Anyone who has been following my progress since I officially became “The Dean” for the first time in August 2005 when I wrote for my first poker magazine will be aware of how much I have changed my method of operation. For example back then I was still firmly entrenched in limit hold’em. It was becoming clear to me just how tough that game was becoming and also how much time I would have in the future to keep on making money against far better players.
The problem with poker is the variance and I have never really been at ease with this form of gambling. I have done it just like I have played blackjack before it but that was simply because I didn’t have other major choices at that time. To be quite frank, if someone could make serious money or has serious qualifications doing other stuff then I recommend that they pursue that line instead of playing poker. I would never recommend to anyone now to play poker as a career even though I have in the past.
But over the past few years I have read literally dozens upon dozens of books on trading and the stock market in an effort to indoctrinate myself into the process of being a trader. I made around £10k last year trading and this may be the year where I leave poker behind and become a trader. I made that £10k without any kind of drawdown (losing period) and my biggest drop below my all-time high was 9% of my bankroll.
You could never play online poker and only lose 9% of your bankroll at worst in the long term. I will still be playing at www.pokerstars.co.uk because I love to play poker. I may just love it even more if I can finally play poker when I want to play rather than being forced to play. 2011 was a good year for me poker wise in terms of earnings but the £10k from trading gave me the most pleasure. It is going to seem strange writing about poker when I am going to be 90% trading but the two fields are inexorable linked anyway and so keep a look out for more poker/trading combined articles in the future.
