forums.
Readers of my
blog should have a good sense of what information I like to share and what I don't spend much time talking about.
You can check out my
Stars bio here for additional grist for the mill.
Not sure what else I got, so let's kick it!
Two Plus Two
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