For the few years I have spent lots of time playing a bit of online poker. I'm a quick learner of the game, and when I play online I usually play at Full tilt poker. I like the interface better there, and there seems to be way more action. It's Chris's site too, and I know him from IRC! I also read a lot of poker books. I have read: Super System I & II, Ace on The River, Theory of Poker, Harrington on Hold'em and a bunch of others. I study the game, as I said I've read several poker books and generally have lots of friends who are in the poker scene. Thanks to a particular poker site that I've constantly read over the past year I usually fare pretty well against my friends. We all get together online against each other, and it's usually great fun. The online scorekeeping makes it a lot easier too.

I've always been pretty well-balanced and love my other hobbies. Poker is a hobby to me, and it's probably always will be. It's certainly a game of skill, and not random luck, though luck does help. I play poker online in my free time, which depending on my kids, can range from late nights on the weekends to just a few hours here and there. When I do play, the stakes are low. I play for the fun, not to 'get rich'. It's an enjoyable a challenge. One of the best things about poker to me is the comradery and friends you can make.

Recently I've been playing online poker constantly and have been trying out a handful of poker sites. I play medium-ish stakes on there and it's really quite entertaining - however, a live poker game with full intensity and the ability to look into a person's eye and call them out on their bluff is what makes my blood rush! The most appealing part of online poker sites to me are actually the tour.

You can occasionally catch me watching World Series of Poker on ESPN, and I do play frequent tournaments at the Niagara Fallsview Casino and the Seneca Poker Room.

Here are a few of my favorite Poker players:

• Doyle Brunson - it may seem like a cliche to like Texas Dolly as he is known as the godfather of poker. That being said, however, his first book "Super system" literally changed my life.. he is a VERY intelligent man and I think if he didn't choose poker he would have been a success no matter where he went. He's just that awesome.


• Scotty Nguyen - The level of emotion and good spirit Scotty brings to the poker world is unmatched. He seems to have an endless supply of one liners, and wears more jewelry than mister T. Widely regarded as one of the core poker pros, with more bracelets and finishes in the money than any other. Yeah, Baby!
  
  
• Chris Ferguson - 'Jesus' makes the list for being an oldschool computer geek from UCLA. He spent quite a bit of time connected to the EFnet IRC Network where he worked on his IRC based poker bot. He went on to help launch the online poker site Fill Tilt Poker, and is a main event winner. Praise Jesus!
  
  
• Tony G - This guy is a poker star and a huge character. I like him for his entertainment value only - at times though, he can go way too far, as in the video linked above. Win graciously my friends, nobody likes a poor winner.


• Barry Greenstein - What's not to love about Barry Greenstein.. he is one of the most wealthiest poker players and yet he is humble as they come. One great thing about Barry that I admire is it doesn't matter if he wins 1 million or loses 1 million in a session, his facial expression never changes. He is a true poker pro with a true poker face. Barry Greenstein also authored one of my favorite poker books of all time, called "Ace on the River". Love the beard too.