This question isn’t always answered easily but there are ways to do this above and beyond the conventional coaching methods that are currently in existence. As a sports bettor and ex-blackjack player then I obviously have a keen interest in many subjects to do with gambling and risk. This is why I have a keen interest in financial day trading as regular readers of my blog will know as I quote numerous analogies with poker and trading.
Some years ago I read a fascinating book on betting in the field of Horse Racing and that book was called Against the Crowd by professional punter Alan Potts. Back in 1997 then Potts made £50,000 in one year from betting (a pretty sum 14 years ago). That book is educational even if you have no intention of betting on horses. It highlighted the dedication and philosophy to succeed in ANY field. But the underlying philosophy of it all was that you simply couldn’t make money or it was very difficult to make money doing the same as everyone else.
You were simply trying to swim upstream and while that is possible, you have to be a bigger fish to swim upstream because of the current. But yet smaller fishes can travel at a far faster speed going downstream just by riding the current. That book highlighted that being successful in gambling means doing things that the majority of people are not. So to make money in poker and to do that relatively easily means two things……follow a process that is theoretically sound and make sure that it is different to what the masses are doing.
There……that’s it…..hardly rocket science is it? I know that I have been advocating deep stack play with my $100-$10,000 challenge but I am very skilled and experienced at deep stacked play. It is also difficult to pass that on in any reasonable time frame. These days I can be seen on PokerStars (www.pokerstars.co.uk) as that site represents the best avenue to get the most multi-tabling action.
However it also gives me the best choice of games as well as game selection is becoming ever more crucial now. It is important to go onto a site if you play six tables for example and be able to pick the best six out of twelve or fifteen available. I can usually spot the regs quickly because I know them……if they are not known to me or they have shorter stacks than usual or they are only playing one or two tables then I pencil them in as value until I get further data. The Viper though comes at poker in a completely different way. It will not turn you into an automated Texas Hold’em clone but it will show you how to think on your feet and in ways that are not common in the world of poker.
Carl “The Dean” Sampson can be contacted at Sharkpooldean@yahoo.co.uk for anyone interested in his VIPER poker system.
