You would be hard pressed to find an avid poker player who has not thought they had what it takes to treat poker as a business and make a living from playing the game of poker online. There are many poker players out there that have tried to play poker professionally and more of them fail than succeed. So what are they doing wrong? Turning poker into your livelihood is a very realistic goal and is attainable but you need more than just skill in the game to make the dream a reality. Just because you dominate your Friday night game with your buddies does not mean you have what it takes to play professionally. To start with, if this is going to be how you make a living then you need to treat poker as a business - which means there are some business skills you need.
First, you need to assess your current living situation and determine how much money you need to support yourself. There is not a magic number for the amount of money that needs to be made, it depends on how much money you want (and need!). Factors you need to take into consideration deal with your lifestyle, living expenses and investing for the future. There is a big difference for someone who wants to make $3,000 per month versus someone who wants to make $15,000 per month.
Budgeting for Living Expenses
Let's start with the basics, if you want to play professional poker online then first figure out how much money you will need to make. In order to determine how much you need to make you will have to make a list of all your living expenses. Does your current normal job cover your living expenses? Once you have figured out how much money you will need to make to support yourself playing online poker I want you to double it. The reason for this is simple - you need a cushion to get started to handle bankroll and bad swings. Saving for a rainy day is the next important skill you need to learn if you are not in the habit of doing it already. Once again you need the cushion to handle those bad swings when they happen and life's unexpected downfalls. If you are already in the habit of saving money then you are in good shape to handle any swings when you start off playing poker online professionally.
Bankroll
The second important reason you need to be able to save money is for your bankroll. As a professional online poker player you will need a sizable bankroll. Your bankroll is for poker and poker only, so this money does not count towards your personal income. If you have $50,000 total and $25,000 is your bankroll, then you only have $25,000. It works best if you forget your bankroll is even there, poker is the only thing your bankroll is for. The only way you will succeed is if you keep your bankroll and income completely separate.
There is another important reason to keep bankroll separate and that is to allow it to build up. If you are going to play online poker professionally you will strive to work your way up the poker ladder to the higher stakes games as your skill and experience improve. To play in the higher stakes games you will need a sizable bankroll. With that said, if you are intelligent enough to play online poker professionally, then you should be smart enough to figure out how to factor bankroll growth into the amount of money you will need to make.
It is easy to see that when these factors come together you are looking at needing to make a lot of money to be successful. Money management is important, you should allocate specified percentages to go towards living expenses, bankroll and savings. Once those accounts are satisfied then you can count the rest as profit. The numbers may look daunting at first but if you have the poker skill, patience and money management then you also have the ability to treat poker as a business and that could mean a profitable venture and appealing lifestyle.
First, you need to assess your current living situation and determine how much money you need to support yourself. There is not a magic number for the amount of money that needs to be made, it depends on how much money you want (and need!). Factors you need to take into consideration deal with your lifestyle, living expenses and investing for the future. There is a big difference for someone who wants to make $3,000 per month versus someone who wants to make $15,000 per month.
Budgeting for Living Expenses
Let's start with the basics, if you want to play professional poker online then first figure out how much money you will need to make. In order to determine how much you need to make you will have to make a list of all your living expenses. Does your current normal job cover your living expenses? Once you have figured out how much money you will need to make to support yourself playing online poker I want you to double it. The reason for this is simple - you need a cushion to get started to handle bankroll and bad swings. Saving for a rainy day is the next important skill you need to learn if you are not in the habit of doing it already. Once again you need the cushion to handle those bad swings when they happen and life's unexpected downfalls. If you are already in the habit of saving money then you are in good shape to handle any swings when you start off playing poker online professionally.
Bankroll
The second important reason you need to be able to save money is for your bankroll. As a professional online poker player you will need a sizable bankroll. Your bankroll is for poker and poker only, so this money does not count towards your personal income. If you have $50,000 total and $25,000 is your bankroll, then you only have $25,000. It works best if you forget your bankroll is even there, poker is the only thing your bankroll is for. The only way you will succeed is if you keep your bankroll and income completely separate.
There is another important reason to keep bankroll separate and that is to allow it to build up. If you are going to play online poker professionally you will strive to work your way up the poker ladder to the higher stakes games as your skill and experience improve. To play in the higher stakes games you will need a sizable bankroll. With that said, if you are intelligent enough to play online poker professionally, then you should be smart enough to figure out how to factor bankroll growth into the amount of money you will need to make.
It is easy to see that when these factors come together you are looking at needing to make a lot of money to be successful. Money management is important, you should allocate specified percentages to go towards living expenses, bankroll and savings. Once those accounts are satisfied then you can count the rest as profit. The numbers may look daunting at first but if you have the poker skill, patience and money management then you also have the ability to treat poker as a business and that could mean a profitable venture and appealing lifestyle.
Treating Poker As a Business - What You Need to Get Started
![Treating Poker As a Business - What You Need to Get Started]()
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