Playing poker as a way of making a living has become an aspirational lifestyle for many people. The BBC.co.uk outlines how poker players, like Chris Moneymaker, opened up the potential of poker to amateur players. Moneymaker became a poker star when he won the 2003 WSOP main event, collecting $2.5m after qualifying online. This led to an explosion in the number of players, as well as increasing the profile of the game itself, with an increase in the number of tournaments and online platforms available. Today thousands of players across the world have turned to poker as a way to make a living and you can too by following the below tips.
Finances
If you want to earn a living from poker then you need to change your mindset, and stop thinking of it as a pastime and start thinking of it as a business. Poker.org’s guide to becoming a professional player details how you need to have a sizable bankroll before starting. The site recommends that at the “very minimum, you should have at least 25-30 buy-ins for the game you play, along with 3-6 months living expenses in the bank”. In poker, it is very common to have a bad run of games, and if you don’t have a bankroll that can withstand a bad run you could easily go broke. Once you have some success at the tables you should use your winnings carefully. As we explained in our Business Financial Tips, it is tempting to use any profit to buy a material asset, like a new car. However, if you plan to play poker as a long-term business venture it is much better to reinvest the profits back into your business and use any winnings to fund future, potentially bigger, games. Once you have a steady income stream from playing poker you can then look to invest in other assets.
Understand the Earning Potential of Live and Online Poker
Live and online poker can both be very lucrative ways to earn money, yet their earning potential is slightly different. Live poker is often played for higher stakes than online games (where you can play for micro-stakes) and there is a greater potential to win big. However, there are other factors that could affect your earning potential, such as only being able to play one table at a time and the added costs of having to travel to casinos in order to play. While most people think of live poker when they think of professional poker players, former poker pro Peter Stephenson revealed that most pros earn online. This is because they can play up to 20 games at once and is therefore a much greater chance of winning the pot. In his peak, Stephenson would look to play 200 games a day. While the chances of winning are higher, the winning pots are often much lower and players must play for long hours every day to make a profit. To earn a living playing poker you must decide which type of poker is suitable for you and how often you will play.
Keep On Learning
If you want to become a top poker player and earn a good living from the game you need to continuously learn about the game. As the pots get bigger and you progress you will come up against much better players. And in order to compete in the biggest tournaments you will need to understand and be able to use modern poker strategy, like finding an opposing player’s range. One massive way poker has changed over the past twenty years is that maths has become a much bigger factor and top players play the odds rather than just relying on instinct. The better you become through studying modern strategies, the bigger the tournaments you will be able to enter and win. This is why only great players are able to truly earn a living from poker.
If you are thinking of earning a living from poker we hope the above tips prove useful.
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