Play Poker for a Living?

When you really think about it; it is extraordinary that people can go to a card room, play poker and make enough money to pay the bills and live rather comfortably. They even have to pay their own health care insurance. Their tax rate, however, is a little lower.

I've been questioned about this a number of times during my radio interviews. The interviewer is often incredibly shocked. "You mean they just play poker? That's it? They make a living from it.? I don't believe it." I try to explain to him that the IRS has allowed people to put as their official occupation "Poker Player," for some time now. I'd estimate that 50,000 (plus or minus a few thousand) people in the US alone consider themselves professional poker players and list themselves that way on all official government forms. I know it sounds hard to believe, but its the truth. I, myself, derive a major source of my income through poker. You can do it because its a game of pure skill and there are a lot of unskilled players out there.

I've lately been approached my some financial Wall Street types to help them with their game. I guess its not surprising that more and more people are looking for other sources of income. We know there are a lot of Wall Streeters looking for work and there is no work to be had. It seems to me that there is an increase in the number of players looking to get better and make some extra cash playing the game. I see a little more activity in the big games then I did before the economic downturn.

So if you are thinking about taking this route, make sure you get those skills sharpened. I'm not saying you NEED to take my online courses at PokerSlamU.com. There are other ways to get the experience and the requisite abilities. You could play thousands of hands on line and that'll take time and money. And who wants to mess with those corrupt online proprietors. Those stinkin' Asolute Poker guys who let Hamilton use a software program that allowed him to see everyone's hole cards. Who needs 'em! The other way to learn is to hire a personal coach. I've seen this work, but it is expensive. The going rate is $300 - $500 per hour. Make sure the guy has documented success or really good references. There are also coaching web sites that only cost between $19 and $49 per month. They are mostly geared to the online player and are not very systematic in how they present their information. Its mostly a lot of young guns playing poker online and talking at the same time. "This is why I bet that. . .This is why I folded." etc.

But for $4.99/month, a full money back guarantee, a great FLASH interactive player that works on both your computer and your mobile phone and 50 courses that build on one another; you can't go wrong. At least check it out. You won't be sorry.

Is Poker Luck or Skill?

Another common question I've been getting on these radio interviews revolves around the question as to whether poker is gambling or is it a game of skill. To me, someone who has played lots of poker at all different levels over the years, the answer seems very clear.

In the short term, poker has a large luck component. Let me illustrate it this way; If I were to play you one hand and I got pocket kings and you got pocket aces, you'd probably win a lot of money off me. But you were "lucky" to get aces when I got kings. However, if we played every day for three months, all the card disbursement probabilities ("the luck") are washed out. That is, you and I are going to get aces and kings the same amount of times. Therefore the game turns into one of who plays the various situations better. i. e. Minimize their losses and maximizes gains. The results are now essential based on pure skill.

Its analogous to the casino that sets up a table for playing craps. They know that the probabilities are 55% in their favor (or thereabouts) and they know on a daily, if not hourly, basis how much money that table will take in based on the traffic to that table. If the take is below a certain level, they know something is wrong.

Probabilities are a very ephemeral concept. But they are as rock solid as any mathematical concept. They are carved in stone. The more often you flip a coin the closer and closer the distribution will approach 50%. Yet each flip is independent of all the other flips. So even if you flip a heads twenty times in a row, the chances of the next flip being a heads are still 50%. Kinda weird when you think about it. Shouldn't the odds tilt back in favor of tails since it has fallen behind? Nope. It doesn't tilt back yet over time the two outcomes will, for sure, equal out.

So if you play a statistically significant number of hands, all the luck is essentially pulled out of the game. I estimate that you need to play somewhere around 500 to 600 hours of poker to reach this level. Consequently, its quite easy to see if you are a good poker player or not. Play 600 hours of poker, keep careful and honest track of your wins and losses and see if you are in the red or in the black. If you're ahead, then you know what you are doing. If you're way ahead, you're a first rate player. If you're in the red, don't give up your day job just yet.