TURNING PRO

Imagine a job where you determined your own working hours, answered to no one and could take as many holidays as you wanted. Now imagine that your salary was theoretically limitless and as long as you continued working in the UK you wouldn’t have to pay tax on any of it. These job specs may seem far-fetched, but they are achievable when you are a professional poker player. This may explain why so many part-time players are trying to eschew the rat race and adopt this lifestyle. So what does it take to go pro? Our panel of experts reveals all...

STEP 1 CAN YOU BEAT THE ONLINE GAME?

TOOLS NEEDED

• Solid online game
• At least 100,000 hands played
• Software such as PokerTracker to track results

Our advisory board was unanimous on one point: that unless you live in Vegas or have access to regular, lucrative games, the most realistic avenue for becoming a poker pro is through internet play. Betfair-sponsored pro John Tabatabai is totally aware of the advantages of the live game (having finished second in the WSOPE), but believes many UK players will struggle to subsist solely on them.

‘Good table selection is far harder when playing live,’ he says. ‘Going to different casinos to see which has the best game that night is time-consuming. You have to join the waiting list and hope the bad players are still there if and when you get a seat.’

Compare that with the countless advantages of the online game, says Tabatabai, and the internet is the clear choice for the aspiring pro. ‘You can use software with pattern recognition, session stats and hand analysis,’ he says. ‘Also, it allows multi-tabling which is a huge edge because it allows players to increase their hourly rate.’

So you’re well-versed with the online game and rate yourself as a winning player... But how do you know whether you’re actually outplaying everyone and not just getting lucky?

Shaun Dean, a former yacht captain who resides in Yorkshire and plays online poker full-time, says it’s all about tracking your success in minute detail over hundreds of thousands of hands.

‘You must keep accurate figures on every part of your game,’ he says. ‘I’ve just been on a 15,000 hand downswing, so having a small number of hands on which to base your figures doesn’t really mean anything. If you are in profit after 20,000 hands you are probably doing okay. If you are in profit after around 250,000 hands you are beating the game. Any profit figure is “beating the game”, but only you will know if you’re making enough money to fulfil your needs.’

WARNING!

‘Statistically, the worst run you could possibly have – and which most professionals will never encounter in their careers – is a 100,000-hand stretch of bad luck. Even so, a good player should break even during this period.’

STEP 2 DO YOU HAVE THE BANKROLL?

TOOLS NEEDED

• 30 buy-ins for your chosen level
• At least ,000 for /
• Three months of expenses

There is no scientific way of establishing what size bankroll you need to go pro because everyone has different spending habits. Alex Bowler, who turned full-time pro in March, believes it depends on your situation.

‘If you’re between jobs and taking a shot, you could start with five buy-ins, no savings and be happy with less than a two-in-three chance of success,’ he says. ‘If you have dependants, you’d need more certainty.’ Therefore a minimum of 30 buy-ins is a good starting point.

‘That equates to ,000 if you want to play /,’ says Dean, emphasising that this is the absolute minimum. ‘You must ensure you have money – set aside from your bankroll – to live on for at least three months, or preferably six. This has to cover rent and bills. I wouldn’t advise giving up the day job and playing pro at / with anything less than ,000 plus three months’ expenses.’

The ideal situation is that you will increase your bankroll month on month, but Dean advises that ‘the only way is up’ is too short-sighted an attitude. He says it’s better to move up the levels based on your talent and not just your bank balance. ‘Sometimes a person who crushes / will never be able to play / profitably no matter how hard they try. Their extra money is better invested elsewhere.’

WARNING!

‘Without bankroll you can’t have a professional attitude and without that attitude there is no professional poker player.’ John Tabatabai

STEP 3 DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB?

TOOLS NEEDED

• Alternative sources of income
• A long-term fall-back plan
• Awareness of family needs

Having a steady job might seem a large obstacle to your dreams of becoming a pro, but in many ways it can be a real benefit to either keep or acquire one. Andrew Ward is planning to go full-time pro in September but knows that poker can be a volatile career choice, which is why he’s planning to train as an accountant while he plays.

‘Poker will finance this, but my wife and family know that if it doesn’t work out we have enough money to see us through. If, after this break I decide it isn’t going to be long-term, it will be much easier to find a good job with my qualification in place. The security provided by a day job is the number one reason for sticking with that route.’

InsidePoker columnist and semi- professional player Alex Scott is adamant in his view that if you have family you should be multi-tasking.

‘You could reasonably say that playing poker as your sole source of income when you have a family to support is downright irresponsible,’ says Scott. ‘If you don’t have a family, it doesn’t matter if you have a losing month because you are the only one affected. This is probably the reason why top players such as Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke, both of whom have families to support, have other business interests. It makes sense to have a stable form of income if other people are relying on you for food and shelter.’

WARNING!

‘Don’t quit any job or source of regular income to play poker. Play it seriously – as a hobby – and when you have spare time use it to study, read, observe, practise, review and analyse after every session. Once you have played at least 100,000 hands then you can begin to think about other options.’ John Tabatabai

STAYING PRO

STEP 1 TREATING IT LIKE A JOB

REQUIREMENTS

• Maintain passion for the game
• Take regular breaks
• Invest money

Once you have acquired a suitable bankroll and proved to yourself that you are a winning player at a given level, it’s time to embark on perhaps the most difficult part of your journey as a professional poker player – remaining one. Plenty of players have quit their jobs, turned to poker and then switched back again because they weren’t completely aware of the ramifications of a life sitting in front of a computer screen. There are three main areas that you have to excel in...

Forget the image of being paid to jet off around the world and play in huge buy-in tournaments. Few professional players will ever get to do this on a regular basis. The bottom line is that the life of an internet pro is fairly uneventful.

You will probably spend at least eight hours a day, five days a week in front of a computer screen with little or no company. That’s why a passion for the game is imperative, says Andrew Ward.

‘I love playing poker whether I’m winning or losing,’ he says. ‘The reason I love it even when losing is because I accept that losing is sometimes part of the game.’

To counteract boredom and diminishing returns, it’s best to keep your day varied, as you would in a regular job. ‘I try to play in short spurts, maybe for two hours at time,’ Dean says. ‘Sometimes I will play a tournament to break up a day of playing cash. I spend other time contributing towards poker forums, reading up on strategies, or updating figures and statistics.’

And just as you might receive on-the- job training in the nine-to-five world, Tim Richards, a pro sports gambler and part-time poker pro, recommends following a similar path.

‘Coaching is essential for those who aren’t inherent poker geniuses. Having experienced players evaluate your play is far more conducive to improvement than trying to do it yourself.’

WARNING!

‘Use the money you make smartly: invest or use it to start up something else so poker isn’t your sole source of income. As Johnny Moss famously said: “If you can make money out of poker, you can make ten times more out of business.” ’ John Tabatabai

STEP 2 MANAGING MONEY

REQUIREMENTS

• Withdraw a set amount of monthly winnings
• Treat winnings as if it were a salary
• Keep money for expenses apart from bankroll

You might have proved you can make money playing poker, but for it to be a long-term vocation, you must be able to keep hold of your winnings. This is a five-step process:

1. Bank at least what your expenses are for a month. ‘The figure you win has to cover your expenses or else you’re making a net loss,’ says Dean. ‘That way you always have a rolling cushion to work with. However, I will always try and keep a full bankroll at any given site for the level that I play.’

2. Keep your living expenses separate from your poker bankroll. ‘This is essential,’ says Ward. ‘A poker bankroll is working capital. It’s like the stock of a market trader and must be respected as such.’

3. Treat your winnings as if it were a monthly salary. ‘My poker withdrawals are paid into an account that has a standing order set to send my “salary” to my current account on the 21st of each month,’ says Bowler. ‘Additional winnings are split between savings and investments and bankroll building to move up the levels.’

4. Use bankroll to its fullest potential. ‘There’s no point in having 0,000 in a poker account if you’re four- tabling / no-limit,’ says Dean. ‘You will simply never be touching a large proportion of your roll. This money could be much better spent invested and earning interest, instead of making interest for whichever site you play at.’

5. It’s crucial that you don’t set yourself a win limit in a given session. ‘If it’s a profitable situation, you should keep playing as long as you are able,’ says Alex Scott. As for having a stop-loss, he rates them as technically ridiculous (because you should not be results- based), but cedes that it can be useful to ‘prevent players from going too seriously on tilt’.

WARNING!

‘Donald Trump said you should never spend more than a quarter of your income on rent or mortgage. I would add that your living expenses should be no more than half of the remaining three-quarters of your income. The last quarter should be invested or saved.’ John Tabatabai

STEP 3 DEALING WITH DOWNSWINGS

REQUIREMENTS

• Stay positive
• Take time off
• Drop down levels when necessary

Let’s get the bad news out of the way now: you will experience a downswing at some point in your nascent poker career. It doesn’t matter how good you think you are, there will come a time when you start wondering if it’s all worth it as you’re outdrawn on the river yet again.

Ward is unequivocal in his belief that it is your ability to deal with misfortune which will decide whether or not you can stay pro. ‘The best players will always play their best game and lose the minimum, while others will go crazy at the inequity of it all and lose their whole bankrolls.’

Dean explains it’s about having the right mindset. ‘You must stay positive and stick to the game plan. As long as you haven’t lost all your poker skills you will be able to play through it.’ He believes there are two equally valid practical solutions you can take:

A. Stop playing – as simple as that. Take a few days off to regain composure, analyse your game and look for leaks.

B. Drop way down the levels and get back to playing aggressive, confident poker without the worry of losing half a dozen buy-ins.

When you finally step back up to your usual level, try testing out Bowler’s downswing recovery system.

‘I filter my PokerTracker to hide all previous hands so that past results don’t enter into things. Then I set out to play 10,000 hands without making any mistakes. The win-rate doesn’t matter, but make sure each decision is sound – imagine you are going to have to defend every choice you made in the boardroom of The Apprentice.’

WARNING!

‘You have to keep a strong head at all times and not crumble due to a seemingly huge loss. Review each session rationally, try to improve your play and discuss strategy with better players. While you are on tilt, you are not a professional poker player – you are a professional gambler and donator. The professionals love to prey on weak players who go on tilt.’ John Tabatabai