It’s a no-brainer: play poker, travel the world and earn silly money or sell windows?

Being a pro on the road for 12 months a year is fine if you’re single, but if, like me, you have to balance it with family life it can be extremely hard. You have to ask yourself if the price is right. On one hand the money you may win can set you up for life but, on the other, you can quickly become a stranger to your little ones.

I read a great piece by Barry Greenstein who said he regretted giving his children gifts to replace the time he should have spent with them while gambling and I can relate to that – it seems to happen whenever I come home.

However, against that you need to realise that you can ‘easily’ earn a year’s wage by placing well in one tournament. I got $375,000 for coming third in The Monte Carlo Millions last November, which isn’t bad in anyone’s book and is what directly led me to losing my previous sales job (by being in Monte Carlo rather than at work).

But money isn’t the only consideration as I’m no longer beholden to a boss who owns me. So to me it’s a nobrainer: play poker, travel the world and earn silly money or sell some windows? Umm, let me think…

No limits

Anyway, back to the madness, where I just played in a private game of no-limit Omaha! That’s right, no-limit – ffs! I’ve played some sick gambling games in my time, like £5k a go on whose tomato segment stays stuck on the wall the longest, but this takes the biscuit.

A few famous players were involved – Gus Hansen, Harry Demetriou – but the wag responsible for the game was none other than Tony G. It resulted in one individual going all-in for $35k when there was $150 in the pot. And his hand? Well, he proudly displayed A-A-A-2 with no flush draws, and the comment that no one could call as no one else could have Aces. Good point, well made.

On the subject of sick gambles I watched Ram Vaswani and the Boatman boys playing $200/$400 Omaha in my room through the night in Baden, Austria, during the EPT. And true to expectations Ram came out with another of his classics. He has a monopoly on the best gambling sayings in the known universe.

His gem this time came when holding no outs (or ins come to think of it). His opponent bet $16k, Ram reached for his mouse and pushed the counter to its max announcing, ‘I’m going to take this guy on a journey he doesn’t want to go on.’ He promptly raised the pot and the guy passed. Different class, Mr Vaswani.

Marc Goodwin is one of UK’s finest poker players and MANSION Poker Ambassador