If you had told a multi-country financier named Matthew Hilger in the 1990s that he would become famous by writing a book about online poker, he would have probably laughed. Hilger went from a boy playing cards in the woods with his buddies to a pro earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in poker. It’s not your average origin story.
In this article, we talk about Hilger's book Internet Texas Holdem and the man who wrote it.
Matthew Hilger’s Backstory
Hilger was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Already as a child, he showed interest in gambling. With their peers, they ran into the forest to play cards or dice for minimal bets.
As a teenager, he worked part-time at a movie theater. One day, he invited friends over for a poker night in the projection room. On this day, Hilger's boss decided to conduct a check, but everything turned out okay. The players managed to escape detection.
Hilger received a Bachelor's degree in Finance from the University of Georgia in 1989. He then earned a Master's degree in Finance from Georgia State University in 1991. Still not finished, he obtained a Master's degree in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1996.
After completing his studies, he worked at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) in numerous positions. He later got a job at Chiquita Brands International, a food manufacturer and distributor primarily known for bananas. There, Hilger worked in different parts of the Western Hemisphere, from Cincinnati to Costa Rica and Argentina.
At the same time, Hilger played live poker wherever he found it.
This brought him a stable additional income. At some point, Hilger began to note that poker had become more interesting to him than his main job. He looked forward to the end of his workweek so he could immerse himself in the game.
With the transfer to Argentina in 2000, spending time on hobbies became problematic. They didn't play live poker there. At this point, an acquaintance spoke about online poker. Hilger was skeptical about the idea at first. He believed that live communication was important in the game. However, after trying it, he was pleasantly surprised by how everything worked.
After making his first deposit of $600 at Planet Poker, within two weeks, he won over $5,000. On one of the first poker sites that ever went online, Hilger’s potential was obvious. Over the next few years, Hilger learned the intricacies of the game. In 2005, he published his best-selling book, Internet Texas Holdem.
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Internet Texas Holdem: Summary of Contents
In the preface, the author states that his book is a comprehensive guide for poker players of different levels. Everyone will find something useful in it and will be able to notice mistakes in their game that haunted Hilger. The effectiveness of all the methods and theories described is proven by his 7,000 hours of playing and profit.
Internet Texas Holdem consists of:
- Discussions of a variety of concepts and strategies
- Overview of basic concepts (probability, pot odds, and equity, bluffing, raising)
- Consideration of slowplay and "cheap play" strategies
- Compiling starting hand ranges
- Analysis of actually played hands
Matthew Hilger's book is a great place to start learning poker. Of course, he is far from the only poker author.
This is Where to Start Learning Poker
The best place to start is by reading feature articles. They structure a large layer of useful knowledge that will help you get off to a successful start.
But, if you already feel that the basics are covered, start somewhere on the poker ladder. Freerolls are the lowest level but offer a costless way to practice. After that, the micro-stakes are the obvious next step. Getting your win rate where it needs to be and practicing more will take you higher up the ladder.
If you have any questions related to online poker, feel free to contact GipsyTeam Support. Its employees are available all week, 24 hours a day, and respond immediately. They will help you with deposits and cashouts, or quickly solve many other poker problems.
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