Playing Poker for a Living

My last four-and-a-half years as a professional poker player have been my most exhilarating. I’ve travelled the world, met delightful people, and had lots of incredible experiences. I can’t recommend it highly enough — to do for a living what most do for entertainment, to work as hard or often as I want to, the choice to work from home, go to a casino, or play on my xbox — it’s up there with professional footballer or DJ as a dream job for young men. Playing for a living is far from a cakewalk though, and demands a different mindset from the “reality” of a stable job. As with most ventures; balance, foresight, responsibility, and hard work are key skills.
Going Pro
Before you consider making poker your sole source of income, you need to know you’re good enough. It’s not enough to have a decent sample of hands with a good win rate — there’s always a chance (higher than you’d think) that you’ve been running good. What is it you do better than your opponents? What mistakes are they making? How much more do they tilt? If you can honestly answer these questions and still want to go pro, think about how much money you’ll need.
Bankroll Management
With a small bankroll, the most likely result is that you’ll go broke quickly. Maybe you’ll get lucky, going on a massive heater and snagging a bankroll big enough to grind the high stakes, but those who rely on lucky streaks to get there will usually continue to mismanage their bankroll, not moving back down quickly enough. Build organically — move up when you’re comfortable, not when you want to.
Most people also find that they play much better when they have at least six months living expenses saved up, acting as a psychological buffer. Consider having a job to go back to if your poker venture fails — you might be wrong about being good enough to make it. If you’ve got dependents, make the transition slowly, and have other, reliable sources of income in case poker doesn’t work out.
Playing Online
If other grinders are gaining an edge using the available tools, you should too. Hold’em manager tracks your opponents’ stats and shows them on a heads-up display (HUD) on your tables — very useful for making decisions specific to your opponents’ tendencies. A lot of stats are available, some more useful than others, so it’s worth spending time working out how to use them and configuring your HUD.
Multi-tabling is a crucial skill — no-one makes a living playing one table online. You might feel rushed and under pressure, but pressure should make you thrive. You’ll make mistakes, but that’s ok, as long as you learn from them. If your comfort zone is four tables, and you want to be capable of playing five, play six for a while. Five will be tough, but six will be tougher. Play them at low stakes so your mistakes are less costly. After a while, you will handle five tables with ease, making fewer mistakes and feeling less rushed. Want to get to six tables? Practice at seven for a while. Be aware, though, of the risk of becoming too comfortable, making your decisions automatically. Take your time, attending to easy decisions on other tables, before you come back to the tough ones — you have a time bank for a reason, so use it.
Remember, though, that playing more tables isn’t an excuse for putting in fewer hours. Your overall goal is to get more hands in. The more you play, the less of a factor variance plays in your results, and the more money you earn.
Learning
With so many variables, the nature of poker is such that there isn’t even a theoretical “perfect player”. You can always improve, there is always more to know, and there are always more people to work out. Don’t get comfortable, don’t get complacent, keep on learning, or you’ll be a dinosaur before long.
So how much of your time do you spend learning, and how much playing? If your time spent playing is of high quality, you will inevitably learn a lot through experience alone, but you should still spend at least 10 percent of your time trying to improve.
For inexperienced players, books are a great way to catch up, but not all of them are good, and many are out-dated. Ask people you respect for advice on which to read; when you read them, think about the concepts, try to apply them while playing, and come back to the book after a month or so and take notes. Hopefully you’ll find that you understand the concepts much better.
Most video sites are of high quality, but it’s easy to sit back and watch, without taking part — pause the video, take notes, and try to predict what the producer will do next and why. Don’t be afraid to ask questions in the forums either. Internet poker forums are generally full of idiots and trolls, but there are many clever people — separating the wheat from the chaff is crucial to getting the best out of the Internet.
One of the most important, productive ways to improve as a poker player is to surround yourself with intelligent people. Talking through hands and concepts on a regular basis with good poker players helps to personalise your development. Be talkative on the tables, both live and online, and make friends with those you respect. Send a private message to a well-known player and ask if he’d take a minute of his time to give you his thoughts on a hand you played. You’d be surprised how often they’re willing to help out a new poster — they will respect your willingness to ask and desire to improve. Maybe you’ll find something in common or have something to offer him, and all of a sudden he’s a friend, and a fantastic resource. Very early in my career, a local pro took me under his wing. Four years later, we’re good friends and talk hours of strategy every week — Without his help, I would almost certainly be wearing a suit and tie to work every morning. Thanks, Stu.
Coaching
Many coaches are garbage, unable to communicate properly, or simply not worth the amount they’re charging. Good coaches will have worked through many of your current leaks, whether soft skills, like seat selection, bankroll management, and tilt control; or hard skills, like identifying ranges and handling three-bets out of position. They will prioritise your most urgent leaks, explain how and why they’re costing you money, and help you reason through plugging them. They will be engaging and motivating and will be able to handle almost any poker question you fire at them.
How much you should pay a coach depends on a few things. How well he plays and coaches is clearly the most important criterion, but if you’re not a high-volume player at decent stakes, find a cheaper coach. Some charge upwards of $1,000 per hour, and if you’re not playing high stakes, the coaching may take a long time to pay for itself. On the flip-side, if you’re already a $2-$4 regular and looking to move up, $200 per hour could pay for itself very quickly. Check out his coaching methods, find out what his previous students have to say, and get an impression of your prospective coach while negotiating a package.
Balanced Lifestyle
When things are going well and your focus is on making money, other parts of your life will inevitably take a back seat. Why bother spending an hour at the gym or meeting a friend for lunch when you could make two big blinds out of 100 (2bbs/1000) over 10 tables? In my humble opinion, you should make it a point to spend lots of time socialising and developing or maintaining outside interests. Go to an art gallery and pick up an arty chick, or have fun trying; attend weekly tai-chi classes; join a local football side. Otherwise, after a year, you’ll be a social leper who only plays poker. Poker is a good alternative to jobs that force you to work in a cubicle with little time off — so make sure you don’t become a work zombie.
Life EV (expected value) is important, but a balanced lifestyle can also help your EV at the tables. Regular sleeping patterns, healthy food, and good hydration habits combine to allow you to think more clearly and be more resistant to psychological pressures. Exercise is particularly important — get blood flowing through your body and your thought processes will flow much more smoothly. Walking for half an hour a day will have a huge effect; cycle everywhere or go regularly to a gym, and you’ll feel like Phil Ivey.
The professional poker player should lead a comfortable, exciting life. Neither attaining nor maintaining this life are easy though. Make your work time count — learn to play more tables, and continually work on your game. Be responsible, playing within your limits, and putting in lots of hours, but don’t overdo it — remember to enjoy the fruits of your labour. ♠

Michael Piper has been playing pot-limit omaha online for a living for more than three years. He coaches at cardrunners.com and posts online under the screenname wazz.