I am a new to blogging after a recent household income change. After having quite a bit of spare time on my hands I started staying up later and watching TV. In doing so, I came across a show on ESPN called the WSOP Tournament. I do not know what caused me to stop and watch this show but it captured my attention for over an hour and a half. I think it was the kind of money that these professional pro’s were earning which caused such amazement. I mean people actually make a decent living just play cards, which I thought was awesome!

With this is mind I decide to teach myself how to play.I came across several how to sites such as Hold em Secrets! which gave me a vast wealth on knowlege in playing.I also came across a great free signup link called BlackHat Poker Coaching Program! along with joining Pokerstars.net and Full Tilt poker hence beginning my journey into being a poker pro. At this time I am at the rookie level in this monster of a sport. I started just watching as many poker games as I could on TV trying to get the jest and concept of the game. It took me about 3-4 months to even grasp that concept of how to cards are to be played, what the terminology means (at least the basic terminology that is) and to even grasp the logic in why certain plays are made at any time.

With my limited knowledge of this game that I have, I deicided to take it to the public in order to share my experience and transition to being a great poker play and eventually a Poker Pro. I do have dreams and admiration of being the next female version of Phil Ivey or even Annie Duke. I know you are saying yeah right, but let me have my dreams please.

Myself, along with plenty others, I'm sure, envy the life a professional poker players. I mean who wouldn't want to set their own hours, play a game they love for a living, and travel around the world to playing in thousand dollar and sometime million dollar tournaments? It’s like my number one dream job.

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From what I have researched I found several helpful tools to be used on the few poker sites that I have joined. I fell like I am in poker school. But when I “graduated I feel I will have the title bestowed upon me to be changed to the "pro" status of this sport. It is entirely a label that one adopts for himself. Even some people who lose money at poker consider themselves professionals.

On the one hand, they may feel that they can make more money at poker than they could at any other occupation they could acquire. Generally, these players have logged in over 500 hours of poker and have measured earnings to be significantly greater than any other job they could get. But also I read that people who actually became a Poker Pro and those who tried but failed realized that this is a tough way to make an easy living. I understand that it is not an easy task and my bankroll if far from being the most comfortable and that there are plenty of pitfalls and traps, but if you’re good at it and enjoy it, it can be the best job in the world. If playing poker for a living is your dream, go for it! Just make sure you’re smart enough to go after that dream at the right time with the right preparation.

My family feels that I am insane from even considering this as an option in my life. I am not saying that I will be quitting my job tomorrow and going down to the casino and putting my house up for mortgage but I think if I take the time to learn the game and its concept, and strategy that I will be a darn good Poker Pro. A friend of mine said that if I have enough smarts to build the skills to succeed in high stakes poker then I should put my efforts into become a lawyer, doctor or some other "normal" profession.

If there are any of you who has any tips or advice to prove to me to assist me in this long journey or endeavor I am all open to any suggestions and also criticism. Thanks for your time.

How Hands are Ranked (highest to lowest)

• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Four of a Kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind
• Two Pair
• One Pair

• High Card

Definition of the Rankings

A Royal Flush is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal. As nothing beats a Royal Flush, it is the most desirable of hands in poker.

The Straight Flush poker hand has all five cards in the same suit.
Examples - Spades: 2-3-4-5-6, Clubs: 3-4-5-6-7

Four of a Kind, also known as quads are four cards of the same number or face value.

A Full house, also known as a full boat contains three cards of one number or face value and two cards of another number or face value. If more than one player has a full house, the full house with the highest ranking three of a kind ("trips") wins.

A Flush is a poker hand which contains five cards of the same suit, not in rank sequence. If there is more than one flush, the hand with the highest card(s) wins.

A Straight is a poker hand which contains five cards of sequential rank but in more than one suit. Two straights are ranked by comparing the highest card of each. Cards can be in any suit. An Ace can be used in the highest straight (10, J, Q, K, A) and the lowest straight (A, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Three of a kind, also called trips or a set, is contains three cards of same number or face value.

Two Pair are two cards of another rank (that match each other but not the first pair), plus one unmatched card. If two players have two pair, the hand with the highest pair wins. If they have the same high pair, whoever has the second highest pair wins. If they have the same two pair, whoever has the highest fifth card ("kicker") wins.

One pair is a poker hand that contains two cards of the same rank, plus three other unmatched cards. If two players have the same pair, the highest outside card(s) wins. A high-card or no-pair hand is a poker hand in which no two cards have the same rank, the five cards are not in sequence, and the five cards are not all the same suit. The hand with the highest card(s) wins.