I guess I should start off with a short bio. My name is Joe Swam and I live in Belcamp, Maryland. I am married and also the proud parent of an eight year old son (Jeffery). There are no casinos in Maryland, so I play poker almost exclusively online, save for the occasional trip to Atlantic City. I also made a trip to Las Vegas this summer. As far as my poker experience goes, I have been playing since the early part of 2006. I missed the whole "Moneymaker" boom, and really got turned on to poker by Celebrity Poker Showdown that aired on Bravo (how metro is that?). Anyway I began playing on PokerStars towards the end of 2007. I made a few deposits and really didn't have alot of success initially. Then in February of this year (2008) I won an $11 buy-in Razz tournament for $188. It was a few days after that I would have my biggest poker achievement to date. My wife controls the finances in our house (this should sound familiar to any married guy reading this) and for whatever reason, she has banned the internet. This could be for several reasons, but for the sake of decency will say that she believes I would do nothing but play poker online (and, she's almost right). This fact forces me to play poker online at my parent's house (did I mention that I am 34?) Anyway...a few nights after my razz win, I was at my parent's house for a "visit". The weather was pretty rough that night. An ice storm had caused my parents driveway to resemble a hockey rink. Instead of leaving when I had planned (around 8PM), i was FORCED to stay longer and decided to play some more poker (darn!). I entered an $11 buy in no limit hold'em tournament. It was about five hours later when my K 5 off suit beat the J 5 off suit of the only other player remaining at the final table. The first place finish (with a field of 1314 players) was good for a $3,022 pay day, alot of which made my trip to Vegas possible (I wish I would have left more of it on Stars...oh well). This is my favorite poker memory, not just for the obvious reasons (winning a big field tourney, the cash, etc.), but also because had it not been for my parents driveway, I would have never played. I think the fact that I couldn't go anywhere anyway, caused me to relax and focus on playing solid poker (something I have not always done since). I would like to make some new poker memories in the coming months, hopefully including winning a seat to next year's WSOP main event. I think that would be an incredible experience. I also think it is an attainable goal with the help of propokerschool.com.

marlowe1974