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Playing Poker Professionally

By Rafe Furst, July 25, 2005

Poker is really a great game; it's tons of fun, and has nowadays reached its biggest profit potential. However, try to keep it all in perspective.

At the 2005 final table of the World Series of Poker, the media consensus was that there was only one pro at the table: Mike "the mouth" Matusow. We've since learned that this year's champ, Joseph Hachem, gave up a 13-year chiropractic career three years ago to play poker for a living. The other seven players at the final table won over a million dollars each. It's a safe bet that a few of them now consider themselves poker professionals. What does that mean?

Three Myths About Playing Poker Professionally

Myth #1: I'm either a Poker Pro or I'm Not

Consider the players below. Which are pros and which are just amateurs?

Frank

Frank plays the tournament trail full-time. He's up thousands one month, and broke the next. He's always borrowing money from fellow poker players. He has no life outside the poker world and constantly thinks, "I wish I had some skills and experience that would allow me to get a normal job."

Sue

By day, Sue's an accountant making $50K a year. She plays poker in her spare time. Some years she earns $20K playing poker, other years she earns $100K. She rarely has a losing year.

Bill

Bill picked up the game a year ago, entered his first tournament - the prestigious "WPT London" - and won it with flair and showmanship. He netted $500K and got a ton of TV coverage. He blew through $350K in the next 11 months playing every big event with no cash finishes. He's still got a bankroll, thanks to some juicy endorsement contracts from an online site and a beer company that guarantee him $1 Million a year for the next three years. All he has to do is continue to play in every major tournament and endorse their products.

Sylvie

Sylvie has a bankroll of $500K, She makes (or loses) anywhere from -$50K to +$200K per year playing a very erratic schedule. That schedule is structured around the good games, whether they're offline, online or on the tourney trail. She travels to far-off lands whenever she feels like it, and has plans to settle down and start a family. Someday. But not now.

Murphy

Murphy only plays online, He clocks in, plays exactly eight hours a day, five days a week, at four simultaneous tables no higher than $5-$10 limit hold 'em. He earns a surprisingly consistent $100/hr, takes the family on vacation twice a year, plays tennis, and attends opera on the weekends.

Myth #2: I Would be so Much Happier if I Could Just Play Poker Full Time

TRUE: It's fun playing an hour or two each day.

BUT: It might not be so fun playing all the time to the exclusion of other interests, family and friends.

TRUE: It's low-stress and entertaining, playing as a hobby.

BUT: It might be very stressful if you have to grind it out to pay the bills every month.

TRUE: Those big tourney winners on TV live like rock stars.

BUT: What about the other 99% of the players you don't see, all of whom are competing for your dream.

Myth #3: I Don't Need a Big Bankroll to be a Pro

Check the long list of Former World Champions who have gone a full year without making the final table of a major event. As of this writing, it takes roughly $500K to enter all the major tournaments in a year.

Ask your favorite pro how many times he or she has gone bust in their career, or how many times they have been hit up for a sizable cash loan from one of their good friends.

Poker is a great game; it's tons of fun, and it has never been as potentially profitable as it is today. But try to keep it in perspective.

Poker doesn't have to consume your life. You can make a good chunk of change playing poker, and you can do it without giving up all the good things you have going in your life.

Financially, mentally and socially, you are better off making poker fit into your life rather than the other way around.

Getting back to the players in the introduction, it's clear that Murphy is a pro. And it's equally clear (to me anyway) that Frank is definitely not, even though he thinks he is, and so does the general public. Frank is a dime a dozen in the poker world. You've even seen him and his ilk on TV a number of times. As for the other three, I don't know whether I'd call them pros or not, but I sure wouldn't mind being in their shoes.

"Professional" is just a word. Being a professional poker player is not the same thing as being a successful poker player.

Bottom line: You don't need to be a professional to be a poker champion.

You can play online with Rafe Furst at online poker room Full Tilt Poker.

  • Rafe Furst - Tips and Articles Full Tilt Poker

  • Professionally Playing Poker

    July 25, 2005

    Poker is really a great game; it's tons of fun, and has nowadays reached the peak of its profit potential. But try not to go too far - keep things in perspective.

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