The Beginning

OK, well my name is Sean and I live in NB, Canada. I'm 24 and have 2 kids with my great Fiancee. I'm doing this blog to track my poker game, get a bit of help with my game and just keep track of it all together. I play exclusively on PokerStars under the screen name madman1701.

I started playing poker in 2007 and have had some moderate success. I'm a recreational player and play when I feel like or have the money to play. Seeing as I have kids and bills it can be hard to keep a bankroll at times. The last time I tried to take poker semi-seriously was last summer. I travel for my job and I'll be back in the same location again this year, which is a town in northern Manitoba with a population of ~900, so there isn't much else to do but grind some poker. I got my bankroll from a tournament score at the beginning of August (I was going to deposit but this saved me some cash) and kept up pretty good for most of the month. Toward the end I hit a nasty downswing and lost most of it before getting frustrated and withdrawing the rest. I think there was a combination of run bad at the cash tables and playing an immense amount of tourneys that hurt the roll too when I wasn't cashing as frequently.

So, this year will be different. I will become more active on 2+2 and most likely seek some coaching. I usually hold stats around 23/13 which is probably part of the problem. I don't want to play the 10/8 nit stats either so I think I will focus on getting the VPIP down a bit because I know that an 11% PFR is pretty standard. I will start with a roll of about $2100 and play 25NL until I'm comfortable to move up. I already have Hold'em Manager and love it. I will also practice more with Poker Stove and possibly invest in Table Ninja. I will focus on my cash game and try to just play the weekend major tourneys. I like tourneys and a lot of my profit has came from them. Since Jan 2011 I hit the Final Table 5 times and of those 5 I won 2 for a combined total of ~$5100. Anybody that plays tourneys knows how hard it is to make a deep run; I know it's only 5 but I must be doing something right. I have made several other deep runs including a few final 27 finishes.

I hope this blog will help me keep myself in check and hopefully get a few of the other people whose blogs I read to follow and chime in on occasion. I'm looking to get started on this journey in about 3-4 weeks so stay tuned!!