SHARKSTAKING
learn and pure hard work usually makes for a competent stakee”. Sadly there are plenty of scammers in the world, so
Baby Sharks Sharkstaking began in 2009, created by two poker
players from Manchester. The business initially started just five MTT (multi-table tournament) players, but now stakes over 60 players from all over the world, focusing on high volume players who have the right attributes to succeed in the ever-evolving world of poker.
“Ego is a huge problem in poker”
“Finding players is the essence of the business,”
explains Masterman. “Much of our recruitment is conducted through poker forums, online advertising and sometimes good old word-of-mouth. We tend to only stake players who have a reasonable track record. For a cash game player this would be something in the realms of a 50,000 hand sample at the right stakes. For a tournament player we’d want conclusive evidence of consistent results - something in the ballpark of positive ROI (Return On Investment) over 5%. We’re constantly striving to find new methods of finding potential stakes, so acquisition
through social media is very much part of our plans as we expand. “Ego is a huge problem in poker,” answers
Masterman when asked what makes a good stake. “We won’t stake anyone with an ego or sense of entitlement. You only have to look at the pool of high stakes players from five years ago and compare it to today’s pool. Most of the class of 2007 are now broke and bitter, while the guys that are still at the top are the ones that have worked hardest and adapted to the changes in the game. In a nutshell we want players who are obviously capable, willing to learn, and psychologically resilient to the downswings, while being able to put in the hours. There is no ‘perfect’ profile as everyone has their own way of playing poker and managing tilt, but I’d say a combination of sound psychology, willingness to
various measures are put in place with the poker rooms to ensure all is secure. “We’ve had a few instances where players have tried to chipdump to friends or other poker accounts but they’re soon caught and have their accounts locked,” says Masterman. “Sometimes people will make up results to try and prove they have more experience than they really do. Again, they usually don’t get far.”
IRL Staking live play is something Sharkstaking will be
taking a closer look at towards the end of the year, but knows that this is a business perfectly suited to online right now: “The business does translate more smoothly to online
considering the potential volume of play online and the ability to recruit players based on real statistics through poker trackers and various data mining sites,” says Masterman. “Live staking would mean having total faith in stakes who would have to account for their sessions individually. The accuracy of reporting would be very tricky to manage and we’d have to establish a rake deal with the live venue.
“Our aim is to give players the training, bankroll and confidence to play optimally”
“There’s also the issue of volume; some of our
players can play 100,000 hands per month online whereas they’d have to play for about two years in a live setting to hit that kind of volume. That said, it’s universally acknowledged that live poker games are a lot easier than their online counterparts and at the end of the day we’re in it to make money. If it’s profitable we’ll certainly look into it and see what’s achievable in the future.” Right now Sharkstaking is in a ‘consolidation
phase’ following a rough ride over the past 12 months for poker in general. However, Masterman feels the future is looking rosy: “With impending US legislation surely set for next year that should create another poker boom; this can only be good for the industry as a whole, especially for a company such as ourselves. While staking isn’t for everyone, it’s a huge market which has been relatively untapped, and we’re pleased to be at the forefront. Hopefully we can press home our advantage once the markets open up allowing us to scale up the business across new territories and establish staking as a credible option for every poker player of every skill level.”
MAY 2012 69
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