First things first, this is a disclaimer saying “don’t play poker if you can’t afford to”.
Yes, playing poker can be easy money, but that is ONLY if you have studied the game. There is a LOT of luck involved in the game of poker, but how you handle that luck, and knowing how to play against other players, whether you have good cards or not takes a lot of skill and dedication.
In that vain, I will let you in on a little secret: I have been studying the game of poker for a few months now. I must admit that I am pretty good at it. I’m a relatively profitable player. But that just means that I win enough to keep me playing, but not enough to pay off my house 🙂
Poker tournaments can be extremely time consuming, and if you can finish in the top few players (depending on the size), you can make a decent amount of money.
For example, while I write this I am busy playing in a tournament. (No, it is not very good not to be concentrating on the game while I’m playing, but it’s a VERY slow game.)
There were 3296 entrants and 1st place will be paying around $1,550. The entry fee was $3.30.
The game could take about 5-6 hours to play, but do you think it would be worth it to play? To win ANYTHING I have to come in the top 495 players, and that will only pay out $4.54, so it could also mean wasting 3 hours to win $1.
So, what can I do to help improve my chances of winning? Study, study, study…
My first step will be to read a book from “Dimat Poker Books” titled “Winning Poker Tournaments 1 hand at a time”. I’m hoping this will give me the edge I need to win a lot more money in poker tournaments.
I will be giving a review of this book afterwards.
In the mean time, wish me luck for my current tournament. Let’s hope I have the patience and skill to do well… 🙂