Chris Ferguson
I’d come across several blogs pointing out do’s and don’ts for freelance writing. Then I didn’t think about my own run-ins with different people as clients not to mention the products that they want me to work on. It’s funny how when you’re just starting to get hold of your freelancing career, you realize there’s so much to learn out there.
My first client is a poker site account. They wanted to put in a tab on their site for poker-related articles. And mind you, these articles are some sort of press releases. For somebody who’s more into literature, poetry, and the arts, the idea of writing about gambling is like a pie in the sky. But in a freelancing writing career, something about you has to give. For me, it’s my self-restrained idea of adventure. The result is it made me want to travel alone to a place I barely know of. I don’t know but I really think it was that trigger.
Anyway, all throughout my reading, I learned some famous people in poker. I wanted to understand what made them hooked to the game so I read up about their past. I bumped into Chris Ferguson and how he plays poker intellectually. He’s believed to have been using some self-conjured theories in poker as much as he does for his profession; Ferguson has an exemplary academic backgound. Some professional poker players are coming from communist countries. And I remember one recounting not being able to afford buying a ball for a toy when he was a child; so he resorted to blowing up some cattle’s innards and making a ball out of it; he now lives in a mansion, driving a Ferrari.
Interesting I’d say but it’s not just that. If only it were… I have to learn to play the game myself; otherwise I won’t know what the rules of the game are and that translates to not knowing what I’m writing about. Poker is not a theoretical game; it’s a skill-based game and writing about it demands learning the skills myself.
Right now I can’t say I’m a pro but I pretty much learned a lot of poker; thanks to my client!
