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When you’re a fan of a sport, whether that be motor racing, football or poker, you look to the people in that sport for inspiration in your own lives. Whether that be encouraging you to take up that sport yourself, such as taking an amateur poker hobby into a professional career or just mentoring us in our personal achievements. These sports people are inspirations to us.

Not all inspirational poker stories are based around “rags to riches” with impressive wins, though. The players featured below have helped inspire people in all aspects of their lives and well-being with their stories.

This has never been the case with Felipe Ramos, who has become known as one of the nicest guys in the business – both at and away from the poker table. Recognised for his trademark grin, Ramos isn’t one for ending a match in frustration or angrily jumping out of his chair to leave. Instead, he leaves a loss by shaking his opponents’ hands and sincerely wishing them good luck for their match.

Coming from one of the poorest areas of São Paulo, Ramos has taken himself from the slums to riches but, crucially, he has never let this get to his head. He regularly adds advice and techniques he uses in his poker strategy to his Facebook page, allowing others to better their game.

Such strategy advice is key in poker, whether you’re playing the traditional game against real opponents, or enjoying video poker against a machine online or in a casino. One of the biggest lessons Ramos teaches is patience. For example, it’s important to wait for the better hands while playing Texas Hold’em.

But in video poker you’re playing every hand every time you spin the reels. The patience element in video poker means coming to terms with the fact winners come around rarely, while the elusive, highest-paying royal flush is rarest of all.

You must be patient and not get frustrated. However, this is also one of the joys of video poker – you’re always involved in the action! Find out more about how to play video poker and see for yourself.

Just about every one of us has looked in the mirror at our bodies and wished we looked different. Despite this, many of us never actually implement the changes to our diets and lifestyles in order to see the transformation that we dream of. For Steven van Zadellhoff, this body journey took 10 years to perfect and went hand-in-hand with the various ups and downs in his poker career.

This resulted in yo-yo dieting with successes leading to weight gain due to celebrations and bad times cultivating in over-dieting where he starved himself, which he revealed in a personal blog. By showing us his health in relation to where his career was at that time, van Zadellhoff shows us how emotional eating can be damaging to our health. It wasn’t until he reached 40 that van Zadellhoff finally achieved his dream body, which goes to show, that it doesn’t matter what age we are. If you would like to see positive changes in your body, then get started now.

Age is irrelevant when it comes to our health, meaning it’s never too late to start improving your body. With his open attitude and willingness to share both the good and the bad, van Zadellhoff has become an inspiration for both his poker career and personal life.

A highly successful player in his own right, Tommy Angelo has cemented his name in the Poker Hall of Fame not just for his own successes as a player, but as a coach and mentor to others in the sport. Here he particularly focusses on the mental strategies of the game and how to train your brain to react better. Over the years, Angelo has provided one-to-one coaching services to various professional poker players in the business, with past students including David Benefield, Jay Rosenkrantz and Phil Galfond. As well as personal coaching, Angelo has also authored various poker books and training videos, aimed at amateurs looking to improve their skills and even evolve into the professional ranks.

In particular, Angelo likes to look at how our brains and thought processes work, especially when your mind likes to jump to negative thoughts. In fact, Angelo has become so well-known for his various thought-provoking and inspirational quotes, that he’s even added his own quote section to his website. So, if you’re feeling a little dejected with your poker, have a look through his site or buy one of his books. Just a few alterations to the way we think can really improve both our poker game and our lives in general.