Here we are!

I began playing cards seriously during the 2005 Super Bowl. My wife and I invited about 10 people over to watch the game, and break in my new poker tabletop. I had played a few times before, and knew the basics of poker, but I was very green. We played cards for about 7 hours that day, and the Super Bowl became an afterthought. It was a $10 buy-in elimination tournament with rebuys, and I finished in second place for about $100, and poker has been a big part of my life ever since.

I will spare you the boring details of my poker existence between February 6, 2005 and now, but between a few trips to Las Vegas, Atlanta bar tournaments, a home game in Washington DC where I thought I might get killed for playing consrevatively, and loads of other excitement, I decided this year to make a run at a World Series bracelet.

As far as my finances are concerned, I would consider myself comfortable, but not wealthy. Because this is the case, I cannot justify the big buy-ins required for major tournaments (and neither can my wife!). The fact of the matter is, I could play cards for no stakes at all, and have loads of fun. I don't play for a living, and probably never will.

Because this is the case, I am attempting to to pay my way into a World Series event with poker winnings throughout the twelve months leading up to the festivities. In the 2006 World Series, there was a $1000 Hold 'Em event offered, and I set my sights on this same event for 2007.

The 2007 schedule was released last month (you can look at it here), and lo and behold, no $1000 event. So the $1500 event it is! Event #3 on June 2nd, to be exact.

My biggest win in the last eight months was a $600 chop this weekend, which has put me really close to what I need for the buy-in. Right now, I am at $1305. It finally hit me this weekend that this could actually happen, which is why I decided to start writing here.

Between now and June, I will try to consistently update this journal... providing some insight into what is going through my mind, what difficulties I am facing in my game, and what dificulties I am facing outside of my game. If everything goes as planned, I hope to also write about a very successful trip to the Rio in June.

Stay tuned... this should be an interesting ride.