Down at my local pub, they all know what I do for a living and that is to play poker. But very few of them really understand the game much above the novice level even though as per usual many of them think that they are Phil Ivey (assuming they even know who he is). However because of this they hold me in much higher esteem than is necessary because of one simple fact……a professional player basically makes money doing things that are very far removed from being exciting. They are reticent about inviting me to their poker evenings because they perceive the situation as if I sit down then suddenly……WHOOSH!….every single chip will come my way.
It isn’t going to happen of course because much of the aspect of being a pro is simply game selection and getting as many external financial incentives as you can. This means that being a pro is more within reach than what you think. However to be a deep stacked pro is far more difficult than being a minimum stacked pro but do you know what……the earn rates can be very similar for one simple reason. This is because a minimum stacked player is playing a very simplified version of the game and can thus play more tables. But I will tell you something else, the vast majority of players who play deep stack are not good enough to do so and should be playing minimum stack…….that is FACT number 1…….FACT number 2 is that the overwhelming majority of players who play a minimum stack do not play it anywhere near well enough.
Carl “The Dean” Sampson can be seen at www.pokerstars.co.uk
