When Your Family Members Want In On This 'Poker Thing'

[Subfallen]

IMO it takes 500k hands before you will have a solid idea of your poker potential. (Except for the occasional prodigies.) This is my biggest point to anybody who talks to me about poker---the time investment is ENORMOUS.

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How do you know they can beat the game??

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I can write on a simple algorithm on a sheet of paper, that if they followed it, could beat .01-.02 NL

It's quite dangerous to teach a family member poker. when he or she is winning no problem. but in case he/she is losing probably the whole family will be involved. they may blame you for teaching.

if they started already playing it's a different thing. you have to support them to get on the winning side. analysing their game may help. my experience is that you learn a lot by making mistakes and have a teacher who tells you how to act instead.

[SNOWBALL138]

Its important to know what kind of character your sisters have. Are they the types to be brutally realistic, disciplined, accept criticism, quick-thinking, and study the game hard? Can they accept losing? Most people I know who hear about some of my swings flip out. I try to explain to them that the only thing that matters is the bottom line and the long term and my hourly rate, etc.,

I'm so sick of hearing "why do you keep playing?" or "how much do you make?" type questions. No one that doesn't play poker seems to have any clue at all what its like. Its like another language, and sometimes it makes me feel like an alien. Ok, /end rant.

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I gave them each a copy of HFAP and told them reading it was Lesson One.

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Although I won't offer a better suggestion, HFAP is a really tough read, and had it been the first book I ever read, I would have been very discouraged from poker.

[sfer]

Stake them and let them prosper. Or get bored.