Win 1 hour free coaching with Bikes

[Galapogos]

It takes people time to plan out and post an essay, especially if the prize means a lot to them which I'm confident it does to a load of the posters in the BC. Coming in and shouting your mouth of, abusing the posters here after less than 2 days is ridiculous and probably why people feel intimidated and put off sometimes in this community. If anything your outburst is only going to result in less people posting through fear of being berated by better players.

It's a terrible example to set and while I'm sure most people who post here would be delighted to have some of your own or bike's time, your immaturity and completely uncalled for hostile tone is only going to drive people away. In fact, it makes me ashamed to be proudly part of a community where the mods and strong players speak to people like this.

"Hey guys you should all have written an essay on the first day of the contest being open....you're mouth breathing circle jerkers."

Nice way to make people want and appreciate the time you were formally offering. If I was a new player, unsure about FTR, interested in entering this contest, your post would have just put me off entirely, since I wouldn't want a prize that consisted of being berated for half an hour for no actual reason.

I'm pretty disgusted right now actually that you're a mod and this is how you represent the forum, community and site of FTR to it's newest members who are obviously most subject to influence.

Anyways, with that aside, I'd urge people to post essays because:

1. You'll learn a lot in the process.
2. An hours coaching with Bikes for free is going to help your game a shitload.

My last post wasn't intended to devalue this contest. I was just messing around as I always do so I'm sorry if anyone took it that way.

Defo enter. Even if you're short of time, churn something out. You'll learn a bunch and have a shot at learning an even bigger bunch.

This essay better not win. He doesn't even mention poker once in it.

[Moradis]

I started playing poker less than a year ago. I was introduced to the game by an acquaintance at my local gym. He played at a friendly weekly game and they were looking for more players. Poker is, shall we say, “illegal” in the country I live, so recruitment is only by word of mouth. My answer was simple. Of course I’d love to play. I have played poker on Facebook so surely the real thing can’t be that much different?

Joining the live game was more than a shock. I’m used to feeling out of my depth. I work in a foreign country with different language, culture and laws to where I grew up. Change and challenging situations is normal for me. At this table however, I felt completely out of my depth. I quickly worked out that these guys had some method they were using to determine when, what & why they bet. I didn’t know a thing but was determined to learn as much as I could in as short as time as possible… and so my search for poker knowledge began.

My quest began with books. These were openly shared within the weekly poker group and discussion of poker concepts was actively encouraged. They all strived to improve and I was a willing participant. I then began reading online forums until finally subscribing to grinder school. I began to play micro stakes games to practice my technique and get more ‘game time’ than my weekly poker buddies.
So what have I learnt so far?

• The many books that I devoured taught me the fundamental of position and outs, including opening ranges, limping and betting. It also gave me the theory of the mindset, but not the practice.
  
• The forums helped me to understand how my opposition will have an opening range and a continuation range. They also helped me to understand Effective Value (EV), identify what it is and what action I should take given the situation at that point in time. The most valuable thing that the forums taught me was the consideration of bet sizing when taking into consideration EV (am I betting for value, as a bluff, or to make the villain’s action negative EV).
  
• Playing online has taught me patience. Better cards will always come, wait for a better situation and be rewarded for your patience. Take the bad beats and enjoy the lucky draw but most importantly of all, a successful player controls the emotions and stops the primal urge to follow that “inner feeling” regardless of your odds.
• Grinders taught me the art of isolation

So what’s the most important thing that I’ve learnt in the 10 months?

Never stop learning.

To the outsider poker is a frivolous pastime for idle gamblers… to me it is a never ending search for knowledge and experience.

My special thanks to all those experienced players who give advice for free and to those less experienced who give support through asking challenging questions and situations from which I gain an deeper understanding through the various responses. Good luck at the tables.

[Carroters]

This essay better not win. He doesn't even mention poker once in it.

That's just back up incase my 1st one doesn't.