the life of a poker pro

Just a little curious of what the life of a poker pro is like, and if it's a good idea to go pro if you think you are good enough (which I KNOW I'm not yet). Would any self-proclaimed "pros" like to break it down for us aspiring young guns?

I have a buddy who calls himself a , "pro". He is 20, and won about 75,000 last year. He loves it, and works his own hours. But his mood just about swings with his bankroll. His streaks arent bad because hes a great player but I have seen him go on 10,000 ups and downs and its tough on him emotionally and during these times he doesnt sleep much,so stressful physically as well. All jobs are stressful though. Its a great idea to play poker to supplement you income for 2-3 years before u go pro because u cant eat the much if your loosing. He worked full time for 2 years even though he was winning about 2x his salary and I plan on doing the same.

chris larmore
larmorec@msu.edu

[ghostface]

[ QUOTE ]
larmorec@msu.edu

[/ QUOTE ]

I bet you cant wait for the spam.

[ QUOTE ]
Just a little curious of what the life of a poker pro is like

[/ QUOTE ]

The info you need is already available. It's quite a bit dated because of the poker boom, but I gotta believe it's still quite relevant.

Poker Faces
by David Hayano

Its out of print but easy to find with web searches.

[dogmeat]

Playing poker for a living is simply being self employed. When you start a business, there are plenty of up-front fees (marketing expenses, rent, utilities, lawyer's costs etc.), and playing poker requires a similar bankroll.

Once you have a bankroll, you should have a business plan - know what you need to earn to pay your own living expenses such as rent/mortgage,health care, travel expenses, vacation (yes - I take several a year with my family), IRA contributions (yes - you should have a retirement plan), children's education etc.

When you know what these expenses are each month, you can take this amount out as pay - plus the taxes you owe on this "income."

If you play over your head and lose your bankroll - the same a business that expands too quickly - you will be bankrupt, and looking for work. Good luck.

(FWIW, in September I hit 3 years playing online and with no other real income. I also played mostly full-time when I was 19-25. If you can't handle the stress of playing (winning or losing), you can't do this job)

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

o sorry i just signed up for the site recently so i havent read all the posts yet lol

[shadow29]

Try this. It's davidross' story.

[Big Country]

[ QUOTE ]
o sorry i just signed up for the site recently so i havent read all the posts yet lol

[/ QUOTE ]

He was referring you to a book, not saying to go search for posts, though there are plenty.

[WhiteWolf]

Check out Ed Miller's columns in the 2+2 online magazine.

Playing full time is very difficult. I guess I'm a "semi-professional" because I make half of my income from poker. Even playing on this level the stress level of the game is incredible. I believe that playing online for a living is less stressful because the time in between hands is so much shorter - that way you can catch up after a bad beat much quicker than if you take a bad beat in the casino. Sitting in the casino stuck a few buy-ins is a bad feeling. Waiting for a good situation so you can catch up/get ahead can be torture.

The lifestyle, excluding the actual playing, is awesome. Sleep 'till noon, set your own schedule, have a decent amount of cash lying around. not too bad..Personally, I recommend that most people work a real job.