Poker as a Profession
Thursday, 28 February 2013
Cash game specialist Andrew Moseley takes a look at the macro-game
I think one of the hardest parts of surviving in the poker world is the least well covered in poker journalism and literature, and this is how to actually operate as a professional poker player. Even some top pros are useless at treating poker as a profession, and it’s possibly an even harder skill to master than the game itself.
The fact that you don’t have a boss, that you can do what you want – when you want – that, if successful, you will invariably be cash rich and have no background in business or the real world, make it pretty difficult to know how to take poker as a career seriously. When most people in the world view your profession as a recreational game or a bit of a gamble, there is not going to be much guidance out there as to how to go about achieving this.
The first aspect of pro gambling is bankroll management. This has been fairly well covered, but it’s definitely the most important. Rough advice is given to aspiring pros as to the number of buy-ins needed for certain limits, and so on, but I would recommend being much more flexible in your approach. The most important thing when trying to efficiently manage your risk as a poker player is understanding that you should be much more aggressive in some spots than others. I would suggest that when you are in a great cash game or a very soft MTT, you should be willing to risk up to about 10% of your liquid bankroll in the session. When grinding normal games, I would say that only 1.5% to2% of bankroll should be risked.
People like to “take shots” at higher limits where games are often tougher, by definition. What I would suggest you do if you intend to do this is sell action to friends to reduce exposure when moving up, and gradually sell less as you become more comfortable at the limit. You don’t want to be exposed to higher risk in the toughest games you play, and if you believe you are a favourite you will be making your friends money by selling action.
The general way I try to manage my bankroll is to be extremely aggressive when the time is right and then try to protect my ’roll when games are not great. The last thing you want to do is stop yourself from having a huge shot in a great game because you have been too aggressive in poor games. Make sure that you monitor where you are winning and why you think that is, and have a good network of other players who you can rely on to buy your action when necessary. Then use these tools to be careful but selectively-aggressive with your cash.
For the aspiring pro / recreational player: I often hear people asking about ways to manage their bankroll as they keep tilting it away. The general advice seems to be “Well, don't take big shots and don’t tilt.” But this isn’t really a solution. What can actually help you is to not have your whole ’roll in one place. If you can afford it, leave small parts of your ’roll at the different casinos or places you play. That will physically prevent you from being too irresponsible and stop you tilting through your bankroll in a night.
When starting out, I would say you can be more aggressive than a seasoned pro should be – you will likely be risking money that you can earn back through other means if it goes wrong, and although it is good to get into good habits early, I think, initially, the reward of building a good bankroll outweighs the potential risk of losing half your smaller ’roll quickly.
One of the biggest leaks all pros have is expenditure and cash management issues. The advantage of being a successful poker professional is that you are exceptionally cash rich. This doesn’t mean you can spend money like a Premiership footballer. Your bankroll is the entirety of your business, and due to the swingy nature of when your money comes in, you sometimes have a false impression of how much you can afford to spend. Poker players with average bankrolls can spend money faster than bankers making £300k or £400k a year. If you just enjoy spending and don’t care about growing your bankroll, then, fair enough, spend, but you need to recognise that that’s what you’re doing.
A lot of players remain at the same stakes (say, £1-£2, £2-£5) and complain of running bad, when in reality they are spending £80,000 a year which they are crushing the games for. In general, I would say, if you think you are good enough, don’t let your spending habits keep you at a certain limit, as the rewards of getting to the biggest games are more important and you are costing yourself a lot more $$ than you might think.
By spending your early adulthood playing poker, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage if you ever want to join the real world. Most employers will not look at a CV of fun degeneracy as a good thing. However, there are a number of huge advantages to being a poker player which you can easily use to offset the negatives. Firstly, as we’ve said, you will be extremely cash rich compared to most people your age. Use this as an excuse to get involved in as many things as possible. Small investments into start up companies or stock market dabbling can lead to skills and knowledge that your peers won’t have access to.
Secondly, you are in an unbelievable spot to network. If you manage to get into some of the higher stakes games, you’re in a position to meet some really successful people. Build relationships with these people, be respectful of them, and listen to what they have to say. If you decide to move industries, they might provide invaluable insight.
Finally, I’d say that the most important thing to being successful in gambling is to be level-headed and calculated but aggressive. Ultimately, you should be as aggressive as possible in good situations without taking shots that can influence your lifestyle, your confidence or damage your roll to a state where you have to drastically reduce your future expectation. Don’t spend money like a rock star, document where you’re winning, only play in games in which you are a favourite and make the most of having all the free time in the world, plus access to some extremely interesting people. Easy!