Professional Poker Players Life

Welcome to my first blog and my new website! I thought it would be appropriate to start off by talking about what life is like for professional poker players. The life isn’t nearly as glamorous as some would have you think, but it can be a very good living. I typically get up in the morning at a reasonable hour and grind hard at the tables for a couple of hours. If the action allows, I take a brief break to get lunch and clear my mind before returning for an afternoon session. By around 4pm, I normally have played around 1k hands, at which point I try to move on with my day and do something fun.

Treating the game in a serious professional manner is key to success. That means being committed to putting in 30-40 hours a week at the game. It also means that you don’t get wasted on Sunday night and spend all day Monday recovering from your hangover. If your next day is a work day then it is critical to get a good nights sleep. Bed time comes early! Lol It is also going to take some work to organize your social life in a manner that allows you to work when you need to. If you know you have a social engagement at 5pm plan to wind down your session an hour or so beforehand. That will give you some time to get ready and a cushion in case you have a very lucrative game that you don’t want to leave.

Some of you may find that it is helpful to get up and dressed for work in the morning. It is just a psychological trick, but try it sometime and you may find that it helps you take the game more seriously. Professional poker players should often play with a notepad at their side. Generally, I simply use this to record the success or failures of simple plays that I attempt at the table. For example I may test to see how frequently my light 3 betting is working and see if they are profitable. If you stay focused and treat poker in a professional manner the results will come.

Professional poker players often have a tough time handling the variance in the game. While the game can seem like work when you are winning it can seem like gambling when you are losing. Only the most seasoned professional poker players are able to navigate the treacherous waters and come out ahead.

Hope there are some good tips in this post for you guys. Stay tuned for my next post and be sure to check out my new book Exploitive No Limit Holdem.

-ThePokerCapitalist

by