Enlist Today, Win the War on Poker

In this next series of columns, I will be discussing poker from the most serious, blunt, and analytical perspective that I can. The tone of this series may be harsher than what most readers have come to expect from me, and for those who find this tone offensive or disagreeable, I offer my sincerest apologies. However, I feel a moral obligation to Card Player readers not to give sugarcoated, insufficient advice that may cause you more harm than good. So, I think my tone is a necessary evil of getting my thoughts across effectively. In preparation for writing this series, I consulted many of my wise peers, including a dear friend who happens to be an incredibly talented and seemingly omnipresent force in the poker community. My friend, whose name you would instantly recognize, warned me that I would provide "just enough knowledge to kill them (them referring to you, my readers)." I completely agree that having just enough knowledge to believe you are a good poker player is a recipe for financial disaster, and I sincerely hope that this will not be your fate.



To ensure that you will not fall into this trap, I have made a great effort to create a learning community/environment that will give you the best chance of being successful poker players. I am giving everyone who agrees to abide by the following two pledges the opportunity to enlist in my squadron. If you do not wish to abide by both of these pledges, please do not enlist, for both your sake and mine.



First, you must pledge to keep detailed records of all of your poker wins and losses. There are countless reasons why this is absolutely necessary, which I am not going to go into, but suffice it to say that what is the point of fighting a war if you cannot tell if you're winning or losing? Each individual poker session is similar to a skirmish, and some even escalate into a full-blown battle. Your lifetime net results in these individual skirmishes and battles dictate whether you won or lost the war, and how decisive your victory or loss was. When I say detailed records, I mean keeping track of the exact starting and ending times and date of each session, along with the type of game and limit played, and of course the monetary result. If you live in the United States, you should be doing this anyway for tax purposes, but the most important reason to do it is to remove any illusion you have of how good a player you are and give yourself concrete data that tells you exactly how well you are doing.



Second, you must pledge to always try to play to your best ability when you enter a real-money game, regardless of the limits. There are two types of people who play poker: those who play to have fun and those who play to make money. My squadron will consist of those who play poker to make money – end of story. This does not mean that you cannot enjoy yourself while you are playing poker or have fun at the table, but you always must be aware of your real goal, which is to make money. I don't recommend playing purely for fun even in play-money games. If you are playing play-money games, at least try to play to the best of your ability; otherwise, you will likely develop many bad habits that may be difficult to break. When you sit down, your focus needs to be on poker – not on the kids, the bills, or your day job (if you have one). Your brain needs to be focused completely on the game you are playing.



For everyone who abides by these pledges to me, I pledge to be your loyal commander, guide, teacher, and peer as we wage our war on poker together.



If you are still reading this, I assume that you have agreed to abide by these pledges, and I wholeheartedly welcome you into my squadron. I highly encourage those who are serious about being a recruit to visit my completely renovated website at http://www.thunderkeller.com/ and enlist. Thunderkeller.com will be our war room, where we will discuss strategy, assign rankings, plan practice skirmishes, and reward soldiers of high and notable worth. I am extremely excited about this new website as a tactical base and community for all of us to improve our poker abilities. Also be on the lookout for a daily poker journal by yours truly on the front page of www.CardPlayer.com.



The life of a professional poker player often can be a very lonely one, and even though the game of poker ultimately must be played out on an individual level, we still can benefit greatly from one another in a myriad of ways, from strategic advice to emotional support and morale issues. I am confident that my squadron will be beneficial to poker players of all ranks, from novice to world-class. I imagine that even many experienced enlistees will find times when they will rethink how they play poker, and there is nothing wrong with that. I believe that poker can provide an incredibly bright and lucrative future to anyone of reasonable intelligence who wishes to take a devoted, disciplined approach to the game. Maybe you had a losing year in 2005 or have been a consistent loser for many years, but I am confident that with hard work and the right mentality, you can make 2006 and each future year much brighter for yourself. For those who have been winning consistently, enlisting may be of even more value, as it is vital to consistently work on your game to continue winning, and to increase your earnings over time. I am planning on putting a great deal of effort into this new community over the next several months and years, and if you put effort into it as well, I think it will be incredibly beneficial to all of us. In fact, I would even bet on it.

Thomas "Thunder" Keller is a 25-year-old professional poker player and one of poker's young and rising stars. He can often be found playing at UltimateBet.com under the name thunderkeller. To learn more about him and to enlist in his new squadron, go to his website at http://www.thunderkeller.com/. Also, feel free to contact him at [email protected].