BIG MONEY When people think about any sporting activity and the money involved most folk would immediately register premiership footballers as the largest earners. Well they certainly make huge sums of dough but just check out the money earned by the top six poker players in just ONE tournament this year. At number six, Rhett Butler with $3,216,000 - number five, Joe Bartholdi $3,834,000 - number four, Mike Binger $4,288,000 - number three, Alan Cunningham $4,460,000 - number two, Paul Wasicka $6,413,000, and at number one, Jamie Gold $12,024,000. Okay, so the money I’ve quoted was the running order for the top six positions in the 2006 World Series of Poker but keep in mind that the guy who came 100th in this particular event (Paul Raeburn) won $250,000. We are not far away from a card game called poker producing the highest paid bunch of sports stars on the planet. The next time your brother or sister or partner says, “I’m thinking of taking up poker for a living!” Avoid sarcasm or you may not get a ride in the Ferrari if things work out. As a field of activity poker is no more or less risky or competitive than any other form of capitalistic endeavour. It always boils down to perspiration and inspiration. If you learn the skills and invest in them courageously you’re in with a good chance.
DECISION KILLERS From time to time all of us are tempted to move up the food chain as far as limit Texas Hold’em games are concerned. If you have half a dozen big wins in a row online at your chosen limit you automatically start thinking about looking for bigger fish. It’s the right, aggressive way to behave but what you don’t want is “analysis paralysis”. This happens in a subtle and quite dangerous way when you move up to a limit where any kind of element of financial fear creeps into your game. If you start making decisions based on “I really don’t want to lose THAT much!” go back to a level you can afford. If you don’t do that it’ll wreck the aggression that bumped you up a level in the first place. Poker’s like boxing. Always punch at your weight, not above it.
TOO MUCH INFORMATION A young player on dailystarpoker.com made the following point which I found quite interesting. He said he liked to show his premium hands after a social win to demonstrate that he’s a tight player but his mates still thought he was scamming. His question was, “Do people automatically think I’m setting them up for a future bluff?” The answer is simple. It’s always a mistake to show your hand. If you show your cards when you have a premium hand opponents will assume you’re bluffing when you DON’T show them. It’s just not good poker. Never show your cards and opponents will always be guessing and that’s the way you want it.
