Third Man Walking

Your correspondent outlines his path to becoming a professional poker player and describes the challenges of playing for a living. He also looks back on a wild -- and complicated -- session of $5/$5 NLHE.0:00 Introduction0:22 What top pros are (or might be) like2:35 My start in cash-game poker7:22 Moving up in stakes8:54 Struggling and recovering13:30 Difficulties of playing for a living15:50 Session review: $5/$5 No-Limit Hold-Em32:25 What does the pro do?

Variance in poker, and especially in poker tournaments, can be maddening. This episode investigates the effects of variance in tournaments (where variance is insane) and cash games (where it can be milder). Your correspondent also reviews a recent $5/$10/$20 No-Limit Hold-Em cash game session.0:00 Introduction0:40 Jonathan Duhamel vs. Matt Affleck7:53 Variance in tournaments9:50 Tournament economics13:30 Markup16:55 Tournament delusion20:34 Session review: $5/$10/$20 NLH32:10 Variance in cash

Episode 2 of Third Man Walking explores the dark, anarchic underbelly of the poker world, including the alleged poker cheating scam involving Mike Postle and Stones Gambling Hall.0:00 Introduction0:33 Is poker good for us?2:57 Degenning7:30 Misogyny10:40 Session review: 5/10 NLHE21:47 Poker outside casinos22:30 Scamming and stealing26:16 Cheating / Mike Postle31:13 Problem gambling33:20 What's good about poker

In the first episode of Third Man Walking, we discuss how it feels to play poker for a living, and why professional poker players are best described not as sharks, but as cockroaches. We also review a $5/$10 cash game session in which our correspondent wins over $7000.0:00 Introduction1:36 Frustrating session review5:15 Waiting for our chance8:41 Rules and basic strategy14:30 Winning session review30:02 Conclusion