First post, some advice, and a great story.

This is my first post on FTR, but I've been a reader for a month or so.
I first want to say thanks to everyone who offers their advice and writes articles. I have become a sponge since my first visit, and my success is directly correlated to what I have read here.

A bit about my self. I started playing online for real money last year. Looking back, I was terrible. A donk to the fullest. I disregarded position, ranges and outs. I played strictly off my gut. And I got spoiled. I got third in some MTT that cost me almost my entire bankroll. I then got gassed thinking I was amazing, and sure enough lost it all. I used horrid bankroll management, moving up when I was losing, trying to get that win back. Needless to say, I was quickly spit out.

A year later now I've come back. I stumbled upon this site and began to soak up information like a sponge. I decided to give it another go. I put 50 bucks up as a deposit, and started playing the 3+30 KO tournaments on FT. I have managed to pull in 1200 dollars in earnings and its been a blast.

My advice to anyone who is trying to get better, is to check out the articles on this site, as well as some forum discussions. You have no idea how much of a gold mine this place is for knowledge, and to top it off its free.

A story...
I used to tilt so bad in MTT's when I got off to a rough start. Its happened to all of us. The third or fourth hand we get KK in great position, we play it right, and get donked out by a gutshot straight. Well it happened to me this morning, and I went from 3000 chips to 30 on the second hand. Now, a year ago I would've gone all in the next hand, got beat, and moved on. However, I read an article on here about not giving up, regardless of chip stack, and to keep it moving. I did. I patiently waited three hands, and caught pockets 77's. Patience paid off. I tripped up, and won a couple hundred. That couple hundred turned to a couple thousand. And 3 hours later, I am playing for first. I got second, but I realized what patience, determination, and keeping yourself emotionally in check after a bad beat can get you. Bottom line, we all get bad beats, we all cant believe some of the calls poor players make. But, in the long run, good play does prevail.

Thats all for now. Thanks to everyone on here making me the player I am today. I am by no means a perfect pro player now, but contributions from you all have me moving in a great direction. Thank you.