In this post I'm gonna explore the divide between amateur players, the pros and the industries' desperate attempt to keep the food chain healthy for those at the very top. The main marketing drive behind the poker industry is, of course, selling the idea that you can be wealthy, rich and happy just by playing a game of cards. To generate this idea I've identified five techniques they use to convince us that our dreams can easily become a reality:
1) Big-up the big name players
Although poker can be classed as a "game" rather than a "sport" the luck factor in poker exceeds virtually all other sports. The poker industry is desperate to sell the idea that there is far more skill than luck in the game than there really is. Actually it's true that if you work and study hard at the game you will reap the financial rewards in the long run. But only the pros have the time to devote themselves and to dedicate themselves long enough to be able to achieve that success. This is why, when big-name players win prestigious tournaments the industry is delighted - it's a vindication of the belief that with hard work and dedication the better players deservedly reap the rewards. (They are not so keen when the unknown or the so-called "fish" actually go on to win a big event - unless they are making the point that ANY IDIOT can go on and win huge sums at this game - which is true but only about 0.01% of the time.)
The focus, also, is on how much these "amazing" players have won. They neglect to mention, of course, not only of the hundreds and thousands of players who have failed to fulfil the dream, but of the hundreds and thousands of pounds that the winner has lost in the past before actually hitting the jackpot win.
2) Winners With Huge Wads
Regardless of who actually wins, magazines LOVE the huge wad pic. This is where the winner (nearly always encouraged to smile beforehand) is shown holding up the final winning hand or a trophy while surrounded with huge piles of cash. While looking at these who cannot but help thinking that "one day that will be me"? This type of pic really helps to feed the greed of both amateurs and pros alike.
3) Pretty Girls
Big-time poker is about the glitz and the glamour. (Ok, one poker magazine does have a home-game section featuring a more down-to-earth environment of peoples' living rooms but the photos are bad quality and are usually grainy and fuzzy and are of scruffy blokes with beer bellies swigging cans of lager. Oh, and it's tucked away near the back of the magazine as well, away from the "more important" stuff.) Magazines need the dolly birds and eye-candy to make the whole game seem more attractive - and if you are a successful, pretty, young female poker player then you are quids in baby!!
4) Exotic Locales and Stories Of The Jet-Set Lifestyle.
Being successful at big-time poker means big-time rewards right? So, if it's not the glamour girls and the glitz and the huge wads of cash making the game more exciting, it's photos of the plush casinos of Vegas and Macau or photos suggesting what a wonderful life these high rollers live. Advertising is based on making the audience feel jealous of what the subject has along with making the audience feel they can attain that happiness if only they'd part with a little of their cash - you too could live the jet-set lifestyle if you do the simple thing of studying how to play a card game.
5) "I-Am-Special-And-I-Am-Crushing" Type Interviews
Let's face it, the short-term big money score is made from the big MTTs. No one really cares about the humble cash game player who grinds away in a corner somewhere. (Actually, I use the word "humble" ironically here, the reason many cash game players have huge egos is precisely because they are ignored - but that's a different story.) Anyway, big-name players and big-win players get to do interviews and often, but sometimes through no fault of their own, are portrayed as being all-powerful crushing machines that are rolling in money and just cannot be stopped.
It all seems so easy and effortless but here's the thing: everyone is attempting to do the same thing. Winning a tournament does not really involve actually doing anything more special than any other half-decent player. We've all heard, read or watched what the strategy is and any well-informed player does pretty much the same thing in order to try and win the thing. As I said at the beginning in section 1, luck plays a much bigger role in poker than the industry wants us to believe and those "superstar" sponsored players have got to where they are because they got the lucky break at the right time - not because they are light years ahead of everybody else in the skill department.
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The point of this very cynical post, which may sound like sour-grapes to a few, is that all these marketing ploys help the successful pros more than anybody else. They have the edge because they really do work at the game and they put the volume in to even out their variance. But these predators need prey to feed off and all of the above helps to bring the next victim to the table. It also strokes the egos of the TV superstar players who are all part of this world and who are soaring high more from a sponsorship deal rather than through the financial rewards that a real study of the game brings.So where does this leave the recreational/amateur player of which I am part? Well, I hate to say it but we are the fodder. Unless you can put some sort of time aside to study this game in order to give yourself a fighting chance, then you should get out now and refuse to feed the monster. Keep checking your results and if there is a significant dip or if the line is on a steady downward drop then you either need to really study the game properly to change that curve or you should quit and find another hobby. For the huge majority of the regular long-term players (probably over 99%) poker does not reward passengers.
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