Let the saga begin...

You know, I was thinking that the internet needs another Blog. Hey, I'll even be original with it and blog about my poker exploits. Why, there can't be ANYONE who ever thought of that before...
With the knowledge that what am I doing is hardly original and no where near revolutionary, you are now reading the beginning of "Poker On Film" - A  poker blog (a "plog" - no. Defiantly no.).
So what is the point of all this? I will give you the short version and the long after it.
 

SHORT

My goal is the make enough money through poker to buy a video camera and begin a career in film.

 

There you go, that wasn't hard was it? Now the long, semi-autobiographical version.

 

LETS PLAY CARDS

My grandfather on my mother's side (hereafter referred to as Pop) has always loved playing cards, and taught me and my brothers how to play poker before we could read (something my mum was not very happy about). Soon, we learned Euchre which became our favorite game for the next ten years or so, and that migrated into 500.  When I left the thriving metropolis of Broken Hill for Sydney, the highlight of my return to the Silver City was tea around Nan's and "dessert" with Pop that meant either 4 handed 500 or six handed Euchre. Anyone who is familiar with these games know that they produce great card-counting skills. Oh, and just for reference, no 10 points for tricks, no "gentleman's hands" and anybody who calls Misere in our house gets thrown out never to return.  In Euchre, Pop's score cards are always the spades - but that's another story.

 

LIGHTS, CAMERA...

I graduated from university (I will not say which one because I tend to speak about them in a very bad light - another long story) with a degree in Commerce (Marketing) , but I knew that I wanted to make movies. Not "films" - I didn't want to express my deepest emotions through characters that over-state every emotion decision their pitiful lives present them with. I didn't want to hold a mirror up to societies faults and display the idiosyncrasies of the modern day upper class. I wanted to make movies that people want to watch - that people want to go onto the internet and create fan sites and fan fiction about. Fans of Steve Odenkirk and Broken lizard share a world that doesn't seem as geek-ridden as Star Trek fans. Hell, they can even be seen as the eccentric, cooler version of Trekkies. I wanted to make those movies.

As original an idea is was to create a poker blog, a video store worker trying to break into the movies is even less original.

As a broad generalization, anybody trying to make a career in the movies needs a few things -

• Contacts in the business (Nepotism - all business' thrive off it, don't be jealous now).
• Film school education
• Money

I can't magically change the occupations of my family, so contacts are out. And besides, one day when I write my auto-biography on my vast business empire (I like to plan ahead), I wanted to say I started from scratch by myself. I can't do film school, because I have a full time job and many debts, as well as a girlfriend who wants a very large (and expensive) engagement ring, wedding, house and family in that order. Besides, I'm making movies remember, not films! And money? Well, I'm sure I saw some coins behind the couch the other day. My net worth is firmly in the red, and will be for some years to come unless something happens.

But that's the great thing about money - something can happen. I can earn more. I can get a second job (not happening again), or I could win lotto (I know, a tax on the mathematical inept - but hey, somebody has to win!). Yeah, I don't really see a solution there, and since this is a poker blog you should have by now seen how I came to my conlcusion.

SO YOU WANNA BE A POKER PLAYER?

The original poker game for us as kids was a simple draw poker. Like many people now in the poker boom, my interest started with "Rounders" (the hard-core poker player either hates my type, or loves taking their money). Texas Hold'em was a new world, and I was quickly hooked. When I was playing a few games for fun on Yahoo, I realized there was no fun to be had. 10 handed games, 9 hands making it to the river, 7 of them showing 1 pair at best. Besides the fact that there is nothing to win but the satisfaction that I did, this game did little to quench my poker thirst. Trying to get my friends into the poker mood didn't work either, and I can't remember how many times I had to explain that 2 pairs beats a 4-straight even though they are both four cards. A flush vs a straight? Forget about it. Nothing is more demoralizing than having the novice cringe at loosing to my set, only to have me correct them and explain AGAIN what a flush is and hand over my chips. So I visited to world wide web again, and found a real poker place!

I started at PokerPages, and I really enjoyed their freeroll tournaments to hone my skills. This has two problems - the first is everybody knows that in these tournaments, guaranteed 2 people per table at least will go all in on the first hand pre-flop regardless of what they have. Second problem is again if I win, I only get the satisfaction that I won. So I moved onto PokerStars, where I can win real money for nothing if I beat 6000 other hopefuls. AlohaPoker is also a favorite, as I can win $28 by beating 400 others, though you need to make a move early as the starting stacks are quite small in comparison to everywhere else.

So here lies my challenge. I am not looking to turn my bankroll from $100 to $10,000 (although I hear that is very popular), I want to start with $0 and make enough to make my first movie, about $6K US dollars. I really only play online because there is no Brick and Mortar games here in Sydney.

Poker will never be a full time job, only a part time hobby for me. Come along for the ride if you feel the need, or just visit now and then and read my bad beat stories.

After all, my pocket 6's will hold up, won't they?