16 year old winning poker player (long)

I don't know how many underagers post here, but my story is pretty one-of-a-kind IMO. Well here goes:

I'm 16 now and I'm definitely a "winning poker player". I, like everyone else, went through the learning curve and the fluctuations, the build a bankroll and lose it, the too high stakes without the bankroll, and I've now found myself to be a winning player.

I started playing when I was 14. My older brother, who was then a senior in highschool, became addicted to watching it on TV and playing with his friends. They played a .50/1NL game afterschool buying in with 10-20 dollars and a couple of them are pretty successful now, including him. Well, being a younger brother, I wanted to do everything he did. Just my luck! A couple of my friends knew how to play and we would play in the school hallway without poker chips because we were afraid of being caught. We played 10 and 20 cent blinds and would buy in for 5 dollars keeping track on a sheet. Slowly we improved from awful to bad, and then my brother found a way to start playing online. Of course, I started playing too, mostly in 5 dollar tournaments and 1c/2c NL. Well I neither lost much or won much, but played afterschool a bit from january-june of 2003. I still maintained a social life even with the poker.

That summer I was working at a day camp and staying with my brother and older sister. Both of us had moved on to higher stakes, and I was playing up to 50 dollars tournaments. I even final tabled in a 50 multi, winning over $500. Not bad for a 14 year old. But I still was a break-ever or losing player, having tons of flaws in my game. After that summer my brother went to college and I pretty much had no means of playing.

From september-November of my sophomore year I wasn't playing any poker at all. My social life flourished and my grades were up, and being at a gifted school in Manhattan, both of these mean a lot. However, that November my brother had decided that he was quitting college and living at home, in my room, and going to community college. Inevitably with him playing right next to me, I got sucked in and started playing again. The social life and the grades started to fail, until I hit my peak in February.

I was sitll only a break-even player, but I managed to win a 720 person MTT with $30 buy in. I won ~$4700, and my life changed. I started playing poker for hours every day, playing different games on different sites. I had all the access I needed with my brothers credit card, and I still had my parents thinking I was "playing play-money". Things seemed to be perfect, as I only cared about poker, disregarding school and friends.

From Febrary until June I was playing poker, poker and more poker. However my $4700 bankroll had shrunk down to about 800. I had played several $215 buy in MTTs, all way out of my league, and had even played some 10/20 limit. Although I wasn't bad, and could definitely hold my own in lower stakes games, I was greedy and wanted more. In June I got the worst report card I've ever gotten, and hadn't done hardly anything socially in months. I was in denail, thinking poker was such a cool thing it was OK for me to be such a loser. That June I started caring more about money, and focused only on playing 35+3 buy in 6 handed SNGs. I got my 800 bankroll back up to about 1500, when I had to go on vacation with my parents.

I was away from poker entirely for 5 weeks, and it seemed like right when I got back I was changed. I was winning and winning and winning, playing the best poker of my life. It was then that I was sure I was a "winning player". I still had not told my parents that I play for real money, and I'm not sure if they know or not but they hadn't confronted me on it.

That september, after I went back to school, I realized that I really did have some issues. I didn't really do anything about however until one of my few friends spelled it out for me. He told me that I was missing out on something so much better than poker, and that the money was just meaningless since I wasn't spending it on anything anyway. His words rang loud and clear, and I took a couple weeks off of poker, getting back involved in school and socially. However after those two weeks I needed to play again, and have continued to win. I talk to a lot of my brother's poker-playing friends, and I evaluate my plays a lot with them. I am a winning player in SNGs, cash games, and tournaments, and have really started sticking to the level of play I can beat.

I think now I have found a good balance between school, friends, and poker. I am a winning player at just 16, with no aspirations of being a "pro". I like to play for fun, and I like to have as much money as I want. The problem is that I still haven't told my parents.

I have built my bankroll to about 7k, all through poker (now mostly through NL100), and I have found a good balance. I am not sure how they would react, maybe letting me continue playing, maybe being mad that I lied about it so much, maybe making me stop completely. I am not sure I could deal with no playing at all, but they are not opposed to gambling so they might not stop me. They let me play with my friends whenever they play a little 20 dollar tournament (which i consistently rip apart), and let my brother play online. I think they might know a play and just not stop me because they dont care.

I am curious what you guys think about the whole story and telling my parents.

-A.R.

PS. I know that it seems obvious..."always tell your parents" but think about what I might be giving up and how hard that might be to do. Those of you who arent burnouts, think about giving up poker completely and abruptly. Thanks!