Why did you become a professional poker player?

[balt999]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this topic...

This is to all the professional poker players......

I'm curious..When you were kids, I know you didn't sit around the playground during recess, look up at the clouds, and say, "When I grow up, I was to be a professional poker player." So, what event or events led to the decision of turning pro....just trying to figure out the mind of the professional poker player....I think it'll be also helpful for "Wannabes" and players thinking about making the move to hear the thought process...

I'm very fascinated by the professiona poker player...although I don't think I can become one

Thanks to all responses...

[Tommy Angelo]

"So, what event or events led to the decision of turning pro"

I first saw the words "professional poker player" when I was 18 or so. They were in an article my mom gave me to read, from New Yorker. I never stopped dreaming from that instant. It was an interview with a "professional poker player." The only part I remember went something like this:

Reporter: Do you professional poker players talk much while you play?

PPP: Yup. We talk all the time.

Reporter: What do you say?

PPP: Oh, you know, the usual things. Check, raise, take 'em. Mostly take' em.

[Bob T.]

PPP: Oh, you know, the usual things. Check, raise, take 'em. Mostly take' em.


I noticed that call wasn't in the list.

Good luck,
play well,

Bob T.

[PokerPrince]

Bosses and regular hours suck. If you can handle the trials and tribulations of playing poker for rent/food money than any other type of lifestyle seems out of the question. I got fired from job after job after job. During that time thoughts of poker plagued my mind endlessly. I began to study the game on a constant basis whether at work or at home. I decided after my last "real" job (many moons ago) that I had enough experience and a sufficient backroll to make poker income. There's really nothing glamourous about it. It's an endless grind against the fish.

PokerPrince

[D.J.]

I usually get a job during the off-season, and playing cards beat the hell out of checking ID's at a club, delivering pizza, or teaching pre-school like I did last year.

-D.J.

[DanS]

D.J.,
Off-season from what?

Dan

[thebroker]

Not really good enough at cards to be a pro either.

[Warren Whitmore]

It all started when I was 8. My grandmother (an american indian) would have card parties at our house. People from all over the neighborhood would come over to play. It was a fun time and I was invited to join in. Lots of home made fudge, cookies, and a chance to socialize with adults.
Everyone was nice except me. Even from that early time I wanted to win. I was the only one who did everyone else was socializing. The stakes were literaly pennies but that wasent the point I dident want to play for fun. You have probably heard the story about someone willing to bust his own grandmother if she was in the game well I did. It was the same group of people all the time and they circulated the same change amo
ng themselves. In one pot there was a very rare ($300) liberty standing nickle in excellent condition. I was dealt a horrible hand but called so I could make "change". That was the first time I cheated at poker. It literally was my own grandmother. Throughout my childhood I always loved games. Chess, cards, risk, it dident really matter. What seperated me from normal people is that I would do anything to win even if there was no money involved.
After college I got a job as a microbiologist for a yogurt company. One of the people working there appeared to live at a much better life style than myself although I knew we had the same pay. We became freinds and I asked him were all of the money came from. He said he collected money for a local bookie and as was customary in that field he kept 50% of the proceeds. He also was a gambler himself his games of choice were baseball, blackjack, and poker. He explained to me that the real key to gambling was to avoid it as much as possible. For example In the Boston area at that time the celtics were hot. So he taught me to bet against them with the local bookie and at the same time for them in las vegas to take advantage of the point spread. He said if you care about who wins or losses or even watch a game you are in trouble. To this day I have never seen a professional sporting event live or recorded in my life. Although I have bet on many.
The next big step was when he told me to read "beat the dealer" by edward thorp circa 1962. It struck me as a brilliant work. I decided to try it. In the days when there was not a casino within a 12 hour drive there were alot of bookies dealing one deck and none of them gave a damn about card counting. It took about a year to burn out the local bookies were they dident want my action any more. So I flew out to las vegas and hit the Babary coast with my wife and a friend from work. Inside of 15 minutes the pit boss pushed my bet back and waved goodbye, it was the end of blackjack for me.
I enjoyed math more than science at this point and decided on a career change. I became a statistician for total oil.
I learned alot about design of experiment, statistical process control, and all sorts tools to predict the future. It was tough to take emotionally though I must confess. I would spend months on a product optimization project only to have it rejected by someone higher up who did not even have a clue about what was going on. Anyway to make a long story even longer about 3 month ago the division I worked for was sold and everyone was layed off. And so at 4o years old what had been a hobby for 32 years is now a full time job. Ironically my hourly rate is the same as my full time job was. Not so good is that I no longer have health insurance or any other benifits for that matter. Its all poker and stocks now, I will say this I like it always have.

[Joe Wells]

[Phat Mack]

I think I'll raise

Better yet, bank the eight and go three rails for shape on the nine....

[D.J.]

Baseball

[DanS]

What level and league? (Just curiosity).

Dan

[D.J.]

Cleveland Indians AA Akron

-D.J.

[DanS]

Hey D.J.,
That's awesome, best of luck to you. Maybe I'll see you in the bigs in a few years! /forums/images/icons/grin.gif (I'll be the jackass that rang you up on the slurve that broke four inches off the plate)! /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif

Dan

[scalf]

/forums/images/icons/smile.gif top post warren...gl..lol..gl /forums/images/icons/grin.gif /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif /forums/images/icons/smile.gif /forums/images/icons/club.gif