Blackjack Poker Casino Blog, Issue 22

Sunday, Sept 24,  2006

Publishers: Norm & June McHardy

IN THIS ISSUE
Play Winning Poker Online By Following These Guidelines, and Why TV Poker Can Make You Wealthy!Well, Mom, I'm a Professional Poker Player

Play Winning Poker Online By Following These Guidelines, and Why TV Poker Can Make You Wealthy!So You Want to be a Pro!

 

Playing Poker for a living? Are you kidding? It's not as far-fetched as it used to be, but it's still just a pipe-dream for most of us.  To be able to do something you love and still make a living from it is very enticing. Still there are many pitfalls.   The following articles, Well, Mom, I'm a Professional Poker Player, and So You Want to be a Pro! cover some of these issues.
                                                                                      ........ June

 

 


Well, Mom, I'm a Professional Poker Player
By Daniel Negreanu
 

It didn't take me too long in my poker career to realize that it was something I loved and could make a living doing. Now, explaining that to my mother and family was another story. You see, my mother had always envisioned me to be an actor, lawyer, or some other "respectable" professional: Never in her wildest dreams did she think her youngest son would be a "gambling bum."

Of course, I tried to explain to her that I wasn't a gambler until I was blue in the face. She didn't play poker, so it was difficult for her to understand the difference. All she really knew was that I could lose everything. Of course, everything was a grand total of $1,300 at the time, which I'd earned playing poker!

I mean, I tried everything. I even showed her my extensive record book with all my poker statistics. Let me tell you, this was no ordinary record book. I had things broken down to days, locations, hourly rate, game, daily notes and grades, and so on. I could tell you my hourly rate at a specific location, on Mondays, after 6 p.m., in sessions of more than six hours! Not only that, I could tell you how I played, and my overall mood that day! I know, that's pretty anal.

The whole point of it was to show my mother that I was taking this seriously. I wasn't going to be a bum, I was going to treat poker as a science. All of this went in one ear and out the other, as expected. "I don't care, you go to school!" That was a more than reasonable response, really.

Eventually, she "tolerated" the idea of my playing poker for a living, but it still wasn't her first choice for me. Whenever I'd go broke as a teenager, it destroyed her. She would urge me to stop and have a normal life, but I was pretty determined to get it right.

Yet, I hated having my mother go through the same emotional swings I had to endure; she simply couldn't handle it. Every night when I got home, her first question was, "How did you do?" For a while, I told her the truth. If I lost $1,000, I'd tell her, or if I'd won $1,500, I'd also tell her.

This just didn't work, though. When I won, everything was great — she was really happy and in a great mood. When I lost, not only did I have to deal with losing, I had to deal with my mother automatically becoming depressed, which in turn made me depressed.

So, I thought of a solution to the problem. No longer would my mother have to ride the roller coaster of a professional poker player. From then on, I won every day! Well, almost every day. When she'd ask me that same old question, I had a new number prepared for her. If I won $1,000, I'd tell her $200. That way, she'd still be happy, yet not hysterically happy. If I lost $1,000, I'd tell her I "broke even" or won only $60 or so.

So, if I won $1,200 one day and lost $800 the next, all she needed to know was that I won $200 each day. After all, the amount was the same, but without the "scary" fluctuation. Of course, she wouldn't believe that I never lost, so once in a while I'd tell her that I had a bad, horribly unlucky day — and lost $500.

There is no easy way to tell your family that you are going to play poker for a living, but there are some things that you can do to put poker in a better light. You can't go wrong with World Series of Poker videos or anything similar. That way, poker looks a little more like a sport than it does a casino game such as blackjack or craps. Anything you can do to separate poker from table games in their minds is a good thing.

Depending on where you play and your typical game composition, let them come to see you in action. My girlfriend didn't even believe that I was a good poker player until she was caught up in the excitement of the final table at the World Poker Challenge in Reno! We'd been together for four months, and that was the first time she was actually excited about my poker career.

Wherever you play, try to let those close to you see the "lighter side" of poker. Take them to a friendly game that you play in. Beware of those games where people are throwing cards and yelling at the dealers. Introduce them to some other successful poker-playing friends of yours. Show them that playing poker for a living isn't alien — just a little unconventional.

These days, my mother is finally proud of my poker career, although I'm sure the main reason is because of the success I've had. Nonetheless, she came around, as will most people in due time. Don't push them. You are a poker player, so it all makes sense to you, but what if I tried to explain quantum physics to you? It might take you a while to understand, right? Give your friends and family time to respect what you do; don't expect it right away.

The way poker is becoming more readily accepted in mainstream society these days, hopefully this won't be a problem in the future. For now, though, do your part. Show poker's happy face, and let's try to weed out the negatives.


Daniel is considered to be one of the top tournament players in the world, who also excels in cash games. He has won more tournaments than any other player in the circuit since 1997 with 25 first place finishes.
Article supplied from http://www.pokerpages.com


 

   We Do it all Vegas - Gaming Merchandise

 


 


So You Want to be a Pro!
by Chris Gabriel

Over the years, I have talked to quite a few poker players and many of them envision themselves as becoming a professional player. Dreams of sleeping in as late as they want, not having a boss to answer to, or a time clock to punch, and the thought of making a lot of money are just too big of a draw to remain just a fantasy. The ones that do try are simply taking one more step toward fulfilling their dreams. But remember, of the many who try, only a very few will survive. Because as the saying goes, “It’s a hard way to make an easy living.” The ones that do make it will experience a lifestyle unlike any other. Imagine waking up everyday and having your first thought be whether or not you are going to work today. If you do decide to head to the casino, you would then have to decide where you are going to work. If you live in Las Vegas or in southern California, you have a multitude of choices. You also get to dress as you please, take your lunch break whenever you want, and quit for the day when you have decided the time is right. On the other hand, if you decide to take the day off, you simply take the day off without falling behind on any work. With all of that being said, there are several factors that go into the decision of playing for a living.

First and foremost, you have to be a topnotch player. While this sounds like common sense, many people don’t understand what that entails. This is something that can only be proven over time…a lot of time. You have to know what your earning power is, in a given game, over the course of at least one full year. That means 40 hours per week, week after week. Many players achieve immediate success when they start playing poker. Their confidence reaches an unhealthy level and they start to overestimate their abilities. Eventually, the inevitable downswing hits and crushes all of their dreams of becoming a pro. Remember, no matter how good you are no one wins all the time. And everyone goes through the swings of big wins and losses. But a pro knows how to gain the most from the wins while at the same time, limit the losses.

The second skill that a pro must possess is good money management. This means that whatever money you make from playing, you have to pay yourself the required wages. For instance, if you play $20-40 Holdem, you should expect to make one big bet per hour, or $40 per hour. This is what you should pay yourself for your time. That $40 dollars per hour needs to go into the bank every week. This is the money you live out of and pay all of your bills. Whatever you do, whether it is pay the mortgage or go to dinner, that money comes from your bank account and NOT your poker bankroll. Your bankroll is for poker use only and absolutely cannot be spent on the random necessities of life. Your bankroll should always consist of at least 300 big bets. So, in that same 20-40 game, you need a playing bankroll of AT LEAST $12,000. This insures your survival when you hit the downswings that come about every so often. But remember, when you do hit a downswing, and your bankroll drops to $8000-$9000 you no longer have the required amount of money to play 20-40, and you need to drop down in limits.

Being able to take a step back is crucial and is the kind of discipline that is required if you don’t want to end up punching a time clock again. Ego has destroyed many a poker player over the years, don’t let that happen to you.

Finally, (in this writer’s opinion), the most important part of becoming a successful professional poker player is that you have to absolutely love the game. That does not mean that you love to play. You have to love everything about it and you have to love learning about the game even more. Keep in mind that poker is just like any other job. If you don’t love your job, going to work everyday is going to quickly become a real drag. Poker is a very unique job in that it requires you to be excited about going to work everyday. If, when playing cards, you are just going through the motions, you are going to cost yourself a lot of money; equity that you need if you are going to survive. If you aren’t excited about the thought of going to the casino, poker is not the job for you. But if you really feel like you have what it takes to make it as a pro, go for it. But don’t quit your day job until reality sets in.


by Chris Gabriel (a Professional Poker Player).  Article provided from http://www.pokerworks.com  



TO ADVERTISE in The Blackjack Poker Blog  go to http://ezshoppingportal.com/casino/adform.htm 

 

To Subscribe to This Blog

 

See you soon!

Norm and June McHardy
http://blackjackpokerportal.com

  • Blog Feed 

 

ADVERTISEMENTS:


 

Qualify for the WORLD POKER TOUR  at Poker Room  At The Poker Room win a spot on Team PokerRoom.com to Las Vegas to compete on the World Poker Tour in December 2005. Tournaments, Poker, rules, strategies 

 


 

Matching $50 sign up bonus at YUKON GOLD Casino Yukon Gold offer a matching $50 sign up bonus. They also offer Free membership to Casino Rewards where they are one of 7 casinos that come under the loyalty program.

 


 

POKER STARS, #1 Tournament Site. Play FREE  Poker stars, number one tournament site. Free-rolls with grand prize pools. Champions like Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer

 


 

40% matching bonus up  to $1000.00 at BLACKJACK BALLROOM  Blackjack Ballroom - New players can take advantage of their 40% matching bonus to a maximum of $1000. That means that you can get up to $400 free

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Article this issue, Well, Mom, I'm a Professional Poker Player, and So You Want to be a Pro!