PROFESSIONAL

"Participating for gain or livelihood in an activity or field of endeavor often engaged in by amateurs". Merriam Webster Dictionary

Chances are you’ve probably heard of Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, and Greg Raymer. If you don't perhaps you shouldn't consider turning pro yourself just yet?

But if I put a picture of me here you'd probably have zero idea who I am; the chances we've ever met are so remote you'd need a calculator to figure them out.

I like it that way. You see for every Professional Poker Player you recognize there are thousands more making a solid 6 figure income by doing nothing more that playing poker online. It's the hardest way I know to make an easy living.

This is my story of how I became a "Professional Online Poker Player" I hope it serves to guide you in your decision to join me. Trust me, it's not a decision you should make lightly.

Why are you even considering this?

There's a lot to be said for the stability of a job (just over broke) it's consistent, it allows you to set and maintain a predictable standard of living, and it allows you to plan for the future. Enter the world of Professional Poker and you can pretty much say goodbye to stability and predictability.

I don't care who you are or how good your game is there are so many intangibles involved predicting what you are going to earn in a days time let alone a month or a years is impossible. You will lose and sometimes even when you are playing flawless poker you will lose with a consistency that can be alarming.

I had been playing poker in home games for decades before it rose to the popularity it enjoys today. I was playing Texas Holdem when most people had never even heard of it. One day my world was shattered when I was suddenly and unexpectedly fired from my job. In my mid 40's finding another job was tough.

Employers either perceived me as an asset they couldn't afford or passed me over for someone younger and cheaper. In the bottom line mentality world we now live in experience meant nothing. After 3 months diligently searching for a job the bills were piled high. Facing the loss of my home and no prospect of making up missed mortgage payments I turned to Poker out of an act of desperation, I had $200.00.

My wife was beside herself, she just could not fathom why I would sit and play a "game" when we could hardly feed our children. With a net worth of $200.00 savings and retirement gone I felt I had no other option. Try as I might I could not get her to see things my way, even when I parlayed that first $200.00 into $2,500.00 in just one week.

It was still too little, too late and the next month I lost both my wife and my home; she moved herself and the kids to her Parents and I moved into a cheap Hotel with nothing but a suitcase, a laptop, and now $150.00 in my Poker account I sat down with a heavy heart to do what I do best, play poker.

For obvious reasons my mind was elsewhere, mentally I was not in the condition I needed to be in and my game suffered in direct proportion. With one night left and only $45 I entered my last tournament, fortunately for me I won the princely sum of $580.00. By the end of the month I was up to $3,000.00 and I have not looked back since. The final cost however was high and incredibly painful.

Do you have the mental toughness and the belief in yourself to pursuer you goal of playing professional poker no matter what the cost? Do you have the support of those closest to you? Do you really have the knowledge and skills and the ability to apply them on every hand you play? Are you really prepared for the tough road that lies ahead? Only you can answer these questions, only you can make that decision.

Do you have an adequate Bankroll?

The simplest guide is to have at least 150 times the stakes that you play. If you are a cash player it's more. But for Sit and Go and tournament players if you have advanced skills (More on this later) the right mindset and the support of your loved ones, 150 times should see you through the ups and downs of professional poker.

There is no substitute or experience!

It doesn't matter how many books you read, how many videos you watch, how many times you have replayed televised events, there simply is no substitute or experience. Before I made the decision to try poker as a means to earn a living I had already been playing for over 30 years. Online I had played over 3.5 Million, you read that right MILLION hands of poker.

The game online is drastically different in many ways, much of the information you rely on in live poker is absent when playing online. Of course books, video's and TV serve a purpose, its practice and knowledge that pay the bills.

In fact TV has been both good and bad for the game. Good as in much as it has brought millions of new players to the game but bad in that it has distorted the reality of the game and many of those new players emulate hand plays that they saw on TV, often to the detriment of you!

Yes, I am talking about the hundreds of thousands of Donkeys you have to out maneuver to reach a pay out. After all they saw 86 win the 2007 World Series of Poker, taking down the heavily favored hand of AQ! It worked for him therefore it should work or me... Welcome to the world of bad beats. Do you get my drift?

If you really want to see where your game is at why not book a live coaching session? The moderate investment will pay for itself many times over and afterwards you will receive an honest and direct analysis of your play. Space is very limited so don't delay, you can find details by clicking here. For more tips on playing professionally sign up for my FREE newsletter.

© 2007 Sniper58, all rights reserved.

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