Playing Professionally – Part 3

So you want to be a professional Texas Hold ‘Em player? And why shouldn’t you? After all, it’s a great job, you get to do what you love to do, and, who knows, you might even be on television some day at the final table of some WSOP event. Everyone knows the pro’s make a ton of money, we see someone winning big cash prizes every week on television, and so why shouldn’t that someone be you?

Well, before you quit your day job and sell the house, consider long and hard what you are about to embark on as a professional poker player. Here are a few things that you should consider:

1. How much experience do you really have under your belt? If you had to make a guess at the number of hours you have been playing at real money tables, what would that number be? If it is not in the thousands-of-hours, you may be heading for trouble. We specifically used the words “real money tables” for a reason. Many players learn the game of Texas Hold ‘Em at online play money tables. For some of these players they do very well, winning many hands. But the truth is playing at a real money tables for real money is not at all the same as playing at practice tables. The reason for this is simple: Players at practice tables are not betting their hard-earned cash. People at real money tables are! So, before you move out and begin playing full time for real money, you owe it to yourself to have played many hours at real money tables, at various levels of blinds, and with various players. Not just your home game gang, but strangers as well.

2. How much money do you have to use as seed money for your big jump to professional poker? This is an important question and should be considered seriously before you make the leap. You will need at least (at the very least) enough money to live on and pay your bills while you get started. You will also need enough cash to pay for several entrance fees into tournaments, as well as pay for your food and lodging and travel. Do not expect to win. Be prepared to lose the fees and then some, and you must have a reserve of cash in order to go to the next tournament and the next and the next.

3. Understand completely, that it is possible to have long runs of unplayable cards. Not one day, once a week, but it can go on for several days in a row which will severely hamper any chance of success. You have to be able to absorb those losses cash-wise as well as emotionally.

4. When you sit down to play, understand that the blinds can kill you, especially when you’re having a bad run of cards. You have to be willing and experienced enough to steal the blinds once or twice an hour or you are all but done.

5. Can you treat your poker playing as a business? This is a must, not only for tax purposes but also to graph your profit and losses during a certain period of time. Are you able to keep track of which tournaments you want to enter, what the fees are, what the dates are, etc. And then budget your money wisely enough so that you can pay the fees and be there on time? Many professional players will tell you that playing full-time is no cake-walk, and that it has to be treated as a job, as a business, if you want to make enough money in winnings to continue playing for any length of time.

6. Do you have the discipline needed to sit hour after hour folding weak hands, while still maintaining your focus on the game and the players at your table? This may sound easy, but it is not. Think about it.

7. Have you been playing in live casinos or has all your experience been online? It is crucial that if you want to play in live casinos, in live tournaments or cash games, that you get some real life experience. Learning to play online is one thing, but being in a casino, playing against experienced players, is something else. If you need real life training, then play the small limit games first. Keep your job and play on the weekends until you feel as comfortable at a real table as you do in front of a computer monitor. Learn how to pick up tells and learn, also, what your own tells may be in real life. This can save you tons of money.

8. If you are planning on being on the poker circuit (meaning traveling from one city to the next) will you be happy living out of a suitcase and eating in restaurants? Don’t overlook this issue. Will you miss your easy chair and your garden?

9. Lastly, if you are married or have a significant other, talk to them and see how they feel about your plan. Will they be supportive or will they resist? This is something you need to know before you get too far into your journey.

Once you have thought through every aspect of  playing poker for a living and have practiced for hours upon hours upon hours, then and only then might you be able to take on the big boys. Don’t rush into it as you will lose alot of money on your journey to the top of the tables.