Hello all,

Name is Raphael. Finally decided to join up on the site after being a visitor for a few months. Just turned 21 back in February (wanted to know where to play so I found this site).

A little bit of history:

Played poker for about 3 years (since 2009), used to run a biweekly small house game with my friends all the time. Started studying it more and more back in 2010 through various books and online resources. Played online for a bit before black Friday on free rolls. When I turned 18 I drove out to California to an Indian Reservation and got about 4 hours of live play in ( I didn't know wth I was doing, all I know is that I enjoyed every minute of it).

Since turning 21, I have played at MGM (primarily), PH, Red Rock, and have entered a few small buy in stratosphere tournaments. I play as much as my extra money allows me, for I do not even have a bankroll ( I try to play with extra money here and there) My mother gifted me $300 just for poker for my birthday and told me to see how far it will run. I got it up to about $1100 dollars by playing some good TAG at MGM on weekends, but unfortunately got felted 3x in the same weekend with very unlucky hands at the end of April. Since I don't have too much of a BR, just putting my extra money into some tournaments to see if one will pop to actually start somewhere (saving money on the side regardless, until I get enough Buy-Ins to be comfortable). But since I'm forced to stay away from cash games, I made a carbon poker account and threw $80 on there just to play something.

I don't consider myself a really good player, just a player that's willing to get better and better at each session ( I admit to making big mistakes a few times that I learned to never do again). Although, I will become a better player with more experience ( I hate saying I hope I do, so f it, I will. lol)

Outside of poker I run a computer repair company, and also have a part time job at CVS Pharmacy as a tech. Highly interested in business and entrepreneurship, but also a student in Pre-Med. I play competitive video games (fighters mainly, but others as well), and have my own place with my GF, cat, dog and fish.

I joined the site with the intention to expand my knowledge for one of the games that I love, learn as much as I can about the game, and to meet other people that share love for the game.

If one of my tournaments pop or I save enough money for a BR, I would love to meet people to have some good grinding sessions, and even learn a thing or two from anyone willing to coach. Even though I may have a lot going, I can always make some time for the game of poker.

Otherwise I'll be swimming around the forum taking in as much information as I can.

Thanks for reading!

Welcome to AVP. Great post. If you had time I'd look over the strategy and articles and editorials sections and read some of the strategy articles and posts. They are free and a great way to start building a solid foundation to your poker game. Best of luck at the tables and hope to see you in the forums!

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