First, thanks for the opportunity you've given me here! I think the site looks great, and I am looking forward to learning from ya!
O.K., about myself. My name's Alex, I'm 23, and I live in sunny, syphillitic Baltimore, MD. I work a day job writing for a few investment newsletters. It's better than it sounds, because basically I get to gamble all day (with other people's money). It's all statistics, charts, and news - it's a game of subjective decisions based on incomplete information, sound familiar?
I went to Johns Hopkins University as a Writing major, and while I was there, all of my friends were getting poker crazy. One day, they were a man short and dragged me in. The WSOP ('03, I think) had been on all Summer, so I had a vague idea what I was doing, and ended up cleaning them all out pretty quickly. Suddenly, that light bulb flashed over my head - you mean you can make money playing cards? Well, shucks, I guess that's what I'll do then! (insert donkey laugh here)
Well, for a while I stuck to cleaning up the low limit home games, but was healthily skeptical of the internet games. After about two months of watching players I consistently murdered building big bankrolls on Bodog, I finally succumbed. I dropped the minimum, $25, into UB and got going.
That was in mid-April. Since then, I've never redeposited. Due to the fact I act like M.C. Hammer when I get a little money, I've had to withdraw frequently, and have cashed out over $4000 from SNGs alone. Keep in mind that I took about 1.5 months off from poker due to travelling for work. I play mostly $10 and $20 6-handed, with some 10-handed and $30s mixed in. I also play on Stars on occasion.
Through about 800 SNGs, I'm around 47.5% ITM and 31% ROI. I also am pretty decent at MTT's, though I don't play them often. I've played about 40, with 9 final tables. I've final tabled at least one at each level I've played ($5, $10, $20, $30, $100), though I haven't won one yet.
I'm still learning every day. Despite the fact I believe I have a serious advantage at any table I sit at (at the levels I play), there are parts of my game that I am working on firming up. I've gotten better recently at playing mid-pairs preflop, after a lot of thought on the subject, and my steal game has improved dramatically in the past month. I'm also a lot more confident in my reads - I was always confident in them, but just enough to let loose a spineless "I KNEW he had rags!" as I tossed my cards to the muck. Not anymore, folks.
My main problems now are working on my big stack and bubble play, which could use a little work, and bankroll management - every time I get up to $300 or $400, I end up withdrawing back down to $100 and starting over. Can't do much damage with one Benjamin on your side.
I'm a pretty serious student of the game, and my results are nothing to laugh at. I hope I can continue to do well, especially now as a student of Gidders!
Students 
