Building a Poker Life

I am asked all the time for advice about poker as a life and as a business. I recommend that most people considering poker as a career not take it up. For one thing, as a general rule, people who consider abandoning what else they have in life for poker tend to be relatively new players who have in fact been outperforming their expectations. They are typically running well, with the deck and lineup situations favoring them, and are in for something of a rude awakening when the cards break even. Also, many have developed expectations based on a game environment and economy that were much juicier during the Internet/TV/economic boom of 2002-2005 than the long-term situation is likely to be.

One of the things I recommend is that you have somebody with whom you can work on your game - somebody whose opinion you respect, who will brutally but honestly assess your play, and with whom you can discuss your plays and your daily competition - a friend who will be there for you when you're running bad and for whom you will be the same. I was fortunate early in my poker career to work with an old-time lowball pro who had moved to my home turf in Washington state. Ours was a mentor-protégé relationship, a good relationship, and we both profited from it.

Nearly 35 years later, I find myself in a similar situation, but this time I'm the old pro, working with a youngster whose passion for the game helps keep me focused. I first met Jade Lane by e-mail, when he was recovering from wounds received as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, and was playing on the Internet. After some nine months of recovering from his injuries at Madigan Army Medical Center in Fort Lewis, Washington, Jade packed up a U-Haul and headed for Vegas, and has been kicking the hell out of the $30-$60 limit hold'em game.

Just 21 years old when he came to town - but with his war experiences, he's much older than his chronological age - Jade impressed me personally and professionally. A positive poker relationship ensued. Jade plays with no fear, and that's the way to be a winner. As he states, "They can't shoot you, right? What's the worst that can happen?" That's an understandable perspective for one who assaulted Saddam International Airport, participated in the Jessica Lynch rescue, conducted secret ops in Afghan mountains, and was wounded in the same incident in which Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire - all before he was 20. No fear!

I have stressed to Jade is that it takes more than poker skills to make a life out of poker. Many a great player has found himself on the rail hustling stakes because he couldn't manage his life as well as he played the game. I've seen many quality poker players bust themselves by losing respect for money and blowing their bankroll by betting sports, hitting the pit, getting conned by hustlers, or loaning themselves broke. Getting involved in these situations not only tends to bleed your bankroll, but also takes away time, focus, and emotional energy from your poker game. Respect your bankroll and keep your life focused on the game!

The game as a business has many aspects to it that aren't taught in school. The world's best hustlers, tricksters, and con men (and women) ply their trade around the gambling economic base. Some of them are multibillion dollar corporations. Living the life of a professional poker player, you need to maintain a real-world perspective to your life. When things go well, money loses its value in the poker world. Maintaining your bankroll is an important component of playing poker professionally. How you go about that differs according to how you live your life. Those with other income or with significant assets and credit should have a different outlook and be able to take more risk than a player without those advantages.

The poker pro lifestyle lends itself well to single people who have few financial commitments. It is a different kind of struggle for those with kids and a mortgage.

Most professional poker players are lousy businesspeople. Taxes, retirement planning, and investing are foreign concepts to them. Many who take up poker as a career find themselves facing problematic issues as they get older; they lose some of their energy and mental playing skills, and haven't created any other skill or done any retirement planning. These things can get complicated, and for those who lack the requisite skill, I suggest that you get a tax and business advisor, one who is familiar with gambling taxes, issues, and intricacies. I have been fortunate to have the help of Marissa Chen (author of Tax Help for Gamblers). She is the business/tax advisor to my friend Phil Gordon - and as you may know, Phil has done quite well managing his finances with Marissa's help.

I have recommended that Jade maintain 200 times the upper limit of his bread-and-butter game as a bankroll, and not risk more than 10 percent of it in any one session. I also recommended that Jade maintain six months of living expenses. With that level of depth, a player can stay in action through the "card-dead" times, not feeling pressured to play and keeping his stress level low in life. Another bankroll recommendation that I made to Jade was to pay himself a monthly amount out of his bankroll to cover bills and entertainment, and to keep that money separate from his poker bankroll. That induces Jade not to spend money foolishly when the cards are running his way, and leads to a more stable life, reducing burnout and stress and creating the personal dynamics to be able to sustain longer hours at the table. As his bankroll grows, he can then work with Marissa to set a firm foundation for a financial future.

Roy Cooke has played more than 60,000 hours of pro poker and has been part of the I-poker industry since its beginnings. His longtime collaborator, John Bond, is an attorney and freelance writer in South Florida. Their fifth book is How to Think Like a Poker Pro, from ConJelCo Publishing.