Poker Players: Today’s New Celebs

According to the new Celebrity Apprentice Joan Rivers, professional 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 wildly popular right now and so are its practitioners. This is evidenced by the fact that poker players like Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Mike Matusow and many others have achieved huge celebrity status 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 gambling sites. The results have been good for some and because of this many more people have become online poker millionaires. These poker successes are not always who you would expect them to be, because they’re often very young and not seasoned professionals. But for every group of successful poker players, there are also plenty of people who are victims of Internet gambling scams. Mostly new players step into this trap, because they don’t know how to verify a online poker site’s bona fides.

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 have professional-looking graphics and technology, go somewhere else. 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 winnings with him.
• Check if the site or its owners are members of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC). IGC members pledge to follow 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 do any major gambling. These should tell you a lot about the workings of the site.

Everyone has to 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.