The words ‘poker professional’ form an overused term in poker. Armed with a sense of romanticism and mystique, it provides people with a false sense of bravado, that they are intelligent and shrewd enough to make their way in the world at the expense of others and embark on a 'career' and 'occupation' that so many people would love to do. The stark truth, however, is that few can adorn their résumé as such with genuine conviction, and those who do are often surfing a wave of optimism and delusion derived from a fluke tournament win or good run at the cash tables.

At Black Belt Poker, we wanted to put people to the test, to both challenge those in the limelight and carve open a path for the talented, but so far unknown players. The Grading is thus considered to be one of the most gruelling, strenuous exercises in poker, but is one in which the participants find out the answer to two vital questions: one, am I as good as I think I am, and two, what are the weaknesses in my game? At this point, the player can then set about finding those holes and filling those leaks and, with the help of his/her fellow Graders, further their game and start fulfilling their capabilities as a poker player.

Of course, the promise of improvement isn’t enough alone to entice the modern day poker world, and so as a reward for 480 hours of dogged, but constructive play at the tables, Black Belt Poker were offering the three best performers the chance to go to the 2010 Irish Open as a Blue Belt sponsored pro. Anyone else who completed the six-week objective would be allocated 22,000 Belt Points, which equates to four months of Green Belt maintenance, meaning that even if they did fall short, they would still be rewarded for their hard work.

Although 20 players (the Dublin Two-O) were selected from the initial Pre-Grading, there were several inevitable dropouts resulting in a depleted, but credible field of 16. Those who emerged the other side were united in their achievement, and could take comfort in how far they had come. Some struggled to keep up, others felt out of their depth, but whatever hurdles they faced, all 16 were able to survive to the end, battered and bruised, but proud of reaching their goal nonetheless.

Those 16 are as follows:

Ermyas Birru
Andy Brisland
Jamie Burland
Mike Carroll
Carey Hollick
Gavin Hall
Gerard Harraghy
John Hayes
Rob Jarrett-Smith
Simon Mairs
Martin Rice
Joe Roberts
Owen Robinson
Mike Shaw
Kevin Williams
Ramsey Ajram

On Wednesday, March 24, the jury will convene at Black Belt HQ to analyse the data and discuss the performances of all 16 players. As previously published, the Graders will be judged on three equally weighted categories: poker, commitment, and contribution.

The latter of those involves submitting content. Whilst various ‘so-called’ pros would struggle to string an intelligent sentence together about the games’ intricacies, we witnessed a number of articles that suggested the Graders had thought thoroughly about what they were writing. Feel free to check them out and leave any feedback or questions in the comments box at the foot of their respective page.

‘Adjusting: Making the Transition from Tournaments to Cash’ by Mike Shaw
‘Spectacles’ by Mike Carroll
‘Wax On, Wax Off: Stages of Poker Evolution – Part One’ by Gavin Hall
‘Wax On, Wax Off: Stages of Poker Evolution – Part Two’ by Gavin Hall
‘Wax On, Wax Off: Poker Tracking Software – Part One’ by Gavin Hall
‘Wax On, Wax Off: Poker Tracking Software – Part Two’ by Gavin Hall
‘So Long & Thanks for All the Fish’ by Robert Jarrett-Smith
‘Game Selection’ by Joe Roberts
‘The Hand Exchange – Part One’ by Joe Roberts & Mike Shaw
‘The Hand Exchange – Part Two’ by Joe Roberts & Mike Shaw
‘Equity Explained’ by Mike Shaw
‘The Misunderstood Concept of Implied Odds – Part One’ by Kevin Williams
‘The Misunderstood Concept of Implied Odds – Part Two’ by Kevin Williams
‘The Misunderstood Concept of Implied Odds – Part Three’ by Kevin Williams
‘Women in Poker’ by Carey Hollick

And there are more on the way post-Grading in the form of strategy articles, ‘Your Move’, ‘The Hand Exchange’ and a new feature called ‘Hand for Hand’!

Graders were also invited to write blogs, and in all, 11 players decided to share their trials and tribulations, as well as any obstacles they faced along the way. All blogs entries from the Grading are now available on the Graders’ board.

There is no doubt that this year’s Graders were fully committed to the cause, if not more so than last year, and possessed a genuine hunger to improve. They recognised what the process could offer and were truly ready to embrace the challenge. Although Graders were only asked to attend two workshops, most came to all three, and were keen to put forward ideas and debate any subjects that cropped up. Back home, they then proceeded to offer their suggestions on the Graders’ board, analysing hands and discussing topics ranging from poker tracking stats to which players to avoid.

Unfortunately, not all of the Graders can win a trip to Dublin, but we sincerely hope that everyone who participated in the Grading were able to take something away from the process, whether that be Belt Points, access to like-minded players, different thought processes, or simply a rejuvenated interest in the game. Either way, the message from Black Belt Poker is clear: as the old cliché goes, ‘poker’s a hard way to make an easy living’, but if you put in the time and continue to look for different ways in which to improve your game, then there’s no reason why you can’t become a much better overall player, if not a ‘poker professional’.