I am often asked whether or not you should specialise in poker or learn as many different poker games as you possibly can? Well I have spoken many times on this subject in the past and I have always leaned towards the specialising camp. There is one very powerful argument for this and it is to do with the speed at which you can become proficient in a given game. If you specialise in say no limit ring games at a certain level then you will have an edge over any player who drifts around from poker form to poker form without mastering any of them.

This argument seems valid on the surface but over the past few years then the online environment has become a whole lot tougher in which to make a living. The arrival of the 2006 UIGEA and the Full Tilt Poker affair has drove a lot of weak fish out of the game. This has meant that many players who were previously beating the game are no longer doing so. This then knocks on to certain games becoming very tough and I can personally vouch for how tough limit hold’em became in 2005-2006 because it drove me out of the game.

The same thing happened with SNG’s and so my stance these days when someone asks me whether or not you should specialise is to say that you should do so until you become proficient at a certain game and then you need to study other games. Online poker and poker in general is in a constant state of shift just like any environment and this is why you cannot rely on the same game at the same levels to constantly provide you with profits.

I think if you harbour any desires to make poker a steady and long term income stream then you need to plan ahead for how you are going to make money. These days I drift from no limit hold’em to playing Pot limit Omaha based on how much value I think is in the games. Game selection has become far more critical now to your success and being able to play more games to a proficient level means that you can have more games to choose from and this is a big bonus.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk