I told some people today that poker is going well

I told some people today that poker is going well.  Many of them will probably look at my blog, see that last week I made about $20, and think that I've lost my mind.

It's been hard starting over.  When I was killing the $10 sit-'n-goes on PokerStars (14% ROI) and doing well at the multitable tournaments as well (7th of 3,200 in a $3.30, for a cash of $384) I was wondering how long it would take until I was bankrolled to play even higher.  But after Black Friday (April 15, 2011, when the three biggest poker sites, including PokerStars, were shut down), I was really floundering, trying to keep interested in studying when there weren't many good online options, and even wondering if I should try to get a "real job".

Add to that that I live over 100 miles from the nearest casino (most of which don't run many tournaments anyway), and that the local charity rooms only have tournaments a few nights a week, and I was kind of lost.

Now, finally, some semidecent online options are available.  I started with a $50 deposit, playing $1 and $2 sit'n-goes (one-table tournaments) on americascardroom.com on February 1.  On March 1 my poker bankroll was over $100, and if all goes well it will be somewhere between $150 and $200 on April 1.  At that point.I'll have enough of a bankroll to start playing both higher (more money) and larger (more players) tournaments on a regular basis.

I'm not sure how long it will take me to be bankrolled for $10 tournaments again.  But the difference now is that I'll probably blow right through that level and keep going.  I'm a much better player, mostly because of the time I've spent studying.  I've increased my study goal from 10% of my poker time to 25%.  My time is much more structured. and I spent a lot of time with flash cards, memorizing some of the math that I need to know to be able to make quick decisions at the table.  (If you are at a table with 4 other players and you don't know how likely it is that if you have an ace, it's the only ace at the table, you're at a big disadvantage against players who know those things.)

Now things are going well.  All I have to do is do the work and stay focused, and the rest will fall into place.