Readers may think this is an easy question; you would rather be good at everything of course! Certainly longer term profits can be made at cash games when you are a skilled player who takes the time to learn the game thoroughly and always plays at the maximum concentration level they can. But many players prefer not to take the route of grinding through millions of poker hands for a living. Many choose to shoot for the big score.

2006 winner of the World Series of Poker Jamie Gold received a lot of criticism for his aggressive style which was backed up by a good run of cards. You cannot win a big tournament like the main event of the WSOP without good cards but poker fans felt he had more than his share. A $12 million win would set you up nicely for life, so being as lucky as Jamie would save you the time grinding this sort of profit in ring games which is extremely difficult to do for all but a handful of the top cash game poker players.

Playing poker for a big win is a perfectly valid strategy for playing online poker or live poker. Instead of coping with the daily grind many players simply buy in to big tournaments in the hope of hitting that big score once in their life then retire or set up a series of investments. Providing they have a good knowledge of poker tournament strategy then they have as much chance as the next player to win the tournament, providing they get the necessary luck to do so.

Before you decide to set aside $200 per month seeking a big win in an online or live poker tournament remember that Tom “Durrrr” Dwan was estimated to have a bankroll of around $14 million which he amassed by being one of the best cash game players in the world. Dwan played few tournaments during his rise through the cash game limits. Not everyone can have a bankroll of $14 million but even if you could earn an extra $2000 – $5000 each month from cash games would that make a major difference to your lifestyle? It most certainly would to mine.

As far as poker goes, this type of cash game income can be fairly assured providing you work at the game and understand that some months you will make more and some less. If you play a lot of poker hands each month with a steady win rate then the income soon adds up and to an experienced player becomes almost reliable.

I would like to be both lucky and good so when I am grinding away at the online poker sit and go’s or the online cash games my skill wins me money, then I can buy into a large poker tournament and in the style of Jamie Gold luck my way to a life changing win. I do not ask for much, you should see my wish list for Christmas! Whether you want to be good or lucky at poker depends on the goal you have for your poker playing and the time you want to spend playing it. My Christmas list by the way is a $1 million dollar win at poker and a WSOP bracelet. See what you can do Santa!

By Malcolm Clarke

Deeb is such a large volume poker player in the tournaments that he admits that he is aiming to play 10,000 online poker tournaments per year. Most of these will be Sit and go poker tournaments.
New players would be a significant loser at the tables if they tried to emulate his multi tabling of the MTTs but with practise (a lot of it) Shaun has mastered the techniques needed and shows a good profit whilst playing at his high level of volume. He recommends players take baby steps and they can make the grade.

Deeb is constantly in the running for the online player of the year titles, which requires large playing volume to be played to stay in contention. He has said that he runs between ten and twenty tournament tables at once and plays nearly every tournament on Pokerstars, his site of choice, to help him gain the necessary points to remain on top in the online poker races. This massive amount of experience should stand him in good stead as now that he has turned to the live poker scene to increase his profile and capture a WSOP bracelet to go with his numerous online plaudits.

Shaun’s attempts at crushing the live poker scene have not gone as smoothly as many players suggested after his online dominance. He played at the WSOP in 2007 and whilst he cashed three times he did not make it to the final table in any of the events. He did not play the WSOP in 2008 preferring to concentrate on his online play but made a return in 2009 and posted five cashes but again no final table appearance. On August 6th 2009 he won the EPT High Rollers Event for $86,000 and has other small cashes and wins in his fledgling live poker career.

His online wins are far more impressive. He has won the Sunday Warm up in 2008 for over $100,000. He won the Tuesday tournament at Stars for $81,000 and the big tournament on Full Tilt that takes place on a Monday for $84,000. He also won a WCOOP bracelet in 2008. Deeb is prone to berating opponents on the chat and has alluded to being prone to tilting which has affected his results. Deeb attributes his ability to profit from online poker to the 180 man Sit and Go poker tournaments which he plays on a regular basis and has profited very well from them.

Deeb is an excellent example of someone who plays a discipline of the game that he knows he can profit from and rolls out this opportunity to the max to bring in lots of profit. He then invests this money into bigger online tournaments and uses his sharpened skills to look for the big prize payouts by capturing one of these big events. So far, this strategy has paid off for him as he has over $600,000 in live cashes and well over $2 million online. Due to his lack of volume in live events (he is not a regular on the circuit) we have not seen the best of Deeb yet. Most poker experts consider it only a matter of time before Shaun takes down a big event and earns the reputation in live events that he enjoys online, where he is one of the most experienced and feared players on the virtual tables.

By Malcolm Clarke