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| Becoming a Serious Poker Player |
Ever dreamed of becoming a professional poker player? It seems glamorous. Watching the World Series of Poker or High Stakes Poker on television makes it look easy – setting elaborate traps, playing fast and fearless, and being aggressive – and raking in six-figure pots or eight-figure tournament prizes.
One thing that most professional poker players have in common is the serious level of commitment they have made to their poker and life strategies. Notice that most, not all pros do this. Some are degenerates that are on the hot streak of the century, and they will end up broke at some point.
If you are grinding along in cash games or tournaments, and having some success at it, you may find yourself thinking of playing professionally. The purpose of this article is not to discuss the merits of doing so – that's been done a million times – but to discuss the attitudes necessary to start on that path.
Reality Check
The first thing an aspiring poker pro should do is take a long, hard look at themselves and their game. First, are you winning? Don't delude yourself here. Many players, when asked, say they “win just a little.” Most are lying. Like many statistical analyses in life, the graph of poker success follows a bell curve. In a bell curve, the great majority of people fall into the middle.
A perfectly normal distribution of poker results finds that 68% of all poker players will have results within one standard deviation of break-even, and more than 95% are within two deviations. These can be defined as “slight winners/losers” and “significant winners/losers.” Only a very small percentage of players are “big winners” or “big losers.” The beauty is that many players do it primarily for entertainment, so a small loss is offset by the entertainment value of poker.
The rake in poker causes the bell curve graph to shift slightly to the left, making just a few more players (that were slightly ahead) small money losers. Somewhere between 30 and 40 per cent of poker players come out ahead after the rake. If you have long term wins, you can be confident that you are at least in the top third of all players.
The second question to be answered after “are you winning?” is “are your results statistically significant?” If you've played 3000 hands of no limit holdem, your results are relatively meaningless. Your wins could be the product of short-term luck, which is a factor in variance.
Take it Seriously
None of the above is meant to discourage someone away from professional dreams. It is only meant to prevent them from selling their house, quitting their job, and moving to Vegas (or buying four 24-inch monitors so they can 30-table NLHE games).
To become serious about poker, there are a few changes you might need to make to move from recreational player on the road to pro.
Bankroll. Serious poker players maintain bankrolls sufficient to play at their chosen limits even through difficult losing streaks (and even the best players have long losing streaks). If you want to be serious, you must stop taking shots at higher limits with more than a small chunk of your bankroll. If you have a $1000 roll, enter a $500 tournament, and win $100,000, should you go pro?
Discipline. This means the discipline to play a set number of hours per day (or month), to always play a consistent, effective game, to avoid tilt, to avoid distractions, and to practice good game selection.
Study Habits. Serious players study the game when not in the game. Using books, videos, coaching sessions, and hand histories for study is necessary to advance. Experience is a good teacher, but it's far from the only one.
Accept that long term poker is a grind. You have to play lots of hours and tournaments to get a chance at one of the big, life-changing moments like we see on television.
If you've done all of the above, developed a long-term track record of success, and have six to twelve months of living expenses set aside outside your bankroll, and have the desire, then by all means, sell your house, quit your job, and move to Vegas. Good luck.
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Disclaimer:
People from thousands of jurisdictions access the internet. It is impossible for us to stay current with the laws of every jurisdiction. Please make sure that any activities you engage in online are legal where you live.
We have reason to believe that it may be illegal to gamble online in: Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Michigan, New York, New Jersey and Wisconsin. If you live in one of these states, we advise you NOT to gamble online. |
Poker News Today.com © 2007 Becoming a Serious Poker Player
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