The difference between playing Pros & Beginners

If you want to be successfull in major tournaments, you have observe your opponents all the time. Try to remember how they play hands, are they tricky or straight forward, do they bluff and how often and what kind of starting hands they play and from which position. You will notice that pro players are able to dominate tables where players are tight and straight forward.

Tight and straight forward is often a good strategy in a 10-handed NL holdem table. However you should use it mostly agaisnt beginners. Many beginners are unbluffable, so that is why you need a good starting hand to play agaisnt them. When the stacks are deep weaker starting hands are ok too, because you might get a big pot if you hit. Of course there are many types of beginners, some of them are so tight that you can bluff them a lot, but when I notice that someone is a beginner, I normally dont try to bluff him/her before I can see that it can be done. This means that I usually let someone else try first. However when I do have a hand and I play against a beginner, I like to make pretty big, about pot size bets in every street for two reasons. I want to protect my against a draw and I want to get good value if I get paid. Beginners like to call a lot agaisnt players that they have seen on tv and I try to take advantage of this when I play against them.

When I play against pros I choose a totally different strategy and I think this is why I have been doing good in major tournaments. Most pros have a somewhat tight image of me, because that is how I play against most opponents. Against pros I bluff a lot more, they are able to make big laydowns when they think they are beat. Of course they are better in noticing bluffs, but if I have weak hands for the same reason. Especially when the blinds are high and I have an aggressive pro on my right I like to even reraise allin with any two cards if I feel that he is weak.

I often play my strong starting hands differently against pros too. This is of course a bit dangerous, but against aggressive pros I use this strategy a lot especially when I have position on them.
Many pros think you are drawing when you just keep calling and this is how you might be able to make them commit all their chips when they have no outs. They are the kind of players who will do it if they think that thats what it takes to win the pot.

Remember to observe your opponents and remember to play the player too, not only the cards!

Things to consider if you are thinking of turning Pro We ask Juha Helppi... What factors would you need to consider if you were thinking of becoming a pro?

Before you decide to make the jump from an amateur player to pro player there are many things that you have to consider. Are you good enough, do you have a bankroll for it, are you able to handle the swings, how will you family take it and so on.

First of all you need to be very good. Just good is not enough. There are a lot of good amateurs out there and you have to be able to make money playing if you go pro, just occasionally scoring is not enough. This is why you have to be good in cash games. It is very hard to be a professional tournament player only. You can run dry for a long time in tournaments no matter how good you are. No matter how hard you work, sometimes it just ends up costing you more and more money and it gets very frustrating. If you are not good in cash games, I recommend that you practice more and don't quit your day job and go tournament pro only. Learn how to beat cash games!

As a pro you will need to be mentally tough, because there will be a lot of hard times when you feel that Lady Luck has abandoned you. Every pro has experienced bad times. I personally think that the toughness of a pro player is truly put to a test during bad times. Many pros go on tilt and waste a lot of their money, some even go broke. Not necessarily on poker, many of them go to craps and black jack tables and “donate” their money to the casinos. Sounds like an amateur thing to do, but believe me; it is common amongst pros too. So be prepared for bad times and stay out of those table games!

If you have family, discuss with them about going pro before you do. Instead of the normal day time work that your family is used to, you will be playing a lot during late hours, just because that is the time when most games are running. Even if you don't have family yet, it is hard to get one if you spend all your nights in the casinos. However if you are a good online player, you can be a pro and still spend time with your family when they need you. You can find a good game online anytime nowadays. It is also a lot faster way to make money if you are a winning cash game player. So play online!

If you have these things covered, you still need a reasonable bankroll before you decide to go pro. You will need to make money playing poker, because you won't have a regular income from your job anymore. You pay all your bills from your poker winnings. If you make only small money, you can go broke just by paying your normal bills! Build a big enough bankroll to manage through bad times and keep a separate bankroll for expenses. This separate bankroll should be big enough to cover one year of your normal expenses. A good bankroll also keeps stress away when you are playing and that helps a lot. If you have a small bankroll you will be playing with “scared money” and scared money is losing money!

Don't get me wrong, it is completely possible to become a professional poker player. Many players have done it and many will, there are just many things to consider before you do. If you don't prepare yourself for it, you might need to make a quick comeback to your day job. So if you decide to go pro, prepare yourself well and you will be successful!