Ever wonder how young players like Tom Dwan have made playing poker their life’s work? Well, there’s no easy way to go about it. You can’t get a Bachelor of Playing Poker Degree, nor does studying under a professional automatically bestow the opportunity upon you. There is a lot of hard work involved, but the process has actually been made a bit easier with the recent online poker surge.  

As is the case with all dream jobs, players should start out playing poker on the side. They should set aside a few hours each day and play free games in order to practice before pitting themselves against real players. There is no filter online that separates the pros from the novices, so a new poker player may be very intimated if they jump into paid games head first.
 
When you finally do decide to move onto pay-for-play games, your bankroll should be kept relatively low. One problem that aspiring pro players run into is that they spend more money than they can afford on making their dream come true. A player should stick to their bankroll, until they begin making enough money by playing poker to increase it.
 
Using a website like CheckYourBets.com, many aspiring pros can track their progress, which will tell them the hourly rate that they earn by playing poker. Once a player has clocked more than 500 hours and their hourly rate works out to be more than $25 hour, then they can finally think about quitting their day job and playing poker fulltime.
 
It is always a good idea to play at one particular online poker site. This way, you’ll get to know moderators and the operator personally, as well as become part of the community. This comes in handy when looking for sponsorships, as many websites like Titan Poker and Full Tilt Poker offer dozens of online players sponsorship deals each year, allowing them to play in live land-based tournaments.
 

Tired of poker? Check out the lucky ace casino review and find a new online casino game like baccarat! You can play baccarat at GamblingCity.net and use the baccarat definitions and baccarat history you learn to master the baccarat rules and strategies!

Do you host poker nights regularly? Do you know someone who does? Well, maybe you should take a look at playing cards outside the realm of Bicycles. There are much higher quality cards out there, that can give you more bang for your buck.

 KEM Playing Cards are regarded in the gambling world as the best cards to play with. Unlike other card manufacturer’s, who use vinyl in their “plastic” cards, KEM’s cards are 100% plastic. Because of this, they last 30 times longer than the average playing cards. For a pack of KEMs, you would pay about $30. Considering a pack of Bicycle’s costs $3 and you’d would replace them 30 times over the lifetime of one KEMs pack, you could save yourself $50 over the course of a couple years — considering you’re a regular card game player. They come in a huge variety of patterns, too!

The next best option is Bee, a brand that is used throughout all of Las Vegas and other international gambling centres. While they are inexpensive, they are higher quality than typical Bicycle brand cards. Of course, they won’t last for ages like KEMs, but they are good enough quality to be used in professional establishments. You can find them in any games store for about $2.99 a pack.

Now, if you’re looking for something really exquisite, Stainless Steel Playing Cards are for you. Touted as the world’s’ most expensive playing cards, a price of only $200 is really not that bad when you think about it. If you’re stumped over what to get an avid poker player for Christmas or want to really impress your poker buddies at the next game, these games are right up your alley. Just search for “Stainless Steel Playing Cards” on Ebay or visit Touch of Ginger.

With the onset of the online gambling surge, casinos are everywhere: movies, television and even books. I found the latter to be the most interesting of the three media outlets, so I thought I’d look into the authors that best used the theme of gambling in their work:
 
1. The Gambler - Fyodor Dostoevsky
This novella is about Alexei, a tutor in the home of a Russian politician, who is indebted to wealthy Frenchman. Alexei, who knows nothing about the family’s financial situation, falls in love with the General’s Daughter. In order to help her family, she asks Alexei to place a bet for her at the local casino, a simple act that sets in motion a series of interesting events.
 
One interesting tidbit: the book was inspired by Dostoevsky’s own addiction to playing Roulette. In fact, he was under a tight deadline to finish the book, so that he could pay off the debt he had accumulated from gambling.
 
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
In this wildly popular novel is based on autobiographical events in Thompson’s life. The story followers Dr. Gonzo and Raoul Duke as they chase the American dream in Las Vegas, experimenting with drugs and other mind-altering substances along the way.
 
Interesting tidbit: Benecio Del Toro and Johnny Depp starred in a movie adaption of the novel (which most people know much better than the literary version).
 
3. Fools Die - Mario Puzo
From the acclaimed author of The Godfather, Fools Die is about two brothers named Merlyn and Artie. Set against a background of the film industry, the book chronicles the lives of the pair as they navigate through their lives, after a friend wins $400 000 while playing Baccarat.