My Poker other Story Phil. Galfond. com. Hey Guys,So, I told those who follow me on Twitter philgalfond that I was working on a long post and wondering whether I should chop it up into two pieces or not. I thought it was going to be over 5. Most said just post it whole, and I was planning on doing that. Prepare for a different kind of poker night in a very different kind of club and play against familiar faces Directed by Lori Petty. With Jennifer Lawrence, Javon Johnson, Sophi Bairley, Bokeem Woodbine. A dramatization of Lori Pettys teenage years spent in small town Iowa. To read more from our Fall Movie Preview, pick up the new issue of Entertainment Weekly on stands now, or buy it here. Dont forget to subscribe for more. Casino Royale has the answers to all my complaints about the 45yearold James Bond series, and some I hadnt even thought of. Its not that I didnt love some of. When I got to this section of my post, it felt different. The rest was observations mixed with some advice, and this was a story. It flowed differently and it read more quickly. Less dense and hopefully more fun. I decided to pull it completely out, expand on it, and make it its own post. It was supposed to be one of ten parts of the big post. Little did I know it would end up hitting the 5. This kept me up much later than I planned on being up, and I am not going to edit, so please excuse any typos. The other big post will be finished soon, and Ill post it sometime in the next week, in one or two parts. For now, I give you this. I was asked by many people how I got started in poker, or how I made the decision to drop out of school to play full time. The following is a collection of  bits and pieces of my story, from ages 1. Some of it is about poker, some of it isnt. By no means does this cover everything that happened in my life during that time, but I think it gives a good overall feel for it, and hopefully lets you guys get to know me a little bit better. The Beginning. I started playing online poker for fun when I was a freshman in at University of Wisconsin Madison. I deposited 5. Sit n Gos. Clearly, I didnt know much about bankroll management at the time. I lost my first 5. I had a few thousand dollars in my bank account, mostly leftover from my Bar Mitzvah and two summers as a camp counselor. My parents were paying for my school, housing, and a meal plan, and I never spent money on anything other than video games, so I wasnt running out anytime soon. I deposited another 5. Poker Night Full Movie' title='Poker Night Full Movie' />Once the winter of my sophomore year rolled around, I had a run that 5. I had read a handful of books, joined 22, bought Poker. Tracker, and was making about 3. Sit n Gos.   I had recently gotten a job tutoring for SATs and ACTs, which paid pretty well for a college job I think maybe 1. They had a setup where theyd send out a schedule, and you would call in to volunteer to teach one of the available time slots. A8A63EC00000578-0-image-m-25_1436930341120.jpg' alt='Poker Night Full Movie' title='Poker Night Full Movie' />I never called in. Poker was my college job now, and I loved it. I didnt have a need for extra money, as I said, but the idea that I was making so much of it was very exciting. More importantly, I was competing. I played football throughout high school, and though our team was horrible, it was my life. I loved football and I loved competing. After a year of longing, Id found a replacement to scratch my competitive itch. Im an obsessive kind of guy, so when I find something that interests me, I dive in full force. I was studying and playing around the clock though mostly playing  Ive never been big on studying. Poker was like a video game, an awesome video game, and I was focused on building my bankroll, my ROI, and the stakes that I could beat. I spent most of my nights at my desk, next to my bed, above my 6 high carpet of dirty laundry, in my crowded little room. Im an introvert, so I enjoy my alone time. Actually, I need my alone time. Watch Legend Of The Black Scorpion Online Freeform more. I like people, sure, but too long in a crowded environment with no chance to get away is debilitating. I need my alone time to reset. My room was poker plus alone time heaven. My heaven was part of a three bedroom apartment. I shared it with two girls, one of whom was sure I was gay for the majority of that year. I think it was because I had a small poster on the outside of my door of a cat with a tiara that read Im a Princess I thought it was funny, and because she never saw me with a girl how am I supposed to meet a girl while Im in my room learning to crush online poker and also while Im afraid of girlsI met Caroline through an Improv class that I took my freshman year. She was much better than me, but to be fair, shed done Improv in high school. I was brand new.   Her and Shannon were going to live with a third girl who ended up backing out. Caroline asked one of our mutual friends from the class if he knew anyone who needed a place to live the next year. I was always leaving things to the last minute, and this time my procrastination was handsomely rewarded. Caroline and Shannon were the best roommates I couldve hoped for. I lived with them for three years, and though we dont currently live in the same place, I consider them two of my closest friends to this day. I was really lucky it worked out that way. Watch Love Finds A Home Online Forbes. I barely knew Caroline and hadnt even met Shannon until they interviewed me for the spot. Dragon Ball Z Season 1 Episode 2 Download. The interview included questions such as Do you do heroin, Whats your favorite color, and Do you have any heroinI didnt have any, but they accepted me anyways. My favorite color is green. School and Atlas. I decided Id be a Philosophy major. I didnt know what it would lead to in life, and I didnt much care. I found the classes really interesting, and thats much more than I can say for almost any other class Id taken, ever. As a student, I was always an underachiever. I developed some pretty bad study habits early in life. My Mom later told me Maybe I shouldve made you work harder, but you were always getting As. I managed to get through middle school and high school doing almost no work, though towards the end my GPA suffered Im fairly certain my Chemistry teacher changed her grading system to 5. I dont know what it is about me, but I never was interested enough in something to do my homework or to study. I was good at tests, and I just relied on that to make it through. College was no different. Actually, it was There were fewer homework assignments and more tests, and most of my teachers didnt know whether I was in class or not. So, here I was in college with a new passion, little need to go to class, and my own happy place my room. I think we all know how the next couple of years went. I spent roughly 5. I moved up from 2. Sn. Gs to 3. 0s, and then to 5. I was playing, and studying, and loving it. I continued to have great results, and started to gain a tiny bit of recognition in the SNG community. I now had a group of poker friends, most of whom Id met on 22 and interacted with almost exclusively online. I also made a couple of real life poker friends. I helped them learn Sn. Gs and they both progressed fairly quickly. Id like to think its because I was a good teacher. I also started to take Improv further. Caroline and I had taken that class during the beginning of my freshman year, and I hadnt gone back. During the end of that school year, shed auditioned for and been accepted into Atlas Improv Co., which was actually a spin off of the company we took classes with, but thats a long story. She told me that our old teacher Mary had asked about me, and encouraged me to audition. I didnt think I did very well at auditions. Most people were less reserved than I was, willing to be more adventerous and outlandish on stage. I was very surprised to hear the next week that they wanted me at callbacks. There were 9 of us at callbacks, and damn, these people were good. Intimidatingly funny, if thats a thing. I once again felt very outmatched, especially with my limited experience in Improv. I was much more surprised this time when I got the call that theyd accepted me into the Audition Class. Im not sure what they saw in me to pick me over all those people, but I guess they thought I had a lot of potential. I certainly wasnt there yet. Audition class was a grueling not joking 1. I had two regular classes a week free for me with other amateurs, and the one private audition class with just the four of us who made it. This private class was followed by 4 hours of watching the company perform.