Where do I begin?

I'm not a card shark... not just yet!

I walked into the room last Saturday and caught a regular talking about me to an unfamiliar player "watch out for her, she's a real shark, that one... " ho-hum, I'm barely playing poker one year and I'm already a 'Shark'?!!!

If I'm honest, I hardly put myself in the Shark league!

Let's see: Susie Woosie, Anna and Cathy had me intrigued with their various poker games, til Cathy announced she won €90 - not bad for a €20 buy-in game! Susie offered to teach me, I played a few home games before trying my first Irish Deaf Poker (IDP) game on 23rd March. I was knocked out 3rd last - but hey, I wasn't LAST!

Started 'practicing' online with the play money games on PaddyPower and FullTilt... wasn't confidence to try the real games, came back to the next IDP game on 9th June and WON! €216 for €20 buy-in, not bad, not bad at all! But re-watching the video of the final hand - on my Bebo - now, I cringe! I just got lucky there - now I wouldn't call all in with that hand! I was still a fish player.

After my success I uploaded €50 to PPP and lost it all in a series of cash games and tournaments... I did win some money but that went too. I felt very out of my depth online, I continued playing IDP games this way but got kicked out early.

Started to play ultra-tight, only with pairs 10 or higher, A10-AA ace combos, KK, QQ or JJ. Nothing else. Betting huge on these hands. This worked for a while online, but once the players started to read me the profit went down again! Using this method I found myself knocked out early in IDP for next three games. Something not right here...

I had to improve my game somehow. I got really focused: asked for tips, watched the pro-games on TV, read up online on the importance of placements and other interesting tidbits, brought the Little green Book, lurked on boards.ie/poker and reviewed my strategy.

My game really started to improve, came 3rd two months in a row at IDP: November & December 2007. It was enough to put me into 5th place on the IDP league and the highest ranking female player too! But I need more, IDP is a mixture of 65% fishes and 35% players - its hard to bluff or play big, with calling stations galore. Susie suggested playing other small tournaments, we agreed to try our local pub poker games.

1st week, I made it to the final table, played well all night but lost out a big pot when my 3 of a kind ran into a flush (on river!!!) after that I was on a total tilt, and was knocked out in 8th place. 2nd week I made it to final table again, and sailed to first place knocking out the 2nd and 3rd place holders simulateously and won my biggest win to date: €360.

Around this time I started to pay attention to what I was 'spending' on poker and how much I was 'up' by... made a pact to keep playing only for as long as my 'up' amount was greater than the amount 'spent'! As a single-mum I don't have a lot of money to 'spare' so having a decent bankroll to fund my games is a priority as the odds are likely that I could only win money only one game in every 4.

A planned trip to London coincided with a Deaf UK Poker Tournament; Susie, Cathy and myself played. There was almost 60 players and the structure looked rather dodgy but we had a brilliant day... Cathy was card-dead, both Susie and myself ended up on the final table, I was short-stacked after a sick beat on the previous table and got knocked out in 6th place just before the bubble(!) Susie went on to win £300 in 3rd place.

3rd & 4th pub game saw me out early stages, I was totally card dead in both games. But 5th game I made final table rather short-stacked but held on to 2nd place for €200. 6th week: the game was canceled in favour of a bigger tournament, so I part-taked in a couple of S-n-Gs/side events instead and came home €100 richer...

But I blew that €100 at a recent charity re-buy tournament, with a series of bad beats from a calling station who raised on everything I bet on, and he won by pure luck! I'll never play a re-buy like that again!

The recent 2008 IDP game yielded me free entry into the Irish Deaf Poker Open in May and a starting place on the 2008 league. Plus I've brought a ticket into my biggest game yet - the Ladies Event in the Paddy Power Open: that'll be my biggest challenge yet...

That's my history in a nutshell! My bankroll is okay, I'm 'up' €120 after the PPP buy-in (enough for two more pub games!)

But until I win big at these events, don't call me a Shark... YET!