Welp. . . it’s been awhile, folks.

Once upon a time I was a pretty decent low-level SNG player on Party Poker, but largely fell off the poker landscape after the UIGEA passed in 2006.

I’ve dabbled a couple times, but have never fully committed myself to learning cash games, but that’s changing now.

I’m starting off in the micros, to learn the game from the ground up. I’ve begun over on Ignition, playing NL5 and I’ve ingested Blackrain79’s book “Crushing the Microstakes.” I’m committed to investing more time and resources to learn the game better as I climb to higher stakes.

Now in my mid-40s, my long-term goal is to learn cash games and allow poker to be a part of my life for the next 20+ years. Short term, the goal is to move up a couple levels and cash out a small amount over the next five months to supplement a modest family vacation.

I’m a sportswriter who covers a Division 1 college program, and I often have a hectic schedule, but my goal is to play 20 hours a week. Strangely enough, I’m finding it hard early to keep up with four tables, so I’m just three-tabling for now. I saw in one of Baluga Whale’s vintage posts that he suggests evaluating whether to move up a level or not after 20,000 hands. Since I’m three-tabling for now, I’ve modified that temporarily to just 15,000. That being said, I’m rolled for NL10, but playing NL5 to re-learn mechanics and the basics.

I’ve added a secondary mission along the way, and that’s working my way through all the music in the book, “1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.” Before each session, I randomly build a Spotify playlist with albums from that book. For instance, yesterday afternoon’s playlist had ‘Regatta De Blanc’ by the Police, ‘Apocalypse '91 … The Enemy Strikes Black’ by Public Enemy and ‘Happy Trails’ by Quicksilver Messenger Service, who I’d honestly never heard of. It should take about 37 weeks of play to get through the entire book.

The first 6,000 hands haven’t really been spectacular, but I’ve run a little bad and have made a ton of mistakes. So I’m hopeful.



Follow along here as I chronicle the journey and the all-time great music.

Cool twist on a micro climb man! Interested to hear thoughts and musings on the hands and tuneage.

I usually end up watching videos on fast food facts for brief SnG spurts.

Short afternoon session today while listening to Remedy by Basement Jaxx. Definitely not something that would be in my standard playlist, but really good stuff.

My least-liked out of this book so far has been Daft Punk. I could only endure a few songs before moving on.

Longer session planned tonight, starting with Bayou Country by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

It's still early, but I've found myself obsessing mid-session on incredibly minor results, so I'm going to try to refrain from looking even session by session, and more just update once or twice a week. The most important thing is getting in the volume, playing well and improving as I go.