Amongst the poker world, a question that arises quite often is "Who is the world's greatest poker player?"
This question elicits quite an array of answers including Ivey, Helmuth, Dwan, Brunson, Chan, Negraneau, Ferguson, etc
These are only a handful of names thrown out across poker tables, message boards, and cigar clubs around the world.

Perhaps the more important question becomes, "What defines a GREAT poker player?" or "What makes someone a Pro?"

Is it based on how many world series bracelets one has?
Is it turning a 6 digit annual profit?
Is it building a career successful enough to feed one's family on the foundation of 52 plastic playing cards?
Is it walking away from a promising degree and career and and grinding out a living born out of passion?

The variability exists when answering this question, because everyone's definition of "great" and "pro" differs vastly.

Am I a great professional poker player?

Well you decide...

-I won the first tournament I ever played at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in 2005.

-I deposited $200 on Full Tilt Poker in December 2007 and have won over $650,000 in tournaments across all sites.

-I have been interviewed by Cardplayer.com and have also been published in their magazine on stud strategy.

-I have been ranked as high as 4th on officialpokerrankings.com on ftp.

-I have a positive ROI in all games including No Limit holdem, Omaha, Omaha 8 and Horse, with an overall ROI of 54% at a $128 avg buyin.

-I satellited into the first ever $25,000 HU championship, the largest buyin HU tourney in history, by winning 8 straight HU matches.

-I do personal one on one coaching, where players pay me from $100/hr up to $250/hr.

-I am one of an elite list of pros at PokerXFactor, one of the most successful, and longest running paid training sites online.

Can you look at someone's credentials and conclude they must be great at poker?

Maybe.

But there is so much more that goes into it. The numbers and results are a manifestation of all the hardwork and dedication the top players put into their game.

So many new players have a dream to be great at poker.. to quit their jobs and live a life of luxury... it is not that easy.. very few will find fame and fortune.. most will be grinders for life...

It requires stamina to persevere through dips and valleys, as well as humility to wholesomely welcome the uplifting highs. As I said in my interview, "It is amazing how quickly our minds can latch onto the illusory notion of invincibility when we are on a "rush." (Whether that hot streak lasts a day, a week, a month, or even a year). We allow our confidence and egos at times to blind us from the reality that our good fortune can turn...almost in the blink of an eye..."

So about greatness…
You are not great if you do not comprehend that one is always a student of the game...
You are not great if you cannot welcome constructive criticism...

Greatness involves listening...
Greatness is table demeanor...table etiquette...
Greatness is about not making excuses about bad beats or bad runs, because they happen to everyone.

Greatness is about not 'hating' on others who are succeeding, but spending your time trying to learn from them...

If you read the autobiographies of great people from history, all of them document how they derived inspiration by aspiring to incorporate the great attributes in previous leaders, previous great men and women. SO find someone who you think is great.... and ask them how they got to where they did.. read stuff they have written.. watch them if you can... listen to them...i have a list of people I look up to within the poker community and outside....and I constantly learn what I can from them.

I inch closer everyday...to achieving the greatness I aspire to attain...
The potential of greatness promised to us all,
should we be so fortunate, disciplined, and driven to achieve it...

YES, I do believe that living in our own microcosms, we too can achieve greatness!!!

So go ahead...what are you waiting for?
There's a lot of inching to be done...

I challenge you to be great.

My Sunday was extremely frustrating at the tables.

No-limit tournaments have gotten so much tougher over the years, but Sunday's remind me that there are still 49349348340 people who don't quite know what they are doing, especially in these large buyin $200 mtts, where you would expect the play to be better than average. But alas, I will spare you the details, because I am off to a late start to my day and I want to jump in some afternoon tournies, before my PokerXFactor Subscriber mtts tonight.

What I will say is this.. I could probably train a monkey to play better than the donkeys I ran into yesterday. And here's proof:

Chimpamazement

It is super late and I can't sleep. It is approaching 4am, which isnt abnormally late for me, as I am usually up til about this time.  But I like to try to go to bed early on Saturday nights, since my Sundays are very hectic at the tables. Unfortunately I am wide awake and could probably start an mtt session right now lol....rigged!!

I did not play much poker after the freeroll today...I decided to take the night off and went out to the movies. I had been wanting to see "Public Enemies," the real life story about the famous 1930's gangster John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. I expected that it was going to be pretty good, but it turned out to be Great, and far exceeded my expectations. The acting was excellent, and the cinematography was unique. The cinema was super packed by Harry Potter fans, but it was nice to slip into a half empty theater and watch a really well done flick. (munching on my favorite movie snack = pretzel bites with  cheese dip and honey mustard:)

I was going to go to a live home game in Philly that I was invited to, but decided to just head back home and be a nerd. So I ordered in pizza and spent the evening watching training videos on BlueFirePoker.com.

The First PokerCurious REx55 Freeroll today had a great turnout, and I wanted to thank everyone that participated and registered for it fairly. It upsets me that so many non-members and password thieves were able to infiltrate the freeroll and cash for prizes. In fact the player that knocked me out was not a member, although my all in was a 3 way pot, so my bounty went to BDVGame, who also had me beat. You can see the hand posted in XPokerChick's blog. Congrats to BDVGame and to all the winners. I lost my chat for 2 hours today because I was trying to wish all the tables good luck, and apparently that is considered spamming.. sigh.. so I apologize to all the people that stopped by the rail after my chat ban.. I wasn't ignoring you.. they just had me on mute... and thanks for being my voice at this time zimba...lol.. as if you didn't have enough to attend to.

It doesn't surprise me that people post the passwords in other forums or websites. I have been playing long enough to know there is a great deal of negative thinking in poker... tons of criticism, slander, ridicule, berating, arrogance, gread, cheaters, hackers, etc...

ANd its not just in poker. I saw it in the hospital too...There is good and bad in every aspect of life...there is corruption and malice in every societal system...where there is success, there is envy....where there is happiness, there is hatred. Where there is honesty, there are cheats.

In future freerolls, we will come up with a more fool proof way to guarantee the protection of poker curious members, so that they can have a fairer shot at earning the prize money set aside for them.

I suppose I should try to get some sleep at some point...or else I will still be writing this when most of you log in tomorrow morning :P

So.. good night...

Lights out.

xox

So I am sponsoring my first PokerCurious Rex55 Freeroll this Saturday on FTP at 2:00pmE.

There will be a bounty on me, worth $100 private coaching lesson with me. It will be a one on one session tailored to YOU!! However there is a catch. You must be active in the forums with a minimum of 3 posts before you are eligible to receive the password. Once you have posted 3 times, go to the Rex Bounty Freeroll Thread in the 'Extra Value" section of the forum and post your ftp screename. The number next to your name on this thread should be at least 4 posts.

I am really hoping to jumpstart the forums with interesting hand discussions, strategy sharing, etc.. and there is even a new section titled "Rail Call" where if you are deep in an mtt, you can post there, and members from PC can come rail/ watch!!

So if you haven't already, start posting...and come participate in the hunt for my bounty.

My online journey started as a $200 deposit on fulltiltpoker, and a vision. 3 months into my journey, I started a blog at www.rex55.blogspot.com, and 3 years later, I post my first blog for you all at PokerCurious.

In that time, I have had an amazing journey, filled with shining moments and dark times. I have been ranked as high as 4th on FTP per officialpokerrankings.com, totalling over $650,000 in tournament winnings across all sites. I have been interviewd by cardplayer.com and am currently a pro at the popular training site, PokerXFactor.com. Why do I tell you all this? Well it is not to make this blog a brag post, but to reveal to you that anyone can create a vision and achieve it with time, committment, and passion. Poker success is not an unattainable concept reserved for the "fortunate few." Anyone can become great at poker... if they are willing to incorporate the necessary skills, perspective and discipline.

Poker continues to explode in popularity all over the world, and people from all walks of life approach it for their own personal reasons. For me, it's my job, my humbly competitive source of income...and it remains a passion.

What are your reasons?

Are you a rookie just discovering the importance of bankroll?
Are you a gambler, born into and drowning in cash games?
Are you a railbird who has not yet discovered the confidence within to take a shot?
Are you a father trying to win some extra cash to help with the bills?
Are you a girl trying to deceive her way into the male dominated ranks?
Are you a hard-working citizen, who fiends all day to race home to that $26 tourney or $10 sng?
Are you a poker playing professional, trying to make ends meet...grinding it out.....battling the emotional ups and downs of this merciless game?

Matters not where you fall in the vast expanse that is Online Poker...Stake your claim, buckle in, and prepare yourself for a ride through this vast expanse...through the eyes of one who will reveal candidly to you the struggle...the fight...through whose eyes you will experience the sweet road to success,and the all too familiar face of defeat. By blogging for you regularly, I give you an open invitation to join me on the continuation of my journey and hopefully sharing yours with me in return. I am excited to meet each and everyone of you, and do my best to help you attain the poker succss I know you can achieve.

There is always room for improvement and growth... so let's learn and grow together. There IS a formula to BEATING online poker!!  I will share with you all the secrets to my success and am looking forward to learning yours.

Poker can be a very dark, lonely place if we get lost in the negativities and bad runs. This is why communities such as poker curious are very important to growth and stability, because it keeps our perspectives healthy and positive.

Ultimately, it is our mindset that will deliver us to continued poker success. In the process you will taste blood, and eat dirt...You will want to beat the Hell out of the closest thing you can get your hands on. Anger and frustration will rise within you...But with time...You will learn to foster it positively...into PATIENCE and POSITIVITY.

I look forward to future exchanges via pms, forum posts, chatroom and tournaments...as well as weekly ramblings on this blog :)

Best of luck to you all at the tables.. play solid, sharp and let the bad beats roll off your armor!! xoxox

(Follow me on Twitter @ Rexy55)