Professional Poker Players – The Online Beginnings

In the past few years, many players have been getting their poker time in through the internet. Online sites hosting the various poker games have sprung up everywhere, showing the trend that took place when amateur poker players realized they could participate in games from the comfort of their own home. In many ways, this has allowed those interested in playing poker to come out of their shells in a way, to experience playing poker in a way that’s comfortable for them, but easier, so that they can learn at their own pace and level.

Online matches yield many benefits to the starting player. For instance, the premise that you won’t actually lose money in practice matches is a fantastic draw to the game, as well as the notion that you can simply get up and walk away if you find yourself becoming frustrated. In my experience, the method that works best for learning poker via online matches is to do so with a friend. Having a friend play with you while you are learning takes some of the stress off your shoulders of not knowing what is what in a new game.

Being new to online matches myself, it hardly seems an issue to just ask for help if you do not understand something in an online match. I have spent more than a few days just playing in beginner rooms and having a blast learning what to watch for in games. As well as the relaxed condition of playing whenever and wherever you’d like, you can actually seek out amateur rooms if you feel you need practice or just want to learn something new. Some of the online sites have chats and rooms dedicated solely to amateur players. Sitting in and seeing what the various players chat about is great, as you can really tell that some of the veterans of online poker enjoy teaching the new crowds that they meet.

Various players have used online poker matches as a sort of springboard for their entrance into professional tournaments. Chris Moneymaker has the now-famous tale of entering an online match through PokerStars, starting himself off with $39 and having the event end with Moneymaker earning himself a seat at the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker. Following an amazing series of bluffs and gradual momentum gain throughout the various matches, Chris Moneymaker found himself facing Sam Farha of World Series of Poker fame. Vying for first place, Moneymaker succesfully bluffed Farha into a crucial fold on Farha’s part. Moneymaker’s win at the World Series of Poker earned him a cool $2.5 million. Sailing under the Pokerstars banner, Moneymaker has won millions of dollars through several tournaments, setting a jaw-dropping precedent for players that want to get into the professional games.

Relatively unheard of until late 2007, Tom “durrrr” Dwan has an inspiring tale for the aspiring online poker afficianado. Starting himself off with a $50 credit, Dwan started off with $6 sit-and-go’s, which are poker tournaments with no scheduled starting time. These matches start only when enough players have put up their money in the matches, which can number as high as nine to ten individuals. Dwan used these online starting matches to size up how well he could play, finding that he posed quite a threat to other players. After racking up a noteworthy amount of experience, Dwan turned his sights onto low stake online poker games, building his bankroll to the point where he could compete in matches that had stakes at close to $1000 or less. In 2007, Dwan had earned himself a little over $300,000 during his finish at the 2007 World Poker Tour Main Event. This total is one of Tom Dwan’s largest single wins of his career. Playing at the World Series of Poker in 2008, Dwan made quite a reputation for himself, earning over $65,000 at the World Championship Mixed Event.

Although Dwan has finally doven into the arena of real world high stake championships, he remains ever dutiful to his online poker heritage. In January of 2009, Dwan sent out a challenge to the best of the best in online poker. Dwan is currently offering $1.5 million against any opponent’s $500,000, stakes which will take place during online heads-up matches at four simultaneous tables. After the last hands have been played, of which the total will surmount to 500, whichever player has earned more money will win the challenge. The end of the year may yield wins or losses for Dwan, but hold a tremendous amount of excitement,  as one can only imagine the action that will take place at these online poker matches!