Going pro

[QuickerChipPickerUpper]

I’m considering making the leap from a recreational player to a professional. Who has made this transition and what words of wisdom do you have for me? Here is what I have considered/accomplished so far:

1. Built a proper bankroll
2. Honed my skills
3. Study away from the table
4. Amassed a sample (1 year) to project future earnings

What else should I consider?

[Brad Owen]

Sounds like you’re off to a good start. How many hours did you play over the year? One major thing to consider, that many don’t, is that it’s extremely tough to get back into the working world once you play poker for a significant period of time. Companies that are hiring are generally not impressed when they see “professional poker player” on a resume. Also, there is no reason to believe that poker will become more lucrative in the future. It is getting tougher and tougher. I’m not sure what percentage of pros are still around from ten years ago but I imagine it’s low. You have to make sure you’re doing everything you can to stay ahead of the game if you want to last (and even then it’s tough). I’m not sure how old you are or what your goals are for the future but it’s extremely difficult to have a girlfriend/wife and kids when you play poker full time. If you want to make the most money you can then you’ll often be on a weird schedule. In general, I think playing poker is a great way to earn a secondary income but I’m always worried when people are considering it as a profession. Best of luck to you no matter what you choose. It’s a big decision. Feel free to private message me if you want to. I’d be very interested in hearing more about your background.

[QuickerChipPickerUpper]

It is a HUGE decision and that is why I have been reaching out. I have played approx. 500 hours over the 1 year sample. I’m satisfied with my win rate and hourly. I feel that I play less casually and as though my livelihood depended on it (which it would) that I would perform even better. Aside from that I have been investing in training tools and am trying to get a text group started.

The impetus for this move is both personal and professional. I will soon be 40 and my wife and I are having our first child in 3-4 weeks. Exciting times! Daycare is NOT cheap! I would feel fortunate to have the ability to stay home with our child until 4-5pm when my wife gets home from work and head to the local casino. So professional trajectory is currently moderately askew as I lost a job back in April and got another in June but it pays significantly less. So I feel like this might be the time to do what I want if I can earn the same amount roughly, daycare factored in.

I’ve been playing 1-2 NHL recreationally for the past 8 years at Horseshoe Southern IN. I downloaded Run Good and have recorded data in that app for the past year. HSI is a tough room. Lots of quality players and I feel that it has made me a quality player as a result.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful response. I enjoy your videos and think that you have started a good thing with this site too.

[Ian McClellan]

I can speak from a short history of quitting my job to play poker about 12 years ago. You can read my introduction on the site here: https://offthefelt.com/forums/topic/toledo-ohio-pro-turned-rec/ – that outlines some of my past.

I was a younger guy (23) and was playing 3-5 nights a week alongside a full-time job. I decided that I wanted to try to play poker full-time when I was making more money playing than working. I was playing 1/2NL and 1/3 NL at a couple casinos in Detroit (Greektown & MGM) and a couple of soft home-games, averaging around $500-700 a week playing 30-40 hours a week. When I decided to ‘go pro’ I decided to save up $2500 as my ‘starting bank roll’ – which was really weak in retrospect – and ultimately ended up being part of the downfall, I think.

I lasted just under a year playing poker as a job, and here are the things that I didn’t consider.

1. Playing all the time is much tougher than just playing weekends. My hourly was cut in half, and worse, when playing a Tuesday afternoon with a bunch of retired old men vs. a Saturday evening when the beers and chips were flowing. So I didn’t anticipate the change in the game and how my hourly at peak times didn’t always translate to hourly over all times. I thought if I was making $20/hour and playing 40 hours, that I could just play 80 hours and make 2x as much. Not the case in my experience.

2. Compounding that was the NEED to make money vs. playing ‘for fun’. Even when it’s for fun, we all understand it’s about the money- but I under-estimated the pressure that paying rent/car payment/groceries would put on my need to make money at the tables. As time wore on – I felt an increasing pressure to win more – and more often – which led to me playing higher stakes and taking shots at larger tourneys— both of which ended horribly for me.

3. Going into a season of life where you are going to have a child (I have two) – I would strongly encourage you to maybe let that life change settle in before you go for a career and required lifestyle change to suit this profession. Your hours are going to be whack, and your wife is going to feel ‘abandoned’ if you’re gone every night at a casino ‘playing cards’ and she has to get up with the baby, and work all day, and you get to ‘go play’ at night. I understand that you are taking this move seriously, but unless your wife is SUPER onboard, it is a dangerous to leave her at home alone with the baby all night.

4. Availability/proximity of casino options. I live(d) in Toledo – and at that time there was no casino here. I drove to Detroit or Windsor, Ontario 4-5-6 days a week (40-50 miles each way). That is a TON of time, mileage on a car, a lot of gas, a lot of oil changes, etc… that I wasn’t really thinking about. Going up a couple times a week for fun was great. Going up every day to try to squeak out a couple hundred bucks – not so great. Consider the commute and the expense of that commute.

5. Other people’s opinions. Be ready for the awkward looks, the strange faces, and the ‘Wait, what?!’ from people you know. I happened to be in this stage of life at my 5-year high school reunion and a large family reunion… When you graduate from university with a good degree, land a good job, and then leave it to ‘play cards’…. people are going to be like ‘what. the. f%$&?’ Dudes will be envious and give you high fives – but ladies will probably think you’re a deadbeat – and they will probably tell your wife that, too. Your parents will question you, your in-laws… well… You’re in charge of providing for their daughter, so you will have to cross that bridge. This was before I was married, but I can imagine what my FIL would tell me if I decided to quit my career and go back to poker… Not pretty. I guess I wasn’t ready for people telling me that I wasn’t being very forward-thinking about the whole thing.

At the end of the day – you have to do what makes you feel complete. Even though it didn’t work out for me, I never regret that year I spent grinding. I became resourceful, I got a heck of a lot better at cards, and I made some amazing friends that I still see from time-to-time. It’s also a great story.

My advice – get your wife onboard, ALL the way onboard – and wait for the ripples of the birth of your child to settle a little bit. Post-partum is no joke, women need a sense of stability and control in these next few months, and you need to be the best daddy you can be – so she sees you are invested as she is.. But if you get the other side of this and feel like rolling up a stake and letting it fly – I say YOLO.

Good luck, and congrats on the impending baby! They’re a real hoot.

[Author]

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