“Blog” at its core means “Web log” and from time to time I suppose, since Cardplayer Lifestyle is my blog, it’s okay to get personal with all of you who visit and read the content I put out. Perhaps one of these days I’ll look back at this blog post with a wry smile. By then, whenever then is, I’ll hopefully be marveling at how far I’ve come as a poker blogger and writer. By then, hopefully my poker blog will have 40,000 visitors each month instead of 4,000. But that’s for then. This is now. Now, in the wee hours of the morning, when I’ve got some sort of Jerry Maguire-esque oomph to sit down at my computer again and do some writing.
What can I tell you? From time to time I get a bit down that I don’t publish articles here more often. As if there isn’t news to write about? There’s been plenty going on. Despite the World Series of Poker having come to a close a few weeks ago and this being the yearly “lull period” for poker, many stories are still happening each day. After all, all the big primary poker news sites still have plenty of material they’re posting each day, no?
The fact is that most of the time, and especially lately for some reason, I just don’t have the ability to sit and do any poker blogging because life has just been too busy. Whereas ideally I’d love to be able to sit and write something new for all of you each day, I’m just juggling a bit much on my plate. The good thing though, is it’s all positive stuff, thank God :-).
Anyone else out there remember how this site used took? We’ve undergone quite the improvement, eh?
How the Cardplayer Lifestyle Poker Blog Got Its Start
I don’t know how many of my site’s visitors realize this but this poker blog is something I do as a hobby on the side. It’s not my main job – not even close. Cardplayer Lifestyle started as an idea. A friend of mine suggested “hey, why don’t we start a poker blog… I could do all the back end stuff and you could do the writing; you know all about poker, you read about it all the time anyhow, you know how to write… could be something cool, no?”
That was back in late 2009. At the time, I most certainly didn’t know too much about blogging. Oh, I knew plenty about poker and how to write, but I hadn’t yet found my “voice” when it came to putting out articles for this blog. What I did know right from the get go is that I didn’t just want my site to be another one out there that published “typical content”; you know, like a bunch of different “how to play poker” articles. At first I wrote up stuff about once a month or so. Then, slowly but surely this blog turned into something for which I was able to develop a tremendous passion. I started out by “reporting” (secondhand) the major stories in the poker world. Then, I’d do recaps of the show High Stakes Poker. All of those efforts would bring in like 10–20 visitors with each post on average. Hardly inspiring… but I stuck with it. It was a long, slow grind, but sure enough the numbers started to creep up. I started writing more poker op-ed pieces and poker lifestyle pieces – and thankfully you guys, my audience, started responding well to it. The positive feedback sure helped keep me going; that and a passion for poker.
Taking This Poker Blog to the Next Level
In August of 2011, I decided it was time to do things on my own. I bought out my good friend and decided to make poker blogging part of my general routine, rather than something I did once in a while on a whim. I won’t bore you any further with a bunch of details, but suffice it to say that ever since then, this poker blog has become my full-time side project. Looking back, hundreds of blog posts later, I’m really proud to “look at the numbers” and see what I’ve been able to build through persistent hard work and effort, especially since it’s pretty much all been done in my spare time, on nights and weekends.
Anyhow, as I’ve mentioned above, life is full and busy. I’m married +3, plus I have my full time job, as well as other activities and pursuits that I enjoy. Of course, I’m also dedicating a good amount of time to (shameless plug alert!) trying to promote and market my Poker Notes Live app – after all, something’s gotta pay the bills, eh? 🙂 Anyhow, that’s all great stuff and frankly, I’m quite happy that I’m able to find a sort of balance and keep this blog going with new content as often as I do, considering all the other great stuff I’ve filled my life and time with.
I hope that poker blogging here on Cardplayer Lifestyle will remain part of my life and routine for a very long time to come. I feel like there’s so much more I have and want to write about, and that the poker world is on a positive trajectory; I want this poker blog to grow along with it.
Most importantly I suppose, I’m happy not only that I’ve found my voice in the poker world, but that you guys all keep on coming back time and time again to listen to what I have to say. Please just know that every time I look at my traffic graphs and see the numbers climbing overall – and same for the number of followers I’ve got on Twitter and Facebook fans – and get your comments, feedback, and overall engagement, it’s very much appreciated.
Here’s to keeping the poker blogging flame burning bright well into the future!
Great post and keep up the good work. Always a pleasure to read your blog!
Thanks Frank! Your encouragement is much appreciated 🙂 As always, please feel free to share with your poker buddies.