Poker Odds Calculator TournamentIndicator

admin answers:

That happened after the latest update. I used to be able to put a pic there too but after the new update, that feature is broken. I saw a bunch of people complain about that as well. I’m afraid we’re going to have to wait for the next update to fix this.

admin answers:

Well maybe they have been playing on party poker for a longer period of time than you have causing them to have more chips or maybe they had a friend lend them some playing chips

admin answers:

Well, I think everyone has given good answers but I’m not sure anyone has given a complete answer.

It’s been said about poker that it’s a hard way to make an easy living. That’s pretty much what it’s like.

In order to make a living playing poker you need a few key things:

1. Skill

2. A healthy emotional attitude and maturity

3. Good bankroll management abilities

Many people either have or think they have the skill part so I won’t discuss that other than to say that 90% of people who play poker lose money overall. I’m not just throwing that number out there, I’ve worked at some of the biggest online poker sites and that statistic is a fact. Well, actually, it might even be higher but 90% is the rule of thumb we use.

Let that sink in before proceeding.

The second thing you’re going to need is amazing self control. Control over tilting. Control over your commitment to the game. Control over your emotions. Well, control over your entire person.

Players like Mike Matusow are a great example of what happens when you don’t have control. Mike is one of the best players in the world yet he has battled his entire poker career with keeping his emotions in check. He’s had moments of extreme clarity and made millions. And he’s also had manic or depressive periods where he’s lost millions.

If you can’t get up and walk away from a game, you can’t be a pro. If you can’t decide not to play because you’re not in the right frame of mind, you can’t be a pro. If you can’t take weeks or months of losses even when you think you’re playing your best game without it eating you up inside, you can’t be a pro.

The game comes with a lot of highs and lows. You may go on a six month winning streak where you could virtually play any starting hand and win but poker is a game of mathematics so you can also have a six month streak where you can’t win even if you get dealt pocket aces every hand.

Can you handle that sort of emotional roller coaster?

The last thing you need is the ability to manage your bankroll. Making money via gambling is a very strange thing. The money doesn’t even seem real. There’s a reason the casinos have so many high-end clothing and jewelery shops in their lobbies. You can have a great session and be up a couple of grand and decide that you really would like to buy that Rolex you’ve had your eye on. Great. But what happens the next month when you’re on a bit of a losing streak and you’re wondering if you can afford to feed yourself for the rest of the month?

The bottom line is that poker is a hard way to make an easy living. Many of the pros you see on television have been absolutely busted. Not a dime to their names. In fact, many might even tell you that you can’t become a great poker player until you’ve been completely busted and in such a pit of despair that you have no other option but to win.

Howard Lederer once slept on park benches in NYC. He would work odd jobs just to make enough money to go play poker at night where he would lose it all and end up with not enough money to pay rent or even get a fleabag motel room.

Mike Matusow has been busted so many times he’s the poster boy for being broke.

Stu Unger, probably the best poker player who has ever played the game, made and lost millions and ended up dying in a LV motel room with barely a penny to his name.

If it sounds like I’m being negative it’s only because I think people should go into it with a clear understanding of what’s really involved. I am around poker as part of my job and I see what works and what doesn’t.

I highly recommend Barry Greenstein’s book Ace on the River where he gives advice on how to live the poker life without getting consumed by it. He’s one of the top pros in the world and a hell of a nice guy who seems like he’s survived with his emotional balance intact.

And in case you’re wondering, no, I’ve never played professionally. I work in the industry and have seen what it takes and I’m not confident enough that I could do it full time.

You may want to check out my blog where I talk about the poker industry, poker stuff in general, and invite some poker pros to post articles from time to time.

BTW, if you plan on going pro online, get a rakeback deal. You can check out the rakeback site below for more details.

admin answers:

Dont cheat. Ever heard of playing the person instead of the cards? Notice their betting patterns, how they react to certain hands or how much they bet in certain situations. Look at their faces and pick up any facial expressions. Realize the changes they make. See if they throw chips into the pot any different when having a hand or not. Know when you’re beat and don’t fall in love with your cards, if you do, that will be your down fall. Then you’ll become a great poker player instead of a cheater that no one will like, and can eventually get your butt kicked.

admin answers:

Some really crappy advice on here so far.

You don’t need to read that much on bankroll management, it’s actually pretty simple. You just have to exercise discipline in executing it. I personally think that most people ignore one important fact when talking about bankroll management, at that is that it makes no difference how you manage your bankroll if you’re not a winning player at the level you are playing at. You can sit at a $1/$2 table with $1 million, and you’re still going to lose it all eventually if you are a losing player at those limits.

My advice is different than most, but more practical. I suggest you find a limit you can beat, then use your profits at that limit to test the higher limit games. For example, if you know you can sit at the .10/.25 NL games and make a profit, then you should play there until you have at least 3 buy ins at the next level up, and then move up and see if you can beat those games. If you win, stay there, if you lose two of those 3 buy ins, move back down to .10/.25 and stay there until you’ve got your 3 buy ins left.

Recommending that you don’t play tournaments with less than a $8 buy in is ridiculous. If you can’t beat the low buy in tables, then you can’t beat the high buy in tables. You should always start at the bottom and work your way up, regardless of how big your starting bankroll is. And besides, you can make decent money at the low buy in tables. For example, say you play at the $6.50 turbo tables and can maintain a 15% ROI playing 15 tables at once (which is quite common among professional level players). You’ll make over $20 an hour at those levels, not including the bonuses and/or rakeback (depending on where you play) that you’ll earn.

It’s hard to recommend to you what to do without knowing what you’ve already done. What do you play now? What levels can you beat? What do you want to play (ring games? STTs? MTTs?) If you have no experience at all yet, start at the bottom. If you want to play sit and goes, start at the $1 tables and work your way up. If you want to play MTTs, start at the $2.20 180 man tournies and work your way up. If you want to play ring games, start at the .10/.25 tables and work your way up.

The only good advice that was given before me was this: Don’t quit your day job! Until you’ve established that you can make a living playing poker, assume you can’t. Spend all of your free time playing and working on your poker game. Once you establish yourself and build up a substantial savings, THEN think about playing full time.

EDIT: I noticed the bad advice givers deleted their responses. Lol.