Having seen a bunch of my fellow poker players doing this, I thought it was time I gave it a shot.
I'm sure most poker players who visit this will know who I am, but if not, here is a little background:
I started playing poker at my first year at University - aged 18 - and now, six years later, much of my life revolves around it. In 2010 I started playing semi-professionally; initially, as a PL08 SNG mass-multitabler combined with MTTs - mainly NLHE and Omaha 8. I had a pretty successful start and hit my targets up to the end of May. Then, after deciding I would be travelling Europe in the summer (and using my savings to fund this), I decided to join a staking company. On the recommendation of chknpotpie - one of my poker buddies and a regular in the mid stakes cash games on Poker Stars - I joined SharkStaking (http://www.sharkstaking.com/). Not only did this offer me greater financial security - I would no longer have to fund my poker career - it meant I'd also receive coaching from chkn, something I knew could really help me to start improving my cash game and take my play to the next level.
What followed was a pretty incredible few months - but not at the poker table. Seven weeks of amazing weather, sightseeing and partying in mainland Europe; followed by a ten week tour of America. 2010 was definitely an exciting year for travelling and meeting people; many of whom will be friends for the rest of my life. I even enjoyed my best tournament result while I was Stateside - $3200 for placing equal 1st (we made a deal three handed) in an $11 NLHE tournament. This felt really good as I'd had so many deep runs in Hold Em MTTs but always come up short. Hopefully there will be many big results to come in 2011.
As 2010 neared a conclusion, I was approached by the hierarchy at SharkStaking and asked to join the staff. This is a pretty cool new opportunity for me and I'll no longer be relying solely on my playing abilities for my income. And before the year was out, I managed to hit Supernova status after a sick VPP grind in December.
2011 will see some of my focus shift to the business side of the game - in my new role with SharkStaking. But I fully intend to continue improving my game as I work towards becoming an even better and more successful player. This year I will play more cash games - playing as many as 24 tables at a time. At present, I mainly frequent the .25/.50 and .50/1 tables but I'm always pushing myself to move higher and working closely with my coach to make the transition as smooth as possible. I'll also be trying to play as many $215 MTTs as I can and look forward to the big online tournament series and potentially making my debut at the WSOP. That would be really exciting.
Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous 2011 - hope you enjoy following my progress.
Giffordonian
