Playing Poker Professionally

[InfinityTCG]

I stumbled onto this thread as I was looking for an open face chinese poker thread and it provided some interesting reads... I am currently asking myself this question of if this is for me and possible to make a living.

I've personally come to the conclusion that in texas hold em would be far harder as the skill curve for this game is much higher due to the amount of years and information available online so I've learned to work on different variants of poker and try that way first. Overall I would say I am somewhat gifted in majority of card games so that is why I personally am giving it a try.

 

[Rijckenborg]

I don't want to play poker professionally.This article explained well how hard it is.
That kind of life is not for me at all.
I like to play poker as a hobby and it will remain a hobby.

 

[AgentXtreme]

I think being professional requires a lot of work on you at first and on your game because it's a really huge decision .It's quite hard but not impossible to achieve , I believe all these professional players we see on TV , one day they were just amateurs like us with ambition and power will and made their way.
One day I really want to play poker professionally and I have a lot of work and a long way .

 

[pcryan]

The author begins with a rather hackneyed aphorism as a sub-title and offers not much else than his opinion and reguritation of the links insesrted into the article. He makes emphasis on being a successful poker player but does not lay out any criteria of what a successful player is. According to this author, some one making a living at poker is not a successful player. I can only conclude that he is some what star struck. That unless your name is a household word you are not a professional.
We are asked to "take it (the wisdom/information) from somone who has succeeded in playing professionally for two years" who's credentials other than some vague claims he (emphasis on 'he' ) makes but who fails to put his name to the article so that one may verify the article's validity and authority.
My opinion on the matter is that playing poker for a living is a lot like acting for a living; you must be very,very passionate about your work.
I conclude with this anecdote. I came to know an actor who frequented an undergroud poker game I played at. He had a major support role in a TV series called "Nikita" and a few years later a lead roll in a spin off from the series. He was from LA but the show was produced and filmed in Toronto. He once said that there were probably only 1% of all actors who had full time jobs in the industry.

This. The article is incredibly superficial. With dedication, of course a person with the right mix of stamina, smarts and discipline can succeed. I disliked especially the comment that the game is always getting harder to succeed in. Can't be true. New entrants are always coming in, lose, and drop out. Really, the successful are the ones who analyze and adapt to the style of their opponents.

 

[mtl mile end]

Articles with phrases like "I think" and "in my opinion" really need to be credited to an author - not to mention "take it from someone who has succeeded in playing professionally for the past 2 years."

It's a short introductory article to a huge subject.

One clarification; this is obviously an article about being a cash table grinder. Do professional tournament players really exist? Do many of them thrive?

 

[Edison A]

we can not ignore also that some false propaganda of success also influence so that people think about dedicating themselves to play professionally, but they do not say the bad side of the game, people who have been left with nothing to play without stopping and without financial discipline, also people have to know that professional elite players have sponsors who give financial support, not everything that shines is gold, professional poker players also lose a lot of money

 

[grogrich]

For me personally, poker is a hobby. to become a professional you need to be able to suffer defeat and have a big bankroll. also my idea that in online poker, the professional will not become.

 

[vitalicharniak]

You have to understand perfectly what changes everything in this world, and the style of poker games as well.

 

[VovanBaron]

Wow!This is really cool topic and I have read most of the quots of our club members.That was very interesting cause I you know people thoughts you can discover them better.Personnaly I think that life of poker pro is different ,in general it is another life of tough decisions and liberty,happiness and loneliness...I understand some poker players that say that to be a pro is not for every body cause it is another social reality and circle of people,it is another mental reality.

 

[charlesdenis]

without any doubt being a professional player is very difficult, they are for the few.
At the moment I am not working, my financial life is difficult, so I have been investing in poker, and I have seen that through it I can have a financial life, so I am studying for it. I've been withdrawing a few dollars from my account, for personal expenses that I needed, so I ended up clearing the account, but I'm trying to play again and set up a bankroll.
This having to withdraw from the account is a problem, because without a job for your personal expenses is not right, so drop a job to live poker, you have to think often.

 

[jhunnyorcruz]

To become a professional you need to check your ego and play only at the limits you know you can And when you feel ready to move up, you have to make sure you've built up a strong enough bankroll

 

[migesan]

it says, through the thorn to the star , a lot, a lot of effort and work and the renunciation should become a professional, some succeed it quickly because they are born for such things, someone has a little way, and as far as I'm concerned, it's good for me to fix the budget, although I'd like to find a big tournament to see what it looks like to play with professionals.

 

[GRIN281289]

work should quit only when you start to win big money (once) . but keep in mind these players are very few places on the order of 1-2 %. good luck to all in your poker career

 

[Ahoy]

I think we all were/are in the position where we want to become pros one day but it takes WAY more than just winning hands... Its dedication, family support and all the negative aspects we have to face and overcome to be succesfull..

I also heard that when you are pro, your bankroll is your whole net worth. I think POLK said it in one of his vlogs. I can understand that... Once you become professional gambler you win and loose big alike but if you are good enough then enjoy the sweet life :icon_cycl

 

[IamVALHALLA]

I made a $100 deposit at pokerstars one week ago, and now my balance currently sits at $240 after many many hours of playing.

I do play very tight and try so hard to play intelligently... but at this rate I can't imagine how much I would need to play (and at what stakes) in order to genuinely live off the game as a Pro.

 

[RidersFan]

I think there are a lot of people who don’t realize the amount of hours that you would need to put in to be a professional. Beyond playing 8-12 hrs a day with one day off a week, you need to study the game 2-3hrs day to keep up with the increase in skill in the player pool.

 

[fabiancampos]

what a good theme, I remember several years ago I wanted to live mainly online game. Although I think the live game is more interesting but more demanding in the physical aspect, because spending several hours playing, stressed, with the possibility of losing your working capital is not profitable in any case. I think the game has to be taken with moderation, and make it fun, never live from it, but make it a hobby, because if we analyze many young players of great level they retire soon, undo poker, and there are many who achieved everything , and so they lost it. So have fun!

 

[albosaltenio]

excellent article, you should leave many things aside and dedicate yourself completely to poker and be very disciplined.
I often made a profit but as the article says due to problems outside of poker I had to get out of the cashier everything I earned and I could never build a big bank.
I think that there are very few players who manage to really live of poker and are also people who resign many moments of their life time.
so for the moment I am comformed with being able to solve some things of my daily life with the little I earn from poker.

 

[ZARGA123]

Poker is a game and should not be a full time job otherwise we loose the love of the game and get the routine of the Job I find poker so funny and I dream to win one day a Live Tournament not for the money or the Glory of it but for Fun. Keep it Funny we do not need to be professional players:ciao:

 

[Edison A]

This is an article that can not be missing in any forum because it touches the topic that many people are interested in and puts different points of view so that people know what poker players think before making a decision to play professionally, we should not be selfish with our experiences are good or seam bad, the most experienced we have to bring this kind of knowledge to new players, maybe they will serve a lot, most players who started playing online poker many years ago we had this kind of information on any page on the web now with the advance of the Internet you can read very good articles in the forums that help you evolve to be a good player, although in poker you never finish learning

 

[Edison A]

Playing Poker Professionally.

I also want to share another idea, not only see the negative side of the poker world, because if you are a player who has many aspirations and a lot of desire to win you can also do well! .. but you would have to apply the number one rule in any area to which you are going to dedicate ... either in the game or in any other activity that you would like to undertake that is the discipline, a player without discipline does not get very far, discipline to take care of your Bankroll, the majority of the players fail for that reason ... for not managing your Bankroll well ... I think that there is the success of a player, in the discipline, another very important issue that should not be left out is the constant preparation, never stop studying and never forget its origins

 

[effece]

Being a poker professional is not an easy task, not only because of what is explained in the article in terms of maintaining motivation, discipline, creativity and being adaptable. At certain levels the pressure of playing in one hand giant figures ends up breaking the psychological health of anyone. this without counting that the routine of life is tied to the calendar of events. you end up moving a lot of money from which hopefully a small percentage will be profit.

 

[AizenFalck]

Thats a great article. As it says, at the beginning, I thought that playing poker was just about knowing the odds and play and you will become millionire in no time, but it is not like that. It is a hard carrer that must need discipline and self motivation to succeed. You must be able to play for long hours, tio have a lot of upsides downs and something Im not familiar with but it is good to learn about the bankroll management. I think it is like this casino folks that if they do not administrate well the money, they lose it in no time. I havent been there but heard a lot of cases of people losing their minds and houses because of their addiction to gamble. I hope poker is not like that and also hope to not make any nonsense waste of money if I get some one day as a poker player

 

[Mikeloti13]

Im going to give my humble opinion on this topic. I think if you consider playing professionally, you should really have years of experience or incredible one of a kind talent. But i think you should do your regular job as a secure income and poker as another income. Playing online can be very profitable or live aswell. But poker is a huge risk so you should always have another safe income. But also my friend, not really close but a friend, bought a bunch of books about poker, studied them for over a year before playing any poker. Then he quit his job and played poker full time. He made almost a million in the first year playing cash games in my country.

 

[damgold]

I think that for professional poker you have to play very well and trust the way you play. If you trust what you know about poker and trust your game you can be professional yes if it does not work just play for fun.