There are various things you can do to improve your image as a poker player so if an opportunity appears you will be towards the front of the line to take advantage of it.

Win Something

Obvious? Yes. But winning a large poker tournament is THE best way of getting noticed. You will be interviewed by press; people will remember your name and see you as successful. The level of coverage you get depends mainly on the prize you win. So winning freeroll tournaments are good for practising but people do not view these tournaments with the respect of a tournament that offers a larger cash prize. This is why the World Series of Poker Main Event winner gets the most coverage, it is the biggest prize.

Start a Poker Website

Fame or notoriety is being associated with something; this is either a big win or skill. You can highlight your skills by being involved in a poker website or forum. Your posts or articles demonstrate to people your abilities in poker and your name begins to get linked to this ability. We have seen Tiger Woods playing Golf for many years and he has been so successful in earning money and winning tournaments that nearly everyone in the world knows that Tiger Woods is a golfer. The same goes for Roger Federer in Tennis and Stephen Hendry in Snooker. They are known for their ability. Phil Ivey is known for his poker abilities as is Tom Dwan.

You need to show your skills over time and prove them. Forums allow you to post your session graphs and talk strategy. Users then recognise you know what you are talking about and respect you. Being unknown means you could be anything in terms of ability, once people are confident you deliver results and are worth listening to then they make a permanent note of this and you have gained a level of respect within the community.

Be Helpful and Confident

If you are nasty to people, belittle them and do not respect others you will be noticed for the wrong reasons. People will want to interact with you if you are warm, welcoming and helpful. Poker players who are rude are known widely, but as someone to avoid rather than interact with. If you are confident about your own abilities you will instill confidence in others. Do not go too far and appear to have all of the answers for everything, it is important to remain humble, nobody has as yet managed to work everything out and be the fountain of all knowledge in any area of life.

A combination of achievement, writing, interaction with the poker community in forums and being a friendly face at live poker events will get your name known for the right reasons and ensure you are always welcomed whether online at bwin.com or at a live poker tournament. You never know who is looking for a known sponsored player and you want your name to be thought of when these opportunities come about.

By Malcolm Clarke

Because books can be critically analysed as good or bad I recommend getting two to three texts teach you the basics of poker. Buying a book like the Theory of Poker by David Sklansky is also good reading to understand some of the math fundamentals that are true to every poker variation. After you have studied your first three or so poker books then now is the time to sign up for a poker room like bwin.com, familiarise yourself with the software and games and become comfortable in the play money games. Do not risk money just yet and do not worry about your results at the play tables, they are not a true reflection of poker.

So you have the basics now. You understand the betting rules and that a flush beats a pair. Poker is easy to learn and difficult to master and now we set about moving slowly towards a good grasp of strategy. At this point I would watch some of the poker television shows like High Stakes Poker, where you can watch some of the best cash game players in the world play Texas Hold ‘em and then watch some of the poker tournament shows. This shows you professionals going about their business. Remember that the TV only shows the interesting hands, a lot of poker is raise and fold. Position and patience are key ingredients to winning poker. Whilst only interesting hands are shown you are getting information from the commentators and the action which you can think about and work out why they did what they did in the hands.

After you have watched some poker you are now ready to play a little yourself. Before you deposit, read and understand bankroll management. Deposit something relatively small into the poker room of your choice and learn about the poker rooms various bonuses you can earn through playing at their site. You should also sign up through either a rakeback provider or be fully aware of the benefits of the poker rooms own VIP programme.

Start by playing one table at a time and play some cash games, some sit and go’s and some larger poker tournaments. Research each discipline on the Internet and get experience in each type of game keeping a note of what you struggle with and what you seem to do well. This will make interesting reading as you get more experienced. Sign up with a poker strategy forum and read the posts made by more experienced players, but remember that they may not always be right in what they are saying.

At this point you may find it beneficial to sign up with a site like Cardrunners, Poker VT or Stox Poker that offer video poker training. You may find it better to get a personal poker coach or you may prefer to go it alone. This all depends on how you prefer to learn. The poker training sites will be useful if you want to play more than one table and their strategies will help you realise this wish more quickly by bringing you up to speed with key poker strategies you will need to multi-table. You should also try a bit of live poker and read about tells and putting opponents on hands. There is always one more thing to learn in poker!

Practising good bankroll management and remembering everything from the books, videos and forums that you have read and watched you can start applying these things to your play at the poker tables. Do hand history reviews with an experienced player to highlight your leaks and make the changes necessary to plug those leaks as quickly as you can. Think about the game when you are away from the table and read the poker magazines and enter hand discussion competitions. Take every opportunity to learn about hands and how to play them.

Soon you will be a real force in poker if you follow this sort of step by step process to learning how to play poker.

By Malcolm Clarke