The Rut: This is a trap that every poker player falls into, regardless of their skill level, amount of experience and previous successes. There will come a time when you receive a series of bad hands. Before you know it, you will find yourself in a rut and not know how to get out it. Rest assured, it won’t last forever, but you do need to know how to handle it.

Attempting To Play Your Way Out of The Rut: Even worse then hitting a rut is throwing away good money after bad trying to play your way out of it. Sometimes quitters do win. If things are going bad and your best efforts haven’t stopped the bleeding, you need back away from the table (or computer) and call it a day.

Trapping Oneself: Sometimes, a poker player is their own worst enemy. Trapping oneself is caused by poor hand selection. This is often a trap most experienced by new poker players and those who haven’t played a lot. To avoid trapping oneself, a proper knowledge or hand ranking is important. Players need to be able to recognize which hands beat others. This will make it possible for them to make better hand selections.

Playing Flops Too Aggressively: Some players, without being sure, will flop with a relatively weak hand. Flop play must be approached with care. Going for it too soon can backfire.

Cheong was born in Seoul, Korea. He lived there for six years until he and his family made their way to the United States. Today, Joseph lives in La Mirada, California, is a college graduate and an outstanding poker player. He has earned degrees in Psychology, Math and Economics from the University of California at San Diego.

Joseph’s ability to make it to the finals table and as one of the November Nine may come as a surprise to those who aren’t knowledgeable about his lucrative online career, considering that his biggest live win to date in tournament play was $17,541 in the $340 prelim event at the WSOP Circuit tournament hosted at Harrah’s in Rincon.

The 2010 WSOP tournament, however, was very good to Joseph Cheong. He finished in 24th place in the $1500 NLHE (6-Max) tournament and won $13,739. He also placed 29th in the $5,000 NLHE (6-Max) tournament and won $17,325. Now, he is in the hunt for the more then $8,000,000 up for grabs at the finals table.

Online, Cheong is a poker master. He uses the alias ‘subiime,’ and has racked up more then $1,000,000 in winnings in the form of MTT cashes. The 2009 Mini FOPS event only, won him $55,000. Other big online winnings include $39,840 for a 3rd place finish in Full Tilt Poker’s $1k Monday Event and $75,000 in a guaranteed event, also hosted by Full Tilt Poker.

Joseph Cheong has the opportunity to win his biggest live cash to date as part of the November Nine. Nearly $9 million is up for grab, which guarantees that at least one person will walk away from the table much richer then when they sat down.

John has shown that he is capable of gutsy play throughout the WSOP tournament. When the other players were attempting to play it safe and coast into the final table, Dolan stayed aggressive. With only 2,175,000 in chips on Day 8, things weren’t looking to great for John. He had one of the tourneys shortest stacks. That would slowly change. Throughout Day 8, he committed to building his stack and was able to do so and stay in the tournament and thus, in contention.

Born in Bonita Springs, Florida, John Dolan began his poker career online. He was able to catch on extremely quickly and begin winning lots of money online. His screen name, ‘JRD312’ was consistently seen at some of the world’s most popular online poker websites. Throughout Dolan’s career, he has managed to amass more then $700,000 in MTT winnings at PokerStars. He has won an additional $434,000 at Full Tilt Poker. John Dolan’s largest online cash to date has been $94,500. He won these monies in Full Tilt Poker’s $1 k Monday, which took place in 2009.

Aside from being an online poker ace, Dolan has done pretty well at World Series of Poker events. This year, aside from making it to the November Nine, he finished in 6th place in the $1k No Limit Hold’em event and won $82,804. He placed 32nd in the $1500 NLHE event and pocketed an additional $13,541. Still in the hunt for a first place finish in this year’s WSOP, John Dolan has the chance to win nearly $9,000,000 which would be his biggest cash and poker-related accomplishment to date.

Becoming a poker player was not in Jonathan’s original plan. He initially enrolled in college, suspecting that he would get a finance-related job after he graduated. That obviously wasn’t to be. He ended up quitting, becoming a poker player and the rest, as they say, is history. His decision to leave University life behind has turned out to be a good choice thus far, as he stands to win a lot of money, perhaps millions of dollars as a result of making it to the WSOP Main Event final table. As a member of the November Nine, Jonathan will be sitting pretty, no matter what place he ends up finishing in.

The WSOP finals will be the eighth live cash of Jonathan’s pretty short career. Before making the final table, his biggest win to date was $54,904, which he won participating in the EPT (European Poker Tour) Prague Main Event, two years ago in 2008. He finished in 10th place. He also had a pretty decent payout of $17,500 when he finished in 151st place at the 2010 PCA Main Event. This year’s WSOP Main Event won’t be the only cash that Duhamel sees from this year’s World Series of Poker Event. He finished in 15th place in the $2500 NLHE and won $37,276. His 50th place finish in the $1500 NLHE (6-Max) earned him $5,724. Thus far, not including his Finals table winnings, Jonathan Duhamel has won just shy of $120,000 in total career poker winnings. This isn’t bad for a young player trying to make a name for him self in the competitive world of poker.

Antonio moved to the U.S. at the young age of 9 years old. He couldn’t speak English, but he adapted quickly. He went on to graduate from high school and had his sights set on college. Those plans would change after he decided he wanted to become a magician. He became exactly that two years later. To supplement his income, Esfandiari worked as a bartender and began to play poker for fun. At the age of 23, he decided to get more serious about his poker playing. He entered his first tournament that year, winning it.

His poker success would continue. Soon after, Esfandiari won the L.A. Poker Classic WPT Event in 2004 and also a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in the $2000 Pot Limit Hold’em event that same year. During this time, he became the youngest player to win a televised World Poker Tour Event and also the youngest person ever to win a million dollar tournament.

A rising star, Antonio Esfandiari continues to be one of the game’s top players. His reputation has improved as well. Once known as a ‘whiny tilter’ he has made strides in this area, working hard to overturn this reputation. Today, he is seen as and respected as a professional. Antonio Esfandiari has already experienced a tremendous amount of success playing poker. Chances are, he will continue to be a top-tier competitor in the game for many years to come. Antonio recently became a member of Ultimate-Bet and now represents the company in tournaments and events.

Lindgren was raised in the small town of Burney, California. Even back then he enjoyed gambling with his friends. He was also a sports standout, excelling in both basketball and football. He had the chance to play basketball in college but decided against it and instead chose a life of gambling. Lindgren would take a job as a blackjack dealer, and in his spare time learned to play poker. Within a year, he was a full time player. By the age of 21, he was hired as a prop player in San Pablo, CA.

Online poker would be next. He began participating in the multi-tabling high stakes games, continuing to learn the ins and outs of the game. Online poker would eventually segue into tournament play.

Lindgren’s breakout year would come in 2003. He placed 7th in the Party Poker Million II, finished 6th in the WSOP $3000 Pot Limit Hold’em event and won $100,000 when he placed 15th at the Grand Prix de Paris World Poker Tour event. Lindgren won the UltimateBet Poker Classic, pocketing $500,000. He would go on earn a whopping $1 million after taking home the top prize at the Party Poker Million III Cruise.

Lindgren continues to win and rack up cashes. He is currently a member of Full Tilt Poker. Though he continues to play in tournaments, he also plays online quite a bit, even participating in satellite tournaments in hopes of gaining entry into larger, more prestigious tournaments. The future is bright for Lindgren. Not yet 30, he has experienced a tremendous amount of success with likely much more to come.

Harman began playing poker at a young age. She picked it up from her father, who had a serious affinity for the game. Rumor has it that when her father began toe experience trouble during his weekly games, he would have Jennifer play in his place in order to win some of his money back.

Jennifer Harman made a successful transition from being an amateur poker player to a professional via her cocktail waitressing gig. She would pay her buy-ins from the money she made as a waitress. She would eventually become so good that she would one day win one of poker’s highest honors, a WSOP bracelet.

Harman had always has aspirations of becoming a professional poker player. She did what she had to in order to build an adequate bankroll. While she worked as a cocktail waitress, she was only able to participate in low limit games. The money she won, she invested rather then staking all of it. After some time, her investments paid off and she was able to bankroll bigger tournaments and games. However, her rise to professional poker stardom wouldn’t be problem-free. She was almost forced into bankruptcy and had to borrow $50,000 from a friend in order to stay afloat.

Jennifer won her first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2000 in a Deuce-to-seven no limit lowball, a game that she had never participated in before. Howard Lederer coached briefly and she went out and did the rest, taking the whole darn thing. Jennifer would win her second WSOP bracelet in 2002.

Jennifer Harman continues to be one of the top players in the world. She routinely faces some of the world’s toughest competitors and is able to hold her own, proving that indeed, she is one of the best all-around players on the globe.

Tilly began her poker career like many celebs, playing in celebrity tournaments. She made an early appearance on Celebrity Poker Showdown and the World Poker Tour’s Hollywood Home Game. Due to her close proximity to the game, she became acquainted with and eventually begain dating Phil Laak, the professional poker player. He would help her elevate her game, giving her books and schooling her on the finer points. Tilly started to play more often, improving her game along the way.

One of the turning points for Tilly’s career was the Ladies Event of the 2005 World Series of Poker. She played so well that the day ended with her at the finals table locked in a heads-up battle. Her boyfriend, Phil Laak, would be fighting for a win as well, playing in a heads-up matchup with Johnny Chan, who he would eventually lose to. Jennifer would fare much better. She beat her opponent, won one of those coveted gold bracelets along with $158,000 in prize money.

There were many people who were skeptical of Jennifer Tilly’s ability as a poker player and even her win at the WSOP Ladies Event. Many shrugged it off as a fluke. However, Tilly would prove her detractors wrong, winning the World Poker Tour’s annual Ladies Night episode, beating out some pretty tough competition. Tilly continues to play, though she hasn’t had another big win like the aforementioned. Chances are pretty good that she will continue to be involved in poker as a player and thrive along the way.

Known as the Flying Dutchman, Luske has managed to develop a very resume. He is an excellent tournament player, one of the best in the world. Marcel Luske has been able to do what many other poker professionals have not, cash at an extraordinary amount of tournaments in both the United States and Europe.

A sharp dresser, Luske always makes sure that he looks good while at the tables. He’ll often sport a very nice suit and sunglasses which are sitting upside down atop his face. Luske is also known for being quite talkative while playing. He enjoys singing as well while he competes. However, friendly Luske comes off, opponents should not be quick to let their guard down against Luske. While he’s chatting and singing, he is being quite perceptive, picking up his competitor’s tells. He is well known for being able to successfully read players. He takes those reads (tells) and then pounces on his opponents with this information. He is also incredibly astute about reading betting patterns and is often able to use this to his advantage.

Luske at one time, owned his own club in Amsterdam and often participated in high stakes pot-limit Omaha games. He would later become the top ranked tournament player in Europe twice over.

One of the few poker distinctions which have managed to elude Marcel is a WSOP bracelet. He has yet to win one. However, he still has time. Though, he hasn’t won a championship, he has competed very well during Main Events. He managed to finish as high as 10th in one tournament. Marcel has also done quite nicely for himself financially. He is currently ranked 77th on the World Series of Poker All-Time money list.

Few players have had a career that has rivaled that of Marcel Luske. Wildly successful as a tournament player, he has managed to achieve a level of success that few others have.

Mike Matusow has spent a lot of time in Las Vegas, having lived there since the age of 10. However, he didn’t play poker until he turned 18 years old. His first win netted him $85 and Matusow became hooked. He was so worried about what he believed to be an addiction, that he went to several Gamblers Anonymous meetings.

A meeting with Steve Samaroff helped turned Matusow onto “real” poker. He began to play with a $200 stake. That would increase over the years to $10,000. Tired of playing and struggling to make ends meet, he became a gaming dealer at Sam’s Town and the Orleans, both in Las Vegas. Matusow raised enough money to begin to compete in middle-limit games.

Though The Mouth is indeed mouthy, he is able to back up his words. He wins. On the all-time World Series of Poker money lists, he ranks among the top 40. He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets, one in 1999 (No Limit Hold’em) and the other in 2002 (Omaha Hi Lo). At the WSOP Main Event, he has managed to make it to two finals table.

Over his poker career, Mike has earned nearly $3,000,000 and has developed the reputation of being a very good tournament player. His colleagues respect that. It’s his mouth that turns some away.