Poker is big right now. If the game of poker were a rock band, it would claim to be more popular than Jesus. I like poker because it's my best shot, and your best shot, at consistently winning money gambling.
Poker is my favorite game. It's full of complex strategy, drama, and mental duelling. It's a game where you don't play against the house; you play against the other players. And if you're smarter than they are, and you play better than they do, then you WILL win money over the long term playing poker.
There are all kinds of poker players too. There are kitchen table poker players like my father in law, who makes up countless variations of texas holdem poker every Christmas, whether we're playing at my house or his. And there are serious, "I've got to get good enough at this to earn a living" players like my friend T., which is one of the tightest and also best poker players I know. (Even the dealers at our local poker club have commented on what a tight player he is.)
Online poker is exploding. There are literally hundreds of virtual tables to choose from at Party Poker at any given time of the day. I know one guy who plays 4 tables at a time and makes $100,000 a year playing poker online.
Landbased poker is exploding too. For years, casinos have been closing down their poker rooms or making them smaller so they would have more room for slot machines. Their concern is for how much dollar revenue they're generating for each square foot of the casino. But poker's so popular now that having a poker room will draw enough players in that they're probably drop some money in the slots on their way to and from the poker tables. Especially if they've been drinking.
There are two ways to become a good poker player. The first is to play a lot. The second is to read about how to play. Sometimes it's tricky to decide which poker books are worth reading and which ones are not, but I'll eventually get around to posting a guide to some of the better poker books available. And there will be poker strategy and rules posted on this site very soon. For now, if you want more information on poker, please visit Play Winning Poker.
