Poker as a Life

Players often ask me if I think they should go pro in poker. The answer is almost invariably a resounding, "No!" But, as is the case with most difficult questions in both life and poker, the answer is always: It depends. Choosing any career is a very life-defining decision. Choosing one with the stresses and uncertainty of a life at the green felt is risky, daring, and perhaps even foolish. But, it's certainly a decision I can understand someone making. Poker has been very good to many players who put together a successful formula, but it has not been good to everyone who has pursued the game as a career.

There are two clichés that are both true, sort of: Poker is a hard way to make an easy living. And, play poker for a living and sleep till noon.

Playing poker for a living has many advantages. You can get up when you want and go to sleep when you want, and can be your own person and your own boss. The money can be good. For those who perform well, an upper-middle-class lifestyle, or better, is very plausible. That said, many players don't perceive other issues in the poker world and the demands that a poker life can place upon them. There are correct and incorrect ways to approach a poker life. Some things that may be right for one person may not suit another. But, maintaining the right approach, the right attitudes, and the right lifestyle will greatly improve your chances for success and happiness.

The wannabe pro poker player should approach poker as a never-ending learning experience requiring lots of study and game maintenance. Loads of players hanging on the rail will tell you they know everything about the game, and they will gladly share their wisdom and advice with you over lunch or dinner – your treat, of course. At dinner, they'll be nice enough let you buy a piece of their action, or perhaps give you the chance to make a small loan. The last thing you need is advice about how to make a living at the game from people who struck out trying to do so and are now on the hustle. And there are, alas, far too many of these people.

If you expect playing poker for a living to be a something-for-nothing experience, an easy road to an indulgent lifestyle, a rude awakening awaits you. Poker life is a tough, tough, demanding one. Many players develop the required skills to do well for a short period of time, but don't develop the discipline necessary to maintain those skills, and fail the test of time. Hitting the "busted out from gambling" wall, particularly later in life with no other job skills, is not something you want to experience. Treat the game professionally, like a professional athlete would. And understand that it's a business. Discipline yourself to perform on both of those levels.

In my 30-plus years in the game, I have watched a number of friends crumble before the relentless pressure of mortgage payments, monthly bills, child support, alimony, and the occasional substance abuse issue, until they eventually fail. Good players who at one point dominated middle-limit games are getting up at 5 a.m. to try to pick off drunks in $10-$20 games, are struggling against $8-$16 lineups, and are hopping from Internet site to Internet site looking for a game they can beat, hoping to get out of debt. They are circling the bowl and are headed down the drain. And this is the junkyard in which many, many folks who thought they could beat the game for a living find themselves.

To make it as a pro player, you need to pick the correct game to play in and have an adequate bankroll. The correct game is the game in which the spread between your ability and that of your opponents creates the greatest possible positive expectation with an amount of fluctuation your bankroll can handle. Realistically, you can perhaps pay a single young-person's bills with winnings at the $8-$16 level, but that would be a pretty small standard of living. The first serious step-up in the ability of your opponents (where you run into other people who believe, with at least a modicum of justification, they can play poker for a living) is in the $10-$20/$15-$30 range. This is where the betting units start approaching the thresholds necessary to reasonably pay monthly bills and build a future. And from here on up, each time you double the stakes, the quality of the opponents you face increases significantly, thereby making it much, much tougher to beat the game at a level that will pay your bills.

Poker is opportunistic, and you need to be financially positioned to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves. Bankroll depth is key. If you have to piece yourself out or pass on opportunities because you are undercapitalized, you have lost equity. That tends to compound upon itself greatly as the years go by. Many players miss the boat on this issue, and never put themselves in a position to seize moments of opportunity as they arise. If you don't have the cash to take the shot when the sweet spot presents itself, you are not positioned to maximize your earn. A strong bankroll also allows you more freedom to play when you want to, reduces the stress of playing for a living, and makes for a much happier life. Never having the capital to operate your poker business correctly is something that can compound exponentially over the course of a poker career. I know a player who, whenever he starts to get a bankroll together, quits playing until he is forced to go back to "work." Putting yourself in a position of having to win to pay your bills from month to month makes poker a drudging day-to-day grind. And it adds great amounts of stress and pressure to an already stressful situation.

A wannabe pro player needs to be aware of the course and stages of his life. In some careers, once you learn the trade, move up, delegate, and so on, the work becomes easier. That's not so in poker! In poker, the level of discipline and effort required to beat the game never diminishes. As we get older, our physical and mental skills deteriorate, diminishing our ability to play well. Many shortsighted players fail to plan for the later stages of life, and seeing once-great players struggle for survival in the later stages of their lives is a sad sight. Furthermore, as we grow, middle age and early senior citizen status make more financial demands upon us.

The poker world is a subculture with a separate set of cultural issues for those within it. Many players make the poker world their whole life, and let it influence them greatly on a personal level. Professional poker is a dog-eat-dog adversarial world, with no quarter asked or given. If it is your only world, it can easily become your perspective on life. And there are much better ways and places in which you can live your life.

The poker environment is full of angle-shooters. Many players cross lines in weak moments or moments of desperation, and when lines are crossed, it makes them much easier to be crossed the next time. Over time, it can become a way of life. I have seen many good people with strong values and high levels of pride in themselves lower the bar for themselves as they got involved in the poker world. Generally, the changes occurred as they struggled to survive the challenges they faced, but the environment took its toll over time, also. Watching good people change has been a sad side of poker for me.

People change in other ways. In poker, you have no need for others' approval. Behavior and respect for other people become less important to poker players than if they had to interact with people in business and other work environments. The stressful nature of the "play poker for the rent" situation wears on people personally and emotionally. Over time, some players lose pride in themselves, and some turn into total slobs. In short, when you play poker, it is much easier to become self-absorbed and less caring about yourself and others. As a player, it is healthier mentally to stay in touch with the outside world and to maintain some of its perspective. Keep and maintain relationships outside of poker. It will help to give you a wider perspective, keep you in touch with the outside world, enable you to operate in a normal environment, put you in a more caring environment, maintain pride in yourself, and feel better about yourself. All of those traits will come in handy as you go through the trials and tribulations that you will face as a poker player.

Take care of yourself! It is so easy to get into the routine of pigging out on the good food at the cardrooms (by the way, I'm currently a slim and trim 235, so do as I say, not as I do), playing long hours, sleeping on bad schedules, not getting any exercise, hitting the social scenes and the bars night after night, doing drugs, and so on. It all can seem like the life of Riley. But those things tend to wear you down physically, emotionally, and mentally – maybe not today or tomorrow, and maybe not next week or month, but over time, they will take their toll. Taking care of yourself physically and mentally will enable you to make better decisions at the poker table.

Like many things in life, there are tradeoffs. You do certain things and rewards come your way (that is plan "A," anyway). Playing poker well on a professional level requires a high level of effort and sacrifice, but the rewards can be well worth it. Just approach the game realistically and be prepared to apply yourself. Then, maybe, just maybe, someday poker will be very good to you, too.

Roy Cooke played winning professional poker for more than 16 years. He is a successful real estate broker/salesperson in Las Vegas. If you would like to ask Roy poker-related questions, you may do so online at www.UnitedPokerForum.com.