Living Off Of Online Poker
Making the transition
- Img source: online-roulette.casino. Play at Single Tables for Starters; Live poker only allows you to play at a single table not because it’s the rules of the casino but because you can’t be at two places at the same time. However, gaming online is another story. You can actually play at up to five tables at a single time on different tabs.
- It’s not easy making a living playing online poker. It requires focus, patience, mental strength and much dedication to improving your game. If you are interested in becoming a professional poker player, there is something you have to be aware of: For every hour that you play, you need to spend an hour training.
- Just over a decade ago I quit my job to play poker for a living. At the time of Black Friday I was mostly grinding tournaments, sit-n-goes and cash-game Omaha variants at online American poker sites. Since live poker in Kansas was a little thin on the ground, it was apparent I would have to move.
Here at AustralianGambling we get what you’re going through, as experienced poker players ourselves, we know how demanding just the thought of making a living off poker may seem. It requires patience, and of course a bankroll sufficient to withstand your pocket aces getting cracked ten hands consecutively, but that’s just part of the fun. Profit can hold different meanings, but we’re looking to take your ‘I want to break even’ attitude into ‘I want to play for the riches’ and that’s extremely achievable, just ask the 1000’s of pro’s who consistently make a living off poker, all in the comfort of their home.
Why you should sign up now
Free money! Who can say no to that? Simply make a deposit to any of our recommended poker sites and they will give you a 100% First Deposit Bonus up to the value of $600. Just by signing up you have already made a decent profit and you haven’t even played a hand. Depositing into your poker account is as easy as the click of a button and all funds are fully protected and safe. Along with your deposit bonus you will also receive free tournament tickets which can be great ways to building a bankroll for a limited cost.
Where to go from here – You now have your poker account locked and loaded but you’re not sure how to manage your money and that’s a common problem that strikes new online players. With a wealth of poker tables to choose from, you must first decide on your limits. The small and big blind bets are clearly displayed in the lobby, alongside the amount of players at the table, average size of pot and speed of play. This is all vital information as a fast-paced player would prefer a table where over 200 hands are played in an hour. As time goes on you will familiarise yourself with poker players who you constantly see at the tables and this added information can only help your game in the future.
Playing poker for a living is going to be much more difficult in this situation due to the increased demands on your time and the much higher cost of living. And the time commitment is actually probably the bigger issue of the two. Among the people who I know who play poker for a living, this is literally all they do. 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!
Making a profit
Once you have started to get a good rhythm at the tables, poker can become very profitable, very quickly. There is no telling when an action hand will be played out, but that’s all part of the game. Poker enables both patient and impatient players to thrive and it’s the reason why this former recreational game has become a world wide money making machine. A tip 99% of poker players will give is to play aggressive when you’re on a hot streak, and we couldn’t agree more. You are the dominant chip stack at the table and the word ‘bully’ is running through your opponents head. That puts you in a position of power whether or not you have AA or 2-7, and that’s a great way to chip away at the shorter stacks who simply can’t compete with your dominance.
Once you start to feel comfortable with the current level of blinds, it’s probably time to start moving up the ladder and increasing your potential value. Play bigger blinds and you’ll likely see players play a more timid style of poker. Why is this? Risk plays a major factor in everyone’s poker game and the more you bet, the more you are risking, naturally. But, in terms of making a short or long term profit, then increasing your bet size won’t negatively affect your bankroll if you play to your strengths. Conversely, if you’re riding out a cold streak, don’t fret, hang in there and the cards will take a turn for the better.
Multi-tabling and tournament play
Don’t feel as though you have to limit yourself to playing one table at a time. Some of the best players in the world play multiple tables, some even going as high as 18. As ridiculous as that sounds, that’s the extend some players go to ensure they make a profit and whilst playing 18 tables is hard to manage, playing 2-3 is perfectly manageable and it will increase your profit margin over time. When you have folded and you are waiting for the action to return, that time wasted is potential profit lost. Playing multiple tables will enable you to constantly look for the best positions to attack and therefore increasing your chances of winning.
Tournament play is another aspect of online poker and it can reap big rewards. You don’t need to fly to Las Vegas to play for the big prize, you can do it in your pajamas if you so wish. Tournaments are a great way to turn a small outlay into a massive payout and the one-off payment is good for managing your account
Who makes a living off poker?
If you have ever watched poker on your T.V then you’d probably reach the conclusion that most poker players are university graduates with massive bank balances. But we all know of the financial struggles that students face, so just how did these guys make their millions? At one stage of their lives they were just like you, reading an article on the internet wondering how they can take their poker game to the next level. Without doubt or hesitation they launched into the game and they never looked back. Like any sport there have been players who haven’t made the cut, but if you are reading this article then you already have the passion to succeed.
The beauty of playing online is that anyone can play – the dream never dies – and you don’t find that in many other sports involving skill. The great names of poker are still playing strong but the new wave has stamped their authority on the poker world and it’s about time you joined them. Poker is a multi-million dollar industry where players are reaping the rewards that online poker produces. Since the online poker boom started the number of professional players has skyrocketed and nothing has since changed, so don’t miss out when you have the chance.
Living Off Of Online Poker Real Money
If you seek advice on how to properly manage your poker career then leave a comment and we will be happy to assist.
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
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.
Living From Online Poker Reddit
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.
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?
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.