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.

Oct. 17, 2009

Make a Plan

One of the biggest mistakes aspiring poker pros make is neglecting to make a plan. It's easy to get caught up in poker hype, what with TV ads featuring high-profile pros telling you to join them at some dot net site to play for free (yeah, right, as if we don't know where that will lead), and high-stakes games popping up on myriad cable and network TV stations. It's even easier to get caught up in the hype when you forego your classes in favor of meeting in some dorm room for a friendly game of hold'em, especially when you seem to be able to whip the britches off your competition. Or maybe you've purchased some books, read them and concluded that this is something anybody can do. Finally, you might have picked up some of the really good software like Wilson's Turbo stuff or Masque's poker program featuring T.J. Cloutier.

Armed with all that subtle hard sell (yes, it's hard and subtle at the same time), you decide to jump in and become a pro. But, becoming a full-time poker earner doesn't happen overnight -- unless you get really lucky and cream a huge field of tournament players. In the past, the journeyman player hit the road and sought games with willing amateurs. He learned his craft by being crafty, and he developed a reputation that allowed him access to a prestigious event called the World Series of Poker.

For years, the WSOP operated on an almost closed-door event. Anyone could enter but the prevailing wisdom kept only a few away because they just didn't have what it took to beat the pros.

Time passes and poker emerges as a sporting (sort of) competition, kind of comparable to soccer, a game that doesn't necessarily require the player to be buff and gruff, where anyone, even girls, can participate. It all looks too easy!

But beware! Unless you have a plan, you will fall into that large (cess)pool of losers that continue to hold out their hands for buy-ins and backers or who run home to momma for bankroll relief or who take a low-end job to pay the bills while waiting for that one big hit in the $1-$3 game.

Any job (and playing poker for a living is a job), especially one that includes you as a decision maker or boss or manager, needs a plan of action. Whether it's selling books, making donuts, or picking up garbage, the job -- the business -- needs a plan.

The decisions don't stop at your declaration that you are going to become a professional poker player. That's where the decisions begin. And, if you make a plan, focus on some goals, and make sure you're properly financed, your business will succeed.

Next time we'll discuss the different components of your plan. For now, practice, practice, practice.