From Teenage Poker Degenerate to PokerNews Columnist in Only 42 Years
PokerNews welcomes poker author and coach Tommy Angelo as its newest contributor to our Strategy section. If you don��t know of Tommy and his well regarded writings and contributions to poker knowledge already, read on.
My life began at age 14 in Bobby Taylor��s basement.
��Sit down, you pansy,�� said Bobby.
��I don��t gamble,�� I replied.
��We��re only playing for pennies and nickels, you wuss.��
��Sounds steep.��
��Not for someone who just sold a nickel bag. Now quit being a baby and sit down.��
I sat down. I put some of my precious money on the table. I was not all that worried because, you see, I knew a thing or two about this game called poker, from playing five-card draw and five-card stud with my older brothers, back in my even younger days. We even used chips. But we only played for funsies.
Bobby shuffled the cards and blurted out ��Double draw ducks wild low spade takes half,�� and I��m like, what?
They told me the score. I got my cards. I liked my cards. I slid a coin made of actual money out into the middle of the table. And something inside me came alive. A being. No, a beast. A wild hungry beast that could only survive on one thing: More poker.
By age 19, I had my own place, my own poker table, and lots of poker buddies. Ten years and a thousand poker games later, I began my education, using books and road trips, on how to win at casino-style limit hold��em.
At age 32, I quit my career as a musician. It was too easy. I was having too much fun. I wanted something more painful. So I became a professional poker player.
Ten years of not going broke qualified me to write articles for poker magazines, so I did that. Five years later, when the poker boom hit, I started selling my time as a poker coach, and the coaching generated the content for my first book, Elements of Poker. A couple years after that, I made a video series called The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment. Then a second book called A Rubber Band Story and Other Poker Tales. And now I��m writing my third book, Painless Poker.
And now you��re all caught up with my careers so far.
Well, not quite. There��s a chapter I left out. The one about tilt. Here��s the Cliffs Notes: I used to be an expert at doing it, and now I��m an expert at not. I do love teaching betting strategy and I��ve done thousands of hours of that. But what I enjoy even more is coaching experienced players on how to play their best game more often.
How can I be more consistent? How can I plug my leaks once and for all? Why do I get so frustrated and angry? And how much is it costing me?
Those questions fascinate me. Always have. I looked for answers during my playing career, and now I try to help other strugglers. So that��s what I write about, which brings me to how I got here��
If you don��t know who Martin Harris is, let me fill you in. In the pokerverse, Martin is the unsung hero of the written word. From his popular and long-running Hard-Boiled Poker blog to live tournament reporting from around the world, he��s a workhorse, delivering facts and insights year after year, always in expertly manicured prose.
Martin and I have been buddies for 10 years. We see each other at the WSOP, and we email. When my phone rang and I saw his name, I was surprised, and glad, and curious.
��Martin! What��s up?��
Have you seen the new comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Hilarious show. Martin reminds me of Captain Holt in the evenness of his voice. You have only his words to go on.
��You are now speaking to the new editor of the strategy section at PokerNews,�� he said.
I knew how to read between the deadpan. Martin was experiencing �� as Captain Holt might call it �� extreme joy.
He continued. ��I was wondering if you��d be interested in����
��Yes,�� I said. ��I��m in.��
��Excellent. When can you start?��
And that��s how I became a PokerNews columnist.
If there is anything you would like me to write about, leave a comment below or send a note to [email protected]. Thanks.
To join Tommy��s mailing list and receive updates on his upcoming third book, Painless Poker, plus random musings and advice, click here immediately.
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