As I sit back and reflect on the last three and a half decades of my life I cannot help but to consider myself very fortunate indeed. From losing my first nickel at eight years old until today this game of ours has driven my every decision. In the real world of poker, people like me are not the exception, we are the norm. As poker’s popularity has exploded, the wider viewing public has caught a glimpse of something, but they have only seen a snapshot of the whole. The proverbial tip of the iceberg has been exposed.
For every guy you see on TV, there are a hundred thousand guys that play equally as well, that play even better, that play constantly. Their life is completely suffocated by this game. They live in this game and they are the game. What people are seeing now through television and Internet sites is just a flash. It’s like a twinkle in the sky. To those people, it’s a light in the distance, but to plenty of other people it’s an entire universe.
Beyond the half-hour segments of televised coverage, there is a whole world of poker that embraces success and failure, that rewards careful study and good play, which presents unlimited variations to explore. A world where games are measured in days and weeks, not minutes and seconds. A world where the game takes years to truly learn and a lifetime to master. A world in which those who fully embrace this game of ours are rewarded in return. A world that will pull you in and give you lessons no other game can. Truly a life’s lesson.
It is that world that I know and love. It is that world I have tried to present in this book and it is that world and that game that I encourage you to explore. I have been playing poker for almost three decades now and I have made significant sums of money. The irony, however, is that at the end of the day I won’t remember the millions, or the trophies or the ingenious plays. What I will remember most is a defining moment in my life. A moment that defines my souls existence. The moment I embraced this game of ours and placed in it my heart for keeps sake. That moment I became one with this game. The game that lead me through my childhood, that provided for my loved ones, that saved my very life, that made me the success that I am today. This game of ours that I love so dearly. It defined me.
John “The Greek” Leontakianakos is a professional poker player with 27 years of experience.
