Opening post

Let the blogging begin. After playing serious poker for the last year and reading many blogs and websites out there, I've decided to try my hand a blogging.

Now, by serious poker, I mean I play mostly online with some random sampling of local home games and charity events. Living in Columbus, Ohio does not lend one to be able to get to many B&M establishments easily when balancing work, family and friends. I have been to the Commerce (once) for a few hours of $1/2 play, during which I lost about half my starting $100 in the first 30 minutes getting sucked out on the river, then spending the next two hours trying to get back to even when the deck went cold on me. Haven't made it to Vegas yet, but I'm looking forward to a trip sometime this year.

LIFE.....
My wife (Jen) and I have been married for almost 8 years now...Would do it all over again without a second thought. We're blessed with two great girls (Danielle-4 and Ashley-2) that are a joy to watch grow. Going to be way smarter than their old man, that's for sure. I work a day job that pays the bills and allows Jen to spend time home with the girls during the day....Harder job than I have, that's for sure.

Danielle is a budding gymnast, so that's pretty fun to watch her learn new stuff...Cartwheels are still rough on her, but she loves the activity. Ashley will probably be the poker player, as she loves sitting with me when I play online while she is awake...Unless, of course, the Wiggles or Disney channel is on TV.

The UNIVERSE....
As for me, I'm married (Jen - since 1998) with two little girls (Danielle 4 and Ashley 2) and we're hoping for a third (and final) sometime in the next year or two. I'm a QA manager at a national health and wellness retail chain, so having all the girls in the house is a nice sounding board for new products...and they love the free stuff.

and POKER....
Finally on poker....So, I spend most of my available time sitting in front of a computer and playing on UltimateBet.com. I started on PartyPoker for awhile (until I lost my buy in and bonus) then switched over to UB, which I am happy with. Played at most sites (Poker Stars, Full Tilt, Pokertropolis), mainly just bonus whoring and such. UB has been the best to me by far...great interface, spread of games and customer support. I'll probably post a link on this site when I figure out how to do it...as I said, I play mostly on UB, and have worked up to the $5/10 limit games. I agree with the pros, in that you have to play a limit that makes it sting just a bit....and playing lower limits just frustrated me to no end, as it was next to impossible to protect big hands from getting sucked out by someone when 6-8 players take each flop. $5/10 online typically respects pre-flop raises and check-raises as solid hands, so you can play 'real' poker with bluffs, semi-bluffs, etc. Had a nice night last night on UB...clearing about $200 in 45 minutes on a nice rush of hands after being down $100 early. I play when I have the time and am in the right frame of mind to play...so not every night or anything...so the $200 profit was enough for me to get up and walk from the table pretty happy....now, I know that some would keep playing and try to maximize the run on the table....which I did after getting up about $240....paid the blinds for two rounds with crap cards....took one flop on Ad9d and saw three clubs flop....folded to the first bet....walked with my cash and was happy.

Well...that's about enough for now...girls need some breakfast while the wife sleeps in. I'll probably post this around some message boards and try and generate some feedback to keep it going.