Hardly anyone who has played profitable poker for a long period of time smiles when the alarm goes off to tell them to get to work. The idea of working for yourself, on your own schedule, being able to take a day off whenever you need it, and playing a game that you love for a living sounds very appealing, and that’s because those factors ARE very appealing! Having the on-the-felt talent to be a pro is exceptional, but it’s not all that uncommon. That’s not all it takes, though. If you are considering “taking the plunge” then you may as well be prepared. This list of 20 things to consider will hopefully resemble a checklist, and never leave you saying to yourself….”Wow, I wish I had thought of that!”

1. To be a professional, you have to have a gross disrespect for the money on the felt.

Aggressive poker is good poker. It’s been long said that “There is a fine line between genius and insanity” and the best poker players are capable of straddling that line with seemingly reckless plays that cater to that aggressive nature. To be among the elite, you have to have the wherewithal to pull off very risky, high-variance moves at opportune times in order to gain a small edge. When the money that’s on the table is significant, and sometimes it will be, you need to be able to disconnect yourself from that fact in order to make the play that needs to be made. Since sharks exploit fear in other players, you cannot play in fear.

2. To be a professional, you have to have an extreme respect for the money you make.

Since you will be playing hard enough to press small edges on the felt, it’s equally important to ensure that the money on the table is not of great significance in the big picture too often. If you are a tournament player, sometimes this is unavoidable, as near the end of any given tournament, a hand or two may occur that could make or break your month, or even your entire year, even if your bankroll management is your highest priority! Therefore, it’s important to minimize this risk by using impeccable game selection, and managing your bankroll wisely. While this decision may not make you the most money per hour, it’s often wise to play with a few more buyins than you realistically need, minimizing your risk of ruin to nearly nil.

In addition, you are going to have very good streaks of variance, and when they occur, it’s important to not forget that a rough patch may be around the corner. Invest in your future and think carefully before splurging on luxuries because you never know when the games won’t be so easy anymore.

3. Playing poker for a living is only possible for those with the greatest of discipline.

How much discipline do you have on a scale from one to ten? If you answered 9.5 or less, or even had to hesitate before saying “ten”, you should take a long look at this next career move. If you can make it, it will be a struggle. Poker requires that you manage to balance life, physical activity, bankroll management, and tilt, all at the same time. Impeccable record keeping is not an option. You’ll need to keep good records for tax purposes, but also to keep track of what games are most profitable for you. If you have ever tilted a bankroll off, you are not alone, but consider doing something else for a living. One usually cannot fully understand the importance of this until the morning after making a few bad decisions the night before. Working for yourself sounds like a dream job, but since you have nobody to answer to, you’ll have to be a tough boss to yourself in order to succeed.

4. You should understand exactly what your expenses are before you turn pro.

Add it all up: your food, clothing, utilities, health insurance, taxes, accountant, money for retirement, unexpected expenses, splurging, and an occasional nice date. Then add 15% because you are probably forgetting something. Be sure that playing will cover those expenses. You should have enough money set aside to pay six months’ expenses.

Things don’t always go as planned, and you will inevitably have stretches of variance that seem to defy the laws of mathematics. In addition, health problems or other unexpected life events that keep you from playing poker can creep up on you. When things aren’t going as expected, what won’t change is that it will still be important to play your best poker. If you don’t have a cushion of some sort, you’ll be playing with money that really matters, and when the money on the table is too important to you, you may not be at your best! Also, the reason you probably are considering going pro is because of the financial rewards. If you don’t enhance your life with the money you make, there’s not much point in making the move.

5. You should understand exactly how much money you can expect to make.

Before attempting to go pro, know how much money you make per hour, and use a good sample size. If you have been playing recreationally for one year, 15 hours a week, that should give you an idea of how much you can expect to make in four months’ time, playing professionally for 45 hours per week. Add it up, then see if it’s more than enough to cover your expenses.

When you estimate what your income will be using this formula, don’t forget that if you have been playing recreationally, mostly on nights and weekends, you were playing at peak times, and you might not be able to reasonably make the same amount of money per hour during the day.

6. Allow yourself a path to career progression.

When you calculate your expenses, be sure to add to your bankroll as you go. If you are playing at one level, you probably aspire to move up someday. Working towards this allows you to escape the grind that playing professional poker is, to some extent. You’ll need motivation to keep going, and this provides you the opportunity to give yourself a raise or a promotion at some point once you have earned it.

7. You should create a plan for cashing out.

You will need to pay yourself, and paying yourself only when you hit big is too inconsistent. I recommend paying yourself by volume as a way to motivate yourself to play more often. Another idea is to pay yourself a weekly or bi-weekly salary. Always keep extra on hand, because poker sites sometimes have cashout delays, and you must be prepared to if you don’t always receive your money in a timely manner.

8. Getting back into the workforce after playing professionally is difficult.

The average career of an online poker professional lasts less than five years. While there are several reasons for that, some of which you can control, the cold, hard truth is that if you go pro today, it’s highly unlikely that if you turn pro today that you’ll still be playing poker professionally even in the year 2015. If you leave a job today, it’s quite possible that when you come back to the workforce in a few years, you won’t pick up your career where you left off. You’ll have to explain to an interviewer what you have been doing for the last few years, and usually “playing poker for a living” isn’t what they will want to hear. You’ll have a big, fat gap on your resume. When you leave poker, you’ll have to take your career in a totally new direction, and your annual salary will likely suffer in such a way that it wouldn’t had you stuck with another career for a lengthy period of time.

9. Playing poker is unhealthy.

Playing poker is a sedentary activity and isn’t great exercise, but it doesn’t just make you fat. Staring at a computer screen can affect your vision and cause squinting. Repetitive use of a mouse can lead to muscle aches, cubital tunnel syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other nerve compression problems. Bad posture can cause back problems. It’s important to set up an ergonomic workstation so that these effects are minimized. It’s also best to exercise regularly, which will not only help you physically, it will help your poker game and stamina.

10. Many people develop problems socializing as a result of online poker.

People who spend an inordinate amount of time playing poker can, if they are not careful, be a victim of social isolation. Social isolation can contribute toward many emotional and behavioral disorders such as anxiety, panic attacks and addictions. When it comes to physical illness, “The magnitude of risk associated with social isolation is comparable with that of cigarette smoking and other major biomedical and psychosocial risk factors.” — Source: Article from Psychosomatic Medicine. Make a point of interacting with others, even when things aren’t going great and you feel the need to bury yourself in your work. Failure to do so can have far-reaching consequences.

* Read Part 2.

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Jennifear is a proud Contributing Writer for Pocketfives.com and a Presto Award Winner for 2006’s Most Valuable Poster, as voted by the readers of PocketFives. She teaches private poker lessons, and you can find the details at Jennifear.com. A discount on these lessons is available if you support pocketfives.com by joining a poker site through one of the site links.

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