Sitting With a Pro part one

In this article I would like to digress slightly from previous articles and answer a few e-mail questions from certain readers who have contacted me through my website at Pokersharkpool regarding playing poker as a career and the viability of that in 2009.

So I would like to shape the article into a kind of conversation between me and you where we are sat casually in a room with you firing questions at me. I am sure that there are lots of people who will find this article quite revealing.

Q…… How easy is it to make money in online poker now compared to when you first started and can you still turn professional? – Nathan Wilson

A… Well it is certainly tougher that’s for sure. I first started playing online in about 1999 or 2000 and the games were far fewer but ridiculously easy to beat. But the online poker game grew up and so did the players. But the facility to multi-table as well as the invention of tracking software has made some levels very difficult to beat now.

I wouldn’t advise people to jump in now automatically like I would have done say two to three years ago. Plus the internet which has been the avenue to get millions of people playing poker has also been the avenue to get those players far more educated as well.

You cannot just sit down and play anymore and expect to have an edge unless you are playing at small stakes games. I think tournament players need to select poker tournaments with added prize money and cash game players need to game select more. But it seems that everybody seems pre-occupied with finding fish these days.

You can still make money but it’s just got tougher to make. As for turning pro then I wouldn’t recommend anyone set out to try and attempt this. It is far better to simply play on a casual basis even if you are making money and retain the current day job or career.

Q….What is the most profitable game to play online at this time for a new player? – Amanda Rodgers

A…….Things change so much in the online poker world and it really never stays the same for long. I started out playing limit hold’em years ago but switched to no-limit when that game started to get more profitable.

But no-limit hold’em has toughened up as well and the ever growing army of short stackers has reduced the amount of money that a player can win in an average game.

While I have no objections against short stackers (I would much rather have their money in the poker community than outside of it) they do diminish the total amount of money on any given table. Many new players flock to no-limit hold’em cash games or tournaments because this is what they see on television.

But yet their chances of success beyond the short term are slim. I would strongly advise any novice player to play something Sit and go poker tournaments. These tournaments start with a buy-in of say $10 and there are ten players.

The final five players simply double their buy-in irrespective of chip position. These types of tournaments lower variance tremendously and are great bankroll builders as the overall level of the small stakes tournaments are still very poor.

Using a decent strategy in these tournaments coupled with some sound money management principles should ensure that even a novice player can make money.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson