The idea of making a living playing internet poker presents a bit of a quandary for me. The notion of someone quitting their job to play poker doesn’t seem logical. Playing poker for a living is something that is dictated by the size of your playing bankroll. My bankroll has been large enough where I was able to afford to just play poker. I’ve also had periods where my bankroll shrank to a level where I had no choice but to make money doing something else.

Let’s face it, people who play online poker for a living can afford to. They’ve amassed a bankroll that permits them to survive the win-loss variance at a blind or buy-in level where they can extract enough money to live when the win variance is high. If the bankroll isn’t there, you’re looking for a job or a deal. It’s that simple really. You first support your game until your game can support you. You don’t tell your boss to go to hell because you won a ten thousand dollar tournament, or you had two months of successful grinding at a $20/$40 blind level.

If poker is going to be your business you had better get your ducks in a row, and I’m not talking about a pair of deuces. Organization and documentation of your playing activity is essential for the intermediate player that’s thinking about investing a lot of time into playing. Once you have enough information about your game the process of recognizing and plugging your leaks can commence. Just like any career, you will get out of it what you put into it.

This is no job at the shop. Playing poker for a living requires that you not only plug the leaks in your game, but you have to plug all the leaks in your brain. Learning to accept the emotional roller coaster that playing online can bring is one of the toughest parts of the game. It’s not for the faint at heart, and I don’t care who you are – the game will spit in your face with regularity for the rest of your playing years.

Developing a mindset where adverse results have little or no effect on your behaviour is one of the professional’s toughest accomplishments. If you think you can maintain all that, and still believe that it can happen to you, you just might have what it takes.