How to Become a Professional Poker Player
Poker has become increasingly popular due to all of the televised poker tournaments. Nowadays, thousands of people are trying to become professional poker players. Here is how to do that.
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Instructions
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Learn the Rules
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1
Learn the rules of the game. Learn them so well you know every exception and possibility.
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2
Study other people and watch others play. Watch poker on television and take note of different playing styles and strategies.
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3
Host poker nights at your home with friends and family. Have it be a low buy-in ($10 or $20). Think of these poker parties as practice. It's low risk because there isn't much money at stake but play it like it was the World Series final table.
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4
Start playing cards occasionally at a local card room or casino. Set monetary limits for yourself as far as what you can afford to lose per week or per month. Then start setting goals: How much you want to win? What percentage of hands do you want to take down? How much you would like to make per hour? This is what the pros do. They know what they need to make and what games (and where) pay the most.
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5
Register for some smaller tournaments and try your hand at these. Tournament play is different from live play. Figure out your strategies and work from there. As you improve and start to really win, register for larger tournaments with more at stake and more reward.
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6
Continue to study other players and vary your strategy. Read poker magazines, play on-line and watch games on television. All of this exposure to different plays and situations will only help. Good luck, it may be difficult but if you really want it and are willing to take the time to learn how to be successful, you will be!
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Tips & Warnings
Start with small tournaments and take your time
Don't spend a lot of money on a tournament early on. Continue to practice and win smaller tournaments first
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Comments
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Just lost with my quads to a higher quad! This site has to be fixed!
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clevernickname
Feb 11, 2011
Also, to Nate: winning high profile poker tournaments or cash games is in no way a requirement to be a professional poker player. It may help you get a sponsorship deal, but most pros do without those. -
clevernickname
Feb 11, 2011
No offense to the person who wrote this article, but it's obvious that you don't have any actual idea how to become a professional poker player. The advice ranges from glaringly obvious (learn the rules!) to just plain horrible (learn strategy from watching TV/playing homegames with friends!). If you want to actually start learning, the best way is to get online, where there's a wealth of good strategy knowledge available for free on poker forums. It may also be worth paying to join a video training site such as Cardrunners or Deuces Cracked, depending on your budget and dedication.
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barrelroll
Jan 24, 2010
This info will certainly help a player become better, but to become a pro you must win multiple high profile poker tournaments and or cash games.
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sabongwon
Sep 01, 2009
Let me sum up what this said: read a lot and practice a lot... I've met all 6 criteria but I know just enough to know that there is much much more out there to know to be pro. For example, what kinds of programs are helping online pros be more profitable? rakeback, pokeredge... what else? which is best? thank you for the most generic post ever. (that was sarcasm, which I've explained because you don't seem to get the depth of things)
