Well as most of you are probably aware Poker is enjoying a very big jump in popularity.

Spurred by ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker, where a poker upstart named “Moneymaker” beat all the pros to win it all, poker TV is expanding.

Now the WSOP isn’t the only game on TV. There’s the World Poker Tour, and of course Celebrity Poker Showdown.

Everyone seems to be getting into this Poker thing.

And I am another pathetic sheep following the heard.

Actually I’ve always enjoyed poker. But I haven’t always been very good at it.

It was when I saw Moneymaker win the WSOP in 2003 that I started to do some thinking. I wanted to understand the GAME not just the ranking of the hands.

Thus began several months of trying to learn THE WRONG WAY.

I played in the “play money” tables online. Give me a break… it’s play money so nobody cares if they are playing well.

Trying to learn good technique and strategy when some idiot is raising dead to the river is frustrating.

So I started reading. And I figured out how to pick the tables (even the play money tables) where players would at least ATTEMPT to protect their money.

Slowly things started to get better.

While I’m talking about it let me tell you about a cool site I found.

It’s run (or at least fronted) by several big names in Poker.

That’s how I found it. I emailed a question to one of them and they responded very generously with help.

The site is FullTiltPoker.com

It’s pretty new so while there aren’t as many people there as PartyPoker they people there seem to be less likely to play to the river on a 7-2.

It seems to be a good place to play if you want to hone some skills at a play money table.

(they don’t even offer real money tables yet… but that is coming very soon)

It also has a very neat interface.

Anyway… as I was saying:

Now I still have a LONG way to go on my quest to be a “good” player, but at least now I think I see the path to get there.

Jana is learning as well. We enjoy the game and often play “heads-up” when the evening gets dull.

So we’ve decided to host our first ever tourney.

RSVPs are starting to trickle in and we’re getting excited about it.

My friend Kevin is coming down to help sponsor the event, and we’re hoping to get two tables going.

I’m pretty sure I won’t be the first guy out.

And believe it or not that statement alone is a big deal to me. It’s taken awhile for me to get to the point where I can actually think about beating people at this game.

But on the other hand I have plenty of reading to do in the coming weeks to be sure I’m ready.

Who knows if I do well.. I may start playing for cash.

Sometime soon I’ll tell you about the time I got to sit down and play poker with two pros. (no kidding!)