Playing Poker Full-Time, It’s Not Just Fun and Games
My primary source of income comes almost entirely from poker. Mostly, through playing or writing about my
experiences. Luckily, I have a loving wife who has a full-time job with benefits. Without the added stability of her job, I couldn’t take a shot at playing full-time. I try to be structured with my approach. I dedicate a certain amount of time to reviewing my play, reading books and online poker forums. Even writing has helped me think more about my game. Some important attributes to being profitable are discipline, bankroll management and game selection.
While I still find poker enjoyable at times, that’s not why I play. My primary purpose when I sit down at a table is to turn a profit. In fact, there are some days I don’t want to play. But, I treat poker like it’s my job and grind out the hours.
Every month, I pull out enough money to pay my share of the household bills. This can sometimes put a strain on my online bankroll and makes it difficult for me to move up in limits. But, I’ve come to accept this. I play games I can consistently beat and don’t try to push my online bankroll limits.
A while ago I put together a spreadsheet which forecasts my monthly recurring expenses and income. It includes my share of the monthly household bills and my own expenses (e.g car payment, car insurance, cell phone, etc). It also includes an annual income forecast, month by month and actual income received each month. I keep it up to date and ship a copy to my wife every so often. I created this primarily to give her peace of mind. There were times when she didn’t remember me withdrawing and I’d have to remind her. One time she forgot I gave her $3000 from my online bankroll for our savings account. Good times.
When I began playing full-time, the stress of not having a regular paycheck affected my play. I played too tight and conservative. Imagine for a moment how you’d feel at the table not knowing when you’re next paycheck was coming and every mistake you made was costing you money. Even though we had a nice cushion in our savings and my bankroll was healthy, it took me months to work through this. I finally realized it was killing my game and I had to play situations correctly instead of being too tight and passive.
It helps to have a loving wife who believes in you and your dreams. Over the past few years I’ve shared the success I’ve had at the tables with her. Poker paid for computers, televisions, trips to Las Vegas and even her engagement ring. All that time spent playing was paying off. Money wasn’t just going in, it was coming out. After I got laid off from my full-time job, she was willing to let me give poker a try. It took quite a while for me to find my niche and at times it seemed more like a nightmare than a dream. I even went busto on Full Tilt last summer playing primarily tournaments and SNG’s. That experience turned out to be a blessing. Otherwise, I never would’ve discovered how profitable cash games were at Bodog. Since then, I’ve redirected my primary focus to full ring cash games.
In a typical day, I play SNG’s and some satellites or tournaments on Full Tilt Poker before noon. Recently, I’ve been spending time laddering up Full Tilt’s Tier 1 - Tier 3 SNG’s. A single table (9-player) Tier 3 SNG pays out $310 for 1st, $186 for 2nd and $124 for 3rd. Before lunch I head to the gym, run errands and take care of things around the house (e.g. laundry, etc. ugh!).
Afternoons are spent reading or writing and reviewing the previous night’s cash game sessions while squeezing in more SNG’s. I have dinner with my wife when she gets home and I either fire up some cash tables if she has studying to do or spend the rest of the night with her until she goes to bed. After she hits the sack around 10-11pm, I play cash games on Bodog until around 2am. Although I’ve found the hours of 4pm-2am to be the most profitable time at the cash tables, I choose to spend time with my wife if she doesn’t have school work to do. Finding a good balance between family and poker is extremely important. I play about 6-8 hours of poker a day on average. This might sound like a lot. But, it’s not when broken up into short sessions.
What are my long terms goals and future in poker? While some of you may think sitting home and playing poker all day would be a dream, it’s not what I expected it to be. It’s stressful and difficult to consistently turn a profit. There are lots of highs and lows. But, poker is my passion and I don’t see myself ever giving it up. My goals are to continue playing cash games profitably, move up in limits and take some shots at bigger guaranteed tournaments. I’ve had several four figure tournament cashes in the past. A nice five figure tournament cash is one of my goals. Cashing and going deep in a WSOP, WPT or major online tournament are goals of mine.
Consistently making money at poker is hard work. It’s not just fun and games. It takes discipline and perseverance. You also need to constantly look at your game honestly and objectively searching for leaks and ways to improve.
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