Both online and live poker are full of different characters, from the wannabe comedian to the player who celebrates excessively after winning a hand. Whilst there is nothing wrong with becoming one of these characters, one of the most important poker lessons small stakes players should learn is there is no place in poker for an ego.

There are a number of definitions for ego in the dictionary but one that stands out to me is “an exaggerated sense of self-importance” something that many poker players suffer with, and a trait that harms their game more than they would care to admit.

The main problem of having an inflated ego is that you will start to actually believe that you are entitled to win every single pot you are involved in and when the inevitable happens and you lose money or tournament chips in a hand, you will take it personally and the possibility of going on tilt is increased.

Another problem with having an ego is that you may start to make plays that are sub-optimal, mainly making calls when you fail to see you are beaten because you simply do not believe your opponent has managed to outplay you, which obviously costs you money.

Also, someone with an inflated ego is more likely to think they are a much better player than they actually are and as a result they could enter games where they believe they have an edge but in reality they will become the mark at the table for the better players and even if they are losing they will put it down to bad luck or good luck of their opponents, not the fact they are not as good at poker as those they are playing.

There is no room for an ego at any stakes but I have found there are too many egotistical players at the small stakes where players think they are much better than everyone else at their level but what they fail to remember is they are all playing small stakes for a reason.

Poker is a game where confidence is key to becoming successful but there is a fine line between being confident and being ego driven. Make sure you do not cross that line.

By Carl “The Dean” Sampson

Ok so I promised a few weeks ago to write a daily blog but this month has just not been possible for me. I have undertaken even more work and I haven’t even played poker in ages as well. Although starting 1st April I will be doing a 100-1 challenge in which I try to turn $100 into $10,000. I may even start as low as $50 yet but I have pencilled this in time wise so it is likely to happen.

This will run alongside the Vulture, Jackal and Fox systems so April should be a really exciting month. I am also in the process of trying to lose a couple of stone in weight as well so I am having to tough things out. The challenge won’t be to win 10k, it will be to keep my control whilst playing for tiny amounts. Seeing as I have no history of doing this for long periods in the past then it will be tough.

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Playing poker for a living is something we all dream of doing. But is the reality as good as the fantasy? Taking bad beats would hurt much more if it was our beer money we were losing as opposed to our poker bankroll that has no bearing on our life bankroll.

The ability to manage the emotional swings is part of pokers skill and the best players do it best. Not everyone can do this very well, I constantly work on this challenging aspect of poker.

Many good players fall by the wayside for not learning that second important part of playing winning poker as well as the theory, which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill.

The skills required for a winning poker player are emotional control, good poker theory knowledge and the discipline to keep playing even when they would prefer not to. In short, the dedication of a professional.

Whilst some people join a training site in order to take their game to the next level, others prefer a more personal touch and enlist the services of a dedicated poker coach, after all, it is the best way to get poker lessons from a pro.

There are literally hundreds of players out there advertising their coaching services, with prices ranging from $50 to $1,000 per hour. It can be quite a mine field choosing the correct one for you so hopefully the following tips will help you get the most out of coaching.

The first and most obvious check you should make is on the coach themselves. There is no point hiring the services on someone who is not a winning player in their chosen field and a winning player by a large margin at that. Thanks to the internet, there are dozens of websites that track cash games, sit ‘n’ go and multi table tournaments so you can ensure that your coach really is the great player they are saying they are.

Next you should find out what methods they use to coach their students. Some prefer to go through hand histories after your session has finished, some would rather watch you live through a programme such as Team Viewer and give you guidance as you play whilst some even prefer you to travel to their home or a camp they have set up. Choose a coach who uses techniques you will get the most out of personally, some prefer text based work whilst others will learn better with practical, hands-on guidance.

Finally, and possibly the most vital, make sure your chosen coach can provide references from previous students that verify he or she can give solid a advice and that is has helped others previously. Just because someone is beating the medium to high stakes online, does not mean that they are actually any good at putting their point across and sharing their knowledge. It takes more than poker skills to become a poker teacher.

Above all, once you have selected your perfect coach, ensure you put a lot of hard work in. There is no point paying a lot of money to hire this person if you are not going to at least match the work they put into the program. Coaching is a two way thing and done correctly can transform you from a breakeven player into a winning one.

Thirty years ago the USA national team were preparing for the Winter Olympics tournament. As was the tradition back then, collegiate and amateur players made up the national squad and trials were held in 1979 to pick out the twenty players that would make up the squad. Russia, despite being an amateur team, the Russian government gave them “soft jobs” which allowed them to essentially train as professional Ice Hockey players, training at fabulous facilities and they had a formidable record over NHL teams and were regarded as the best team in the world.

Since the outbreak of the Cold War where the threat of MAD (mutually assured destruction) from the nuclear threats to the respective countries the USA and USSR had used Sport as a way to fight one another. In 1972 Bobby Fischer had defeated the World Champion Boris Spassky in Chess which was a worldwide event due to their nationalities. When Russia defeated the USA 10-3 in an exhibition match prior to the Olympic tournament in 1980, few expected the amateur US team to have much of a chance against Russia if they met in the tournament. It would still be, however, a big event should it take place.

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Here is our seventeenth installement of our radio show available to stream live from itsawinner!

You can also click here to visit the podcast host where you can listen or download any of our previous shows!

Our interest in Texas Hold’em poker can be viewed as many things and we justify the time used indulging in our pursuit of this game in many ways but can Poker be reliable enough to be viewed as an investment? Many players do very well from the game earning a better return per dollar invested than they could at conventional investments like property, shares or business deals. Does this matter and can Poker ever be part of an investment plan?

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Ask any non-poker playing person you know how they would describe a typical poker player and I would be willing to bet they would mention scruffy, desperate, middle aged, smoky backroom and underhand somewhere in their description.

Whilst this may be slightly true of players from the 50’s and 60’s when poker was mainly played in underground clubs and was rife with corruption and extortion, nothing could be further from the truth in today’s climate. There is a new generation of poker players changing the face of game and beating all who step before them.

Most of this new generation of players discovered poker, and in particular online poker, whilst they were studying at school, college or university, depending where in the world they are from. They are young, eager to learn, intelligent and prepared to go to any lengths to be the best poker player they can be and make a ridiculous amount of money.

One of the most famous student poker players is David “Raptor” Benefield, a high-stakes cash game guru who quit playing full-time in order to go back to school to study. Benefield has over $230,000 in live tournament winnings and is already a millionaire thanks to his cash game exploits. His nickname “Raptor” is partly down to the fact he is entirely fearless at the tables and it does not matter who he is playing, he will attempt to take all their money and would not bat an eyelid if he busted them.

This new generation of young, aggressive and extremely talented poker player are everywhere. You can find them in the highest stakes online and many of them are now making the transition to the live arena where they are causing a big stir amongst the poker veterans. These intelligent and articulate young men and women are, unknowingly, changing the image of poker players across the world. Things, as they say, can only get better.

Tom Dwan is $1,414,551.00 in the lead against Patrik Antonius with fewer than 17,000 hands left to play. Tom, known as Durrrr online, has steadily increased his lead over the last few sessions to take a strangle hold on his poker challenge.

When the challenge was issued by Durrrr early in 2009 it was provisionally accepted by Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey and David Benyamine. So far the slow progression of the challenge has dampened the public interest in it. It has now been running for over a year and with the return of Isildur1 to the highest stakes poker games online over the last week indicating their focus will now be returning to that juicy action. This is frustrating for fans of the challenge who noted a gaining of momentum with a few regular sessions being played over the past couple of weeks.

Can Patrik come back from this deficit or is it a damage limitation exercise for him now?

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This poker challenge is to help mal255 and tiltdonkey16 play more poker and with a purpose and also to structure our coverage of our own play within this site.

Challenge Rules

1. Deposit $20 only into Pokerstars
2. Play $0.01/$0.02 until bankroll reaches $60
3. With fifty buy-ins for $1 + $0.20 SNG’s we can now play them, or stick with cash games.
4. When we reach $120 we are allowed to buy into larger MTT’s no that 100 buy-ins for that level has been reached.

Bankroll Rules

We must move down in limits if we reach less than ten buy-ins for the cash games and normally preserve twenty of more. When we are at the lowest level we must persist until we recover or go busto. As we are only starting with $20 and taking it easy this is not money we cannot afford to lose, therefore busto is not so scary.

We can move up levels in the cash games and take a shot with fifteen buy-ins for the next level up. It is fine, however, to remain at one level if you wish.

We must always have fifty buy-ins for SNG tournaments and one hundred buy-ins for MTTs. If we fall below $60 we must grind back up in cash games.

Feedback

We will discuss our progress and hands in the blogs on the site and in our poker forum.

The challenge begins on March 1st 2010 and will be ongoing from then on.

The sixteenth show has the benefit of all three hosts. Mal255, Gary, Tiltdonkey16 all host for the first time in a while! Click the player to begin streaming the show live, or visit our podcast host to download this or previous shows. Remember you can also download automatically via itunes aswell.

Some years ago a group of prominent poker professionals realised that fighting for their rights to legalise Poker was better served as a group rather than individually. They formed the Poker Players Alliance better known as the PPA and began a high profile media campaign to sign up both online and offline poker players to their organisation. They are a non-profit group dedicated to the regulation and provision of a safe place to play poker and approach players at final tables of poker tournaments on TV to wear their badge for free. But is it worthwhile?

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