Professional Poker Players: Today’s New Celebs

If you believe what the new Celebrity Apprentice Joan Rivers says, poker players are “beyond white trash.” But I think there are millions of people who would beg to differ. As a matter of fact, poker is incredibly popular at the moment and so are its practitioners. This is evidenced by the fact that professional poker stars such as the rightful Celebrity Apprentice Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow and many others have achieved enormous celebrity status in recent years.

Poker’s star-making ability has inspired many to try to make a living on Internet poker websites. Some have actually been very successful and as a result, poker has created a whole new wave of Internet millionaires. These successful poker players are sometimes surprising, because there are almost as many teenagers and people in their early-twenties as there are seasoned professionals. Unfortunately, for every new batch of successful poker players, there are also those who have been victims of Internet poker scams. These scams happen to mostly new players, because they are lured by the promise of big money and don’t do their homework first.

To make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to you, the following tips can help you assess whether a site has the potential to be a scam:

• If the site doesn’t look professional, don’t play there. Sub-standard construction could be an indicator of the work of a quick-buck artist or a cash-strapped owner who may go belly-up and take your money with him.
• Check if the site or its owners are members of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC). IGC members agree to adhere to a code of ethics.
• Don’t register with a site that doesn’t have 24-hour support with both a toll-free phone number and e-mail addresses.
• If the site looks professional, is an IGC member and has good contact info, do several small transactions as tests before you put up any major money. These will reveal a lot about the integrity of the site.

Every poker player got his or her start somewhere, so with some luck and a lot of skill and practice, you too could become one of online poker’s new stars. Just be sure to do your due diligence first, so your success won’t be tainted by regret.