As Maria says in the book she's written about the experience, The Biggest Bluff, "the clickbait headline almost writes itself". ⚾️ She's right: "I Quit My Job Because I'm Great at Poker" is exactly the sort of thing I'd click on, ⚾️ hoping to learn some secrets of the trade. But how hard is it, actually? Can I ditch my journalism career ⚾️ and get rich playing cards? As Maria says in the book she's written about the experience, The Biggest Bluff, "the ⚾️ clickbait headline almost writes itself". She's right: "I Quit My Job Because I'm Great at Poker" is exactly the sort ⚾️ of thing I'd click on, hoping to learn some secrets of the trade. But how hard is it, actually? Can ⚾️ I ditch my journalism career and get rich playing cards? Advertisement With barely any poker experience, my chances of quick success might ⚾️ not seem that great, but all my hard graft on With barely any poker experience, my chances of quick success ⚾️ might not seem that great, but all my hard graft on Red Dead Redemption 2 has at least given me ⚾️ a basic understanding of the rules of Texas Hold'em, poker's most popular format and the one I'll be playing. Although Maria ⚾️ began with even less experience than me, she had a couple of aces up her sleeve: a psychology PhD specialising ⚾️ in self-control and risky decision-making, as well as personal mentoring from Erik Seidel, who's widely regarded as one of the ⚾️ best poker players in the world. Speaking to Maria over Skype, I wonder if she can give up some of ⚾️ Seidel's secrets to help me on my way. "Nobody can be Erik," she says. "I'll do my best, but just ⚾️ know it is an impossibly high bar." Although Maria began with even less experience than me, she had a couple ⚾️ of aces up her sleeve: a psychology PhD specialising in self-control and risky decision-making, as well as personal mentoring from ⚾️ Erik Seidel, who's widely regarded as one of the best poker players in the world. Speaking to Maria over Skype, ⚾️ I wonder if she can give up some of Seidel's secrets to help me on my way. "Nobody can be ⚾️ Erik," she says. "I'll do my best, but just know it is an impossibly high bar." For For pandemic -related reasons, ⚾️ I'm going to stick to online poker. Maria suggests low stakes games, which makes sense, as I don't have a ⚾️ lot of money to throw away when it all inevitably goes tits up. She also says I should play fewer ⚾️ hands than I first think, and be conservative to avoid falling into bad habits early on. |