Champion of Poker

You may read poker articles and think that they are too detailed and too focused on the career poker professional. You may not want to focus too deeply on the game but you are keen to become a better player. There are many different types of poker player; you will know whether you are a grinder, recreational player, a professional or even a poker fish! Whatever type of poker player you are by defining what you want from the game, (entertainment, money, something to kill time) this will help you work out what to do to improve. After all, losing money playing Texas Hold’em poker online is never fun for anyone.

I play Texas Holdem in a different way to most people as far as I know. I think of poker as entertainment and have a set budget each month that I can afford to lose by indulging this passion. Poker causes a fear of losing money which is not unhealthy, but by being happy to lose the money I set aside for the game, which is not a massive amount compared to the rest of my money, anything I manage to retain is a bonus and builds my roll for next month. Obviously I play hard and do not aim to lose but knowing I am doing things right from a risk perspective helps me stay comfortable. I would recommend anyone to follow this way of playing; the losing (which we all suffer sometimes) feels far less painful. Wins are more fun too.

If you want fame and fortune from playing poker then you should set your playing strategy to put yourself in the best position to achieve this. In order to get famous you need to be playing in large live events. Then you need to win! To get there in the first place that may mean getting staked or better still participating in satellite events where you can win sponsorship packages and seats to larger poker events. Grind your cash game profits then invest some of that into satellites. Make any seat count and you never know some of that fame and fortune may come your way.

For the recreational player I would still recommend that you play poker using bankroll management and read plenty of strategy articles to help improve your play. If you only play poker tournaments online then do all you can to make this time worthwhile. Poker tournaments offer great potential for big scores in relation to your buy-in and in a $20 tournament first prize can often by $5,000 or more and tournaments like that are played everyday online. By playing recreationally the money is a massive bonus for you doing something you would do anyway; playing online poker. Providing you are careful not to get hooked on playing and being irresponsible with your money then poker will only ever be a positive thing in your life. Either you win or you are entertained.

Looking forward, I would like to go more seriously into playing poker online regularly and see how I progress. I am comfortable in myself knowing that if it does not work out I will simply enjoy playing and strive to get better. It may never become my profession and I would not necessarily feel bad about that. Poker rooms would prefer you to play over time rather than shoot off a load of money and disappear so they agree with careful poker playing and bankroll management.

By Malcolm Clarke