Doyle Brunson has made a very successful living as a pro poker player, thank you very much.

So you’ve had some success playing online Texas Holdem poker. That’s great. What makes you think you’re suddenly an expert at the game? Do you think you’re ready to leave your day job to play poker for a living? Hang on a second. Give this more thought. Before you make any decision regarding your poker career, you should take a moment to gather your thoughts and wrap your head around the idea of what it takes — I mean really takes — to play poker for a living…

1. Patience: It takes great patience. You’ll be playing poker every single day.
2. Game plan: What’s your game plan? You do have one, right?
3. No set income: If you’re used to getting a regular paycheck then get used to not knowing when or if you’ll get paid.
4. Less time for family and friends: Playing poker for a living will require your days, nights and even some travel.
5. Skill. Lots of it. Be prepared to go up against some of the best pro players in the game. And be prepared to lose. Oh, you’ll win a few pots here and there; you may even win a nice-sized tournament. But don’t get ahead of yourself. Remember…patience.

There are advantages to playing poker, whether at land based tournaments or online:

You can work your own hours.
You are your own boss.
You can take as much vacation as you like.
You can work wherever you want in the world.
You can work in your underwear. Well, you can play online poker in your underwear, but you won’t get away with it in Vegas, sadly. Or anywhere else on the planet.

When Charles Nesson, a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and member of the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society (GPSTS) claims that poker can teach children life skills, he probably touches the limit of what people will ever be able to accept when it comes to poker legitimacy.

Although, poker pro and 2004 WSOP winner Annie Duke joining the Decision Education Foundation, a group focused on helping children making better life decisions, adds considerable strength to Nesson’s position.

Who knows, maybe one day poker will actually be a natural part of school children’s schedule. According to the GPSTS they state that poker can assist in a person’s development of strategic thinking and enhance situational judgment skills. Poker may also helpful for teaching geopolitical analysis, risk assessment and money management.

Deception in poker is fundamental to your success, and you will notice its importance as you move up to higher stakes levels. Basically predicted behavior should be avoided at all costs when you play poker. This will make it harder for your opponents to put you on a hand, or read what you have, which will mean more than likely you will have a profit.

If you ask a novice player to define deception, they might say that it all has to do with bluffing, and that is the reason why they would stay a novice.

If you bet or raised every time you thought you had a good hand, and checked or folded every time you though your hand was bad, eventually other players will catch on and you will end up loosing all of your chips. Strong players will run circles around you. In order to maximize your wins it’s important to deceive your opponents by either showing strength (betting or raising, even re-raising when you don’t have a made hand) or showing weakness (checking when you’re strong).

Players who are aggressive can take over tables and dictate terms. Passive players who call might still win their fair share of hands but only when they have cards. Why limit yourself? You want to establish a table personality that causes fear not complacency.

Deception is an art. Be creative, and think smart. Again, the last thing you want to be is predictable.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is bringing China its first live poker tournament; the ATTP stop in Macau. This will be the first time the People’s Republic of China will have ever held a No Limit Texas Hold’em tournament.

The stop here features a $2500 buy-in main event, as well as a “high rollers” event at $15,000. The prize pool in the main event is an estimated $600,000 but it remains to be seen if that number could be broken.

“Poker is enjoying tremendous growth in Asia and we are very excited to be a part of this and to be the first casino to host this event,” said Mr. Gary Woollard, Casino General Manager of Grand Waldo Casino. “We are very honoured to have this prime opportunity of working with First Impression Ltd and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour to make this a major event on the Macau gaming calendar.”

People are convinced that Texas Hold’em poker will be the next big hit in Macau. This tournament will serve as an opportunity to show Macau the thrill of the game and how real skill is involved rather than just luck.