It would probably be safe to assume that most of you that play online poker aspire to eventually make it your full-time job. And why wouldn’t you? Playing poker full time would be like running your own business and being your own boss. You can wake up when you want, play when you want and many times, and quit when you want. The bottom line is that you make and live by your own rules.
We can’t think of a better perk of playing full-time poker online than being our own boss. We’re sure many of you feel the same way. However, what most people fail to realize is that the perk of being your own boss also comes with responsibility. After all, if you don’t take playing for yourself seriously, you’ll likely struggle to become self-sustaining. You will risk having to go back to flipping burgers at your local fast-food joint.
Be Prepared
Before you can consider playing poker full-time (assuming you already have a full-time job and responsibilities), it’s extremely important that you prepare yourself to ensure you give yourself as big a chance to succeed as possible. This means being prepared financially, emotionally, and mentally.
Being Prepared Financially
It’s a common rule of thumb to have 3 to 6 months of your typical monthly income stashed away when starting a new business in order to survive to be new and not having a client base. Obviously, you don’t have to worry about establishing a client base as an online poker real money player. But what you do have to worry about is variance which can lead to days, weeks, or even months without making a profit.
Because of this, you should still have at least 3 to 6 months of money that can cover bills and groceries stashed away to ensure you and your family will still be able to survive. If you can put more than 6 months’ worth of money away, be sure to do it. It’s always better to have more than not enough.
Ensure that your savings are not the same as your best online poker bankroll. Be sure to keep these separate.
Being Prepared Emotionally & Mentally
It simply doesn’t matter how good a player you’re or how much money you might have saved up, you will not make it as a professional poker player if you cannot get a handle on your emotional and mental state. This includes, but is not limited to, handling bad beats, tilting, and dealing with breakeven or losing days.
It’s important to really, really understand this before making the leap and playing full time. You cannot afford to spew off your bankroll or replace screen after screen because you can’t handle tilt. Additionally, you cannot afford to change your game or lose confidence because you went a couple days or even a week without making any money.
The bottom line is that you need to realize that you will always tilt or feel down on yourself to some extent. It’s how you deal with it that will matter the most.
Happy playing!
Read more:
9 Mistakes while Playing in Online Poker Tournaments
Online Poker Variance Effecting in the Long-Term