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Maryann Guberman has been a writer and editor with many gaming publications, including Sports Form, Card Player, Poker World, Player's Panorama and Systems and Methods. She also has written and edited numerous books on gambling.

Feb 09, 2008

How to Make a Fortune in Poker

Nobody alive knows from first-hand account the names of people who made their fortunes during that period in U.S. history known as The Gold Rush. In 1848, for those who slept through history classes, one James Marshall spotted gold in Sutter's Creek, some 50 miles from Sacramento, California. A short time later, Samuel Brannan, a guy who couldn't keep a secret shouted some famous words, "Gold, Gold, Gold from the American River."

Sam Brannan, a newspaperman by trade, was one individual who made his fortune from the Gold RushÑwithout ever picking up a pan or turning over a spade of dirt. Between the time Marshall found his nuggets and the first wave of get-rich-quick hopefuls made it to California, Brannan had purchased every shovel in sight. He scored not as a prospector but as a supplier of goods for the miners.

Gold, it seems was easy to find in the very early days but most people, especially those who arrived in the second wave of prospecting, eventually spent what they uncovered on supplies and living expenses.

Thankfully, history does repeat itself and when it does, the scenario comes with angles that differ from previous events. In this era, the rush of riches in technology (not retailers who found the world wide superhighway as a new outlet) rained down on many people, chief among them of course, Bill Gates and including Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and Steve Case (Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and AOL respectively).

Then came the second wave, the dot com creators, many of whom had to buy too many shovels. Many of these superstars faded; some managed to overcome the flood (does the name google ring a bell?).

Yes, as the Sam Brannan story unfolded, we see another side to instant success. After much successful investing (including ownership of nearly 200,000 acres that would become the city of Los Angeles,) Sam died penniless. A shrewd investor, the man was cash poor and was forced to liquidate to settle a divorce.

We know many people have become rich in this rush to modern poker. The first wave of players scooped up huge chunks of cash by way of big-money tournaments. Their names were plastered all over the Internet; they became feature stories in magazines; they received offers for endorsements from many things unrelated to poker. (But do you know who the Player of the Year is for 2007?)

Whether these fortunate folks hold on to their celebrity and their cash like the Internet moguls or disappear like the founders of the long-gone and easily forgotten dot com enterprises remains to be seen. I hope when history continues to unfold it's the former.

On the flip side, however, what will become of the suppliers of poker, the purveyors of chips and cards and spinners and bobbleheads?

Already the competition has taken some of them to the edge of despair. Two years ago, a set of quality poker chips went for the price of a buy-in to a nice tournament Ð about a hundred bucks. Today the drug stores are returning them to their suppliers because they are gathering dust. Two years ago pirated versions of the World Series of Poker on DVD were selling for hundreds on eBay. Today even the latest events often fail to get bids. And the other poker supplies on the auction site are managing even worse.

EBay featured 31 pages of poker chip auctions, with the first six pages (about 50 listings per page) of auctions ending within 12 hours. Out of that total, only five items had bids -- and they were very low.

It does appear as if the bandwagon has come to a halt as far as poker accessories are concerned Ð at least for now. So it doesn't seem as if anyone is going to get rich in poker this way.

Possibly the next wave of money-making (aside from winning at the tables) might be some kind of collectible that's easily broken, lost or thrown out. If you can't make it in live action poker or via tournament success, collect and save items like decks of cards, chips, glassware, ashtrays, mugs, anything with a logo. Put it away, it the original package. Sooner or later it will be worth something, if not to you, perhaps to your children or grandchildren when the next wave of history repeats itself.

Meanwhile, play the best poker you can possibly play because there will always be someone out there who will contribute to your pots. And who knows, you could still make a fortune in poker.