How to Play Poker Professionally: The Honest Guide

While many poker players like to believe that they are strong players, the reality is that there are significantly more weak players in the game than truly strong ones.

If you look closely, the strong players stand out for more reasons than consistently winning at the poker tables.

Let’s take a look at a few key (but often overlooked) aspects that separate strong poker players from weak ones.

Changing gears at will is essential to strong poker play

A lot of weak players stick to an ABC style of poker or some simple variant of that style.

Other players can play one style well but are unable to change gears when necessary. For example, a player that is normally very loose may run into trouble against tough opponents with well-balanced strategies.

Strong players can change gears to better exploit their opponents. They are usually able to hold their own regardless of whether they are playing loose or tight.

Studying the game takes up as much effort and time as actual play

While it is common knowledge that you have to study in order to improve your game, many players either don’t study enough or study the wrong things. Strong players are constantly evaluating their own play and studying strategies from other players in order to improve their game.

This type of study goes far beyond evaluating individual poker hands but also includes study in the areas of psychology, game theory, mathematics and even philosophy. Learning more about how other players think and react to situations will allow you to develop a more complex, winning strategy.

Strong players also develop significant time to study. You’ll often hear of strong players putting in one hour of study for every hour of time they play at the tables. That type of time commitment is something that many weak players aren’t willing to make.

Strong poker players allow their game to evolve and improve

A byproduct of regular study and improvement is that your game will evolve. Strong players continually evolve their poker game and can stay ahead of the changing trends in poker.

There are many weak players that refuse to change their style of play or to try new moves because they believe that what they know is enough to consistently win.

All you need to do is look at the players that were winning in the years leading up to and directly following the Poker Boom to see that this style of thinking is flawed. Many players from the years surrounding the Poker Boom era stuck with the old school style of playing and their stats slowly began to decline.

Players that were able to learn the new ways of thinking and were able to incorporate new strategies into their game were able to evolve and survive.

Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton is a perfect example. He admitted that watching players on the World Poker Tour inspired him to work on his game and this ultimately led to him becoming a World Poker Tour Champion prior to leaving the tour.

Poker is ever-evolving. If you can’t evolve with the game, you will never advance in your game and many players end up becoming long-term losers.

Winning players no longer ignore their physical well-being

Strong poker players take care of themselves away from the table both physically and mentally. Over the last decade, you’ve noticed a trend of top players trying to improve their lifestyles through diet, exercise, meditation, and other methods.

Strong players tend to:

• Eat right
• Exercise regularly
• Stay away from excessive partying and drug use

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, but overall we have seen that players that take care of themselves are able to enjoy more stamina at the tables and are putting up consistent results.

In addition, strong players develop relationships with positive people and largely stay away from those that can have a negative impact on their life or their poker game. Having a positive mindset is important for poker and putting people in you life that reinforces this is a +EV move.

So, let’s say you’ve been playing poker for a little while now. You’ve made a nice little profit and could make a living from your earnings, and now you’re considering quitting your day job to pursue poker full-time.

It’s going to be a long road ahead, but you can do it. I believe in you – and, I’m here to help you achieve this goal. I’ve seen plenty of casual players go from playing microstakes online and live cash games at $1/$2 stakes to transitioning into the world of professional poker. So, I know what it takes and I can help you on your path to becoming a poker pro.

Ensure That You, In Fact, Are A Winning Player

Keep track of the hands you play and make sure that you’re turning a profit over a long period of time. Most pros will advise you to track your win ratio for at least 50,000-100,000 hands. Note how many hands you win and lose during this time and, if you’re not winning the majority, then it’s not time to quit your day job just yet. This is something that will also ensure that you have enough experience under your belt before you can consider going pro.

It might be a rude awakening to find out that you’re a losing player after playing thousands of hands – but, it’s better than learning that you can’t sustain winning once you’ve decided to quit your day job. If you are losing, then you can take a little more time to learn the ropes and practice more until you are ready to make the leap into the world of professional poker.

Give It A Test Drive

Changing careers is a big deal and, in most cases, you don’t really have the opportunity to try out a new path before you actually decide to go that route – but, with poker, you do. It’s a good idea to take a week off from your actual job to try gambling for a living.

Playing in your spare time is a lot different to playing all day every day. That’s what the reality is for lots of poker pros, as winning in live cash games isn’t enough to sustain a lifestyle. There are days where you’ll have a particularly bad session or you won’t be able to find a juicy game at the casino, and you’ll have to play online to supplement the loss of income – or, vice versa if you’re playing mainly online.

So, it’s important to find out first if you’ll be able to live and breathe poker. After a few days of playing full-time, you’ll be able to determine whether or not you have an appetite for it. Of course, pros will go through sustained periods of losing that will last more than a few days – but, a week’s trial will at least give you some insight into how it all works.

Make Sure You Have Enough Money in Your Bankroll and Your Life Roll

When you play poker professionally, you have to keep your poker bankroll separate from the money you use to spend in everyday life. All of your money for rent, bills, food, savings and entertainment should go into your life roll – and, you should never dip into it to fund your bankroll.

How much should you have saved for a life roll, then? The majority of professional poker players will keep at least six months’ worth of expenses aside. It might sound like a lot of money, but there are situations where you might go that long being in a rut, and it might be a while before you start scoring in cash games and tournaments. Saving up this much will take a while – but, it’s important that you have this little nest egg; otherwise, things can get pretty stressful.

Don’t Stop Learning

You might think that once you’ve managed to sustain winning over the course of your professional poker career, you can sit back, relax and continue to crush the game. However, as we’ve seen over the course of the past few years, the game of poker continues to evolve. The same strategies that were effective ten or twenty years ago will be outdated so, to maintain longevity at the tables, it’s important that you keep updating your knowledge.

In fact, Daniel Negreanu recommends that you dedicate 20% of your time to studying. You might think that most of your learning will take place at casinos, but you should also be spending plenty of time at home reading and discussing hands.

Find A Mentor or a Poker Coach

Like any pursuit I’ve undertaken in any aspect of my life, I’ve found that coaching from a real, live person is invaluable in helping me succeed. This is especially true when it comes to playing poker, as a coach will help you perfect your game in ways that posting on forums can’t.

It’s an investment but, if you think of a poker player like any other athlete, it’s pretty necessary to help hone your skill. In the way that runners and gymnasts have coaches to help them perfect their craft, a winning poker player also requires consistent coaching in order to improve in some areas and excel in others.

How A Poker Mentor Can Help

They will tell you whether or not you should have bluffed in this spot or if you bet the right amount into the pot with ace-king suited. Their years of experience in playing and watching poker will help you learn a thing or two or a thousand about how to improve your gameplay and increase your winnings.

You’ll develop a relationship with your poker coach, and they will get to know your style of play as you share your results with them and discuss hand histories. This will enable them to really dig into your strategy and help you turn yourself into a winning player. Even when you are playing poker full-time, having a coach can help you level up and advance to higher stakes or tournaments with larger buy-ins.

It might take you a while to find someone that you mesh with as a poker coach. So, don’t be afraid to shop around. Speak to several different coaches and get recommendations from friends to ensure that they can help you achieve your specific goals.

Take Care of Your Mental Health

No one really seems to talk about the mental health aspect of going pro. I’ve watched plenty of casual players make the attempt, and the journey to becoming a professional poker player can really take a toll on you, mentally. In one case, I saw a player completely burn out, unable to handle extended losing streaks. Many people don’t realize that the inherent nature of making a living by playing a game of chance – no matter how much skill is required to be a poker player – isn’t all glitz and glam.

It’s not enough to get great at playing poker and prove that you’re a winning player. If you’re not in a good headspace, then you won’t make it. So, even though pursuing a professional poker career is very time-consuming, it’s important that you take time out to look after yourself. Ensure that you get enough sleep every night, eat well and exercise regularly.

Many hopefuls get caught up in the late-night lifestyle of professional poker players, which can have an impact on these very basic pillars of self-care. So, I’d really advise using a life tracker app to make sure you’re staying on top of everything.

So, How Long Does It Take to Achieve Professional Poker Player Status?

From the moment you decide that you want to play poker professionally to the day that you can say “I’m a professional poker player” when asked what you do for a living could be as short six months or as long as a year. Rarely have I met anyone who taken over a year to go pro. In most cases, if it takes longer than a year, the player will probably quit before it gets to that point.

Do you think you’re ready to take the risk? It takes a lot of hard work both on and off the poker table to be able to go pro but, if you’re committed to making this dream come true and take your time getting there with the right attitude in tow, I’m willing to bet that you can get there in the long run.

✅ How much money can you make playing poker professionally?

When it comes to how much money you can make playing poker professionally, it really depends on the stakes that you’re playing at. Starting out, most new pros make just enough to cover their lifestyles which can range from $25,000 to $100,000 per year. On the higher end of the scale, you have high-rolling pros who make millions.

✅ How long does it take to become a professional poker player?

In most cases that I’ve witnessed, someone who works consistently towards becoming a professional poker player can achieve their goal within a year. I’ve seen some get there within a couple of months after cashing in a big tournament but others who have to grind it out to build their bankroll will take a year or just over a year.

✅ How often do you have to play to make a living?

If you’re serious about becoming a professional poker player, you should commit as much time to it as you would a full-time job. On top of this, you should research and study for a few hours every week.

✅ What are the risks of playing poker professionally?

When you play poker professionally, the main risk is that you will lose money in the long-term. However, you can counteract this by ensuring that you have a life roll to sustain you through longer losing streaks. If you are, indeed, a winning player, the string of losing sessions with end eventually and you’ll be able to resume playing and building your bankroll once again. Going pro also means putting your mental health at risk, since poker is such a volatile game – so, make sure that you have a support system in place and that you look after your well-being as you pursue professional poker as a career.

I’d like to share with you a recent e-mail I received from a regular visitor who is fairly new to No-Limit Hold’em and was wondering about how to choose the most profitable games. Here’s a snippet:

“Are ring games more profitable than SnG’s? Or are tourneys the way to go? What I’m specifically asking for is what do you do personally do to make a consistent profit?”

This is a simple, fair, and essential question. Where is the most money at in online poker?

As an amateur poker philosopher and semi-cryptic writer, I’m afraid that I must avert a simple answer and respond by saying “Well, it depends,” and launch into a full-blown article on the subject.

Today there are limitless choices for making the most money you can in online poker

Before the recent boom in poker’s popularity, the choices of poker games were relatively limited in spectrum.

If you were lucky your local casino might have a poker room spreading small fixed-limit games of Hold’em, Stud, and Omaha. Tournaments were unpopular, few, and far between. You played limit cash games if you wanted to play regularly and that was about it.

Cash games, multi-table tournaments, or Sit and Go’s are always available so experiment

These days, with the explosion of online poker we have the choice of sitting down at a cash game, multi-table tournament, or Sit ‘n Go at a whim.

Of course, we all naturally wonder where we can make the most money and what our best game is.

You definitely should experiment with all 3 main forms of online poker, but I think that certain personalities and styles of play lend themselves to profit in different forms.

Someone might be excellent at no-limit Hold’em cash games but struggle in multi-table tournaments yet someone else might consistently make money at high-stakes Sit ‘n Gos only.

You can never make a broad statement that any game is more profitable than another in general, but they certainly will be for each individual player.

Let’s take a look at each game type.

Potential profit in cash games

This is the basic form of poker. You sit down at the table with cash, exchange them for chips, and play for real money. You can leave the table any time you like. In terms of Hold’em, it is played most commonly as Fixed Limit or No Limit.

In my opinion, selectively aggressive players can make the most money over the long run in No Limit cash games, especially when we’re talking about online poker.

Online players make so many mistakes that you can make a consistent profit just by playing a solid, no-nonsense game, waiting for strong starting cards, and punishing the live ones at the table.

The most successful professional players in terms of profit (think Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Phil Ivey, etc.) mostly play cash games. While the top professionals might be playing for stakes that make our noses bleed the same principles apply to our games.

Cash games require a long-term skill advantage

There is a greater long-term skill factor in cash games than tournaments. Anyone can have a lucky individual tournament, but no one can survive for long in cash games without a skill advantage.

There is no pressure to battle the blinds in cash games or situations where you have to gamble on a coin-flip just to stay alive. You can always reach into your pocket for more money if you get broke or you can simply wait for a good starting hand to come along before you risk your money.

What I make the most money from personally

Personally, my preferred moneymaker is the No Limit Hold’em cash game.

This is certainly how I make most of my profit, but that may be different for you or any other player.

I like No Limit cash games because I can be patient, play my own game, and often win a lot of money off of reckless players in a short amount of time.

In a typical evening I’ll feel satisfied if I leave a game with a profit of 50-100+ Big Blinds. Sometimes that happens in 45 minutes, sometimes in 6 hours, or sometimes not at all.

Cash games are my game type of choice because I can buy in as much as I like, leave anytime I like, buy in again if I run into a bad beat, and wait for the right situation as long as I need to.

You can’t really do that in tournaments.

Expected money from Sit and Go’s

A Sit and Go is a one-table tournaments with typically 2, 6, 9 or 10 players. Usually, the top 3 (in a 9 or 10-player Sit and Go) pay out with the winner receiving half of the prize pool. Again, selectively aggressive players can do well in Sit and Go’s by changing gears and avoiding trap hands early in the event.

Once you really understand the structure of these events and adapt to proper Sit and Go strategy you should be able to finish in the money at least 6 or 7 times out of 10. That is definitely a consistent profit and there are plenty of folks earning a living on middle-stakes Sit and Go’s.

Super-aggressive players may not fare well in these events over the long run as most online opponents are either un-bluffable or not intimidated by reckless play.

What sort of profit you can make with tournaments

This has been the fuel to the poker fire as of late. Whether you watch the WPT, WSOP, or every other poker television show besides High-Stakes Poker it’s a multi-table tournament. Anyone can enter, receive their starting chips, and play until just one collects them all.

The most money might be in the largest side games, but the glory is in tournament play.

Traditionally-tight players may struggle to consistently cash

Personally, I find it most difficult to win consistently in these events. There is a much higher luck factor involved in multi-table tourneys than the other two main forms of games.

Tight players don’t usually fare much better than near the bubble and, unfortunately for them, the real money in tournaments is in the top 3.

Aggressive players are generally better suited for tournaments. Hyper-aggressive players who go out in last place 9 out of 10 times but finishing 1st once in every 10-15 tries are usually still doing quite well for themselves.

Tournaments are fun and you can certainly become great at them, but be prepared to lose a lot more times than you win. Hopefully, you occasionally make that huge score.

The bottom line on the most profitable form of poker

So, what is the most profitable way to play poker? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer for that question.

It’s going to depend on what type of game you’re most suited for and everyone may have a different answer. The biggest pro players seem to excel at all games, but mostly earn their profits through mixed cash games and no-limit cash games.

Record your game results and discover your best poker format on pure data

As most good players do you should keep a poker journal that you update after every session.

Include where you played, what game(s) you played, how long you played for, at what stakes, and finally how much money you made or lost.

After you have enough data recorded, you can total up your hours playing each game and compare that to your total profit/loss for tournaments, cash games, and one-table tourneys.

Then, simply focus your efforts into where your hourly win rate is the highest.

Key Takeaways