Money grows on trees (or poker tables)......

I read Daniel Negraneau's blog on a daily basis. For those that don't know who that is, he is a professional poker player. Mrs. Lime likes to watch him play when he's on TV. He's a generally likeable guy who talks a lot at the table, so he's fun to watch because he provides a lot of action with his cards and his words.

Daniel plays in what is called 'The Big Game'. This is a poker game that is played at the Bellagio poker room. There are a small group of players who play in the game. They play all sorts of versions of poker (Omaha, Hold 'Em, Chinese Poker, Razz, Stud, etc.). They rotate through the various games and play a new version of poker each hand. It requires a lot of focus because you have to constantly make sure that you are playing the right game in each hand or you can lose a lot of money.

They play a limit game when they get together. That means that the amount of money you can bet is limited on each round of betting. Also, you can only raise 3 times in each round of betting. As an example, I usually play a 2/4 limit game when I go to a casino. That means that you can bet in increments of 2 dollars for the first two rounds of betting and 4 dollars for the last two rounds of betting. So an average pot might be 30-50 dollars in a game that regular people play.

So, the guys in the big game play $4,000/$8,000 limit poker. Yes, you heard me right. Huge amounts of money are exchanged in this game, with players often buying into the game for about $1 million apiece. The betting is capped to where a player cannot lose more than $100,000 in any one hand (what a relief!). This is the elite game in Vegas where the best players in the world test their game at an extremely high level.

I read last night that Daniel, after about 70 hours of play in the big game so far this year, has eclipsed the $1,000,000 mark in winnings in the big game. Last night alone, he won nearly $600,000. Also, given that he has gone over $1,000,000, that means that his hourly rate in the big game is roughly $14,300 per hour. So, in 5 hours at the big game, he has made as much as I made this year. Astounding stuff.

As a sidenote, I have had a good May at the online poker tables, making nearly $100 in winnings and bonus money. Well, it's not the Bellagio, but it is $100.