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Originally Published: May 17, 2009, 07:05 AM Professional Poker Players
Posted By Diego | Other News | May 17, 2009, 07:05 AM |
Professional Poker Players
There are people who play poker
in a professional way. Some of them even do this for a living, so the winnings are their major income. In this article I will deal with these people, answering some possible questions which might come to your mind. Also, I will try to answer a very important question: what does it take to become a professional poker player? Let us take the questions step by step.
Let us see the first question: Who are these people? And why did they choose to live this way? One might have two reasons to become a professional poker player. The first reason might be that he is really good at poker and wins more money per hour than he would make by working somewhere. Of course, these people play a lot and measured their hourly income and compared it to a specific job they are qualified. Another reason might be that these people like to live that way: they like to travel all over the world to play in several poker tournaments. They might consider that the lifestyle worth much more than a steady monthly income. So, usually professional poker players are very open minded people, but they are well prepared too. They must be some kind of businessmen in order to make their gambling profitable.
How did they become professional poker players? We all know that professional players did not graduate a poker school, because there is no such school. Basically everybody might declare himself a professional poker player, but they have some differentiating qualities. As I already said they play poker to have an income, so they do it as a job, not for fun. This changes the perspective a little: usually people play poker to have fun, to relax, they are not thinking about it as a job. This way they do not let themselves carried away by the game, they are very calculated. Since it is their job to play, they have to take into consideration a lot more than common players would do: they have a bankroll set, they can control very well their feelings and emotions and they have a lot of patience.
With the description made above I already answered a possible third question: how can you recognize a professional poker player? If you play against someone, and you see that he is very calculated, calm and it just shows that he knows what he is doing, then you just found a professional poker player. Of course, I can not make you a physical description, since anybody can become a professional player, regardless of age (of course, you must be at least 18 or 21 or what age is the legal limit in your country), gender or previous occupation. So basically anyone can become a professional poker player.
So we arrived to the most important question: how can I become a professional poker player? Do not imagine it is easy, but if you put some hard work in it, playing might get really profitable for you. It is not enough to master the game; you will have to develop some other specific skills. I already wrote about the profile of a professional poker player, so basically you know what the main features are. Let us talk about them in detail. It is needless to say that you have to choose a type of poker you want to play, because there are many types, you can play only one variation if you want to be a professional. Then you should master the rules of the specific poker you chose. These are the basics, but this knowledge won’t make you a professional, this is only the basis. You will have to decide on your bankroll, and play according to it. This might seem very easy, but actually it is quite hard. You might win in the first hour, but you might lose all your money during the second. So you should not let yourself carried away, and if you lost too much, you should stop playing. Another important thing is that you should play a few hours every single day, even if it will become boring after a while. What, poker can become boring? Yes, if you look at the game as a business, it might become boring quite quickly. You are not just playing; you want to earn money to survive. So you need to change the point of view: you will have to consider playing poker as your job. This different perspective can make the play monotonous. There is another very important issue: you have to know your opponent. If you play against an inexperienced poker player, you can easily win, but if you play against another professional, you will win less or even nothing. I already said that you will have to control your emotions very good, and this does not apply only to real poker, it applies to online poker too. If you do not control your emotions, you won’t make the correct decisions and you will get carried away and lose money instead of winning. One of the most important things is that you should be confident: you should not worry about luck or anything else; you have to concentrate only on the game. If you manage to concentrate and make the right decisions, you will be a winner.
Another very important thing to mention is that only a few players are professionals for a lifetime. I mean that after a while most of the professional players change careers; they usually play poker professionally when they are between jobs, or they are waiting for a better job. It might be helpful if you read the biography and some other helpful tips of professional poker players like Joe Beevers, Barny Boatman, Johnny Chan and others.
All in all, it is not easy to become a professional poker player, but if you are really good, than it worth the trouble. Just think about it: you can win much more one time than is your monthly paycheck right now. I believe it is tempting, but do not forget that there are many important things you have to keep in mind: you have to control yourself, you have to be prepared to make the right decisions, and you have to be confident. And if you already have these qualities, it is still not enough: you have to practice very much before you can consider yourself a professional poker player.
You see that there is hard work behind a professional poker player, but comfort yourself with the fact that everything started because they simply loved the game itself. And they wanted to turn their passion into their job, so they can do what they like. And yes, you can do the same, if you consider that you have the necessary skills or you want to develop the necessary skills. Good luck on learning how to be a professional in poker!
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