Amateur vs. Professional Poker PlayersWritten by Keith Freeman
I'm sick of these Amateurs! I hope *insert pro player's name here* wipes floor with him!That seems to be a common refrain in poker forums recently, in light of all success amateurs are enjoying. We ran a poll on my web site asking members to predict “Who will win WSOP 2004?" I think “a professional” beat “an amateur” by at least a 2:1 margin, and about 90% gave Chris Moneymaker hardly a snowball's chance at even making final few tables. So why angst? Is it because of World Poker Tour coverage on Travel Channel where so many of new players today saw and became infatuated with names like Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer and just can't stand watching their “horse” lose? Lets consider differences between typical amateur and professional poker player at one of these expensive televised tournaments. First, amateur holds a regular job, albeit generally well paying. Remember “the Dentist” in World Poker Tour coverage? We probably won't be seeing “The Plumber” or “The Garbage Man” dropping several thousand dollars on a poker tournament in near future. The professional on other hand considers poker his full time job.
| | Poker Lessons at the TableWritten by Keith Freeman
I'm sure you've all seen it, fair to average player who can't help himself, and just has to jump in and tell a bad player what he is doing wrong. A few common quotes:"You went in with that trash hand? Thats horrible! What does it take for you to start? 72o?" Or: "Do you even have a clue what you're doing"? worse still, in 7 stud: "Are you blind? Look at his porch!!" Now, you tell me, who is bigger fool? The fish playing only way he knows how, or table coach who is trying his best to either run guy off or worse yet, actually make him think about how he plays? In this information age, one can learn how to play poker quite well in a very short time by either browsing strategy articles and web sites, or buying a good poker strategy book. Being a webmaster at a poker strategy site, I tend to enjoy teaching people who show initiative and desire to learn, basics of poker strategy.
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