Back to School

When I learned that Card Player was coming out with a college edition of the magazine I couldn't have been happier and more excited about contributing. I only wish poker had been so acceptable and such a craze when I was doing the college thing.

Back in the "old days" (a whole 5 years ago), it was a chore to round up enough people who actually knew how to play the game and the concept of playing poker for a living was completely out of the realm of possibility.

Cut to present day, where poker players can earn just as much, if not more, doing public appearances, endorsing online sites and writing books as they do playing the game. Our generation has been a major factor in the explosion of poker and as long as we continue to be students of the game and stay passionate about it, there is no way poker will come and go like other fads like many cynics predict.

Life without Internet seems incomprehensible and I honestly have no idea if I would be where I am today if online poker didn't exist. I truly believe that playing online is the best way to learn the game and improve your skills. Now, I know most college students are on a shoestring budget and any extra funds normally go to pizza and beer, but don't let the money keep you from playing if you are interested in learning. The online pokerrooms offer tons of freerolls, play money games and very low-limit tournaments that are perfect for people who want to learn without risking a large sum of money. My site (www.thefishtank.com), and many other sites offer tons of freerolls and small buy-in tournaments with nice guaranteed prizes which I play all the time.

I so strongly believe in the power of online poker that I am using my site as a scouting ground for new players. The players that prove their skill on the site will be competing for a professional poker contract, which consists of me personally backing them in major WPT and WSOP events for a year. I don't think traveling the circuit and playing the big buy-in events would be too bad of a first-year-out-of-college job! So much of the game is endurance and stamina with the huge fields entering tournaments these days, so I definitely think our generation has an edge and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few college kids battling it out at the end for the contract.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my peers for being so supportive and cheering me on this past year. It never ceases to amaze me when complete strangers come up to me and so genuinely congratulate me on my successes and wish me luck - it really means a lot to me and I'm so grateful that so many people relate to me and feel they have a personal stake in my success.

I recently taught one of the WPT Boot Camps and it took me right back to my school days, except this time I was in the front of the class, doing the teaching. Talk about a role reversal! I have a newfound respect for teachers and have discovered that I really do enjoy teaching people how to play poker. Hopefully, the columns I write for the college edition will have a bit of educational value and I look forward to sharing my experiences and insights with the college readers.

Here are a couple of tips to get started:
1. Be patient and play tight. The goal is to lose the least amount of money with second and third best hands.
2. Play aggressively and make sure you are in there betting with good hands.
3. Don't play with what you can't afford to lose. Money management is vitally important.

Play online with Scott on his new site, www.thefishtank.com, and look for him at the tables under the screen name ScottFischmn! Scott welcomes questions, suggestions and feedback and can be contacted via e-mail at scottfischman@thefishtank.com.