Introductory blog.

Hey guys. Doing a blog upon request of a couple of people and i guess a desire to write more frequently than i do.

My name is Matt Wakeman, also known as "mjw006" or "rocky2810" at the tables. I am currently a $200 HUSNG reg and i play mostly on FTP and Redback Poker (on the cake network). I also work for Pokersavvy Plus as a video instructor dealing with HUSNG's specifically, and am a member of Team Redback. I thought id make this first blog post a longish one and introduce myself a little bit to the blog world.

Poker Background:

I started playing poker recreationally in 2007 and I was essentially a donk for the first year of my poker life. Once i first discovered 2+2 and pokersavvy i started to think about the game differently and began to grind out 25NL 6-max cash games. I grinded these out for a few months and did a ton of study in an attempt to learn the game. I was playing mostly on stars at this time and was 6-tabling 50NL whilst building my roll. Once i was ready to take on 100NL i decided to chop my BR between sites and deposit on FTP. Once i moved to FTP i went on epic downswing in cash games, and looked to start playing some MTT's again (by again, i mean i used to play these back when i was a total donk). I got hooked on the MTT world and chasing big scores and had some pretty decent success in MTT's, then once again, EPIC downswing.

This lead me to HUSNG's after i had played HU cash with a lot of success and always fancied myself as a HU player haha. But with my recently acquired tourny skills combined with a natural enjoyment/ability in playing HU poker, it kinda made sense looking back on it. This brings me to my first real general comment on some of my thoughts on poker in general (something if you read this blog you will have to get used to lol).

--> A lot of people ask me why they should play cash/MTTs/SNGs etc etc? I am a firm believer that you have to find your strengths. In my case that involved going through several forms of poker before i found my real strength, HUSNG's. Some people are super-talented at various forms of poker, but generally speaking a lot of people will be more suited to play a certain type. No one will be able to tell you what your best at, and just because you saw Durrr playing high stakes cash games or you watched Bond18 crushing MTT's doesn't mean that the style of poker will necessarily be your best format no matter how much you desire it to be. Poker is a skill and it can be learned, therefore focussing all your attention on one style will obviously yield the best results, this still doesn't mean that is your best format.

Anyways, back to the blog. Since that time i have almost solely played HUSNG's. I began playing professionally (probably a little too early), in January 2009 and have worked my way up from the $50 level up to the $200s and occasionally above at the moment. My results have been very good, but you can't get complacant based on results. Im fortunate enough to be able to talk to a lot of good high stakes HUSNG regs, and it ensures that i continue to think about the game on the highest level that i can. I do not consider myself as even close to the level of player as some people i know and i feel very lucky to be able to associate with them. Playing professionally is a tough job, much tougher than its made out to be. The biggest challenge is the mental challenge which i will more than likely address regularly throughout the course of my writing future blog posts.


My Life:

In "the real world" i live a pretty simple life. I am currently completing my final semester of University, a degree in Business, majoring in Management and Human Resources. I have a gorgeous fiance who is currently 25 weeks pregnant with our first child. Wasn't necessarily planned but im extremely excited about having a little boy!

I was born in South Korea and was adopted to Australian parents when i was a baby. I am incredibly lucky to have been adopted into the family i was, and to live in a place as great as Australia. I guess we take it for granted to live in such a peaceful and developed nation sometimes, but when i think about what could have been had i stayed in South Korea, it kinda makes me cringe. I have a wonderful loving family and have been afforded many luxuries in my life (not spoiled or anything) that many people don't have available to them, and i would not have had available to me had i ended up elsewhere.


OK, so i guess i've kinda introduced myself pretty extensively now haha. Thats basically my life story. Will try to update this at least on a weekly basis with my random thoughts on both poker and life. I have a pretty busy schedule coming up with some live HU tournies in both Australia and Europe and will also use this blog as a place to discuss my travels =)

Thanks for reading! Talk to you all soon!

Matt