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You're crushing the cash game, earning over $20 an hour in your nearby poker room. You're also winning at a high rate online, and scored your second tournament win inside a month. You've swiftly built your poker savings up to $12,793 — and that's in only about three-and-a-half months playing about 25 hours a week.
When you do the math, and consider you could make even more if you moved up in stakes, you figure you could earn the $45,000 a year you currently make in your full-time job. You're thinking it's time to quit that day job you hate and devote all of your time and energy to making a living as a poker player.
I have three words for you: DON'T DO IT!
Or at least think long and hard before you do. I can think of at least 10 reasons why you shouldn't be so eager to leave that day job, even though you might now seem to be ready to be a full-time professional poker player.
Poker Pro
Here are the first five that come to mind.
1. You haven't played enough
PokerPro – PokerTek
Yeah, I know you think you have a great track record over the past three-and-a-half months. But you haven't played nearly enough to know whether you're really beating the game, or whether you've just caught a nice hot streak of good luck.
Playing 25 hours a week for 15 weeks is only about 375 hours of play. That's well short of even the minimum 500 hours that is generally considered enough to start evaluating how you're really doing against the typical game.
2. You don't have enough money in the bank
Sure, almost $13,000 seems like a lot of money. And compared to $0, it is. But that's not enough to live on without a steady, guaranteed income of some sort. Though poker may eventually become that for you, it surely isn't yet.
As a good rule of thumb, you want half a year's expenses and a playing bankroll that can withstand the worst losing streak you can imagine while still being sufficient to keep you comfortably in the chips. You're making $45,000 now. If you're going to start a career as a $1/$2 player, and you're currently living off $45,000 a year, you want to have at least $20,000 in the bank and a playing bankroll of another $20,000.
Keep grinding and winning, and maybe you'll be ready some day. But not now.
3. You aren't that good yet
After three-and-a-half months of winning play, you don't yet have the chops of a professional. You might think you do. But as already noted you haven't been at it long enough to know, even if you're results are very positive.
You haven't faced losing streaks that can last for months or even the better part of the year. How will you hold up? You don't know. You won't know until you have a lot more playing experience under your belt — at least a year's worth — and ideally more than that.
4. You want a steady stream of income
You think you have a steady stream of income, with the almost $13,000 you've earned so far. But it's far from steady. It's supplemental. It's a big difference playing for fun and extra cash and playing to pay your bills. Ask any pro.
Having a steady (non-poker) stream of income can help you keep your poker game at its best, because you'll never face desperation, poverty, or bills you can't pay just because your game has gone south.
5. You want benefits
You've calculated your ability to earn $45,000 to replace your day job. You do the math and it all adds up. But there's a problem. You haven't added in the cost of the benefits you get from your full-time job.
What benefits? Health insurance for one. Also, sick days, vacation, personal days, jury duty, bereavement leave, and the employer's share of unemployment insurance, worker's compensation, and the like.
Don't think those things add up? You're wrong. Just try and purchase health insurance on the open market, or try to play poker when you're really sick, but you need the money. Or when you're faced with wanting to take time off for personal emergencies. Or when you can't afford not to earn your daily nut at the table. Then you'll see how wrong you are.
The income you need to replace isn't less than the money you're earning at the steady day job — it's actually a lot more.
Those are my first five reasons to consider as potential arguments against going pro. Just in case those aren't enough to convince you, next week I'll share five more.
Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold'em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.
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Texas Hold’em - The World’s Favorite Poker game
Texas Hold’em has seen an exponential increase in popularity in the past 15 years. The boom happened in 2003, when amateur player Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event. This was historic because Moneymaker’s win pushed forward the idea that anyone could achieve poker glory. He inspired millions of players to begin playing poker online, as he had won entry into the World Series through an online qualifier. Another factor in poker’s rise to mainstream popularity, was the invention of ‘hole card cameras’ which allowed the television broadcast to show viewers the cards that each player held during the tournament. These two events, which both happened in 2003, encouraged many players to begin to play poker online. However, the game has been around for a lot longer than that. Hold’em poker was invented in Texas in the early 1900’s and was introduced to Las Vegas gambling culture in 1967. Prior to the rise of Texas Hold’em, 5 card draw was the most popular poker game. Smart players realized that Hold’em presented a greater opportunity for strategy, as it has 4 rounds of betting compared to only 2 rounds in draw poker. Since Hold’em offers more opportunity for strategy, that means that professionals had a greater advantage and therefore they heavily promoted Texas Hold’em. With the support of professional poker players, Texas Hold’em became featured in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker in 1972, and has maintained its place as the world’s signature poker game ever since. Millions of players now play poker online every day, and the vast majority of them play Poker Texas Hold’em.
Why play poker?
Poker is a game of excitement, strategy and timing. Players love poker because it offers infinite possibilities. Every situation is unique and making the right moves at the right time is a constant challenge. There is luck involved in poker, and this makes things very interesting and levels the playing field between pros and amateurs. Over the long term, the better players will win, but in one game anything can happen. This is what separates poker from other strategy games such as Chess. In Chess, the better player will win almost 100% of the time. In poker, even beginners can dream big and upset the pros. For some people, playing poker online is a hobby, for others, it’s a profession. Poker can be seen as a metaphor for life itself. The strong defeat the weak, the smart outwit the stupid and the cautious benefit from the failures of the reckless. The poker game can be infinitely complex and intellectually challenging while being fun and exciting at the same time.
The Benefits of Playing Free online poker
There are many reasons to play poker online or live. Some players play for the joy of strategy and others simply play for the excitement of gambling. However, if you’re a beginner, the absolute best way to learn how to play poker is to play for free online you. If you’re new to poker game, you would be making a huge mistake to play for real money right away. Playing free online poker allows you to gain valuable experience without draining your bank account. Also, playing online instead of live in a casino is also a very good way to improve your game. Regardless of your experience level, playing free online poker is a good way to improve your skills, as it allows you to cut out distractions and simply focus on game strategy. When you play poker online, you don’t have to worry about hiding your emotions and keeping a ‘poker face’. Also, the advantage of being able to play from the comfort of your own home also helps to allow better focus. Another benefit of playing poker online is that you can play more than twice as many hands per hour. This is obviously a huge advantage for both beginner players trying to learn, as well as professional players trying to maximize their profits.
Unique Features of Poker Live Pro
Poker Live Pro is not like other free online poker games. The game offers Texas Hold’em and Omaha in one, with authentic deep stack tournaments and all levels of cash game stakes. The multi-tabling feature is also unique for a free online poker. Multi tabling is one of the primary advantages of playing poker online, and Poker Live Pro allows you to play up to 4 tables at once! The game features a worldwide player base of millions of active users, which means that no matter what time you sit down, there will be action at the tables! You can compete against your friends, or make some new ones while you try to earn a spot on Poker Live Pro’s ‘Team Pro’. Team Pro is an exclusive club consisting of the best and most successful players on the site. Players can earn a spot on Team Pro by raking in the profits at the cash games and making deep runs in our many daily poker tournaments. There are many real money online poker games and many free games, but there are no games quite like Poker Live Pro. With Poker Live Pro, you get all the authenticity of a real money game with none of the cost, making it the best option for playing free poker online.