Let me introduce myself. I am Abel ‘raiserplay’ Talamantez and I am an online poker player, instructor and now a contributing writer for PokerSavvy. I figured the best way to introduce myself to the Savvy community is to talk about my month working as a full time poker player, which was September 2006. It was an important time for me as it has brought me to where I am today. I hope that my story will also serve as a cautionary tale for those of you that aspire to play poker as a full time job.

It was late August 2006 and I had made it to the point where I could cash in multi-table tournaments fairly consistently. I had done well in cash games and sit n go’s, but now I was making money in the MTT’s. Then late in August came one of my biggest scores to date, a $3000 2nd place finish in a $33 PartyPoker tournament. The very next week, I finished 2nd in the PartyPoker Sunday Million, taking down $87,000. Five days later, I won a $109 Party tournament for almost $10,000. It was without a doubt a fabulous run.

Now I had a very healthy bankroll and the confidence to go with it. I decided to try playing poker full time and see how things went. My long term goal was to play poker full time and quit my regular job. As things stood, I worked at night, and my son was in school during the day, so I was able to play full time during the day, while still working at night. I wasn’t going to quit my job until I was sure it was something I could sustain.

This is what my typical day would be like. I would drop my son off at school at around 8:45am then go to Borders bookstore at 9:00am. I would go to the café, order a cup of coffee, then sit down, log in, and play. I would play from around 9am-2pm. I would play 20/40 limit on two tables, 1 MTT, and 1 SNG, usually $109 buy-in. After a week, I was up a few thousand, but felt like it was getting a bit monotonous, so I ventured into no-limit cash games. In my very first session, I won over $6000. I gave about $4000 back the next day. I really didn’t like the swings associated with no-limit cash games, so I went back to my 2 table limit, 1 MTT, 1SNG formula.

After about three weeks, I felt like I wasn’t being productive with myself. Although I was winning, I felt like I was wasting away my prime years. I was young, a UC Berkeley grad, married, a beautiful son, aspirations of becoming an elementary school teacher and helping kids, and here I was, sitting in a coffee shop bookstore for 5-6 hours straight in front of a computer. It was a horrible feeling, and no amount of money won was making it go away. By the end of the month, I was not enjoying playing and even dreaded it. I was missing that fire to compete and succeed. I was missing that hunger.

I realized that the only way to get my edge and sanity back was to cut down on my playing. I loved poker, which is different from loving to play all the time. It was then, around November that I got the idea of trying to teach hold ‘em to new players. From then until now, I created a website and a business, www.Raiserplay.com, where I teach hold ‘em and make animated hand history videos for players. Being able to interact with players of various skill levels and types has provided me a way to be a part of poker in a positive and interactive way, and now my hunger and energy to compete is back in full force.

Despite what I learned about myself in that crazy month, I paid off a great deal of debt, remodeled our house, took a family vacation to Disneyland, and many other good things. Aside from keeping a bankroll for me to play, I take pride in the fact that I cashed out every penny of my wins and brought it back to the family. My poker coaching business is growing, and I have ideas for developing some new poker training software, something I think will revolutionize the future of online poker training. Doing all these things has challenged and fulfilled me in ways playing full time could not. This is not to say that others wouldn’t be just as fulfilled from playing full time. I know many players are, but it just wasn’t for me.

The point is there are many ways to be a part of poker, and PokerSavvy is one of those ways. If you love the game, rather than just the gambling or the money, there are plenty of ways to be a part of it. Teaching poker, writing and making videos about it have enabled me to enjoy the thrill of playing and competing again. If you are a player struggling to find what your niche will be in the poker world, follow your gut, go for your dream, take your shot, but remember, you don’t have to play full time to truly be a poker player. I look forward to writing more articles about strategy, experiences, and getting to know all of you in the Savvy community. Talk to you soon!

Abel ‘raiserplay’ Talamantez
abel@raiserplay.com

Get a 20% discount when you use SavvyPoints to purchase one of Abel’s video lessons of your MTT or SNG play! Click here for details.

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