Who is a "professional poker player"?

[Rahatis]

By definitiin the one who makes a living out of it.

 

[pokerdebit]

I am a casual player.
Until my gains increase, I can be more proffesional

 

[Juan Oro]

Who is a "professional poker player" and how much do you think they should earn?

A professional poker player is one whose financial income comes from poker.

The difficult thing is to become a professional player but it is not impossible since of 100% of poker players only 25% are really professionals since the rest are amateurs or addicts to the game (gambling) and most of them are losers. (Read in an article via internet)

So to become a professional player you have to go through a long and disciplined process of gambling and banking, to be able to make a living from this wonderful game called poker.


The smartest thing an "amateur" player can do is to invest the profits from the game in a business that makes more money off the tables while on the way to being a professional player.

 

[Zorba]

See my quote post above yours and try to ask

That's like asking how long is a piece of string, it would depend on how active that professional is, some may play everyday and some may play every other day, it also depends on how that pro lives, some may have a huge mortgage and others may still be living in their mother's basement.

Like everything else in poker, It depends.

 

[Pokerstudy]

Well, first of all I would like to remind you that football was invented in England(United Kingdom of Great Britain). It's the game (originally) played by gentlemen, and the main rules say that the the foot kicks the ball, and no hands involved. This is the objective truth. If you live in the country where football is the *rugby style* game where players are using their hands to carry the ball and use muscles instead of ball control and technique then i believe that something is wrong with logic that says that this game is "FOOTBALL" :ahhhhh: It's kind of logic that is being used when someone is bombing for peace and trying to bring democracy from the place where it has never existed in reality but always exists as a paper myth. That's I believe objective logic(opinion of a independent observer if you wish). Other types of logic also have the right to exist, subjective opinions can't be cancelled or ignored, just because they represent some point of view. However such points of view might have little or no weight, being far away from the truth.

In my post I've compared two not really good things = football and poker. Football is better because you're using your body, you're running, sweating and so on. When we're playing poker we're just sitting = worst type of activity ever. IF we'll think about so called "mind stimulation". Well, poker arithmetic is good for 13-15 y.o. kids, and more to that - you can easily remember main things so you won't even have to calculate odds/outs. After first couple of months playing poker you will quit thinking thoughts like "hey i have 2 spades, 2 more on the flop, 13 in total, so what are my chances to hit the flush on turn or river" - this process will be automated. Rest of the information and signals - it will also be automated during some period of time. SO what kind of progress we're talking about when we're discussing poker pro? THe only thing we can talk about is his bankroll and maybe rank, that's all. Is it useful for society?

Some person compared the poker table with a one seat bicycle, 6 clowns are riding it and during their ride they're playing pick-pocketing tournament with each other, there is a referee in their tourney and they have to pay him a fee. Each clown is trying to look smart and nice so that the referee will give him more points. But the truth is that the referee always wins, and clowns have red noses, such is truth of this game for all participants. ANd for the independent observer who isn't involved in the game it all looks like some stupid circus where 7 clowns are wasting their life time doing nothing useful for society in general and for themselves as a group.

Bicycle owner = poker site or casino = the one who always makes money. It's nice for such business owner to have several such referees, tens of bikes and hundreds of clowns willing to participate. Owner can launch this and enjoy the rake without taking part in the circus. He's a winner. While all other participants are pure losers, doesn't matter if they're winning players, losing players, pros, grinders - it all doesn't matter, they're just different types of losers.

It's a bit sad that such word as propaganda is being replaced today with different words like brand, PR, advertisement and so on. Propaganda explains why poker is cool, it explained years ago why smoking cigarettes is cool, why throwing another $1000 on new smartphone each year is cool.


If something makes you feel cool and you're paying money/time for this, and suddenly you behave like a fan (short of fanatic) maybe it's better to stop and think about real positive and negative sides of what you're doing? I mean some real objective thinking basing on facts, without playing football with hands.

I have thought a tad bit about your reply, and no, I could care less about what someone does with their time, but I do agree what with someone does that is...worthwhile, as an ex-news photographer, I like to think I changed lives for the better, there has been many times in the field where I made ethical calls, (ones that went against whatever you call it, views, viewers interest) where I straight stood on ethics...I will not go into examples, because why.

Point is, I get where you are going on ethics, if Poker was not such a complicated game, full of complex intricacies, I would almost be in full agreement with you lol, considering being a news photog is labeled as being the third most stressful job in US.

Its deeper...I have been around the block and just now studying poker, its deep, its rich, its full of the unknown of the freakin unknown! lol

Lets go back, when I was in field, when I was covering crazy shit...this was my reference

I have shot tons of tragic situations...there is no definitive, just guides, poker at least has guesses.

I will tell you this, I never saw a single point in anyone throwing or kicking a ball as noble as a point vs the aftermath of what I captured as a journalist, the focus of people in whole is effed, the focus is pointed towards elite, where it should be to those who suffered or to "build up". And should be focused on helping. We all should focus on helping, not kicking a ball or being greedy.

Sorry, not really here to talk about all that.

 

[1sunchin]

That's like asking how long is a piece of string, it would depend on how active that professional is, some may play everyday and some may play every other day, it also depends on how that pro lives, some may have a huge mortgage and others may still be living in their mother's basement.

Like everything else in poker, It depends.

So, as I understand, to become a pro, player, according BRM, first of all must have min BR=100*BI of tournaments he's planning to play,and start to play regularly. After some time, if his BR growth, he can play on next level of BI. And so on, while the BR does not increase so that he can take the money out of it for life. As a result, when player can live entirely on the money taken from the BR, while the BR should remain sufficient for his regular game, the player can consider himself a pro.

 

[1KrazyMofo]

I hope to be within the next year or so, I am good enough, just not brave enough.. that's 1 thing holding many of us back I think, I see a lot of solid micro-stakes players with solid ROI's' but they don't venture much over $1 buy-ins and use tickets mostly.

maybe I will make a post when I plan to go ahead with the bankroll building to become a "Pro"

 

[Split]

I don't think professionalism is measured in earnings
I think it is more correct to measure it in winrate, if a player has a winrate more than an average player, it means he is already partly professional at a long distance, of course

 

[Zorba]

A professional player is one who shows the right skills and makes a profit every month.

Making a $0.01 profit in a month is still a profit but will not sustain a livelihood, so that's not the definition of a professional.

:top:

So, as I understand, to become a pro, player, according BRM, first of all must have min BR=100*BI of tournaments he's planning to play,and start to play regularly. After some time, if his BR growth, he can play on next level of BI. And so on, while the BR does not increase so that he can take the money out of it for life. As a result, when player can live entirely on the money taken from the BR, while the BR should remain sufficient for his regular game, the player can consider himself a pro.

Yes, It basically boils down to being able to maintain a BR as well as have all of their living and work expenses covered by winnings from poker and if good enough sponsorship, if they work out a sponsorship deal that alone may cover living expenses so there is less pressure on the BR.

:top:

 

[1sunchin]

I don't think professionalism is measured in earnings
I think it is more correct to measure it in winrate, if a player has a winrate more than an average player, it means he is already partly professional at a long distance, of course

Who is an "average player" or how measure winrate of an "average player"? In what kind of poker? In what room or country or worldwide?

 

[1sunchin]

Making a $0.01 profit in a month is still a profit but will not sustain a livelihood, so that's not the definition of a professional.

:top:

Yes, It basically boils down to being able to maintain a BR as well as have all of their living and work expenses covered by winnings from poker and if good enough sponsorship, if they work out a sponsorship deal that alone may cover living expenses so there is less pressure on the BR.

:top:

On my mind, most of pro now have contracts with poker rooms, or forums, or shows, or casinos, or advertising agencies and it's one of signs of pro.

 

[MishkaZL]

So how much must be bankroll for begin play as pro?

I think $ 1,000 is enough.

 

[Mati532]

In my opinion, he is the one who makes a living with poker, that is to say, poker would be his job ... For example, a Dzeros wave!