Many people dream of being able to get total control over their lives. The prospect of being able to set your own working hours, having to answer only to yourself and avoiding that daily commute are undoubtedly appealing. If you could also combine this with a glamorous lifestyle, jetting off to exotic locations and mixing with interesting, driven people it sounds just about perfect.
This is exactly why so many people each year decide to try their hand at joining the professional poker fraternity and have the ultimate aim of not just earning a living, but winning a life-changing amount of money.
But, just like anything that is really worth having, building a career in poker takes hard work, dedication and more than a little bit of luck. There are certain building blocks that can help to achieve the goal, and there are also many pitfalls along the way. But, by following some basic principles, it will put anyone in a fairly good position.
Love the game
For anyone to just become fully proficient at poker, let alone to reach a professional standard, they’re going to have to play it a great deal. So while some people may feel that the prospect of the potential rewards awaiting them is motivation enough, it generally isn’t. A genuine passion for playing is always going to be essential.
Focus on one particular area
One of the great things about the game today is that it offers anyone who is keen on becoming a poker pro more variations than ever before. These include sit and go games, cash games and multi table tournaments, both online and in live games. All require slightly different approaches and mindsets so it’s very difficult to become fully proficient in all areas. As an added bonus, there are shortcuts that can be taken too. Online players can now use a poker odds calculator to give themselves a better chance of beating their opponents, this tool can also be a big help in honing your skills and knowledge so you feel more confident.
Practice, practice, practice
This links with the first point in that there is no substitute for putting in the hours. Yes, it’s important to also read deeply on the subject and absorb as much information and advice as possible. But it’s only by putting themselves in live play situations that players can truly improve their game. It also has to be meaningful practice, pitted against players who are as good, or even better, if lessons are really to be learned along the way.
Find a coach
Another piece of the jigsaw can be provided by finding a professional player who is willing to offer coaching and advice. This can come in various forms, from benefiting from their personal experience of the game to helping their pupil to run through previous hands they’ve come across in games and analysing if they could have been played better. Coaching will certainly cost money, but it’s better to regard it as an investment rather than an expense.
Do the math
Like all gambling games, poker is all about probabilities. What makes this particularly difficult is that all the players are working with incomplete information. Everyone knows what the hole cards are, but what opponents are holding will remain a mystery until it is revealed. But studying the general odds and probabilities of poker will prove vital in decision-making. There’s no denying that this is the most challenging part of learning to play, but it’s also one of the most important.
Treat it like a business
Often there can be quite a significant amount of blurring in would-be professionals’ minds over whether the poker they’re playing is a leisure or a business activity. The latter is very much the case and needs to be approached as such. That’s why a robust business plan is essential, even down to required winnings per hour to hit the projected annual income from the game. It’s also important to factor in living expenses and other costs that game earnings are going to have to cover.
Take care of your bankroll
Poor bankroll management has been the downfall of many players’ ambitions to become professional. The accepted wisdom is that having savings of six months’ living expenses put aside is essential. This is quite apart from the money needed to play. Gradually building up the amount used to bet is the best course of action. Many beginners also use the three chip technique of damage limitation. This involves giving oneself three “lives” in any game. For each hand that should have been won but was lost, a life is lost. When all three are gone it’s time to give up until another day.
Think about staking
Any players who have shown promise in tournaments stand a very good chance of finding a backer who will put up the money for them to play. The upside is that it’s not the player’s money that’s at risk, the downside is that any winnings have to be split two or more ways. Some players also find it a little inhibiting playing with others’ money, but just as many find it a liberating experience.
It’s important to point out, without crushing anyone’s dreams, that many would-be poker professionals simply find that it’s not a sustainable way to earn a living. But many more do succeed and, for the lucky ones, most wonder why they took so long to make the leap.
