Making a Living Playing Online Poker: What you need to know

[Tammy]

It's a question you see often when you frequent online poker forums: what do I need to do to play poker professionally? The bottom line is, playing online poker isn't for everyone. You need to have the characteristics. Can you be brutally honest with yourself? Because the game will be. Are you going to be able to weather the down-swings, the long, boring stretches of card dead obscurity? The perseverance to keep grinding; the discipline to study and evaluate your game on a regular basis?

We put together an extensive guide for the budding professional. Everyone thinking about going pro should read our tips: Make A Living Playing Online Poker - Play Poker For A Living

Do you have what it takes? Did we leave anything out? Let us know how your poker journey is going. Do you play professionally or semi-professionally? How to persevere?

 

[Gorbonz4988]

I think this a great not only a reality check bc let's face it a lot of us in a heart beat would love to go professional online, but you will not win all the time and yes your gonna have bad days. I think on top of everything that was said I also think this if your gonna play cash for example well what's your budget for each day? So let's say 600 for week so u might play for cash .50 to 1$ blinds maybe set a goal 150 to 175 now if u can make that 4 times outta week and then budget your tournaments I say great for u it's just though when that time really not going well for you, no matter what you do we all been there. I think that's where u have to take a break. You come back smarter stronger when ur able to take a break for not only because of losing but for perseverance.

 

[Luvart]

Poker is a very hard way to make a decent living.

With hard work, dedication, emotional stability and massive amounts of grinding, someone can reach to a level where they can make a solid monthly income to provide for themselves. The poker lifestyle is great, but it needs a lot of perseverance and dedicstion to reach it.

 

[Salavat Kozhakhmetov]

in online poker, it is very important to the human condition, not only mental but also physical, now very few people earn playing online poker, unlike a professional from a simple player that he also loses as an Amateur, but at a distance a professional always makes a profit, a simple player is very difficult to cope with Tilt,stress and often many give up in this situation,unlike the Pro player who can overcome everything,the most important is patience,calmness and attitude,unfortunately sometimes very difficult to comply with these 3 rules!

 

[Dailon Arroyo Blandon]

It's a great article ... what I love most is that it says things such as they are ... without selling smoke and sowing false expectations in people ... It's clear that if you can live playing poker ... but It is also very clear that it is not for everyone and that the road is not easy ... I am left with the concept of "self-discipline" it will be a pillar on the road to success ..!

 

[pirateglenn]

Tammy and Debi have posted one of the best and comprehensive guides here, it is excellent and i completely agree, one of the main points i picked out are perseverance alongside having the right set up at home - those ingredients are vital..

 

[cwdignus]

this topic is very enlightening and comes to confirm what I think about living online poker, here in Brazil many people are dropping everything to venture to live online poker. well according to the topic and also with my own thinking about this subject live online poker is a venture like any other business that requires specific knowledge and skills to achieve success, with a difference of performance scenario ... we live in the real scenario and we started working on the virtual scenario .... for me that I am from a previous generation to the internet ... working in the virtual world is something that requires a paradigm break .... and the biggest lesson about poker in that text for me is: "courage is not necessarily the absence of fear." (Doyle Brunson)

 

[No1eJoker]

I just meant to write it, I think patience and self-control (self-discipline) is a key to success in poker and to become a professional poker player. These two things are crucial because many players lose control after playing poker a couple of hours..

 

[pirateglenn]

Playing Poker for a living...

As part of my second November Forum challenge response, i would catagorise myself as playing semi professionally, for the past 5 years i have supplemented my income with a number of good cashes, my ratio in terms of ITM for the past 23 months has 1 in 4 games so i am aiming to take the big step forward next year and play full time.
The guide produced by Tammy and Debi really addresses the key points and potential pitfalls of not being prepared before taking on this challenge.
I intend to produce a series of results from next April and whilst i choose to hide my results on search engines like sharkscope and OPR, its my intention to provide full details to selected potential backers.

The keys areas from the guide that i prioritise are:

1. Having what you need to play online
2. Having the right personality
3. Perseverence and self discipine
4. Working on my game outside of playing (self analysis)

Good Luck to anyone else looking to undertake this potentially life changing challenge!

 

[Chalada12]

that s a wonderful guide , that s true everyone would love to be professioan and start winning huge ammount ou money , but also Poker is a very hard mental game , so any bad step can get you in 0 . So from what i have read in the guide , it s possible but u must have what it takes to play , be intelligent , never get personnal and to always learn .

 

[RidersFan]

Online poker requires a lot of studying and constantly working on and changing your game as the meta is always changing.
I don’t think I could do it for a living because I just like gambling too much and that’s what makes it fun for me. Even if I could keep up with studying and sticking to strategy and bankroll management I think I would get burnt out on the grind and lose my passion for the game.

 

[aditzaH8]

I've come to understand,after trying to play online poker for a living,that is very difficult in succeeding in this game!Especially playing against so many players that have so many styles of play.And of course what I've come to realise is that PATIENCE is the most important weapon an online poker player should have!Have a good day and good luck at the tables!

 

[ammje]

Thank you very much for the guide, very wide and very good, it is always very good read these items, help you improve a lot.
I play for fun for now, but I like to win a few dollars doing what I love, play poker, and Cardschat is the best that can happen to a player who wants to start small , I hope someday earn enough to be a semi professional player.
I think the two most important things are to persevere, good control of bank, and study everything you can, you always have to learn, like this excellent guide.

 

[Bricxjo]

I did like the article and there was a lot that I agree with in it. It reminded me to play a lot more cash games to increase my bankroll. I need to concentrate more on games that I am good at and less on the fun tourneys that may end in no profit.

There are several players on CC, that I have thought, if they had the proper bankroll could become professional. All it would take is a good cash in a Sunday million tourney. All the practice is there and certainly the CC league is a great training ground. One big win might start the ball rolling.

There are many people I see at CC that are just bubbles at the bottom of the pan in a pot that is ready to boil. All they need is just a touch more heat to send them to the top.

 

[akmost]

I can't reach the site , anyone else?

This is the link :
https://www.cardschat.com/make-a-living-poker.php

 

[Bricxjo]

I can't reach the site , anyone else?

This is the link :
https://www.cardschat.com/make-a-living-poker.php

That link is good to me

I am on laptop, are you on mobile?

 

[akmost]

That link is good to me

I am on laptop, are you on mobile?

On laptop / win10 / chrome I reached the link but I clicked on it like 10 times , a blue screen appeared 9/10 times!

Thanks for the quick response Bricxjo I appreciate it :ciao:

 

[akmost]

Nice article I think it points out the resume of a poker grinder!

It is not the easiest job , it is not the hardest one.The most stressful factor is that literally you run your own business and you have to maintain a healthy ''capital'' in order to make it thrive and return back your life expenses.

The monotony of the job scares me a little bit but I guess it is not for everyone.Recently I was reading about a Finnish poker pro who was the most introverted person and he finds this job the most suitable for him!

A good set up will do the job perfectly, something like a powerful PC / laptop , an anatomic gaming chair maybe 2 screens and internet on the go as a back up plan in case of emergency!

Nice article!

 

[chronical]

There is no way around it. The most importain part about "poker for living" is actualy were you live. Everything else is added bonus and special questions. Iа you live in a country were the avarage salary is ~300$ or less (most of the world basicaly) it's easy, if you can not make 300+/M playing ~6h/d ~24d the problem is not poker, it's really not poker. On the other hand if you are living in US/UK/EU... anywere were the sallary is 2k+ or I guess I mean the survivability minimum then, well it's tougher.
And everything said about swings... well true =) You can not runaway from that, but it's poker and your AA has 10% to lose agains a worst hand possible so...

 

[RiverLord90]

I think a lot of people underestimate just how stressful being a poker professional or semi-professional can be.

My goal is to be a semi-professional and depending on how that goes, make a decision to turn pro.

 

[bakreni]

you also need to have some poker community to talk end learn more about poker alone is to hard

 

[Jay bell]

New member

I like this thread because its honest and going card dead is what stumps me the most simply because when I get AK and A3 goes all in and I lose to its makes me wanna rip my hair out

 

[Tammy]

I think this a great not only a reality check bc let's face it a lot of us in a heart beat would love to go professional online, but you will not win all the time and yes your gonna have bad days. I think on top of everything that was said I also think this if your gonna play cash for example well what's your budget for each day? So let's say 600 for week so u might play for cash .50 to 1$ blinds maybe set a goal 150 to 175 now if u can make that 4 times outta week and then budget your tournaments I say great for u it's just though when that time really not going well for you, no matter what you do we all been there. I think that's where u have to take a break. You come back smarter stronger when ur able to take a break for not only because of losing but for perseverance.

All good points to remember! You should always have a plan set ahead of time, and most importantly: stick to it!

It's a great article ... what I love most is that it says things such as they are ... without selling smoke and sowing false expectations in people ... It's clear that if you can live playing poker ... but It is also very clear that it is not for everyone and that the road is not easy ... I am left with the concept of "self-discipline" it will be a pillar on the road to success ..!

So true, Dailon! Self-discipline is key! I've seen the lack of it ruin many people. Not just in poker, but in life.

As part of my second November Forum challenge response, i would catagorise myself as playing semi professionally, for the past 5 years i have supplemented my income with a number of good cashes, my ratio in terms of ITM for the past 23 months has 1 in 4 games so i am aiming to take the big step forward next year and play full time.
The guide produced by Tammy and Debi really addresses the key points and potential pitfalls of not being prepared before taking on this challenge.
I intend to produce a series of results from next April and whilst i choose to hide my results on search engines like sharkscope and OPR, its my intention to provide full details to selected potential backers.

The keys areas from the guide that i prioritise are:

1. Having what you need to play online
2. Having the right personality
3. Perseverence and self discipine
4. Working on my game outside of playing (self analysis)

Good Luck to anyone else looking to undertake this potentially life changing challenge!

I think you have planned ahead, and are looking at it realistically. That's good. Good luck to you!

Online poker requires a lot of studying and constantly working on and changing your game as the meta is always changing.
I don’t think I could do it for a living because I just like gambling too much and that’s what makes it fun for me. Even if I could keep up with studying and sticking to strategy and bankroll management I think I would get burnt out on the grind and lose my passion for the game.

Yeah, I think I would too! I couldn't grind it out like that for hours on end, day in, day out. So I know that playing professionally wouldn't be for me. Plus well, I'm also not that good.

On laptop / win10 / chrome I reached the link but I clicked on it like 10 times , a blue screen appeared 9/10 times!

Thanks for the quick response Bricxjo I appreciate it :ciao:

That happened to me too, weird! But it loaded properly after I did a hard refresh.

Nice article I think it points out the resume of a poker grinder!

It is not the easiest job , it is not the hardest one.The most stressful factor is that literally you run your own business and you have to maintain a healthy ''capital'' in order to make it thrive and return back your life expenses.

The monotony of the job scares me a little bit but I guess it is not for everyone.Recently I was reading about a Finnish poker pro who was the most introverted person and he finds this job the most suitable for him!

A good set up will do the job perfectly, something like a powerful PC / laptop , an anatomic gaming chair maybe 2 screens and internet on the go as a back up plan in case of emergency!

Nice article!

This is such a great point!! Dusty Schmidt has a great book, maybe you've read it: "Treat Your Poker Like a Business". It's a great approach to take. I think it makes a lot of good sense.

There is no way around it. The most importain part about "poker for living" is actualy were you live. Everything else is added bonus and special questions. Iа you live in a country were the avarage salary is ~300$ or less (most of the world basicaly) it's easy, if you can not make 300+/M playing ~6h/d ~24d the problem is not poker, it's really not poker. On the other hand if you are living in US/UK/EU... anywere were the sallary is 2k+ or I guess I mean the survivability minimum then, well it's tougher.
And everything said about swings... well true =) You can not runaway from that, but it's poker and your AA has 10% to lose agains a worst hand possible so...

That's interesting, I never thought of that! But you bring up a very good point. A $50 cash in the UK or US may not mean quite as much where the cost of living is a lot lower.

you also need to have some poker community to talk end learn more about poker alone is to hard

I know of a pretty cool place...

 

[PsychoVas]

I think that turning pro in poker is as tough as any other kind of proffessional art. Like a magician, a dancer, a singer, an actor etc., you need to constantly improve your skills and intuition, because good poker is more of an art than a science.
That involves dedication- if not devotion, self discipline and constant studying and playing, a large amount of time.
It seems that it is possible, but not easy.

 

[dfarrands]

Thank you for this post. When I have a couple of good sessions in a row and my dreams get too big I will have to come back and reread for a reality check.