While playing poker for a couple of years, my basic poker skills definitely approved. But for times by (small) bankroll kept almost the same. Sometimes a little bit higher, but after a while again back at the same starting point. Well, the goods news is that still up to this moment I never went broke. More good news is that I still enjoy playing this game. But on the other hand my bankroll is the proof that I am not improving my game. Because enjoying this in life is more important than money, there is no problem. But no, there is a problem. And that problem is that for years I want to improve myself. Learning from my mistakes, recognizing the mistakes, play at a higher mental level, more intens and more focused, with patience and always making the right decisions. But untill some months ago, the reality did not match this wish.

First, some time ago I made the decision to play cash games only. Perhaps sometimes for fun play a tournament, but mostly my goal was to focus on cash games. But, before that moment the most fun I had was playing tournaments and sit & go's. So the decision was a little bit strange and unnatural. The biggest reason for this choice was that, at least in my opinion, playing cash games is much tougher than playing tournaments. And I'm not saying that tournaments are easier, they are different. In playing cash games skills are the most important asset. For instance if you can control yourself, perform the right analysis and make the right decisions in each hand, it will lead the victory. But most important of all, it will force me to improve myself and work on my skills.

And I must say, altough I miss playing tournaments sometimes, more and more I am loving the cash games. Especially when a decision was good, even if that resulted in a loss. But also doing the analysis, finding a new weak spot in the game, and work on that. And this way I found a way to enjoy the game more and more. Unfortunately I do not have the opportunity to play a lot of hours during a week. But who cares. For now my bankrol already increased 50%, so I have the fealing that I am doing something right. I am really imporving my game. And yeah, almost all professionals claim they are still learning. So, garanteed, this will be fun for the rest of my life. What a fantastic game!

Well, what shall I say! Writing a first blog here, especially not in my own natural language, is not so easy. But, yeah, I'm happy that the subject of this blog is clear. Absolutely, it will be about poker, what else? Perhaps sometimes other subjects, but mostly always related to poker. And, in my style!

But first, let me tell something about myself and how poker fits into my life. Very simple, poker is a fantastic game. Perhaps I should say this is the most fantastic game on the planet. And there is the link with me, a Dutch guy who likes to enjoy life. Something more people should do by the way. And besides all kinds of nice and interesting activities and hobbies, poker is almost my favorite. Unbelievable, where can you find such a game where you will learn and learn continuously and having fun in the meantime. But having fun for me also means spending time on other hobbies, my social life, family and work.

Am I a pokerpro? No, just an amateur playing for fun. But with fun I do not mean playing for nothing and just be a simple gambler. No, one that will learn in order to get better and better, and slowly play higher and higher. Will I ever be a poker pro? No, I don't think so! But, you will never know, because there will be a period in time where I will play interesting tournaments or cash games. For instance playing the WSOP, and yes, being on the final table would be a nice adventure. Dreams, that's what life makes worth living.