30DaysofPoker.com

An Experiment in Excessive Poker Play

Chances are, my amateur poker habit is pretty similar to yours. Somewhere between casual hobby and clinically obsessed. I play in a free poker league once or twice a week, have a home game with friends once in a while , and a few times a year visit a casino to play some “serious” poker. I fancy myself a solid player (Never met a poker rat that thought he/she was bad or stuck overall!), but I couldn’t tell you if that is truly accurate or pure imagination on my part.

My hobby started gently, occasionally a small game was in progress at a party and I would join in, what’s twenty bucks anyways? I had no clue what I was doing and probably played every hand. Strangely enough you can win some money occasionally with that strategy. Texas Hold’em was not the usual game; Deuces Wild or Follow the Queen were more like the games we played. Some friends of mine put together a rotating home game that was more about pizza and beer than good poker play – again with the carnival poker games. Lots of fun though!

About 3  years ago I started my own home based business, and of course I had to take advantage of this new found flexible schedule and up the ante on my poker habit. Having seen a few WSOP TV shows and believing that I could master Texas Hold’em in a couple of months and then watch the dough roll in; I bought a couple books, joined a free poker league and signed up on an online commercial poker site. Pride comes before a fall though, the more I learned and practiced the more I realized that I was still in the weeds. Eventually, the rough edges of my game got polished a little, and I won a few league games and now consider myself a genuine amateur poker rat.

Like I mentioned earlier, my attitude to poker is probably similar to yours. I play regularly at free or low buy-in games, rarely put more than $100 in play, fancy that I am an above average poker player and dream of winning the WSOP main event one day. This is  probably not the fast track to becoming a professional, so I am going to shift gears. I have the time and a bankroll of $1,200 and I am going to take my mediocre game on the road and play as much poker as possible for 30 days. Its gonna be make or break time!

$1,200 bucks for 30 days, If every single session is a bust, I could lose $40 a day and still complete my challenge. However, I surely hope of few of these sessions are winners. At the very least I’m sure I will learn something about myself and my poker game, and perhaps you can learn a few lessons from the blunders and scores that I go through on this inane challenge.

See you on the felt!