My Biggest Flaw/s

SMOKING. Ew. I picked up smoking cigarettes more than 2 years ago when I turned 21. Once I hit that age I kinda hit the wall. Began drinking regularly and smoking a pack a day. I'm 23 years old now and have recently had some time to re-evaluate myself. Smoking is disgusting. The stigma attached to it does not suit me and definately does not reflect the image of who I am. I don't do drugs, which is good though......obviously. I feel like I am to that point in my life where I'm starting to realize how short life is. I need to quit smoking, drinking (regularly), and get my skinny ass back into shape. I want to be able to play baseball again, and if I don't quit my bad habits, then I never will play the sport I love again. My goals for 2011 are to quit smoking, put more meat on my bones, and find me a nice girlfriend. I don't want to rob myself of a New Years Resolution post on here, so I will save the rest of this until that time comes. Thanks for reading! See ya soon.

Where I currently stand in poker

I've been playing poker for about 3-4 years as a hobby. I did not take it seriously until March of 2010. I studied and played often. Quickly I became a winning player and am taking baby steps to get to the top. I've learned a lot over the past 6 months in terms of bankroll management and only playing when I feel I can play my A-game. As I stated in my intro, I am currently staked. Became a member of PTP (Parttimepoker.com) and was fortunate enough to accept a staking opportunity. The rules/terms of my stake are as follows:
*Stake Amount: $1600.00
*My staker and I split winnings 50/50 at end of period
*May only play heads-up sit-and-go's ranging from $31.50/$52.50/$105 buyins
*May only play a certain stake if my bankroll supports 30 buyins. For example if my bankroll is $1600, I am able to play $52.50 matches unless my bankroll reaches below $1575 (30*$52.50 = 1575). In this case I would play $31.50 matches until I accumulate a bankroll to continually play $52.50 and eventually $105 matches (in which I would need a $3150 bankroll).
*I must report my daily profit/loss at PTP in my rail thread in the forums.

I have been staked only one other time which was in August. Initial stake amount was $900 and generated both me and my staker a $947.89 profit, each. I am VERY confident in my game at this point in my "career". I am at a stage right now where I am building a bankroll of my own, and eventually 100% of profits will be mine (hopefully within a month). I will be posting weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly results of my bankroll progress on here so you all can keep up with where I am at. Right now, I've been playing for a week, took a $400 downswing and am right about even as of now. Hopefully I can pull a nice $500+ profit this week. That's my goal!!! Below is a picture of my "Hand of the Day". I'll occasionally post some interesting hands or pictures of whatever is on my mind. Cheers!

Introduction of Myself [Richard Speirs]

Hello all. My name is Richard, but alot of people call me Dick. First and foremost I want to thank you all for visiting my blog. This blog is directed towards expressing my emotions and progress in both life and poker. Ultimately I would like to play poker professionally while going back to school, but in the time being I have a bankroll to build. Currently I am being staked (as of today), as my statistics show I am a winning player in heads-up sit and go's. My staker and I have trust in one another (well I would hope he trusts me) as we have run a successful stake a month ago. Heads-up sng's are my bread and butter and I am constantly working on my game so I can be one of the best.
I am a 23 year old college dropout just trying to get by in life. Have a lot of history, but I don't want to write a book for my first entry so I'll keep it short. I've lived in Michigan my entire life up until March of 2009. Made the move to Florida where I currently reside at my home in Clearwater. I love the weather, beach, and the location here, also the atmosphere, but nothing feels better than being at home close to family. I'm an outdoorsman, love to hunt, fish, camp, and just be outside. My characteristics are built from Michigan and a large part of me believes I won't stay in Florida in the long run. I'm going to cut this intro short. I'll always have something to talk about in the upcoming posts! :D