Whether
you consider yourself a recreational, amateur or professional poker player,
dedicating hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars of your own personal money
to play in a tournament is often difficult to do, let alone justify. It is even more difficult when you make a
living working a typical 9-5, have a wife, kids and a plethora of financial
obligations. In most cases, you either have to pony up the money for the entire
buy-in yourself, or hope to get backed or staked by close-friends or investors,
who obviously expect some positive results and a piece of the action.
The cost of tournament poker can quickly add up, especially
if you hit a bad run of cards and haven’t made a significant cash to off-set
the cost of potentially several lost buy-ins.
One possible solution to this dilemma, that could solve some of your
financial woes, while also helping to scratch that poker itch, is starting or
joining a Poker League.
Poker
Leagues, or "Bar leagues", are
an inexpensive way to finance yourself into bigger buy-in tournaments or win
huge cash prizes for a fraction of the cost. Depending on the type of league
you are in, your initial investment can also add up to a substantial return in
the equity stake based on the performance of other league members. Leagues can
also help you build relationships or connections to other grinders that can develop
into bigger and better opportunities both inside and outside the poker world. A
good friend of mine, for example, met a member of a highly reputable law firm
by playing weekly together at a local bar league. He has since become close
friends with and a partner with the firm.
Bar
leagues are often free to join. Entities like the World Tavern Poker League or
the Bar Poker Open have been around for
quite some time and offer a free way to segue yourself into some big buy-in
events, like those held annually at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. In
bar league events, the top twenty or so finishers in a tournament accumulate
points based off where they finished in given events, which goes towards their overall
season rankings. These seasons usually last for several weeks, sometimes months, and eventually culminate in
a championship event which includes the top scoring players from all across a
particular region, sometimes even the entire country. The top place finishers
in these events are awarded with various prizes, ranging from all-expense-paid trips
to real money tournament buy-ins to cold, hard cash!
Investment
poker leagues are also a fun and casual way to fund your poker vices. In investment
leagues, players will participate in a predetermined number of games over the
course of a season for a specified cash buy-in. The money is collected by the
league organizer and later doled out to league winners to be used for live or
online poker events. In most leagues of this type, the players often are made
up of a close circle of like-minded poker buddies, which helps add to the
social aspect of the game.
In the
investment league I am currently a member of, players are awarded points based
off how they finish monthly in an 18-man multi-table tournament. First place awards 25 points, second place
20, and so on from there. Essentially,
whoever finishes with the most points at the end of the league season, which
runs for a total of 9 months, wins a $3000 seat into any WSOP event. Included
with this is $700 in travel money, to be used to pay for the fees associated
with the trip to Las Vegas. The equity stake for most of the other players in
the league is 5%, while the player who is actually playing in the event gets
50% of their winnings. There are other
perks too. Each month, the top two
finishers can win cash and other prizes!
When
amateur grinder Ray Mendoza, a recent league winner of the AC/Vegas Poker Tournament Investment League, was asked about
the league, he said, "The thing I like best about being in a poker league
is being able to play in higher buy-in events I normally wouldn’t play because
of the cost. I also really like going into events, like the WSOP, as a team
with the other guys from the league rooting for one another."
Poker
leagues offer great opportunity to build upon your skills for a seemingly low
cost against often legitimate competition. The games are all designed to
simulate actual scenarios a league member may face when they are playing for
the big money. Interested? Feel free to reach out if you would like more information on how to
set up or join a local poker investment league.
By: Brian Keane Poker Podcast Host
Twitter: @BrianKeane0513
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