The guts to bet

There is a romanticized notion of poker being a game where it takes little to cull money from any number of other “fish” playing the game. But just like everything else that’s romaticized, real poker ain’t the movies. And it especially isn’t like on TV.

If you watch a lot of TV and see those guys throw down $50,000 before the flop and think “Yeah, I can do that! One hand, I’ll have the money for ayear!” do you and your family a favor and don’ tplay.

However, you have gotten past the biggest hurdle of making a living at gambling. Most people would think that being able to come up with the money to gamble with is the problem, but that’s not true since there are so many “micro” games available (10 cents, 25 cents) that You can show up with $20 and play for a long while.

The biggest hurdle in becoming a professional gambler is having the guts to throw down a bet. And when I say throw down a bet, I mean when you are sure it’s the right play. If you’re on a flush after the flop, for instance, and the pot comes to you where you have to bet $100 to stay in (and the pot is around $3-400, for instance), you make the bet. And you don’t start thinking “Oh God, that’s $100! Grocery money! How can I do that?!?!?!” If you don’t have the stomach to make $100 bets when necessary, don’t put yourself into situations where you’ll be required to make that kind of risk in order to win. There are always smaller games available. Don’t ever bet above your level.