Beginning 1st February......

Okay, work has finished and I've got 6 months off so it's nearly time to start my quest to qualify for this years World Series of Poker.

Before I start I must stress that I do not consider myself anywhere close to an expert on the fascinating game of Texas Holdem. I've read the books, watched Rounders countless times, studied strategy and played a bit both online and in casinos but I am a very long way from being classed a decent poker player. I know how to play and can sometimes fool myself into believing I've got what it takes but I still succumb to too many dubious fishy plays and mis-timed bluffs. But I love playing poker and since starting on Pokerstars way back in 2002 I've definitely got better.

Along the way I've managed to have a few pretty good results, qualify online for 4 legs of the 2007 Grosvenor Poker Tour and, amazingly, qualify for the 2007 World Series of Poker (I lasted well into day 2 before running my shortstacked QK into AQ on a Q high board).

My best live performance was finishing 14th (for £2300) in the Manchester leg of the Grosvenor poker tour where I just missed the televised final table when Dave Colclough knocked me out. He had A5, I had AK, the flop came 559 and that, unfortunately, was that! Colclough went on to take the 1st prize and I was left with thoughts of what might have been......

But now we're here in 2009 and after taking a year off from playing Live due to work commitments I'm ready to try again. My ultimate aim is to be sat down at the felt in the RIO Casino Resort when the famous 'Shuffle up and deal' announcement is made to begin this years WSOP and this Blog will be charting my progress towards this goal.....

So how am I planning to do this?

Basically by running my $1000 Poker Bankroll up to $12500 (to cover the $10,000 entry, flight and accommodation) in the next 5 months.

I will mainly be multi-tabling £16 Two Table Turbo Sit'n'Go's on Pokerstars but if my bankroll allows I will also be entering satellites to try and win seats for various live tournaments.

If my bankroll increases I will also be moving up the entry fee level for the SNG to $36, $60 and upwards.

I will be playing on Pokerstars as 4KingAceBlog and you will be able to track my results for these sit'n'go's at http://www.sharkscope.com/. If you play yourself, please feel free to join me at the tables and dump your chips to me!

I'll post all my results and chart my progress towards the $12,500 goal whilst hopefully entertaining you along the way with tales of woe and fortune brought to you from exotic locations.

I'll say it again, I'm not that good a player and this whole project could come crashing down very quickly but hopefully with a bit (well a lot actually!) of luck I can string it out for 5 months and get somewhere near my goal.

If it all does fail then I hope you, the reader, at least get to enjoy the ride.

Gavin.