Thanks for looking at my blog profile & taking the time to find out more about me!
My name is Kerry Stead & I am a qualified school teacher, having been awarded a Bachelor of Arts (with Honours in History)/Bachelor of Laws by the University of New South Wales in 2003. I was awarded a Graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) by Melbourne University in 2006.
I have taught at both Merrilands College & Thomastown Secondary in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, where I taught a range of subjects, including History, Legal Studies, English and various Humanities electives. I have also worked as a Casual Relief Teacher at various schools (both primary & secondary) across Melbourne while working for Resource Ed Personnel.
Prior to becoming a qualified teacher, I taught chess at schools in Sydney while completing my undergraduate studies & co-founded the Sydney Chess College with Michael Lip. I also helped to run chess events & coaching sessions for the New South Wales Junior Chess League, including coaching some of the NSW squad at the Australian Junior Chess Championships from 2001-2004.
More recently I have returned to coaching chess in schools, this time based in Melbourne, primarily for Northern Star Chess. Apart from coaching school groups, I also run a Sunday Squad for juniors, as well as the junior coaching program at Noble Park Chess Club.
I have been playing chess since I was in Primary school & began playing tournaments at age 14, when I discovered both the Canterbury Chess Club & the NSW Junior Chess League. I have been playing chess pretty much ever since & have played in a range of events across Australia, from club & weekend events to National Championships & Zonal tournaments. I have won events in Sydney, Melbourne & Canberra, as well as various regional areas around NSW. At present, I play occasionally at Box Hill Chess Club, as well as playing various weekend events across the country.
In 2011 I successfully completed a FIDE Arbiters Seminar & was recently awarded the title of FIDE Arbiter after running a number of FIDE rated tournaments, including a number at Melbourne Chess Club, where I am often the arbiter for their regular Monday night competitions. See my Arbiting page for more details of my chess arbiting experience.
Although I had known about poker since I was a child, I did not begin playing it until I started working at Star City Casino (now know as The Star) as a dealer in 2004. I began to play in the regular homegame with other dealers at the casino & soon turned into a winning player through study & working on my game. When Joe Hachem won the World Series of Poker in 2005, the popularity of the game increased exponentially throughout the country & as a result there were far more opportunities to play than were previously available. After moving to Melbourne in late 2005 I began playing APL events, before moving onto more serious poker at Crown Casino. I have had some success in both tournament & cash games in America & around Australia, with the highlights being a 3rd place in the HORSE event at the 2009 Aussie Millions & 23rd in the HORSE event at the 2010 World Series of Poker. I enjoy playing a mix of games & prefer limit to pot & no limit games, however these choices are limited in the live poker environment in Australia, so when playing in casinos in Australia, No Limit Texas Holdem is (by default) my game of choice. During 2010 I also produced my own poker podcast, The Donkcast, which detailed my journey in the world of poker, as well as covering events around Australia & offering advice to players.
When I'm not involved in chess or poker, I enjoy listening to hip-hop music, watching British comedy, UFC or documentaries, as well as other games like AFL Dream Team.
My FIDE Chess Profile
My Hendon Mob Poker Profile
