Today will complete last week’s Thought with a look at the negative side of pro poker. I want to make clear here that in general I am talking about becoming a full time professional, where you make your living from poker alone.

We will discuss the following:

· Few people can make good money
· Losing streaks are inevitable
· You are living out of your bankroll
· The stress is great
· The stress extends to your family
· No work, no pay
· Insurance is expensive if available at all
· Mortgages are tough to get
· The games get tougher

Few people can make good money. For every “pro” you see on TV raking in millions, there are many toiling away in 10-20 and 15-30 games for $10-$15 per hour. Many of the millionaire pros on TV are not pros at all; they are “trust fund pros” who play a great deal and can afford to lose for years without any consequences. They can afford to travel to every tournament, enter every event, and eventually make a final table and win one. Others are sponsored, based on past success and the competition among Internet poker sites, so they don’t pay their own entry fees (and how long is that going to last, I wonder). Go to any tournament and hang around and you will see many unsponsored “pros” on the rail begging for sponsors. For more on this, take a look at this column by Nolan Dalla.
(Don’t forget to read Daniel Negreanu’s response, linked at the bottom of the column).

People have no idea the skill it takes to beat a middle limit game for $100,000 per year for over ten years. Roy Cooke played professionally in Las Vegas for 16 years, and during that time, there were maybe two or three players who were able to make a constant living out of the game. (In spite of his poker success, Roy went into real estate and now plays 5-6 times per month for fun.) In six years, I have seen dozens of wannabes show up, declare themselves pros, and then vanish within two years. If you can’t beat a $20-$40 or $30-$60 games for $50/hr at least, then you your income level will be fixed somewhere below that. And it will be very hard to increase it.

If you are talented enough to make $25/hr or $30/hr as a pro, you will do much better than that in a real job. Probably with less work, though it may not seem so. Many pros toil away in 4-8, 6-12 and 8-16 games for $7-12 per hour, working 80 hours per week to make ends meet.

Losing streaks are inevitable. In the long run, the best poker player will win the money (assuming the rake is such that anyone can win). But the long run can be very long. And every winning player experiences serious downswings. In limit games downswings of 200-300 and even more big bets are almost inevitable. In no limit, that can be even higher as you lose a few huge hands to suck-outs of better hands (witness Daniel Negreanu’s horrid streak in High Stakes Poker on GSN).

We all play great when we are winning. We connect with flops, make great reads, our bluffs work, and we can do no wrong. Then the flip side happens, where we never see a flop we like, our opponents are constantly taking shots at us, our bluffs fail, opponents find new and different ways to draw out and we just sit there in a funk and rebuy.

It takes something out you not only in money but also in psyche. You have lost five times in a row, the bankroll is getting thin, you play for the sixth time that week, you get KK on your first orbit, you raise and lose to the big blind’s 63, and now you still have to sit there and play great poker, making excellent decisions. This is not an easy task, and few are up to it.

You are living out of your bankroll. Professional poker has the unique drawback that the same money you use to play with is also the money you use for rent, food, transportation and any other expenses (like your kid’s college fund). You have to judge how much you can spend to not damage your bankroll to the extent that you can’t afford to play in game you can win enough in to keep your nut (total of your monthly expenses) going. If you get it wrong and overspend, you will inevitably go broke, or be forced into lower limit games.

This also makes planning difficult. Can you afford the vacation your significant other wants to take? Even if you can now, will you still be able to when the time comes?

The stress is great. The uncertainly of the pro poker life, plus the losing streaks, plus the pressure to win, makes for a highly stressful existence. If you handle stress by somehow spending money (drinking, vacations, gambling, purchasing or pursuing sex), your stress level will actually increase. You may be able to handle it once, but year after year it can really wear you down.

The stress extends to your family. Many young single players get into professional poker because it is fun, the lifestyle is great, and the freedom is unparalleled. They have limited expenses and lots of fun. Eventually they decide it is time to settle down. They have a family and kids. Now the stresses of losing streaks, uncertainty about how much money there is to spend versus keep in the bankroll create stressful times for the family and major tensions in the home. Plus, the family has to cope with the stress of the player. It has been done, but it’s very tough.

No work, no pay. No sick leave. No vacation pay. If you want some time off, you will be spending money and not earning any. If you get sick, or have an accident, you will be depleting bankroll for doctors and medicine with no money coming in. If you want to take a week or two off, again the money goes out. As a result, many pros who are not the top earners never take time off, and work when they are ill. And that means they earn less money because vacations and a clear head are requisite for great play.

Insurance is expensive if available at all. Speaking of getting sick, there is not much health insurance available to pro players. (In some married homes, one person gets a part time job just for the benefits). And as you age, health insurance becomes more expensive. So either you go without and go broke if something bad happens, or you add another significant bankroll drain in case something does. If you have a family, you will want to add life insurance. No one is immune from accidents or disease. (I did not turn pro until I had guaranteed insurance from an employer as part of an early retirement package, as I am uninsurable for health or life).

Mortgages are tough to get. Few banks want to loan money to a poker pro, as it is impossible to substantiate your income. The only proof of your earning is your tax return. And if you decide to understate your income (or hide altogether), you will not able to get loans of any sort, except from friends, relatives, or loan sharks. Unless you are going to buy cars and homes for cash (many successful pros do), you will need proof of income for several years. Even then, without a steady income stream, you will pay higher interest because you are a risk.

The games get tougher. Finally, not only can’t you ever get a raise unless you improve your play or move up in limits, but your income may actually decline even though you continue to play well. With the exception of the recent poker bubble, games tend to get tougher. Right now, there are pros in my game who will not be able to continue as 30-60 pros because the games will get tougher as the huge influx of recent players reduces itself. Poker is a ruthless meritocracy, and only the strong survive. The almost strong do okay for while, but instead of having their incomes grow as they age, their incomes actually decrease (or their hours increase).

This concludes my view of the negatives. For another view of the pros and cons, please read this.