Isildur could easily have over $10 million now on Full Tilt if he had better game selection and if he didn’t play six, seven, or eight games at the same time against Phil Ivey and Durrrr. He’s a great player, but you need everything; you need money management.

Patrik Antonius – 02/2010 – in CardPlayer

 

The average poker player plays the game because it’s usually enjoyable, interesting, and highly social. The vast majority of players, even those who attend the WSOP, are not professionals. They know upon arrival, they’re the underdogs. That said, I believe what makes playing in the WSOP special is the fierce competition, the potential for fame and glory, and certainly life-altering prize money. But more than anything else, it is about being part of the experience. In what other competition do 90 percent of the participants leave and end up losing up to $10,000 in a single tournament, yet they almost always vow to come back and try again next year?
Think about it. Would anyone in any other activity say they enjoyed an experience that left them ten-grand poorer? Can you picture walking up to a blackjack table, losing $10,000 and then saying – I can’t wait to go back? Imagine walking into a retail store, forking over $10,000 and then leaving out the door with absolutely nothing. Most people would depart with regret and anger. Yet in the decade I have been working the WSOP, I have never once heard a player say he or she regretted playing and sworn not to return to the WSOP the following year. This alone says something about what is really important at the WSOP. It’s not the money. It’s the experience.

Nolan Dalla – 02/2010 – in WSOP News

 

The worst thing about being a professional poker player is definitely that, if I win, say, $10,000, then the feeling doesn’t nearly compare to losing $10,000. Sometimes I feel you get way more deflation than happiness playing poker.

Rasmus Nielsen – 11/2009 – in Bluff Europe

 

Nine out of ten times, when I’m waiting for a bigger game, I’m in the $10-$20 games because there are more tables and a constant stream of people. It constantly amazes me that people don’t understand how big $10-$20 is. [...] You can sit in the $10-$20 and make $1,500 a day and it’s so effortless to smash that win-rate. I know people who wouldn’t get out of bed for $1,500, but I think $1,500 matters. It’s a big number. Or it’s what I would call a small-big number, and a lot of the 10-20 players don’t realize how fast it can add up. I never got desensitised to money. When I make a bet with friends for 10 or 20 bucks, I try to win that too. Most gamblers aren’t sensitive to the actual value of money.

Phil “Unabomber” Laak – 01/2010 – in Bluff Europe

 

Does poker rule your life? Or does it exist in the context of a conscious, well-balanced, self-aware existence? It may surprise you to learn that the less obsessive you are about poker, the better your game will be. Why? Because if poker is all you have going on in your life — if getting that money is the only thing that matters to you — you’ll be so hooked on outcome, and so dependent on a positive outcome, that the pressure of performance will cripple you.

John Vorhaus – 07/2009 – in CardPlayer

 

They say that information is power; in poker, it’s cash, just cash.

John Vorhaus – 03/2008 – in Card Player