Maybe You Can Be a Professional Poker Player

Hi. Come on in. I picked up a lot of fresh fruit today. It's a tasty way to get some fiber into your diet.

Last time, we talked about the possibilities of your making a living at low-limit poker. Actually, it can be done. Lots of people are doing it. The question is, can you do it? It isn't easy. It's a lot like having a job, except that you get to choose your own hours.

Today we'll consider some things you should seriously think about before trying this tough way to make an easy living. But first, let's dream and fantasize.

Young boys dream about coming out of the bullpen in the bottom of the ninth inning with no one out, the bases loaded, and a one run lead - and striking out the next three batters to save the victory! Young girls fantasize about … I don't know, I've never been a young girl. And poker players imagine having pocket aces stand up in the finals of the World Series of Poker, providing them, at last, the recognition due them as a world champion, as the crowd of admiring fans goes crazy!

Each year sees only one player crowned the World Champion of Poker out of the millions of poker players in the world. So, reality says that we will never see this dream come true. And some people repeatedly vie for this championship, making our chances of getting there even more infinitesimal.

The best book title I have ever seen is John Fox's. He said it for all of us with his Play Poker, Quit Work and Sleep Till Noon! Now, there's a dream we can all buy in to. Some have succeeded in doing just that; they have made it. Thousands of others try every year and go belly up.

Every day, fresh poker talent arrives in the poker room, brimming with hope and expectation. And every day, the tired and beaten depart, disappearing as suddenly as they appeared a few weeks or months earlier, often with little notice taken of their coming or going. But some do make it.

So, the hopefuls keep coming - appearing, and disappearing.

As a personal service to you, I have assessed your chances of success as a professional poker player. You have exactly two chances: slim and none. If that discourages you, you should be discouraged and give up all thought of being a poker pro. But if being shown your chances just makes you want it all the more - if your desire to be a professional poker player is equaled by your desire to breathe air into your lungs after struggling to the surface from a deep dive - go for it. That's the kind of desire it takes.

You'll need desire, commitment, discipline, and courage - and somewhere along the way, poker skill. When you have all of that, you're still not ready. I have several things for you to consider before you give up your job to become a full-time poker pro.

Do you have an adequate bankroll for the game you intend to play? I suggest that you have a rock-bottom minimum of 200 times the upper betting limit of your game as a playing bankroll; 300 times would be better. This money is not to be used for living expenses or any other purpose. This is your playing bankroll - exclusively.

The competition could be tougher than you anticipate (it almost always is), so you might get off to a slow start. Thus, I recommend you have enough money to cover your living expenses for six months. If you have to begin living out of your playing bankroll, you'll find yourself under added pressure. You'll be playing with the rent money. That has been the downfall of many professional hopefuls.

Do you even know what your living expenses are? Calculate them by first adding up your monthly expenses. Next, total the expenses you pay on a quarterly, semiannual, and annual basis, and divide by 12 to get what they require each month. Add these two monthly figures together and you'll have the monthly nut you must overcome with your poker winnings.

It's at this point that lots of wannabe pros see reality setting in and decide to give up the whole idea.

If you are still determined, meet me here next time and I'll have more things for you to consider.

You ate only one apple, two bananas, and a pear. Take a pocketful of grapes to munch on the drive home. And kill the light on your way out so I may enjoy my peaceful slumber.

Editor's note: Roy West, author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning (available from Card Player), continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Get his toll-free 800 number from his ad on Page 112.

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