[DarrenJG]

Hello folks,

There is a wealth of knowledge on this board and perhaps some experienced players will be willing to share a little with a newbie.

I recently started to make a study of poker. I have been a BJ cardcounter for about 7 years and made decent money at it. It was basically a job through lawschool and beyond. I have good math ability and I am very, very disciplined. I have never had a problem playing properly under stress and avoiding "tilt." As a result of the cardcounting, I also understand, all too well, the swings inherent in this stuff, the idea of expected value, random walk w/ an upward drift, etc. I am a pretty seasoned veteran regarding some gambling concepts, but new to poker.

I recently left a big law firm to pursue some business ventures, so for the first time in ages my time is available and COMPLETELY flexible. The BJ games here in CT are getting tougher to beat and I haven’t had time to keep a small team together. I figure this is the perfect time to try to get really good at poker if at all possible.

On the advice of this forum, I slowly read Small Stakes Hold'em, Lee Jones' book, and Theory of Poker, as time permitted over the last few months. I just started Sklansky's Advanced Players. I’ve dabbled a little to test out the concepts I’ve learned, which I think I probably have a decent handle on. But now seems like the time to dive in and get more serious.

Maybe you can give me a little advice about starting off. I'm wondering what the progression should be like for me. I am willing to put maybe $5,000-6,000 in play, which may make my progression a little different than most newbs – not sure. It sounds like many start with smaller BR’s, and most advice I’ve seen is along that line. It seems that with poker you can get by with a FAR smaller bankroll than with cardcounting, where I needed at least $30,000+ to make real money – the swings could be enormous in BJ. But regardless, I obviously need to start at the low rungs. In fact, I still need to learn the nuts and bolts of bonuses and other basic stuff before I really get started online.

I have decent faith in my ability to do well, if there is a realistic chance of doing so. I heard lots of people say that I couldn't make money counting cards -- but I seemed to disprove them. It sounds like there are lots of experienced players here. What does it take to consistently win? What can a pretty fast learner expect to attain and in what time frame? How much must one stake? Should I just stick with blackjack and forget about this?!! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thanks for any advice. Hopefully, I’ll get to know some of you folks on here and maybe down the road I can return the favor.

Darren