Playing poker professionally

Back in 2005 I won an entry to the World Series of Poker $10,000 main event and decided to try my hand at playing poker for a living (didn’t survive the first day – don’t bother looking). At the time, I was working as a massage therapist and played part time for fun. Although – I was usually making more money playing poker than I was giving massages. It might seem contradictory to spend the days making people feel good and then weekends trying to screw as much money out of people as possible. But it worked for me. I always considered myself a bit of a Renaissance man so no clashes as far as I was concerned.

I considered myself a natural poker player – naturally aggressive, prepared to take a risk but not completely insane, good at judging people’s intentions and able to back down when necessary. I had only been playing poker for about a year when I went but was encouraged that almost  every trip to casino was worth several thousand dollars.  Of course my Wife doesn't remember that - she is the opposite of every gambler I know - she only remembers the losing not the winning.

Anyway – playing for fun at the weekends is different to playing poker full time. This may sound pretty simple but it is very, very true. Which brings me to the something to consider. I actually enjoy playing poker, it is fun as far as I am concerned, but it ceased to be fun after playing ten hours a day five days a week for six months. It turned into a job – and the minute I stopped enjoying it was the minute I started to lose.

The real reason I stopped enjoying it was the casinos themselves. I began hating going into the casino. Casinos are designed with the sole purpose of disorienting you enough to take your money. And even though most poker rooms are somewhat separated from the casino proper, there is still an awful lot of interference being thrown at you. I started to feel ill, and part of the reason I started to feel ill was the constant noise and fake air inside a casino. I usually won money, but as I started to feel worse, I started to win less.

And in the end I had to accept that I was not cut out to spend that much time inside a casino, and I imagine some of the staff feel the same way. Obviously this is my own personal experience, but I really think it is something to take into consideration when thinking about a career as a professional poker player. But if you decide it is for you – good luck at the tables.