Living Off Of Online Poker

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Table Of Contents

Be honest, how many of you reading this article have wanted to be an online poker pro at some point since discovering such a thing was possible?

I know I have — and on more than one occasion.

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we attempt to summarize the current legal status of online poker in the United States. You may be surprised to learn that, despite a confusing legal landscape, it is generally accepted that playing online poker is currently legal in the U.S., at least at the federal level. You should know the days you will play and those you will take time off. Playing poker for a living gets hard at times, but hang in there, you will soon reap the benefits! Playing online poker for a living: tournaments If you have your mind set on playing online, I’d suggest you focus on MTTs. The reason for this is that these big-field tournaments still attract many recreational players, so there is an edge to be had. The best MTT grinders manage to pull the ROI of around 30% playing on an average buy-in of $100. Playing poker online with friends is exceptionally popular during this coronavirus pandemic era. Here's how to do so and get the most out of the experience. With people quarantined and in self-isolation the world over during the COVID-19 pandemic, they're turning online for everything; this includes poker.

Being able to play poker for a living seems like the perfect job — for someone who loves poker at least. But it's harder than you would like to believe.

How to be an online poker pro? We have a few quick poker tips for you to set you on your way to your dream job.

How to become a professional online poker player in one easy step would be to quit your job and use poker as your sole source of income.

While this instantly makes you a poker pro, it is not advised, not even a tiny amount, for reasons that we'll cover shortly.

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1. Study all aspects of the game

Studying the game of poker is crucial if you want to learn how to succeed as a professional online poker player.

When you think you have learned all there is to learn about poker, you need to study and research even more.

In fact, you should never stop learning because standing still in this game means you're going to be left behind.

Read articles on PokerNews, check out the 10 most important poker strategy books ever written, join a poker training site, or hire a coach. Any edge you can create for yourself will eventually lead to profits.

You can also practice Texas holdem and pot limit Omaha cash games and tournaments for free on the WSOP Poker app.

The games are completely free to play, meaning you can play poker for fun, try new things, play online poker with friends and never risk any of your bankroll.

Living Off Of Online Poker Games

2. Prove you're a winning player

Remember how we said that handing in your notice and jumping straight into being a professional poker player isn't a good idea?

This is one of the main reasons why: you need to prove to yourself you know how to be a profitable online poker player first.

Many people bag a big score in a poker tournament, or win the equivalent of two months' wages at the cash tables and start thinking that this game is an easy way to make a living.

Wrong!

You need tens of thousands of cash game hands and tournaments (if not hundreds of thousands) to prove you're a winning player.

If you're not a winning poker player over the long term, you'll soon be heading back to your old boss cap-in-hand hoping to be reemployed.

3. Be realistic

Once you've ascertained that you're a winning poker player, it's time to begin trying to figure out how many poker hands or tournaments you'll need to play in order at least to match your previous salary.

Here's where many people fail.

When you have a salaried job, you are usually paid on the same date every month regardless of how productive your week or month is (within reason). You're almost certainly paid while on vacation, or if you're sick.

Living Off Of Online Poker Real Money

Are you really going to sit grinding for 60 hours every week?

The fact you have to go to work five days per week is probably enough to make you get out of bed and go to your job. But what if none of that was true?

You may have aspirations of making $150,000 a year, and that may be possible. But make sure you factor in at least three full weeks 'holiday.'

You should also plan for being sick and unable to play for a couple of weeks per year. Also, ask yourself — are you really going to sit grinding for 60 hours every week?

Do you think you can make enough money at $0.25/$0.50 to warrant giving up your job?

Do you know how many online poker pros are there who wake up at 12:00 p.m., play online poker for two hours, and then swan off enjoying life to the max?

The answer is not many. And those who do generally don't succeed as professional online poker players for any meaningful length of time.

4. Give playing poker professionally a trial run

Even if you have done all of the above, you should at least give playing for a living a trial run, so you have experience of how to play online poker professionally.

Take a week's holiday from your job and spend the next five working days doing nothing but playing poker (at least you'll be getting paid even if you have a bad week!).

Living Off Of Online Poker

You may surprise yourself at how difficult it is to motivate yourself to play poker non-stop for a week.

Or how after four hours grinding you suddenly lose all concentration.

Or how after losing 15 buy-ins during the first three days you no longer want to get out of bed at 7:00 a.m.

It's best to find out you're not cut out for the life of a poker pro before you take the plunge into playing for a living.

5. Build a big bankroll and liferoll

You have gone through all the previous steps but still think you know how to be an online poker pro. That's fine, but do you have a bankroll and your other finances in order?

Most poker pros like to have at least six months' worth of life expenses tucked away in a separate bank account in case things go pear-shaped.

Dipping into your poker bankroll to cover your bills is a big no-no.

Your bankroll should be larger than a recreational player would have because you never want to drop down in stakes.

Doing so, dropping down that is, makes it harder to reach your monetary goals — much harder. It's better to be a bankroll nit than it is going broke.

Poker

6. Act professionally

Professional poker players often cite the freedom it gives them for playing for a living, but that's not to say you shouldn't have a professional attitude towards the job.

Some of the best poker players in the world are extremely disciplined and in their approach every single day.

You wouldn't rock up to work and put your feet on the desk or lounge around on the sofa with your laptop, so don't do it as a poker pro. How to become a professional poker player?

Starting acting like one, a professional that is.

Additional Readings

This article was originally published on Jul. 5, 2017. Last update: May 7, 2020.

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Life of an Online Gambler

If you’ve ever dreamed about getting away from the drudgery of working all day long to make some other guy rich, poker just might be the answer. But be warned; playing poker for a living isn’t all roses and lollipops. Playing poker for a living needs to be treated like a serious job because your livelihood depends on it. I can speak from experience when I tell you that as nice as it is not answering to a boss, playing poker for a living can be a stressful job. At the same time, it can also be an extremely well-paying job.

In this article, I’m going to tell you a little bit about what it’s like to play poker for a living. This article won’t cover things like expenses, health insurance and rent.

Typical Day as a Professional Poker Player

Living From Online Poker Reddit

During my best months (earning more than $10,000 / month), I treated poker like a real job. I woke up early, ate breakfast and took a shower before hitting the tables. It was important for me to approach the tables feeling awake and refreshed.

I would typically play poker for 3 or 4 hours in the morning and then go make something for lunch. In the afternoon, I would find something else to do, like clean the house, meet a friend somewhere or whatever. In the evening, I would start another session to catch all the recreational evening players. I’d play for as long as I could stay alert. If I started to get distracted or groggy, I would log off and call it a day.

That all sounds nice and dandy but not every day went totally according to plan. Sometimes I would start out and immediately hit a downswing and have to spend the rest of the day digging myself back out of that hole. Even though I understood variance and knew downswings happened to everyone, it was frustrating to start the day off like that. What I had to do was learn how to put those hands behind me and continue on playing like normal.

Benefits of Going Pro

The best part about being a professional poker player is the money. The freedom was also nice, but there are few ways for a college student to make ten or twenty thousand a month from home. It was nice having more money than knowing what to do with it all. I got to go on trips, buy anything I wanted and save money for my future. There’s nothing more a young college kid (or anyone else) could ask for.

The freedom was important to me as well because I couldn’t stand working for other people. It sickened me to work for such pitiful wages when I knew the owners of the places I worked at were pulling in several thousand dollars a day off the fruits of our labor. It was also good to be able to take off work on a moment’s notice to attend to any emergencies or check out a fun event.

Drawbacks to Going Pro

As nice as being a professional poker player is, there are several drawbacks that you need to seriously consider. First, the future of the career is unknown. Do you think you’ll be able to play poker for 20 years and retire from it? There are many unknowns there including government regulation and abundance of strategy resources for the fish.

Secondly, if you go pro, you’ll have a major gap in your resume if you ever decide to return to the working world. The general population is astoundingly ignorant when it comes to poker so if you tell a future employer that you were a professional online poker player, the odds are they will assume you were some kind of degenerate. It’s frustrating but that’s how it is.

If you have a family that depends on you to make a living, going pro is even more stressful. Not only do you have to worry about yourself, but you also have to worry about your family. If you have a major downswing, you need to have a back up plan in place to feed your family. Otherwise, you and them will just be out of luck.

Living off online poker

Going pro also puts a major strain on your bankroll. When you constantly cash out for living expenses, it makes it harder to keep a steady bankroll. It’s difficult to move up in stakes and improve your winrate because you are constantly taking money out of your bankroll. When you play recreationally, you can keep that money in your bankroll for as long as you need.

Speaking of strain, being a professional is a seriously stressful job at times. No matter how great you are, you will experience the occasional monster downswing. During those downswings, it’s difficult to stay positive. If you hit an exceptionally vicious downswing, it can easily affect other areas in your life. It takes a special mindset to be able to separate your job from your personal life.

Should I Go Pro?

Living Off Online Poker

Only you can answer that. In the vast majority of cases, I recommend players against going pro. Your living expenses will constantly eat away at your bankroll unless you bring in a nice chunk of money every month.

Even if you have a good month or two, it doesn’t mean you should go pro. As a professional, you need to be able to win month in and month out. Every single month everything starts over and you need to win enough money to pay your expenses once again.

By not going pro, you can treat poker as a second income. If you work all day at a job and bring in extra money from poker, it’s like having two jobs at once. You’ll also get benefits from your job like health insurance and retirement. When you play poker for a living, you have to figure those things out on your own.