[WillyT]

Nicky,

Cardinals fan I hope! I grew up around St. Louis and play at the Ameristar when I visit family for the holidays. I suppose it is kind of weird that there are no stakes there between 5-10 and 20-40. I've played quite a bit both online and in the casino and my advice to you is to invest a small chunk of money for online play so you can gain some experience. The best part is that if you deposit about 600 bucks online you should be able to get the experience you need in a few months to be playing in your local 20/40 game at Ameristar which, in my opnion, plays like a 5/10 online game or so.
If you start out playing 1/2 online you should be able to beat the games and you can start playing a little bit of short-handed at .5/1 until you get the hang of it. The increased aggression and analysis you'll be making will come quickly with your vast experience playing.
You'll also have a good forum here in the small stakes and small stakes short handed sections to post hands and get advice.
I can give you a hand if you need any advice on how to set things up or if you have any poker questions in general. Feel free to pm me or, of course, post questions in the forum.

Good Luck,
Bill