Almost every person who knows about Professional Poker online has, at least once, thought about dropping their conventional jobs and discovering how well Poker works for a living. There exist people who followed this train of thought in practical life and have actually become online poker professionals.
While being an online poker pro sounds like the perfect job to make an easy living, it is particularly a demanding field to excel in. It requires passion, patience, knowledge, and skills before you can make it big.
The first step to becoming a professional poker player is certainly quitting your current job. But, before you do that, make sure you understand the whats, hows, and whys of this step. Let’s discuss steps that can assist you in becoming an online poker professional player.
Guide to Becoming a Professional Online Poker Player
1. Study & Understand the Game
There are various aspects of Poker, or any game for that matter, that you need to have a thorough knowledge of before you can start playing it at a professional level.
Even in the case of studying the game of Poker, learning never stops. It is constant, and you need to make sure you keep moving along so that you are not left behind in terms of knowledge about the game.
There are various poker rules, strategies, types of tournaments, and other key concepts like drawing hands, ranges, hand combinations, pot odds, fold equity, etc. Studying and understanding these concepts will help you decide on your game. Once you do select the game you are good at, stick to it and be consistent.
The more you know about all these concepts, the better your chances of winning. Mastering the Poker strategy called Game Theory Optimal (GTO) is one of the essential steps toward becoming a professional poker player.
2. Master the Game & Know the Odds
Before you can get into it professionally, you must know everything about the game on your tips. So, practice and keep practicing to get to a point where you are not just playing but also winning and making decent profits.
Mastering the game involves some essential factors like knowing and playing the winning hands only, knowing when and how to bluff, staying alert, and understanding every move by the opposition as well.
Poker is a game of luck that brings upswings and downswings along with it. So, knowing your odds is important here. You cannot keep yourself motivated if you only play with expectations of winning big. And winning big is highly dependent upon how well you know the odds of the hands being dealt. So, keep yourself in a reality check while you keep up with mastering the game as much as you can.
3. Take a Trial Run & Manage Your Money
Before you fully get into it, playing Poker as a professional but only on a trial basis can help you understand the way your finances work around this profession.
You need to have some amount of initial capital when you start playing Poker. Once you can manage that and you begin the trial run, you can understand the amount of money you will need to have as backup in case things go south. You will also need to have sufficient money to cope with the poker buy-in once you start playing professionally. So, understanding all of these financial factors is important and can be done through a trial run at Poker.
4. Play Responsibly & Know When to Stop
Learning the rules and knowing how to play the right hands are not the only essential tips to becoming a successful poker professional. Playing responsibly and knowing when to stop are equally important if you do not wish to lose.
It is a game of skills and discipline, in which you should control your desire of when to play and how to play. Therefore, make sure you maintain a healthy attitude and boundaries while playing professionally or even when it is just for fun. It is best to leave your emotions at the door when you are getting into professional Poker. Being a master of the game can still never avoid luck turning the odds against you. At such moments, avoid not being influenced by your negative emotions.
Now that you know the basic steps of becoming a professional poker player, we wish you luck with it. The journey shall be full of ups and downs, but if you have a love for the game partnered with the right skills and strategy, winning big should not be too far from you!
