No doubt you will have heard much advice from numerous different sources advising new players that in order to be successful or to turn professional then they need to learn all of the different major forms of poker like Texas Hold’em, Stud, Hi Lo Split both Stud and Omaha, Omaha high and Lowball etc.

Once again much of this advice comes from big named sources who swear by it. But this just underlines one of the underlying problems in poker in that any advice must be geared to each individual and cannot be generic. One recent World Series of Poker winner (no names) said that you must learn all of the variations because otherwise you could never get any higher than $300-$600 because all the games above that is dealers choice.

Another top pro said that you had to learn all of the various forms because of all of the dealer’s choice games that are out there. I can’t make up my mind if these people are just being ignorant or are deliberately trying to sucker new fish into games where they are weak and don’t understand the strategy very well. When you take all of the above games and then consider that we have not only each game in a no limit format but also a pot limit and a limit and also a spread limit in some cases.

I could go on all night talking about why this so called advice is wrong, but what gets me so angry is that anyone can make a statement for a poker magazine because if a player loses money because of it then the top pro that gave the advice never gets to know and probably would not care anyway. The way to win money in poker and reach professional level as quickly and as effortlessly as possible is to specialize, this is what I did.

My two specialties are No Limit and Limit Texas Holdem, my Pot Limit Holdem is also very strong but that is so similar to No Limit anyway. I am also strong in seven stud high and single table satellites. But whenever I am playing serious poker then it is No Limit or Limit Holdem and that’s that. Another factor that complicates the process is just how differently each game plays when it is full ring game, semi short handed, and short handed and heads up.

If I attempted to try and coach you and show you everything then you would be paying me money forever and getting nowhere fast. The phrase “jack of all trades master of none” applies here. The reason that I am stressing this very important point is two fold. Firstly because you will be constantly bombarded with temptations to start playing other games perhaps through boredom.

Secondly, if you want to win money as quickly as possible in as much quantity as possible then it is imperative that you specialize irrespective of just what anybody else says.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson