10 Things You Must Do Before Going Pro

Have 6 months living expenses in savings: Poker is a very volatile game, but you should never let your swings affect the ability to pay your bills. If you put yourself in a situation where you must win, you massively increase your chances to fail. If you know you have your bills covered half a year down the road, you won’t be affected as much with a 2 week down streak. Ideally this money should be won as a semi-pro. This increases the certainty of step 2.

Have Proven Success: You should NOT jump into a poker playing career until you are able to prove you are a consistent winner. I would not take the plunge until you have at least a year of records showing you are a winning semi-pro. These records must also be at a minimum of one level higher than necessary to cover you expenses. If you calculate you can pay the bills playing $50 NL You should already have records showing winning play at $100 NL.

Drop down a Level: There is a huge difference between being a pro and someone who makes money from poker (a semi pro). Most players don’t factor this in when they make the plunge. They assume because they make money playing in their spare time they will automatically be able to maintain the same win rate at 35-40 hours a weeks. This is not always they case, and easing into the transition will increase your chance of success. For at least the first month play one level lower than normal to insure you can handle the grind. Playing below your bankroll’s natural level will reduce any excess stress taking the plunge gives you. After you are confident you can handle the job move back to your normal stakes.

Create a bankroll management plan: In order to be an effective pro you must know how to effectively use your bankroll. This means never playing over your head, but also not limiting your profits by being overly cautious. There is no set bankroll formula, as everyone brain handle’s money management differently. Find something that is comfortable for you, but make sure it is setup for a low risk of ruin. If you want an example of a NL bankroll strategy I will be posting how I will be approaching these steps in a future entry.

Plan your play: While many factors affect when the best times to play are, you should have at least a loose schedule of when you will play. Figure out how many hours a week you want to play, and create a rough sketch of when you plan on playing. This DOES NOT mean you should be forcing yourself to play at those times, or not to play at others. You want to play when you have the right mindset, and sometimes this doesn’t coincide with your schedule. You do need to have a general idea of when you are going to play or you will often find yourself putting it off and having Sunday roll around with 20 hours still to play. The freedom poker offers is great, but you can’t let it make you lazy. Remember to include social time in this plan. Playing online poker for a living is a very isolated environment, and you will need a little extra social time to stay sane.

Pay your bills with rake back: This is an extremely important point that many new pros miss. Your goal each month should be to play enough hands so your rakeback and bonuses pays your bills. This is the closest a poker pro can get to guaranteed income. If you manage your bankroll well and make enough rakeback you should never have to worry about going broke. Figure out your monthly expenses then go to any of the rake back calculators and figure out the minimum number of hands you need to play per month (remember most of the calculators tend to give a high number so factor that in when making calculations)

Have a real work station: If you are going to be a professional poker player you MUST have a professional work station. You should designate a place in your home as your poker office. Ideally this will be isolated from any distractions. You computer must be fast enough to run multiple tables while running poker tracker and PAHUD. You should have at least one monitor (but should really have 2) that is able to play without overlap. LCDs are best as they use less power and are better for your eyes. Get a good mouse and nice supportive mouse pad. Long sessions can be hard on your wrists, and a poor mouse can cause expensive misclicks. If you are not able to afford a professional set up I would highly consider waiting until you can before you go pro. Playing poker on your laptop in front of your TV is fine for a recreational player, but it just won’t cut it once you go pro.

Set Goals: Goal setting is an incredibly effective motivator. Before you are able to get what you want in any aspect of life you must become mentally aware that you want it. Setting goals is a huge step to getting everything you desire out of life. When it comes to poker you should be setting weekly, monthly, yearly, and even longer term goals. Figure out what you want from poker and set goals that will let you obtain it. Avoid setting specific $/day or $/week goals, as variance will often cause you frustration when you miss them.

Create/maintain an exercise schedule: The life of a poker pro is not very conducive to a healthy lifestyle. If you’re not careful you can end up not leaving the house for a few days, let alone get the exercise you need. Being physically fit is a huge part of a good poker game, but many players don’t realize this. If you are not physically active your mind won’t be able to stay sharp over long sessions. There are numerous benefits to a healthy life style; extra poker profit is just one of them. Spend a few hours a week working out; it’s good for your body and good for your wallet.

Have a social life: I mentioned this in “plan your play”, but it really needs to be mentioned again. It is very easy to isolate yourself when you choose online poker as a career. You will often need to put in extra work to get the balance a normal job would provide. If you are single go out an extra time a week, plan some daytime dates, and take a few extra trips. If you have a family, poker gives you a great opportunity to spend extra time with them. This lifestyle gives you the flexibility to have an amazing social life. Don’t let the freedom overwhelm you into solitude.

The decision to go pro is not a simple one. You must consider all of these, and other, factors before taking the plunge. If you’re not sure you are able to meet all of these requirements, err on the side of caution. Poker isn’t going anywhere, wait until you are certain of success before jumping in. Today will be my first day playing, and I will have results for the day up later. I will also be posting exactly how I will be approaching the project based on the criteria of this post.