CasinoGaming.com


	Sundays: Inside Gaming Tuesdays: Video Poker Wednesdays: Off the Shelf Fridays: Richard Eng, Player's Edge Saturdays: Pocket Aces

POCKET ACES

Columns

• Back to Maryann's index

• Back to columnists' index

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.

April 18, 2009

Poker Preferences

With the 2009 World Series of Poker almost visible on the gaming horizon, poker coverage in the media begins to grow like the pernicious plants in the Day of the Triffids. It's everywhere!

But with all this hype and publicity comes the realization that the game and its writers (this one included) have focused much on tournament play. That's definitely because the publicity departments and the television contacts work hard (and with great success) at keeping these high-profile events in the public eye.

This is not a complaint. It's good to see most of the world accepting poker competition as something other than an evil pastime that will destroy the youth of America (and in this case, the youth of the world) much like pool was destined to destroy River City. But poker is more than tournaments and those who can't afford to get into the big events or don't want to fight through a thousand people in hopes of snagging a gaudy bracelet consider the real game, the live action, limit and no-limit battles played out across the green felt in casinos and in cardrooms and, yes, online prime territory for making money.

Over the past few years I've seen and heard about young players dropping out of college after scoring online poker bankrolls to turn pro -- pro being confined to the tournament circuit. What looks like a path to instant wealth, however, doesn't always translate into a big bank balance. The truth is, poker may never be as lucrative a career as, say NASCAR where the participants get paid to endorse products, where money pours into the coffers from companies that own the decals that obliterate most of the car. So what if the driver doesn't win a race or finish close to the front? Payday arrives anyway.

Unless he's lucky enough to hook up with a reputable and successful online poker room, the poker pro, knows that payday comes only when the bubble bursts, when the next player out gets at least his buy-in back in the form of prize money, which is taxable -- again.

I've never been one to encourage or discourage anyone away from poker, even though I've seen my share of disappointed players. But I do suggest that before dropping out of one life and into another, aspiring pros should think about their own lifestyle, see if they can survive without the things they love (if they don't succeed in the beginning) and look seriously at their own potential.

The pros of yesterday (also known as the legends of today) used to joke seriously about good players who tried to bring their hometown skills to Vegas. These country club winners could clean out their buddies with impunity but when they showed up at the World Series, they never made a single wave.

In today's poker arena it's not so much the skill of the pros that puts an anchor on the aspiring players. It's the competition and the structure of the tournaments. While skill continues to play a role, luck prevails too often. With so many players willing to gamble, the chances of success for the skilled player go down.

As a newcomer to professional poker, you have to make many decisions that have nothing to do with how to play those cards and perhaps the most important one is how you might continue to play when you fail.

This is where you should try your hand at ring games, especially if you've read all the books about how to play this game. This is the arena where your skill will shine, unless, of course you get into those games where all the maniacs who think they can play like their idols on TV populate the competition.

Nice thing about ring games, though, is that you can always get up and find another place to play.