Could You Be a Professional Poker Player?

Being a professional poker player sounds like an ideal job, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. For some players, being a pro is a lot of fun, but it’s not that way for everyone. If you’ve thought about going pro, there are a lot of things to consider.

First and foremost, you should realize that you can go pro without a lot of money or even too much time. Some of the bigger names in online poker today started out with very modest deposits and worked their way through satellite tournaments.

Second, you’ll need to realize that there is no winning method. A tight-aggressive player will generally do better overall than other players, but playing very tightly and aggressively all the time will earn you a reputation for being a tight-aggressive, meaning that other players will be able to find your bluffs and call them very quickly. To be a great poker player, you’ll have to be constantly evolving and constantly changing your style to fit the situation and the other players, and to keep your opponents guessing.

Another thing to consider is that there are hundreds, if not thousands of hotshots trying to make the big bucks playing poker online. You’ll have to be truly excellent to be good enough to get a leg up on those players. It’s not too hard to make a few bucks in the low limit rooms if you’re a good player, but you won’t be able to make a living taking $1 pots from fish all day. Moreover, eventually, even those players will mark you as a dangerous opponent, and you’ll have a hard time finding a game.

If you really do want to go pro, though, the best way to do it is to hold on to your day job, find a site that you really like, and make a modest deposit. Most poker rooms require you to make a deposit before you can play freerolls, so you’ll need to put something in your account. $50 is a good number to start with. You’ll get some bonus bucks from it, and you’ll have enough to play around some. Play in the lowest stake rooms at first, and play every freeroll you can get into. Some freerolls serve as qualifiers for bigger tournaments, and you could find your way to a real land-based casino, playing at the WSOP even if you never put up a buy-in of more than $10 for a tournament. Moreover, if you’re not winning at freerolls, you’ll know not to risk your own cash.