Ok, so as a newbie to TPE and trolling the articles it stated the first thing I should do is create an introductory post. So about me and what I hope to gain from the site…

My name is Tim and I'm a US player currently living in Germany. I'm 39 y/o and in US Military; I'm hoping to improve enough to supplement my retirement check in 2 yrs.  Black Friday sucks… but I'm thinking/hoping the US Govt pulls their heads out of their asses.

I've been playing poker since 1998. I began playing in Las Vegas when I was stationed there… It all started with 1/2 Limit Holdem, and I was hooked. I've progressed from there… I dabbled in live cash games with moderate success, but fell in love with tournament poker after I won my first live event at Planet Hollywood ($60 buy-in to win $700+). I've played online with little to no BR mgt the past several years (cash, SnG, and MTTs) and I'm all over the place as a recreational player. In 2011 my goal is to take this more serious and become a consistant winning player–then muther truckin' black friday hit! That is about my luck with poker… LOL I've cashed in several larger online tournaments (FTOPS ME, MFTOPs ME, 24K Gtd, etc) and have gained a ton of experience from live play in bigger tournies (DSE @ Ventian, Borgata Winter Open, WSOP Circuit, Biloxi, etc) but no huge cashes as a rec player. I need to learn from those that have had successes, understand the theory better, discuss situations, and of course watch videos.

I have used coaches this year, I belong to study groups, and I'm feeling out the different training sites to find the right one. This site looks like it fits as I'm trying to use SnGs to build my BR and stabilize the variance of MTTs. I can't put in the volume right now due to working full-time, having a family, and using some of my playing time to actually study the game. I can often be found online but on the MTT tables during the weekend and SnGs during the week.

I look forward to meeting the other TPE members, pros, and coaches as I venture into the journey.

Respectfully, Tim “Chip Chimp71”