Well I have been playing poker professionally now for almost six months. I have thought about writing about my experiences and perhaps turning this into a book project. Although I am not sure if this type book would actually sell. I guess I would need to win a big tourney (WPT or WSOP perhaps) before this might generate enough interest.

The truth is I have gone on a real roller-coaster ride of emotions during these past several months. Many of you know I always wondered if I could actually play poker for a living. After all poker has been a big part of my life now for about thirteen years or so. Of course not every body is cut out to make it as a professional poker player. It takes more than just a good knowledge and hunger for the game.

It takes a big enough bankroll, some good luck, patience, and heart to mention IMHO a few critical pieces of the puzzle. So far I have been successful in this endeavor but it has not been with a few bumps along the way. February was a horrible month for me as it was my only losing month. It helped humble me like life does and also help me see that I needed a bigger bankroll to sustain this profession.

Thankfully I have had lots of help along the way from my fellow RGP (rec.gambling.poker newsgroup) chat friends as well as other local poker friends that I respect. I have concentrated mostly on the $2-5 no limit Hold-em cash games but I do play a few tournies from time to time. My theory is as long as I can win regularly in the cash games I will never go broke and our starve.

In the beginning I promised Debbie that I would deposit at least $2k a month into our joint checking account. I am proud to say that I have been able to make this deposit every month including in February. Additionally I am happy to say that even though I lost money in February I have been averaging over $2k a month and have had a couple months winning in excess of $5k. But I still do not think that this is enough money for me to continue on this path over a year.

I am trying something new (for the past couple months) that appears to be helping me do lots better than before. I am focusing on playing shorter sessions (three to five hours) instead of longer sessions. Some days I am also working on playing a couple of these shorter sessions and so far it has been working very well for me. Also I feel that my game keeps getting better and better all the time. I also have been doing some book study but I need to ramp this up even more.

I am sorry that I have not been writing a lot here in LJ but I am sleeping in as my schedule is evolving. So I need to find a best time to do more writing here as I think it is a great writing venue and a tool to keep in touch with more of my old and new friends.

Finally I am also feeling better after passing my last kidney stone. Sadly there were a few complications but I am now (almost five weeks after my last episode) really starting to feel like normal!!! BTW thanks for every body's support during my tougher days.