Odd Job: How a poker expert made his fortune — one cent at a time

 Odd Job - How a poker specialist made his fortune -- one penny at a time

Organized by the stakes played, the table -- which became viral in the poker community around 2009 -- lists his online poker winnings. He made $53 playing at a $3/$6 table (a term used to describe the starting bets for each hand) and $40 playing $0.50/$1. He'd also lost some money: He was losing $250 at the $0.25/$0.50 tables, but not as much as in $2/$4, when he was down almost $3,000.

It is at the bottom that the legends begin. Williams made an unbelievable $13,000 profit from games in which the blinds were only one cent or two cents. This is the lowest stakes that anyone can play in North America. Williams had earned an additional $13,000 from $0.02/$0.05 poker games. If you have ever played poker at these stakes, you will know that pots rarely exceed one dollar. This didn't matter. Williams had built a small business empire, one penny at the time.

The card shark is the archetype of a card shark who accepts the fact that they may lose a lot of money. These are the inevitable facts of the industry. A $50,000 pot can disappear in an instant. But the guy across the felt will have a slightly higher full house. It's what makes the game so entertaining and brutally profitable.

Williams, however, broke the system. One-cent games were created for casual players who aren't concerned about their mortgages, but want to make money playing. It created a culture that was looser, more wild, and generally less skillful than players at higher stakes games. Williams was naturally able to take advantage of that. Williams did not have to play with the high-rollers. He could just play enough hands.

Williams was once playing 24 games simultaneously and 10,000 hands per hour during his lifetime. That's the kind of scale that makes the $13,000 figure seem reasonable. Williams calculates that he is currently the No. The No. 1 winner at those stakes in history. Williams is 40 years old and only a part time poker pro. He spends most of the time on his website, his books and his YouTube channel. All of these offer tips and tricks for anyone who wants to emulate his winning strategy and smash the microstakes. Today, Williams lives in Thailand. He moved there from Vancouver in 2012. He moved to Thailand in 2012 from Vancouver, where he was a poker player. We talked on Skype about his struggles with poker. You were like "Okay, I want this as a livelihood."

It was a chance. I had just graduated from university and was already working odd jobs. I found online poker and started to win with a very tight style. While still working my day job I started playing online poker. I quickly increased the stakes so that I could make more from it at night than I did at work.

Why did you choose to specialize in the one-cent/two percent games? What motivated you to become a specialist in these stakes

You don't need a boss when you are a pro. You don’t have anyone to tell what to do. I was just playing. It was easy to play millions and millions of hands at low stakes. After becoming an expert, I moved into teaching. In 2011, I published a book called "Crushing The Microstakes". It was very popular and just kept going.

What is the secret to your success as a microstakes player? How did that become your fame?

Pokertableratings used to be a website. They started to track all the poker sites and publish everyone's wins or losses without their consent. It was absurd. Many people threatened to sue them. I was quite pissed, I don’t want my income publicized to the world. But people saw that I was making large sums of cash at extremely low stakes. Ironically, this website made me a bit famous in the poker world. My profile became a spectacle of commenters, so I responded, "Hey guys. I have my own website. From now on, I will answer any questions there."

Pokertableratings helped me get a lot of visitors to my site. I started writing articles about the best ways to win the lower-stakes game. Then I researched online marketing techniques and discovered that it was possible to create an ebook. I tried it and it worked really well.

How was the feeling of the lower stakes different from the one at the higher stakes? Did you find it more enjoyable to farm the stakes than to play with more money?

It's only full of pure amateurs. American aren't interested in the amount of money involved. It's not a serious hobby for many Americans. You will meet more professionals when you play at higher stakes. They can take notes, they can study your game and use tracking software. They want to win. It's an entirely different environment.

Is it possible that people with lower stakes are more likely to make a call on a 25-cent bet because the amount is so small? Do these stakes make people more likely to part with their cash?

Definitely. Money is often equated with reality in real life. It doesn't even make a cup of coffee if you give 50 cents to someone. You can raise $100 to pay for groceries or some other expenses.

What do you consider the No. 1. The biggest mistake a player can make at lower stakes is not playing well. There is some basic advice that you would give to beginners. But what about someone who is a good player and wants to win?

In reality, it is probably tilt control. Tilt refers to a decrease in discipline following a loss. I have seen many talented players lose their way. It's the mental part.

Are you able to remain as stoic and calm as possible with this strategy?

It's true. I believe that after playing millions upon millions of hands of poker and the crazy ups, downs, and crazy stuff with other players at these stakes, I have come to terms with it. I don’t know if I ever reached the point where it didn’t bother me. But I believe my quitting strategies got better. Instead of being Captain Comeback trying to chase it back, I knew when to stop playing.

What number of microstakes games did your poker game have when you were full-time?

I played full-time for approximately six to seven year, and now I play part-time. While I was working full time, I would only play the 24 table limit on Pokerstars. Then I'd add a few more to other sites.

I followed a very structured approach. Every hand I play is well-planned. It's very competitive and aggressive, so there isn't much creativity. I'm playing against people that will make big mistakes so I don’t need to be too concerned about it. It's an easy process.

How many hands played a day?

At times, I could play as high as 10,000 hands per day. I would estimate that I played between 3,000-5,000 hands per day. For me, that'd be fairly normal.

Have you ever felt like poker was losing the artistic side? Did you ever miss the chance to play in higher-skilled hands? Did you never consider that a concern?

I likely didn't. I was just trying to pay the bills and that was the main reason I played. I would occasionally play in tournaments to keep the fun going, but once you become a professional you treat it like a job. So I wasn't looking to make huge plays. How To Play Online Poker And Actually Make Money