The financial gains are huge at the top end of the game, but should you jack in the day job and turn pro? Our experts, who have been there and got the T-shirt, lend their advice
TURNING PRO
Imagine a job where you determined your own working hours, answered to no one and could take as many holidays as you wanted. Now imagine that your salary was theoretically limitless and as long as you continued working in the UK you wouldn’t have to pay tax on any of it. These job specs may seem far-fetched, but they are achievable when you are a professional poker player. This may explain why so many part-time players are trying to eschew the rat race and adopt this lifestyle. So what does it take to go pro? Our panel of experts reveals all…
STEP 1: CAN YOU BEAT THE ONLINE GAME?
TOOLS NEEDED
- Solid online game
- At least 100,000 hands played
- Software such as PokerTracker to track results
Our advisory board was unanimous on one point: that unless you live in Vegas or have access to regular, lucrative games, the most realistic avenue for becoming a poker pro is through internet play. Betfair-sponsored pro John Tabatabai is totally aware of the advantages of the live game (having finished second in the WSOPE), but believes many UK players will struggle to subsist solely on them.
‘Good table selection is far harder when playing live,’ he says. ‘Going to different casinos to see which has the best game that night is time-consuming. You have to join the waiting list and hope the bad players are still there if and when you get a seat.’
Compare that with the countless advantages of the online game, says Tabatabai, and the internet is the clear choice for the aspiring pro. ‘You can use software with pattern recognition, session stats and hand analysis,’ he says. ‘Also, it allows multi-tabling which is a huge edge because it allows players to increase their hourly rate.’
So you’re well-versed with the online game and rate yourself as a winning player… But how do you know whether you’re actually outplaying everyone and not just getting lucky?
Shaun Dean, a former yacht captain who resides in Yorkshire and plays online poker full-time, says it’s all about tracking your success in minute detail over hundreds of thousands of hands.
‘You must keep accurate figures on every part of your game,’ he says. ‘I’ve just been on a 15,000 hand downswing, so having a small number of hands on which to base your figures doesn’t really mean anything. If you are in profit after 20,000 hands you are probably doing okay. If you are in profit after around 250,000 hands you are beating the game. Any profit figure is “beating the game”, but only you will know if you’re making enough money to fulfil your needs.’
WARNING!
‘Statistically, the worst run you could possibly have – and which most professionals will never encounter in their careers – is a 100,000-hand stretch of bad luck. Even so, a good player should break even during this period.’
STEP 2: DO YOU HAVE THE BANKROLL?
TOOLS NEEDED
- 30 buy-ins for your chosen level
- At least $10,000 for $1/$2
- Three months of expenses
There is no scientific way of establishing what size bankroll you need to go pro because everyone has different spending habits. Alex Bowler, who turned full-time pro in March, believes it depends on your situation.
‘If you’re between jobs and taking a shot, you could start with five buy-ins, no savings and be happy with less than a two-in-three chance of success,’ he says. ‘If you have dependants, you’d need more certainty.’ Therefore a minimum of 30 buy-ins is a good starting point.
‘That equates to $6,000 if you want to play $1/$2,’ says Dean, emphasising that this is the absolute minimum. ‘You must ensure you have money – set aside from your bankroll – to live on for at least three months, or preferably six. This has to cover rent and bills. I wouldn’t advise giving up the day job and playing pro at $1/$2 with anything less than $10,000 plus three months’ expenses.’
The ideal situation is that you will increase your bankroll month on month, but Dean advises that ‘the only way is up’ is too short-sighted an attitude. He says it’s better to move up the levels based on your talent and not just your bank balance. ‘Sometimes a person who crushes $2/$4 will never be able to play $5/$10 profitably no matter how hard they try. Their extra money is better invested elsewhere.’
WARNING!
‘Without bankroll you can’t have a professional attitude and without that attitude there is no professional poker player.’ John Tabatabai
STEP 3: DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB?
TOOLS NEEDED
- Alternative sources of income
- A long-term fall-back plan
- Awareness of family needs
Having a steady job might seem a large obstacle to your dreams of becoming a pro, but in many ways it can be a real benefit to either keep or acquire one. Andrew Ward is planning to go full-time pro in September but knows that poker can be a volatile career choice, which is why he’s planning to train as an accountant while he plays.
‘Poker will finance this, but my wife and family know that if it doesn’t work out we have enough money to see us through. If, after this break I decide it isn’t going to be long-term, it will be much easier to find a good job with my qualification in place. The security provided by a day job is the number one reason for sticking with that route.’
InsidePoker columnist and semi- professional player Alex Scott is adamant in his view that if you have family you should be multi-tasking.
‘You could reasonably say that playing poker as your sole source of income when you have a family to support is downright irresponsible,’ says Scott. ‘If you don’t have a family, it doesn’t matter if you have a losing month because you are the only one affected. This is probably the reason why top players such as Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, both of whom have families to support, have other business interests. It makes sense to have a stable form of income if other people are relying on you for food and shelter.’
WARNING!
‘Don’t quit any job or source of regular income to play poker. Play it seriously – as a hobby – and when you have spare time use it to study, read, observe, practise, review and analyse after every session. Once you have played at least 100,000 hands then you can begin to think about other options.’ John Tabatabai
Pro or amateur, you should be reading Poker Player magazine every month because it’s brilliant and NOW FREE
