Poker Fair US

Should You Turn Pro in Poker?

Imagine waking up late, going to work anytime you want and getting paid fabulous sums of money. Now you can pursue a dream career without slaving your butt out to make ends meet. Become a poker professional and live the life you've always wanted!

Sounds too good to be true? Well, it is. Many aspiring poker players dream of becoming full-fledged poker professionals after hearing of some lucky guy winning millions of dollars at a prestigious poker tournament.

No matter how tempting and exciting a poker pro career is, not everyone can or will make it big in the professional circuit. For one, you must be extremely talented and skillful in poker to become successful as a pro. Another thing is that a professional career requires a full-time effort that discourages many people from pursuing it.

Many poker pro wannabes try to jump to the world of the pros, only to return with tails between their legs, figuratively speaking. However, this doesn't mean that you should not turn pro. You can, but unless you quit your job and devote all your time to playing the game, you won't get far as a pro.

In fact, most successful poker pros were successful in other unrelated careers before they made it big in the professional circuit. Mark Seif, for example, was a lawyer in Los Angeles and Barry Greenstein was a software engineer working in Silicon Valley.

You will also be surprised that several of the World Series of Poker champions held other jobs before poker. Jamie Gold was a talent agent in Hollywood, Joseph Hachem was a chiropractor and Greg Raymer an accountant.

This goes to show that poker used to be an innocent hobby for many pros. This hobby would later on become a serious infatuation until these people were smart enough to realize that they can make a decent living from the game they love.

This trend is likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Poker professionals in the past used to be card dealers or played the game since childhood. Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim were poker players all their loves while Gavin Smith and Erick Lindgren used to be casino dealers.

The success of these pros have and will entice many more poker hobbyists to become full-fledged pros. It's a healthy sign for the gambling industry since more players will mean more revenues from rakes, tournament entry fees, advertising, etc.

If you're itching to follow in the footsteps of your WSOP idol, it's better to be realistic with your skills and experience level. Do you have what it takes to compete with the best?

A poker pro career may look like the best job in the world, but if you're not up to the task you might as well play poker as an innocent hobby.