HOW I GOT INTO WRITING

I suppose primarily my friends back home are to blame, since they’re the ones who encouraged my writing to begin with. There were roughly 16 of us, who would alternately play 10-man-sit’n’gos at my place, on a pretty regular once-a-month basis. USD20 buy-ins, unlimited re-buys, an add-on as well as a USD10 per-player-per-night compulsory contribution for the player-of-the-year pool. So basically “fun stakes” and in reality it was all about bragging rights – outwitting your friends, hero-calling with the slimmest of hands and bluff-check-raising the river if possible.

I’ll paint you a picture of that last possibility. The bluffer wouldn’t subsequently just show the bluffee his cards. Hell no, the person would be getting up – slamming the cards down on the table, double-fistpumping the air and high-fiving anyone willing to back him up. Shit, one of the guys even had an obscene little dance – a pretty annoying pelvis-thrusting-Ricky-Martin-ain’t-got-nothing-on-me looking act you’d be forced to observe if he ever got the better of you. Fuck, those were the good days…!

It was the type of the game, where you were likely to see the typical math-geek (that would be yours truly) rambling about, “…27% equity! – No, hang on, you’ve got 11 outs and you’ve got a possible re-draw, must be 43.71%. Any jack, deuce or spade! Ok, deal the turn!” I was such a poker-dork. You might also run into a player, who – during a hand – would be frantically sifting through PokerForDummies, trying to see whether a straight beats a flush. True story.

Back to the writing bit: Since there were 16 of us, but only one 10-person table, not everyone could play each time, which is why I started putting together tourney reports after each monthly session. At first, this was just an outlet for me, getting the opportunity to trash-talk about everyone, name-call (“uber-donk” & “dim-witted retard” still come to mind) but ultimately also summarize the action as accurately and humorously as I could. The reporting caught on and soon a summary email was expected from me, leading to disconcerted emails, if I didn’t deliver within a day or two.

And finally, here we are – present day. I still love writing about poker, still love it when other people enjoy what I write and only wish that I can keep up both playing and writing forever. Speaking of which, I’ve come up with a new blog topic which I’ll delve into as soon as I finish up this one. It’ll be an account of sorts, in which I try to detail what I do and don’t do well in poker. Obviously, one should be a hell of a lot longer than the other. Until next time.

Bankroll: USD 6,553.13
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 226