Introduction...

This is therapy!

I am a poker addict. I started playing poker in sixth form at a friend's house during lunch breaks and free periods. We didn't know what to do, we knew the rough rules but that was it. So in an effort to improve our lunch time sessions I decided to learn the game, I started by playing online on Everest Poker. Depositing $10 here, $20 there, $200 when I could afford it.

I would lose consistently.

Eventually a colleague introduced me to a local poker club where I befriended the fellow degenerates and I honed my abilities. I finally became profitable, and as I become a better player I became more addicted. While my skills at the table improved my money management didn't. Soon I was given a job at the poker club and that is where things turned bad.

I started to neglect my friends and family, and was concentrating more and more on poker. Eventually things took a turn for the worst and I ended up getting into a fight which resulted in me losing my job. I won't go into what the fight was about, but I will say that I blame poker for what happened.

That was well over a year ago now and since then I have moved into a nice flat with my girlfriend, sorted out my money situation, sorted out my life and found a new sense of direction. However, the love, the passion, the addiction is still there. Recently, I've decided to give poker another go, I know how low I sunk, I know how bad it can get, and I'm hoping I've learnt from my mistakes.

Because I can't afford to go there again!

Playing poker for a living is the dream. This is my chance to live that dream, but I know I am still addicted so I need to manage that addiction. This blog will be my therapy when things get rough and help me maintain my discipline and if it doesn't, then every car crash moment as my life falls to pieces will all be blogged here for your amusement.

So why "Confessions of a Potamophobic Gambler"?

Potamophobia is the fear of rivers and running water, the final card dealt on the board during Texas Hold'em also holds the nickname "the river" and the hand isn't over until the river is out. Sometimes the river can make your hand, sometimes it can break it, but every single hand dealt there is always one thing in common... You fear the river!