The obstacles in your way to a poker fortune
What good players do that bad players don't.
Fear of standing out
In his best-selling book "Rich Dad Poor Dad", Robert Kiyosaki says that one of the main difficulties on the way to a fortune is staying true to yourself and avoiding doing the same things as everybody else.
Always search out new opportunities. As surfers say, there's always another wave. Those who hurry, or even get onto the wave too late, usually fall off the board. Wise businessmen invest in things before they become popular. Wise investors wait patiently. Like master surfers, they get into the perfect position to catch another big wave. In a similar fashion, far-sighted and clever poker players started studying Zoom and Spin & Go's as soon as they went live.
Instead of listening to the masses that gloomily predict poker is dying, the sky is falling, the end is nigh, etc, every time new game like Zoom or Rush appeared, better players jumped into the uncharted waters and started making money when it was at its easiest. They wanted to be among the first to get the most out of it before other regulars found out how to make money in this new and exciting game. While many players were wailing that Spin & Go's would kill-off other Hyper Turbo games, others not only showed nice results in that discipline but also started to teach it successfully.
Far-sighted and clever players started studying Zoom and Spin&Gos as soon as they appeared.
What will these far-sighted and clever players do when this wave passes? They'll keep searching for new opportunities in which to invest their time, money, and effort.
The majority usually appears on the market way too late and becomes the prey of predators. If some 'super deal' is advertised on the first page, it's too late in most cases. In today's poker, any moves or betting lines that have become common knowledge are no longer very profitable. If you see some strategy courses on the first page of a poker site (or on a private coaching board), that means, most likely, it's not as easy to gain money from them as it was some time ago. At this point, there are many people who mastered the winning strategy, and now they spread their knowledge even further.
Reluctance to try or learn something new
That's why I'm surprised by players who aren't ready or don't want to invest time and effort into learning other disciplines, fields, or activities. Why do we play poker? If you belong to the group of players who want to earn more money by playing poker and not by working on a regular job, make the most of your choice! Daily grind won't make you stronger if it doesn't result in a greater knowledge or a better mind set. It can still bring some money in, but is no different from a regular job. True poker players are always open to something new and always try to find and exploit a niche or a discipline that promises the biggest profit.
It's no secret that in modern poker everything changes pretty fast, and things you already knew aren't as important anymore because knowledge expires. The most important thing is how fast you learn. This skill becomes almost invaluable and is the one that defines players with the biggest win rates, ie; players who don't move down the limits when the field toughens but those who keep moving uphill.
The most important thing is how fast you learn.
Inability to kill your inner slave
A slave or a free man?
Even a perfect formula of rake back grind doesn't leave time or strength to learn something new becomes part of the same routine, another regular job. It's the oldest, the simplest, the most popular and least effective scheme in terms of making a fortune and is unlikely to make you rich.
Most likely, throughout your career, you'd be whining about tough fields, bad promotions by poker rooms, shortening of the rake, things that 'kill' poker and so on. Meanwhile your wiser colleagues would be a few limits higher, playing five times less and earning ten times more than three years ago. If you're lucky, your earnings would be the same after another field upgrade.
It all depends on how close you are to the source of information. You need to make friends with the most successful poker players because they currently know where the money is being made. Money is made on information. You need to know about an upcoming boom and make the most of your advantages. The sooner you get the information, the higher your chances are of getting the biggest slice of the pie.
What do I need to play now? When is another boom coming? You'll have to find the answers on your own. If I publish them here, that would mean it's too late. But I know you can handle it. Good luck!
Other articles by Grigoriy "ahlinpoker" Skrypnik
- Take the best breaks you can
- Rest better to win big!
- When you knew there were nuts...
- Why our feelings don't agree with the maths?
- How overconfidence could be your downfall
- How your brain betrays you at the poker table
