(Why) Does it Matter to Put in Utmost Effort in the Poker Industry?
When it comes to live reporting in poker, you have to stay realistic and consider it to be a very specialised job in a niche market. Each and every update may get scrutinised by the players and it’s most certainly not a profession to make you rich. However, earning a living and having enough money at the disposal to pay all your regular bills is certainly doable.
It’s also not really an extraordinary job that will make you famous, because the spotlight will and should always be on the players as well as the success of the tournament. A live reporter is supposed to be a fly on the wall, a shadow in the dark right behind the live stream cameras. People know that you are there to get the job done but you appear as more of a ghost that is floating from one table to the other.
You either do it or you don’t, there is no trying.
In order to achieve that and get hired on a consistent basis, a lot of effort and dedication on a consistent basis is required. You have to know what you are doing, be reliable and willing to deal with unforeseen circumstances. After all, in the grand scheme of things, the entire setup of a live poker tournament barely ever keeps journalists in mind that are tasked with reporting on the progress from start to finish.
Learning by doing
There is no course in college that teaches you how to conduct live reporting in poker, and the same also applies for the various coaching and strategy content platforms out there because they solely focus on the player. Most of those who have entered this unique job on a whim and possess a passion for the game. Those who don’t inherit that drive and see it merely as a way to earn some money will be exposed and quit sooner than later.
While already involved in some way in the world of poker through online forums prior, the first live reporting case was pretty much a perfect example of serendipity. Nobody taught me how to do the job or gave me any kind of guidelines apart from “follow our sponsored pros in these international events”. For about half an hour, I looked through some existing coverages of major tournaments and then developed my own style of providing as many key details as possible.
In the early years I also tried to memorise as many players as possible in case this might become handy down the road. Back then, the possibility of this becoming my main source of income and enabling to travel all over the world was more of a wet dream. After all, the paid live reporting gigs were handed to me every other month only.
Frequent (poker) traveler since 2014
Once the requests came more frequently and even more so after I was recruited by PokerNews ahead of the 2014 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the prospect of that becoming a reality suddenly changed but my attitude towards the work did not.
Following a short briefing of the website functionalities and a test run in San Remo, one thing led to another as my performance in Sin City thereafter must have been sufficient to warrant more responsibility. Perhaps this shouldn’t be mentioned but to this day, I haven’t read their live reporting manual until the very end.
Being able to run the updates on my own for many smaller events and tours after years of doing just that helped a lot in that matter. Simultaneously, I tried to keep the same mindset and work ethic for every single coverage no matter where and how much the buy-in for the event was. Sooner than later, international travel followed and the rest is more of less history.
I still hate every single mistake and take lots of pride in aiming to provide as much information as adequately, timely and accurately as possible. After all, this is exactly what I get paid for. Similar to many professional poker players on the international circuit, I have a very competitive nature by default and want to deliver the best possible product at all times. Because otherwise, what would be the purpose of it all when this is your (current) job?
To do this job and work in this industry, one has to be crazy to a certain degree. And if you are as stupid as me and cannot keep the mouth shut, another layer of burning hoops keeps appearing. During an event, I am a pain in the ass and ask many questions because I want to know what will be happening before it happens.
The more I know in advance, the more I can mentally and physically prepare for in order to keep any transition periods as short as possible. For example, the action after the bubble and redraws can be very frantic. I keep being told that I don’t have to catch them all but why would that discourage me from trying?
By always thinking at least two steps in advance and keeping in mind what may need to be done, you stay alert and ready for whatever is thrown into your face. It also makes the own work seemingly look like magic when that is rather a mere result of deliberate planning. Constant communication is a key to success, as is multi-tasking when required.
The own pride and reputation is earned by the final product you deliver, even more so when the quality continues to feature a consistently high standard. With plenty of dedication, other shortcomings such as average highlight articles or a longer time to wind down at the end of the night can be somewhat compensated.
Live reporting in poker isn’t always fun
In many ways, I am very fortunate and this blog entry is not aimed to be a bragging post by any means. For several years now I have been paid to travel the world and watch some of the best poker players in the world compete for millions upon of millions in prize money. The events haven’t always been pleasant in terms of hours and pay.
Some tournaments have been smooth as butter and I was able to explore the city before jumping onto the plane and heading to the next challenge. Other days dragged on for more than 16 hours and you get to crawl into the bed for a couple of hours before doing it all over again while already been mentally and physically exhausted.
Sometimes I have even been flat out taken advantage of and still always went the extra mile to get the job done with a smile on the face. There have also been a couple of occasions where specific players were rude, condescending, and nit-picky to find the smallest of mistakes but they paid to enter the competition for their right to do so. The only thing we can influence is our own actions, what others make out of that is up to them.
The reporter is a no drama lama
As a live reporter and part of the poker media, our job dictates that we can write about drama but should never be part of it. Arguments with players and staff are frowned upon no matter what has happened. We always walk on very thin ice when leaping away from these unspoken rules and the negative things are always remembered first, just like the bad beats at the poker tables.
Whether we want it or not, at some point an inevitable slump follows as the passion for the game and the job wears down. Especially when the own pressure to always deliver the maximum essentially becomes a near-obsession and ritual. I am not an idiot and have been aware of that for a while but chose to ignore it.
After being a fool and picking up as many events as possible for the first couple of years without taking time off to explore the locations of these tournaments, I only changed that in 2018. As a result, the overall experience was enhanced by a significant magnitude and it delayed the risk of a potential burnout.
Always aiming to be the first to arrive and the last to leave takes a toll on the body and mind if you cannot compensate it with other means to accumulate happiness. Regular fitness, meditation and a healthy nutrition makes it possible to keep pushing the own limits further until a brick wall has been reached.
Hard work will pay off … hopefully
I don’t really expect anyone to follow these same core principles and dedication to detail but hope that those involved in the poker industry put in a valiant effort, no matter which specific role they hold. Those that care about the game will eventually appreciate it, or at least that’s what I keep telling myself. And that’s why I will continue to be so hard on myself as long as the current job as live poker reporter and journalist in a very niche market still represents a challenge.
I care about the growth of the game and am somewhat worried that some trends in the industry are not beneficial to achieve that goal. And I shall continue to say what I think and not worry about repercussions even if it may very well get me in trouble. At least, it will stay exciting this way.
Otherwise, I could have just settled for a boring and meaningless office job in my hometown in the middle of nowhere but where would have been the fun in that? Life is better when you can accumulate experiences and travel to explore other unknown destinations. Learning first hand more about other cultures instead of watching documentaries about it on TV is so much better.
With some luck, that will lead me to further places that I wasn’t able to explore for yet. Most notably, South America is missing on the list and that’s certainly a part of the world I would like to soak in.
As far as playing poker is concerned, I am just a recreational fish that enjoys the great game of Pot-Limit Omaha. There is no desire to hit the tables regularly as I don’t have the time or money to study all the required content to be as competitive as possible. Just like others exclaimed, more in jest and on social media — I will stick to writing.