sucks bro, I woulda thought of the future (nfl) but I mean at the time it was probably really exciting as it was for me.

Honestly in my case it was a little bit different. I am thirty one years old and have been playing poker since I was probably twelve. My friends dad and my dad would teach us some things here and there.

I remember one year at camp when I was in junior high I played five card draw with this kid heads up and I called his bluff down with two pair jacks and something (prolly deuces lol) Took down a pot for like a hundred and fifty bucks. We also played some two card guts and stuff. Always loved poker.

Fast forward to ten years ago. I started playing in a regular game pretty small stakes. We played all hi lo games. Seven stud, five stud(buy a card at the end), Omaha and a great action game we called the money game (some call it these that and those.) Learned a shitload at this game. Mostly good players. We played every tuesday for years.

Now before I get to the NL Tourney explosion that your talking about. Say about five or six years ago I would go to Foxwoods which is a pain in the ass if you have a job cuz it is an hour and a half away. Bought into a few tournies highest I ever did was like 565. I would play a lot of cash stud games from 1-5 to 15-30 did ok and thought at the time that I would love to be able to say I did this for a living. Came to a casino everyday had money, played poker, maybe switch it up play some blackjack(quick hit lol.) The two funniest memories of foxwoods poker from a few years ago was one getting my pocket aces busted preflop in the first level of a 565 by ten jack and the funniest was one tourney which was just a nightly one they had no more than eighty bucks in probably. This guy on my left was breaking his neck to see my whole cards every hand. It would have been comical if they were not my whole cards. I don't think that would happen nowadays.

Also right around that time I met Negreanu at the newstand before he was real famous. I recognized him cuz he had written a few pages for cardplayer and they put the picture up. He was cool whatever I said whats up and moved on. It was crazy to see him blow up like he did. What is he worth like thirty million now? Not even sure but I know he is doing well.

Well rant rant. Online poker. How convenient. I can play whenever I want. partypoker is pissa. I take down an Omaha hi lo for 2600 after being down to a big blind with sixteen people left. Play good build bankroll tilt off and repeat. I never deposit much the most probably being 300. PP gets shut down move on to Pstars.

Now to focus on the moneymaker effect. He got extremely lucky. The dream every player has. Win a satty and keep going all the way til the end. He hit the poker lottery. After his win on ESPN the whole poker landscape changed all the way down to the home game. Old old timers must be scratching their head getting three or four betted allin buy a twenty one year old kid.

The few things I think about is the whizkid teams out there. The kid that might have fifty grand now but is dangerously close to owing money. Myself who has a job that I love and is way up way too late right now and would love to buy in to a tourney at two o'clock. It is so damn hard to win a shitload of money at this game. I used to think I wanted to grind it out and play for a living. That is not the case anymore but I will say one thing. If I had a few million in the bank and could play thirty sixty stud everyday to pass the time and eat some lunch while folding ninety percent of the day I would do it in a heartbeat but I would obv have to make some bets on whatever is on tv next to me.

Best of luck to all of you all.

Well I can tell you that I gradually had to put away second level thinking for my micro limits at .5/1 at the time and become more of an ABC poker player.

Also people also started going nuts with busted draws

I didn't start until Aug 2006 but I kept seeing this poker shit all over the place and at first I was like "get this crap out of here" it was all over tv and annoying me since 2003. I finally just tried to understand it by watching it on tv. I played no card games at all before except for "War" lol. I hated card games. So I watched it but couldn't figure it out, but I was getting interested because of the unreal amounts of money these guys were winning. I finally figured it out when I bought a Game Boy texas holdem game in a last ditch attempt to learn it. So I guess if it wasn't for Moneymaker I wouldn't have seen it all over tv and been interested (after years of being annoyed). I went out and got the "Moneymaker" book. It's pretty good.

i lol alot. Seriously did gambling ruin your chance at the NFL? If so, how? Your only 24 man, i heard of rookies that are 30. you can still make it if u try really hard.

Moneymaker CL in the London EPT ... TID one time!

First problem I see ASU is that you are blending a definite -EV game with a potentially +EV game. Black Jack, Roulette, Craps, Video Poker, Keno, Lotteries, and Slot Machines are all fun to play but are -EV games. The new Casino rules for BJ and using 6 decks or more, make it nearly impossible for a gambler to have an edge. Maybe a very small percentage of the population can count a 6 card deck and negate some of the other dealer edges such as hitting a soft 17 etc.

Now for poker, even an average player can play and expect a small profit if they utilize proper game selction and stay within their bankroll.

You most likely have an addictive personality, so I would watch out for other pitfalls like drugs, alcohol, food, tobacco etc. You can't blame others for your adrenaline rush you get from competing, winning, taking risk etc.

You are gonna have to find a positive way to channel this energy or quit cold turkey.

I will probably screw this quote up from Doyle as he was talking to Phil Ivey, but here it goes, "We are all gamblers son, we are just lucky we found a game that we could beat."

If you continue to gamble ASU, you have to ask yourself why you gamble.

If it is for the adrenaline rush then I wouldn't recommend changing a thing other than treating it like any other entertainment expense; just like budgeting going to the movies or eating out.

If you gamble to make money, then you need to find something you can beat or quit. Becoming proficient in poker takes a lot of hard work, dedication and discipline. It is the same recipe for success in most anything you do in life.

To improve your situation, you are gonna have to look at yourself honestly and determine if you have what it takes to be successful.

Best of Luck to you!~

haleike,

Be careful on some of your comments. Your 'average' poker player can't win money in this game. Your average player (by default) is going to break even, hence being down rake. Your better than average players can win money (and that edge can come in many forms, from bankroll management and staying playing with the fish if you aren't great, and the disipline to play in your roll, to much better card playing abilities).

For me, the 'Moneymaker' effect was more peripheal. I played poker a bit, but never for money. But, I understood the game, knew it was a skill game long before (I had a friend that was facinated by the game, funny that he moved away from it as I moved more towards it). But, it wasn't until I played a homegame and won that I started thinking there could be money in it for me. Plus, I was facinated by the game, and wanted to learn more.

So, Moneymaker probably lead to that home game happeneing, so no Moneymaker, I wouldn't be here. But, it was probably 6+ months of playing before I had even heard of the name.

Lordxixor is right on here and pretty much summed up what I was trying to say minus my little historical rant lol.

Five years ago when we went to a buddys house for a BBQ or something there would always be gambling going but the last thing on anyones mind was a ten person NL tourney. everyone throws in twenty or forty bucks and we pay top two or three people. That is the norm now and the one advantage it gave my friends is that I did not walk out up money every single time we played because of the donk calls and getting lucky. I still win my fair share but the point is the moneymaker effect your talking about which is real put a lot more poker players on this planet.

To the point where it revolutionized the home game and obv the casino game for that matter.

Now as far as the OP goes I think he is saying that it gave him this false sense of hope. Like moneymaker can do it so can I. If your going to sit here and tell us that it ruined your NFL career tlhen I kind of feel bad for you but think you need to explain yourself a little more. Did you skip practice and donk off your roll playing blackjack? I doubt it and hope not.

Anyone can be a poker pro just hang out at a casino all day and be otherwise unemployed. You don't even need to have any money. I used to aspire to that (minus the not having any money :) but not anymore. Moneymaker was a gambler anyway and reading his book was horrifyingly similar to parts of my life as far as the sportsbetting goes and he was up big at one point and dead broke at another. If I ever win or make enough money to be independently wealthy you can bet your ass I won't be working for the man. I don't really see moneymaker as a role model for anybody although he did no wrong that one fateful day on ESPN. Combo of luck and skill that day. From what I heard he is not even that great at poker for the most part after all of that happened but he is probably set for life now.

Does that make a poker pro or just a guy who has money that spends a majority of his time in casinos?

I along with most people follow the expression:

"GOD BLESS CHRIS MONEYMAKER!"

man up, take responsibility for your actions. moneymaker didnt make you become a degen, you gotto live your own life, learn from your mistakes, join GA, and get your life back on track.

he did man up its sounds... like he's not asking ppl to feel sorry for him he just shared his story and sounds like he wants people to learn from his mis-stakes so they dont make their own

Moneymaker has been good for me.

I remember his WSOP run aired at the end of a "big" summer for me in which I destroyed my home game for $200 in profits... which considering we played with $.25 chips, I suppose this was pretty solid.

Anyway, I decided to let me profits ride by opening a pokerstars account. I deposited $200. I stupidily entered a tourney with a $50 buy-in...and won. I figured it was all luck, so I entered another...and won again! Back then, the fields were small, so those wins netted me like $3500 total. Haven't looked back (or been in the red) since. After finishing 18th in the ME at the 2007 WSOP, my poker winnings easily surpass six figures... :) God bless Chris Moneymaker.