You guys rock! An open letter to FTR.

[Ragnar4]

I just wanted to thank everyone that has read my garbage, and posted smart responses, everyone that has helped me, everyone that has posted their own HH's here to be learned from, and some of the great discussions we've had.

Why? Because I think I've turned the corner. When I first came here, I didn't understand anything about poker. At all. After a year, I understood a little about poker, and while I was breakeven, it was because I was lucky. After 2 years, I really dug deep, and sought to internalize everything you guys have said.

Now? In the past few months, I've become a winning player, learned patience, and can evalutate, properly, where I'm at in the hand.

The evidence? 10 .50 +.10 SnG's I've entered 5 firsts, 1 second, 3 thirds, and one non-cash.

In two of my first place finishes I didn't recieve ONE premium hand PF, not one. It was stealing blinds from position, mazimizing my profit with good reads, and winning because I took over the table, which is the best feeling of all.

I realize I'm probably on a hot streak, and that variance will take me down a little bit. But There's no way stats like that can be made without skill. Skill you guys helped me develop.

Thank you.

[bjsaust]

Hot streaks are fun .

[Vice]

Hot streaks are fun .

[taipan168]

Really glad that you've found FTR useful, I know I have and so have a lot of other posters!

Congratulations on your results, really well done! You know this already, but ten games is a very small sample size to judge your long-term results. Nothing wrong with a hot streak though.

The main thing is that if you are making better decisions then the good results will continue over the long run.

[bonaparte]

I concur with OP. I like the smaller community here at FTR. It is manageable. I also can't thank the members here enough for helping me evolve into a decent poker player. I'm still learning, and spending my time 50/50 between reading/studying and actually playing. It is really a great feeling when you can start to see what other players are doing, and can then use it against them as needed to win precious chips. My biggest realization to date was that I needed to stop playing to not lose, but instead I needed to play to win (and be willing to lose in the process).