How Does One Become A Professional Poker Player........?

Question

what do you need to actually go pro

Answer 1

It's pretty simple.  Most professional players just start playing, and find that sooner or later they are making enough money that they don't need to work.  Once you can support yourself playing you are a professional poker player.

There's no badge, medal, or job application form.  You just play and hope you can earn enough money that you don't end up bankrupt.

Answer 2

The very first thing you have to do is be a winning player.  While many people start out wanting to be professional poker players, (just like every other game or sport) few make it.  Once you become a winning player, you then have to be good at money management.  You have to keep a decent bankroll at all times, including the times you are not winning.  

You were given some good advice on how to learn to play poker in one of the previous answers, however, most good poker players never go on to be professionals, simply because they have too many financial obligations and can't risk the swings in income that all pros have.  I also see that there is some advice about playing in tournaments, I would disagree with that, most of your professional players make the majority of their money playing ring games (cash games).  One piece of advice I didn't see is the most obvious, you need to live somewhere where poker is played legally (Vegas, Atlantic City, etc...) While there are online professionals, at some point you need brick and mortar time, and you have to live somewhere where you can obtain it.  You also need time to play.... most pros play poker, 10 or more hours a day, 7 days a week, they are grinders, and you have to be a grinder (at least most folks do) in order to do it for a living.  How many people do you know that were great at sports in high school that went on to the pros? It is the same thing with poker, many have dreams of doing it, and the pawn shops of Vegas, Biloxi, Tunica, Atlantic City and other places are tough reminders that it ain't that easy.

Answer 3

Experience and reputation I guess. You should play in competitions and gain some respect from other players. And there's a poker world series that is open for everybody for a fee right?

Answer 4

To become a poker pro, you have to play WSOP or WPT and get top 10 place, then some company will sponsor you next tournament and some online poker room will make some deal with you... and ppl will see you on tv playing poker etc etc

i would say you can read poker pro bio and see how they become professional. you can read poker pro biography here:

http://www.pokerdeal.org/Poker-Player-Bi...

Answer 5

1. Watch a lot of professional poker, learn as much as you can about tells, betting styles, what hands to play, when to fold, when to check, when to raise, when to check-raise. Pay attention to the individual players, if you ever do get to be any good, these are the guys you will end up going against some day.  Try pokertube.com

2. Get a good book about poker, I recommend starting with Hold 'em, lots of great books on the market, after you've watched the pros play a little, you will know whose books you want to read.

3. Start playing with free money (pretend chips). Get an account with Full Tilt or one of the others, I like Full Tilt. Play on the free money side until you are winning regularly and no longer need to replenish your bank roll. Then get ready to start over, because people play differently with real money than they do with fake. You can't get away with as much with real money, because the players you will be up against will be a lot better than the ones you are used to playing.

4. When you do start to play with real money, which could take up to a year or more, start low. Real low. I would recommend the $1 sit and go tournaments, and the $.25/$.50 limit tables.

5. Talk to as many poker players as you can while you are learning. Let them teach you, let them tell you what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong.

6. When you are doing well with the small stuff you can start to move up. Your bankroll indicates how big a game you can play, and when you can play it.

7. Satellite tournaments are a great way to get into a big game with little risk to you. Often you can get into these satellite tourneys for very small stakes or even on free points given to you by the poker website just for playing there. (One of the reasons I like full tilt.

8. Along the way, you will pick up the lingo, you will go on tilt, you will have great days, you will have bad beats and slow coolers. You will figure out what I just said.

Just remember, get your money in good, and don't be too proud to fold. Don't bluff until you know how to size up when you will get away with it.

What the other guy said is true. Don't quit your day job until you have been supporting yourself with your poker for a long time.  The bottom falls out on the best of players, and it helps to have a backup plan for a while.

When you do get to a real table, gather as much info as you can while giving away as little as you can. Cover your mouth, lots of players cover their eyes, but the mouth gives away more.

Subscribe to some poker magazines, and by all means contact me if you want to chat about poker.

This is all I have time for, but there are plenty of other things I have picked up that I would be willing to share with you.

Good luck! Here's to the nuts!

Poker requires you have patience, math skills, a good memory,