It begins!

I've made my deposit and I'm ready to start this journey. I'm having second thoughts on the format though because I've seen myself as a better cash game player than I am a tournament one. Depending on how things work out over this weekend I might just move over to FL hold 'em. But, for now it will be micro single and multi table sit 'n' gos.

Another thing I've added to my arsenal is Hold 'em Manager 2. I decided to download the free 30 day trial and see how it helps me. Table ninja, Sit 'n' go Wizard, etc. all have 30+ day trial periods so I think I'm going to activate/download those as well and see how things work out for me. If everything goes according to plan then I'll probably buy the subscription once my bankroll allows it.

I have absolutely no clue as to how the software works so we'll have to wait and see. I'm sure it can't be too complex. With that said (written), I feel good about this journey and I know that it's going to be a long one. You can't just drop everything overnight and go pro from my situation so hopefully in a few months/years I'll be able to make that decision (Well, unless I win a Sunday Million or something similar).

To those that take the time to read this, thanks for viewing/reading. I'll probably post an update on Tuesday with regards to this weekends outcome. Stay tuned (subscribe to the blog or follow me @kappie_wp on twitter for regular updates) and wish me luck.

One more week

The first long weekend has come and gone and a belated Happy Easter to all. I haven't done as much studying as I'd hope since the last blog post but I did manage to get through some stuff.

I've decided to start a bit sooner that I originally planned because I've gotten through Sit 'n' go secrets and I feel confident about my game. I'm also going to take advantage of the deposit bonus for the all in shootout attempt. With another long weekend approaching us, I think it will give me enough time to get in some volume and hopefully turn a profit over the weekend.

I'm going to keep this one short as there isn't much to talk about besides rambling on about completely unrelated topics. Though, I am super excited about my PS4 that's being delivered today (hopefully).

Fingers crossed as I start my journey this weekend and pray that I run well for as long as possible.

Day 3

Welcome back or just welcome if this is the first time you're here :)

After spending some time reading "Kill Everyone" I realized that I should probably be doing some more targeted reading. I spent a little time searching and reading forums, articles and other blogs and it seemed like "Secrets of Sit 'n' gos" was the book I needed. Obviously, the format that I am attempting first will therefore be SnG's. I picked up a copy of the book and started reading through some of it yesterday. I'm only on about page 50 so I've still got quite some reading to do and the interesting bits are yet to come.

I'm sticking to my plan of only starting at the end of this month which means my current VIP status will be reset but I'm not too phased about that at the moment. It's been quite tough trying not to play and studying instead but I've been disciplined enough to stick to my plan thus far.

In the first few pages of "Secrets of Sit 'n' gos" it mentions some additional software that you should look into like using a HUD or ICM calculators and sites like Sharkscope for player information and the likes. I'm not too sure on this yet. I would love to purchase something like hold'em manager or sitngo wizard but I don't have R1000+ laying around right now. Should I invest in one of these before I start playing seriously? I'm not sure. Maybe I could convince my wife to buy it for me as a birthday gift :P

Anyway, all I'll be doing for now (when my tight schedule allows) is studying. I'll probably start looking into coaching vids online some time soon as these have popped up in my searches I mentioned earlier.

In the beginning

I guess every blogger goes through this "starting phase" where you have no idea what to write to begin with. Do you jump straight in to the bigger picture or do you share some random (useless) info about yourself that not many people will even remember by the time they get to the second paragraph. Let's go with the latter.

My name's Kirk and I'm a Java software developer living in Cape Town. Happily married with a baby boy on the way. I guess this info will factor into the "bigger picture" as it will give you guys some context into what my commitments are like.

So ... where am I going with this? I've always dreamed of becoming a poker pro and that is a goal that I really want to reach within the next few months/years. I started playing poker some time ago and I found that I had a natural talent for No Limit Hold'em. I would go to local tournaments and would generally cash in most of them and win the odd weekly tournament. When the casino opened a poker pit I had some time off and turned R500 into about R14000 in two weeks playing R10/R20 NL cash games. At the time I was just doing it for fun and spent the money on random things. I've had the same runs on Pokerstars and when grinding from $10 to $100 I get "bored" and enter random tournaments and eventually blow my bankroll. I guess I lacked the discipline to just keep grinding. However, my plan here is to develop that discipline and turn my $x into something I can use to pursue my ultimate goal of going pro.

I mentioned commitments earlier on and to elaborate a bit on that, I'll give you a break down. I work a job where I'm at the office for about 8-10 hours a day. I do MMA twice a week to keep fit as well as attend gym every second day (well I try at least). As I mentioned, I have a pregnant wife and we have a daughter as well that does a range of extra mural activities that takes up time but she loves them and I wouldn't deny her any opportunity to do something she enjoys. So, does this make my goal impossible? No, but it does make it a but more difficult that the average person trying to achieve the same thing.

How am I going to go about this? I have almost no real strategy at the moment. I guess that's why I'm here writing this, hoping to formalize something. I read a great blog from a new addition to the Pokerstars Team Online that inspired a lot of what I am doing. You can have a look at it here. 

I know I need to start spending more time studying and I recently obtained a copy of Kill Everyone which I am going to go through for the rest of this month. I plan to start this journey from the 1st of May so I have 3 weeks to develop a more disciplined mindset while looking for the right format to increase my bankroll from whatever I decide to start with. Comments, suggestion and any feedback would be appreciated and I look forward to spending this journey with whatever readers come along for the ride.