General Message to all 2+2ers:

[Rumbles]

Thank you.

Thank you for the several lifetimes of experience you all contribute to these boards. Thank you for the wealth of information at my fingertips. Thank you for giving me (and others) invaluable help on any and all topics.

My name is Nate, and I'd like to tell you my story. I am a senior at the DigiPen Institute of Technology. It is a video game programming college in Redmond, WA. During my summer months at DigiPen, I have taught a two-week crash course in video game programming and design to high school kids around the country. Last Summer (June 2003), I was stationed in Spokane, WA. While in my hotel room, I happened to flip through the channels and came upon the WPT. It was an entertaining watch, but my interest was less than piqued. A few days later, I went to see The Hulk with my teaching assitant. Before the credits, there was an add for Northern Quest Casino. Bring your ticket stub, 2 for 1 buffet. My interest was now piqued. After returning to my hotel room, I called up NQ and asked if you could get in being under 21 (I was only 20 at the time). They said yes, and we (my assistant and I) were off to our buffet. After eating (btw: NQ buffet = fantastic), we wandered over to the poker room. They had two tables going, 1/2 hold 'em and O8B with a kill. Thankfully, Omaha was too confusing to attract my interest at that time. I sat down at the 1/2 table and was hooked immediately. We went back two or three times and I might have even logged a winning session in there. My immediate next teaching location was in beautiful Racine, WI. Racine was not far from Milwaukee, but poker hadn't really *exploded* yet, so Potawatomi didn't have a poker room. Two weeks of WSOP 2003 and WPT had me salivating for B&M poker, and I could only hope that our next teaching location had a card room. Sure enough, San Jose was kind enough to offer Bay 101 for all my needs. I must have logged more time at 3/6 than in my classroom. Around this time, I picked up WLLH and my journey to winnerdom was underway.

My entire Junior year at Digipen (2003-2004) was dominated by casino poker. Seattle is a hotbed of card rooms (there are only really 2 full fledged casinos in the area, but dozens of "social card rooms"). I really cut my teeth at the Kenmore Lanes 3/6 (18+ to get in, I was under 21 until early 2004). Midway through the year, I picked up HEFAP, and happened to swing by the forums here. From that moment onward, my free time (at home) is often spent pouring over the various forums.

You guys are really incredible, keep up the good work. You might notice my pathetic postcount. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have felt I've had salient, helpful information to add to any discussion here. You guys have so much to teach.

At the end of my junior year, I was down about $1000 and on the upswing. For my second summer of teaching, I had a laptop, so I thought I'd try my hand at multiabling internet hold em. At this point, I could claim to be a winning player (no +EV to write home about). I spent my summer teaching, unlocking bonuses at pacific, empire, and stars, and trolling these boards. My first teaching location of 2004 was in Gary, IN. Not far from East Chicago, I spent most of my time at the Trump (sidenote: the rumors about the chip cleanliness has not been exaggerated). It was here that I picked up my first and (to date) only girl at the table. FWIW, going out with a remotely cute women with a solid understanding of hold 'em and EV is hotter than 1000 suns (please, disagree and flame away, I probably have it coming).

Thanks to some online softness and bonses, I am now in the black over my 1.5 years of poker. My biggest thanks goes right out to everyone here. Thank you Scheids for your incredible diary. Good luck to gonores on his same quest. You both have kept me quite entralled. Thank you Fossilman for being a class act. Thank you Sklansky + Malmuth for your library, and this site.

I encourage others to post their stories about how 2+2 has impacted their lives.

Thanks for listening.