When you play a few hands with the boys over beers on a Saturday night, you may have entertained the thought that professional poker could be for you – especially when you feel that rush of a winning a streak! But while poker can take only minutes to learn, mastering the craft and learning how the economy of the game works can take a lifetime. If you dream of pulling up a chair in Vegas, or sponsoring players to enter the World Series of Poker, read on to get our insights on the poker economy…
In the early days of online poker, earning over $100,000 a year was relatively easy for anyone willing to put in the time and effort. Nowadays, the poker environment is tougher and far stricter than it once was. With restrictions enforced in countries like the US, Italy, France and Spain not allowing people to play online poker on foreign sites – the player pool was reduced by recreational players throwing in the towel and professionals relocating to countries without such restrictions. So, in a time of more professional players than recreational players, how do you go about making it a profession and ensuring you make a reliable profit?
Firstly, players need to be prepared to put in the work. When competition is tight, it’s essential to gain an edge over your opponents in whatever way possible. This means putting in the hours – in front of the screen, in person, at casinos, in tournaments. You can’t expect to win without shining your skills until they sparkle. The best players don’t really ever take a break – when they’re not playing, they’re studying their opponents or reading up on strategy.
Poker is also all about reputation. If you want to find investors to help you enter the big competitions, you need to have a proven, recent track record of big wins, and an untarnished character. The poker industry is small – people talk – if you’ve failed to remunerate your investors, people will hear about it and they won’t be persuaded to back you.
To make it in the poker industry you need to have the tenacity and focus of an entrepreneur. You need to be the best-selling product that everyone wants, you need to learn how to navigate the ups and downs of an uncertain terrain with determination and grace, and you need to be able to sell yourself again and again. Much like savvy businessmen, you can’t rely on just your one business alone forever – you should be keeping your eye out for investments of your own to sustain the income you’ve grown accustomed to long after you retire your cards.
Poker has the potential to help you create the kind of life you’ve always dreamed of – just know your stuff, stay in control, and always be on the look-out for ways to maintain your reliable income.
