Great article Allen, Do you play poker? I've been playing online for a little while. Breaking even more or less and learning a lot. I play at Partypoker, PokerStars, and occasionally, Paradise and Pokerroom. 1/2 mostly and some low buy in tournaments. If you do go online, stop by and say hi. Poker name is tuff_fish. I ain't so tough yet, but learning.
After having done both extensively I have come to the conclusion that there is one major difference between poker and trading. The market is much more predictable than a a poker game. p.s. this comes after a day where I got wired aces beat three times in a row
Let's say a theorhetical individual was very good at online poker, winning about $20,000. Let's say this theoretical person were to stubornly insist that government has no right to loot 40%+ of his hard earned winnings. Of course it is every American's patriotic duty to help finance the oh-so-beneficial war on drugs, the FDA, FCC, EEOC, EPA, Federal Reserve, and all the other wonderful things the government does with our money which it takes at gunpoint... but this theoretical poker player is selfish, and insists on not paying a penny. In this fictional instance....what would be the best way for this person not to get caught by the IRS?
I was watching the U.S. Open today - it's being broadcast by NBC and ESPN (1 or 2...?) Chris Berman said at one point that 'next on ESPN is the WSOP'. I don't get ESPN - a sports network up here buys their bigger events, but the WSOP isn't one of them. This probably doesn't help you much.... maybe search the NBC/ESPN online schedule for Friday afternoons. On the poker side - I have recently been playing only 1 table no-limit tourneys. I like them because inevitably, there will be three or four players who just don't know what they're doing; they will bust out eventually. So you are actually up against 6-7 players, and you have to outplay only 3-4 of them to get into the money. I really don't know how I will ever be able to go back to limit poker. I accidentally sat down at a limit 1 table tourney the other day, and I couldn't believe how different it was. You just can't prevent people from making their draws - you can't defend your winning hands, can't punish them for making marginal decisions. This poses a problem because there are no no-limit casino games available up here, so I won't be getting any brick and mortar experience.
Are there any online casinos which have a "gallery" for poker viewing? I wouldn't mind watching a few games from the sidelines.
In my area (Mid-Atlantic), the WSOP is on Weds eves at 9pm for 2hrs on the Travel Channel. It follows the World Poker Tour and I believe the WSOP is one of the shows. In any case, it's high level no-limit Texas Hold'em for 2 hrs every week. .... You can view games at most any online casino that offers play money. Just open a play money acct and then click on a real money table and watch. I play at partypoker.com. You don't need a real money acct to watch real money games.
It is quite instructive to do this, and see if you can catch the others mistakes, and anticipate the winning hand.. I do the same at paradisepoker.
If you play poker, check out Card Player Magazine. It's the leading poker magazine. It comes out every week. Great articles about poker and they can also help your trading perspective. http://www.cardplayer.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?keywords=subscription&search=action