Q&A with Pete D:

Pete, tell us a little about yourself... I'm in my mid 40's and live in Northern California with my beautiful wife, Sheila and our Boston Terrier, Lucy. I'm a roadway design engineer by day and game fanatic by night... I love strat-o-matic baseball and card games, especially Hearts, Cribbage and... what else?... Poker.

Why did you create this website? Because I'm a geek and I have a website for a Strat-o-matic baseball league (CRL) that I started, so I wanted to create one dedicated to poker.

When did you start playing online poker? I started playing on Full Tilt Poker in October 2005. Previously, I was playing Texas Hold 'em on pogo.com and was getting bored playing with "tokens". I watched a ton of poker on TV (just for the enjoyment) and thought... I think I'll give it (playing for real money) a try. 

Are you any good? I can honestly say that I was awful when I began playing. I deposited $100 at Full Tilt initially and lost it within 24 hours on the no limit Hold 'em tables. I don't even recall what limit I was playing at, but I re-loaded for another $100 and thought I'd better try something different. So, I started playing at the lowest limit ($0.05/$0.10) tables and slowly, but surely built up the money in my account. Including various bonuses, I'm up a little. But when you consider the number of hours I've played, the workers at McDonald's are considered rich compared to what I've made... after 4+ years, I'd consider myself a decent player and can comfortably play against anyone... as long as the stakes aren't high.

Do you play live poker also? Yes, the first time I played in a casino was just before my 40th birthday in August 2006. It was at Harvey's in South Lake Tahoe. I won about $300 in 3 hours when I had a complete rush of luck at a $3/$6 limit Hold 'em table. I remember flopping a straight with KJo... seemed like half the table stayed in that pot and no one caught up.

Do you like playing online or live better? I like both for different reasons... I like the speed of online poker, but like the feel and atmosphere of live poker... I love shuffling chips too!

Do you play other poker games besides Texas Hold 'em? I started playing in some HORSE tournaments a couple years ago... and consider myself a respectable player at Omaha and Razz.

Who is your favorite professional player? Daniel Negreanu, hands down... his table talk is pure entertainment... a classy guy too, rarely a bad winner or a sore loser. And I always seem to learn something new every time I watch him play.