Professional Poker Players Are Society’s New Celebs
According to Celebrity Apprentice Joan Rivers, poker players are “beyond white trash.” But I bet you could find millions of poker fans who disagree with that assessment. In fact, poker is incredibly popular at the moment and so are those who play it professionally. This is evidenced by the fact that professional poker players such as Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Mike Matusow and many others have become famous beyond anyone’s expectations in the last decade.
This surge in popularity has caused many to try their hand, so to speak, at making a living playing on Internet poker sites. Some have actually been very successful and as a result, poker has created a whole new wave of online 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 plenty of people who are victims of online poker scams. Mostly new players fall into this trap, because they don’t know how to verify a poker site’s bona fides.
To make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to you, the following points can help you determine whether a site is a scam:
- If the site doesn’t look professional, don’t play there. Low-quality construction could be the sign of a quick-buck artist at work or at the very least, a cash-strapped operator.
- 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 a few 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 any success you achieve won’t be spoiled by regret.
Tags: internet gambling, Internet poker, online gambling, online gambling scams, online poker, online poker scams