Introduction to a Poker Neophyte

Who am I?  I am, among many other things, a poker neophyte.  While I learned the very basics of poker when I was still a child (nothing beyond what hands beat what, which I usually needed reminding of every time us kids would play penny ante poker, a rarity in and of itself), I still knew next to nothing about the game when I would play low stakes games with other soldiers while I was in the Army.  These games were nothing fancy and hysterically played, with plenty of alcohol and some variations of the game (like "midnight baseball") that I've never seen before or since.  Poker at this level was just a fun way to pass the time, and occasionally earn a few bucks, but I knew nothing about starting hand requirements or pot odds.

Fast forward to this year, when I went to Vegas for the first time with my boyfriend.  We played only at the $1-2 tables, but I was hooked.  Looking back, it's amazing I only lost as much as I did, but I had a lot of fun with it, and starting thinking about how much fun it would be to go back, only with some actual skills.  This attraction to poker only deepened when I watched the final table of the 2008 WSOP Championship, and started reading some of the books my boyfriend has (including Harrington).  After we went to Atlantic City this fall and I improved on my results (I didn't go through my entire bankroll; in fact, I placed in the money in one tournament with 110 people to start), I decided that I'd like to improve my skills on a regular basis.  Since we live not particularly close to Vegas or AC (or any other place with legalized gambling), I turned to the internet.  

I've been playing online at Poker Stars for about two months now.  After an extremely rocky start ($1-2 tables online are NOT the same as $1-2 tables in a casino), I think I'm starting to make progress.  If that first disastrous day could be wiped out, I'd actually be ahead, but as it is I'm only slightly behind.  I've found the level that is generally comfortable for me ($3 and $5 dollar SNG tables) and seem to be competitive in pretty much every game I enter.  I also like entering some of the larger tournaments with small buy-ins ($5 to $11 dollars).  My best finish so far is 9th place in a $5.50 tournament that started with 5,280 people.  This, coupled with other finishes in the money or at least close to it, have led me to believe (erroneously?) that I may be developing some skill, and that with the proper patience, discipline, and luck, I could actually win one of these tournaments at some point in the foreseeable future.

The purpose of this blog is to have a forum to discuss my journey as I learn this incredibly complex game.  I'm still new enough to be making some pretty basic errors, and I hope that by putting things in writing I'll gain some insight into the areas I need to improve in most.  I welcome any and all people who stumble across this blog to post or e-mail their own interpretations of my plays.  

See you at the tables.

SGT RJ