When Poker Gets Easier

by Carl Sampson
Submitted on Thu, 26/06/2008 - 5:27pm

 
Poker and gambling for that matter is all about risking money right? Well it is for the vast majority of players but risking money is really not the favourite pastime of the vast majority of people. Don’t fall for the hype with regards the poker boom or internet gambling either. Sure it is growing in leaps and bounds but the fact remains that most people gamble within their means to a certain extent.

Even if they happen to overdo it one week and end up blowing a week’s wages at the local casino, it is still not a catastrophic to most people. Of course there are problem gamblers but we are only talking about a very small percentage of people here when compared to the actual figure who gamble or wager money through one capacity or another.

But the fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of gamblers are risk averse and this includes poker players. If you had to look at any online cardroom then the greatest numbers of players on that site would either be on the free money tables or in the micro limits or small stakes. I think that people want to play poker and enjoy poker without it costing them their livelihood or it ruining more vital areas of their lives like their relationships or their overall happiness.

The fact of the matter is that professional gambling is soul destroying at times even when you are successful and something that I don’t recommend to anyone unless you can earn a very significant amount of money far beyond your current earning potential. But there are many good strong poker players out there who have the potential to do well but not the confidence to take the plunge.

Even most professionals don’t play that high whenever they play. Despite playing professionally for six years online, I have yet to venture higher than $25-$50 NLH and $50-$100 limit. I have played SNG’s but no higher than $200+$15 and PLO but no higher than $5-$10. Although these are serious levels for the vast majority of players online, it is really not all that big and my bankroll could have sustained higher levels of play at times.

But numerous players are becoming sponsored these days and if you can find yourself playing poker on someone else’s money then poker actually does get substantially easier. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you have to win a big high profile event either in order to become sponsored. There are a growing number of online sites these days that are dedicated to providing just such a deal to anyone who fits the bill.

On my internet travels I came across Pokershowoff (www.pokershowoff.com) which is one such site who specialise in sponsoring players. But the real advantage of this as far as I am concerned is that it will keep a lot of players on the straight and narrow if they know that they have to answer to other people for their results.

This in my mind is perhaps the greatest advantage to being sponsored as many players have serious issues with discipline in some capacity or another. But the only criteria that they ask for is that you prove that you are a winning player. This to me is only fair as it really isn’t good business practice to hook up with anyone who has neither the discipline or the ability to win money and at the end of the day, these people are not in business to throw money away.

In fact the reduction of risk and variance is perhaps one of the primary goals of any poker player or at least it should be. The natural variance that is inherent in nearly all forms of gambling is a serious obstacle to earning an income down this avenue. Even some of the very best get blown out simply because they went through a bad run but didn’t have the mental fortitude to be able to deal with it.

But being a sponsored player myself (although through a totally different avenue) I can fully see the advantages of entering into such a deal and I thoroughly recommend it to any player who has the necessary skills to beat the game at a low level. Another important factor that needs to be addressed here is one of bankroll management. There is so much misinformation on this topic that it really isn’t any surprise that many people are confused.

Good sound bankroll management will not make you a winning player without the requisite skills and ability… period! But bad bankroll management will probably wipe out even the very best players if they constantly play at levels that are too big for their bankrolls. Many players fail to drop down in levels during bad runs but this is critical in my mind because you may not be beating the level that you are at now even though you were properly bankrolled once upon a time and beating it in days gone by.

Players improve, levels change and get tougher, the skills required to beat the game at a certain level alter. In short then what you must realise is that poker is a forever changing environment and you simply cannot assume that just because you have always beaten a certain level that you will always continue to do so.

But good money management and bankroll skills will protect your bankroll and this can lead to even mediocre poker players becoming successful in the long term and is another advantage of getting the right kind of sponsorship deal because some of these companies will take care of this side of things and that is always a recipe for success.


Carl “The Dean” Sampson is sponsored by Cake Poker and can be seen at www.cakepoker.com/thedean