More people than ever before dream of becoming a professional poker player. Traveling the world to play poker and win huge prizes sounds like a dream lifestyle, but what are the main challenges that make this career difficult?
It involves a lot of hours
You may think that a pro poker player simply turns up for the big tournaments, and goes from parties to the beach or clubs for the rest of the time. However, the majority of players who make a living from the game do so as a full-time job.
These days, the presence of online poker rooms means that it is possible to play games 24/7. To make enough money, a lot of pros will play for 40 hours a week or so, playing several games at the same time. You might find this a lot more enjoyable than doing some other type of job for the same number of hours, but it is still a full-time job.
The risk of not making enough cash
A look at the list of the world’s top poker players will show you career earnings that run into millions of dollars. Yet very few card players will ever reach this sort of income level. Most pros will aim to simply make a comfortable living doing something that they love.
The potential issue is that the income isn’t guaranteed. A difficult month could see you struggle to make enough cash to meet your living expenses. The amount that you win playing poker can vary widely from month to month, making it difficult to plan ahead.
Stress levels can build up if you have a bad losing run when playing poker professionally. The need to pay the bills and make some profits means that playing poker can stop being fun and can turn into a job like any other.
Is it better to just play for fun?
If you love playing poker, it can be tempting to give it a try as a pro and see if you can make a living from it. If you feel the need to test your skills and see how far you can go, this may turn into something that you need to do – to find out for yourself what it is really like. However, it seems certain that a lot of players who love poker will end up going back to playing it just for fun again.
The grind of professional poker isn’t what most people expect, and they discover that they enjoyed the game more when playing at one of the best NJ online casino sites – such as Resorts Casino with its extensive poker selection – as a hobby where they could win some money and have a good time.
Like anything else in life, it may be something that you need to experience for yourself. There is a chance that you become one of the few high earners who enjoy a fantastic lifestyle as a poker celebrity. However, if it doesn’t work out, you can go back to playing like before and remember why it was that you enjoyed poker in the first place.
