[PokerPrince]

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This is kinda funny cause I'm extemely drunk right now. I honestly don't talk about how I got into poker much but I guess when you've had a few drinks it doesn't matter much. I worked a LOT of odd jobs. I worked at a grocery store nightshift stocking shelves, as a security guard at creepy hotels, as a blackjack/baccarat dealer at a casino. None of those seemed to feel right. I always felt different amongst the crowd of employees. My thinking has always been very outside the box. When I discovered the world of poker in about 1999 I emersed myself in it. I really enjoyed the complexity of the game and felt it to be kind of like a chess game with a social atmosphere. I continued to work and play every few nights in house games, usually around 5-10 limit. I did quite well. I made notes on players and on my progress, feeling very content not just financially but emotionally. My paychecks would become a fuel for me to ignite my pashion for the game.

Eventually I realized that working in a regular job was not for me. It was around this time that I was diagnosed with manic depression. My ups and downs were quite ridiculous. I jockied from medication to medication hoping desperately that I would find the right one to aleviate my insanity. I would take time off work to play poker and -EV table games such as blackjack and baccarat. I blew paycheck after paycheck after paycheck. I would say that within a years time I could probably buy a porsche with what I spent gambling. Only one game stood out from the others in terms of mental satisfaction and profitability...poker.

Eventually I quit those horrendously unprofitable house edge games and realized that if I really put my mind to work and focussed on getting better, I could maybe make a living in poker. When I first told my parents, "I'de really like to attempt to make some kind of living playing this game." they looked at me with strange eyes. I felt like an outcast, like I had put a spell of shame upon them. I quit my odd going nowhere job and took my beat up car to Toronto where there was a myriad of local club games to chose from. I was alone, for the first time in my entire life.

The first night was filled with fear. I only had a couple thousand with me and the game was full of mean ugly street thugs who cared not about me or my needs or aspirations. From this day forward I would come in here at 7pm and play til dawn playing tight unimaginative poker. I would sleep in my car for 7 months straight, reading The Theory Of Poker and Hold 'em Poker For Advanced Players under flashlight. Man it was cold and lonely. Only my thirst for knowledge and profits kept me going. I still look back and laugh at the most insane night ever when I hit a HOT run playing 10-20 and won 3700 in about 3 hours. I was followed out to my car by two angry players and had to thwart them off using my boot knife(very very scary and adrenaline pumping to the max).

I worked my meager bankroll up to enough to finally rent a room in a house outside of Toronto. It really wasn't much, but a far cry better than the back seat of my 88' Cavalier. I got a cheapo computer and dabbled a little with online poker. At first I thought, 'What a scam! This can't be legit!' I blasted through a good portion of my roll in some games on paradise and ub. One night after surfing through some porn I noticed an banner for a poker site that need Props. Hmmm this could be interesting.


I won't go into extreme detail of the sites I have propped for but to cut a long story short, I was evenutally staked by the manager of the prop program. He gave me 1k to play with and I got half profits and prop pay for my efforts for three months. Not bad seeing as I was near broke. I worked HARD. Played alllllll night and slept allllll day. After three months I had turned that 1k into about 21k playing 3-6 and 5-10. I got half of that and went out on my own. From 0 dollars I have worked it into buying a condo, a new car and a healthy bankroll for mid/high limits. I DO NOT take any of this for granted nor should anyone in a similar situation. Kind of a rags to riches story(though not quite rich, lol). I found the right medication that keeps me balanced and happy and mentally sound. It had been a very rough road to travel. With all of this came sacrifices, such as a real social life and acquiring knowledge of the world around me. Do I have any regrets? No. Would I do it all over again? Of course. I don't answer to anyone. I am my own boss. I am my own master. The knowledge that I have gained within a few short years is worth a lifetime of laboring punching clocks with the commoners. We are all worm-feed from birth, why not take some chances before we are put to rest? Thanks for reading.

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Would like to hear more please. When I worked as a dealer here in Toronto, I heard a lot of these stories of people who tried to make a living off poker. This of course was way before it went online.

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Oh cool, you work in one of the old Charity's? Man I bet you got some stories to tell yourself.