David Leys

A poker journal seems like the way to go. Maybe it will help keep me honest, maybe it will not. Only one way to find out.

I first began playing poker when my older brother taught me the game at the age of 16. He was no professional but enjoyed playing with his friends and did fairly well in that group. The game was No-Limit Texas Hold'em. The style was always Sit and Go Single Table Tournament Style with a fair blind structure.

After a couple of months playing on and off with my older brother and his friends, I was hooked. To this day, I am not exactly sure what it was but there was something about the game that just sucked me in. At the age of 17, I opened a bank account and made my first deposit of $50 into Party Poker (lying about my age obviously). I lost that in a few month. Two small deposits later and I was already making progress and keeping my deposit going.

This went on until I went to college and got into PokerStars. I had such a passion/addiction for the game, that I even began skipping classes just to pull an all-night/day session. I was making a profit at this point but not much. Enough for some weekend beer money. After dropping out of college after two semesters, I moved in with my Dad. This is where the single largest benefit to my game ever took place.

I was playing some low level stuff on hollywood poker and in the chatbox someone typed in, "www.Gidders.com - play to win". Immediately I go and check out this site. It looked like a training/mentor site from a successful SnG player. That is amazing! I love SnGs! I watched every video "gidders" produced and read every article that he wrote. Then, after some time, he started offering these single SnG live training sessions. The deal was: Send this guy $20, call him on the phone, and register for a SnG. I did just that.

I proceed to tell him all my hands live as he watches the game from his end. He tells me what moves to make and briefly explains why. This was immensely helpful but the second session was even better. During our second session together, he told me to drag the window to the side of the screen so that I was unable to see my cards. With a bit of advice, I proceeded to play the entire SnG without ever looking at my cards. As luck would have it, I achieved a 2nd place finish still. This was the singular largest help to my game ever. It really showed me how to think of the game in an entirely different way; how to read the table and situations before my own cards.

Shortly after that training session, I decided to play a $12 MTT on Bodog with ~350 players. I took my first MTT win that day. It was a huge accomplishment for me. Over the next six months or so, I went on to win enough money to buy everything I needed in life. It was enough to live on well without having to pay a rent. Then it hit me, I can't be a degenerate living with my Dad forever. So I joined the military and spent the next six years of my life mostly away from the poker table.

After leaving the military in 2012, I tried to re-enter the poker world and was shocked with what I had found. It was completely different. People that used to be terrible at my stakes were suddenly crushing the game. I could no longer compete like I used to. I started reading every book and article I could get my hands on. I was able to develop a new strategy. Playing in my spare time on and off for the next few year, I had streaks of winning and streaks of losing....nothing I could support myself on.

Finally, I moved to Cambodia (with a small disability income from the military) and decided that I wanted to learn the game and become a full-time poker player. Fast forward to late last year. I put in a $50 deposit on PokerStars, bought pokertracker4, and ran that deposit up to $1000. Within two weeks, I had gotten drunk and lost the entire roll (minus $12) in a single night.

Today, I still have that $13 in my PokerStars account with the intention of dropping another $100 in when I get paid on the 1st of the month. That is my story and this is what I want....

I have just zeroed out my PokerTracker4 Database to give myself a fresh start with no drunken results. I want to play a strict MTT strategy until I can build my bankroll to a level I am comfortable with playing stakes that will suit me. After this point, I want to be able to withdraw $700 a month to support myself with a nice lifestyle (combined with my disability income).

Here is the kicker, I want to get to this point in less than one year. This is the time where a secondary income (from my G.I. Bill) will drop off and I would like to replace it will poker winnings.

I'd like to think I can put the time, effort, and dedication into making that happen but I have had a good record of quitting in my life. I will do whatever I can to try and eliminate that possibility this time.

What I do have are a couple of local professional players, two of which have offered to help a bit (at least let me join them for a session while they explain strategy) free of charge. Other than that, I am a member of Pocketfives.com and try to soak up what I can from there as well as any respectable youtube videos that I come across, and of course, RIO.

Poker sites used: Only PokerStars.com
Current Balance: $11.20 (with intention to add $100)
Current Hands (PT4): 0
Current ROI: 0
Months to goal: 12

Note: I manage a bit of practice/ fun / less serious games a few nights a week at local venues. This will not be included in my challenge.

If anyone can recommend specific learning materials, I am all ears.