As January draws to a close my first year as a ìprofessionalî poker player is officially coming to the end.

A year ago I was flying over the scorched sierra desert feeling guiltily about the weekís worth of classes I was missing; when suddenly out of the barren sand appeared the Las Vegas skyline. A friend picked me up at the airport and drove me down the Las Vegas strip while my mouth was gaping open in awe. The glitz, the glamour, the surrealism of the whole town simply blew me away. I knew I was at home. And as I became engulfed in the town and the lifestyle the weeks worth of classes I was missing would soon turn into a years worthÖ

It was during this first trip to Las Vegas where I first met other kids who were in the same situation I was. Kids who had suddenly gone from having zero dollars to their name to making money that rivaled their parentsí salaries. But unlike me they no longer attended college. They had dropped out and were living a lifestyle most people only dreamed of while making enough money to be set for the rest of their lives. Needless to say I didnít return to college.

I rushed home, dropped off my classes and set off to grinding 10 hours a day. And in February I made $50,000, five times more then I had ever before made in a month, practically tripling my bankroll. I was convinced that I was the god of poker, and thoughts of spending the millions of dollars I was sure to be making filled my head.

But then the reality of the rollercoaster life of a professional poker player arrived. March came in and after a relaxing party filled spring break I proceeded to drop $20,000 over three weeks, and it seemed I could never win again. I was crushed and started to second guess my decision of turning pro; it was going be though listening to all the naysayerís saying, ìI told you soî. But April came and things turned around and I was back on top of the world. In this brief year this cycle has repeated many times. I should know better by now but every time I go on a upswing I feel like a poker god I go on a downswing I feel like I was no longer a winning player. Maybe, Iíll learn my lesson sometimeÖ

Anyways, over the next few months my playing time was limited as I traveled to Texas, Florida, Vegas, Italy, Spain, England, Aruba and the Bahamas. I immensely enjoyed the culture, food and scenery each of these places had to offer and feel that the traveling made me a more complete person. Of course this was in addition to all the time spent boozing; club hopping and attempting to pick up locals, which I like to think adds to my general level of happiness.

On these trips I met many great friends (and poker players) who have helped shape my poker game and more importantly my views on life. Itís amazing how far my poker game has come in this short year and even more so how much I have matured. However, I still need a lot of work in both departments (guess youíd never guess I was immature).

In the middle of all this traveling all I also managed to live in Las Vegas for two months with Apathy, Inyaface, Jman, TheUsher, Unarmed and the famous poker celebrity Chantel. We survived a robbery, a 100mph+ car crash, a pool full of goldfish cracker, huge quantities of alcohol, throwing pool balls through our neighbors window and of course countless hours at the poker table with soul-reading ìTV Prosî. Memorable times to say the least.

This will be a year I will always treasure as the friends Iíve mad and the memories Iíve created are priceless. That said, I wish I had a little more money left . I made countless mistakes this year that have deeply impacted my bottom line; away from the tables and at them. I plan on learning from these mistakes and strive to avoid repeating them. It was only my first year as a pro after allÖ

The future of online poker in America is looking grim but Iíll tell you what: The poker world will be hearing a lot more of Andrew Robl and the rest of the Ship It Holla Ballas in the years to come.