Archive Review: Playing Poker As A Pro

Played BJ out of school for ten years and switched to limit holdem for seven years. 10 years ago I saw what was once 4 large bets an hour turn to less than a large bet an hour and tried to assimilate to the real world with a real job. Gave up the real world to play NL on line about a year ago and have witnessed the variance increase. Maybe if I had experienced the poker boom my view would not be pessimistic but there are a lot of players out ther that understand holdem and play fairly well. This is a tough gig.

Never been comfortable with the thought of going pro, despite having a waay too consistently positive NL cash game record during the past year. Maybe I just need to hate my current job more.

Still, any thoughts on the semi-pro route?

When I was out in Vegas last year in July for the WSOP, I played some $1/$2 at Caesars with a lucky SOB who got his pro start when his employer accidentally left him on the payroll for a few months after he left his job. I need to figure out how to get that gig.

I’m going pro because I can’t seem to find another job. But Ed, I noticed your first 3 articles concern online play. Are you referring only to online pros?