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HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER BY ROY ROUNDER Copyright by Roy Rounder Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Published by Roy Rounder Communications, Inc. Visit www.NoLimitHoldemSecrets.com and www.RoyRounder.com for more information. For publishing information, business inquiries, or additional comments or questions, contact support@nolimitholdemsecrets.com. Manufactured in the United States of America.

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INTRODUCTION The PROFESSIONAL poker player the absolute PINNACLE of the Texas Holdem poker pyramid. Just about every poker player dreams of being able to quit the rat race and retiring to the card rooms where fortune, glory, and good times await. Of course, these dreamers often FORGET about the long hours constant traveling complicated legal issues and loss of security a traditional 9-to-5 job can provide. Becoming a professional poker player is not easy. Its NOT just a matter of skill. You cant just pack up, quit your job, and move to Vegas expecting to become a successful career player. Theres more to it than that. But while its tough it IS possible. If you know what to expect BEFORE doing it, youll save yourself a lot of heartache and stress. Think of this report like a college course. Youre now enrolled in Becoming A Professional Poker Player 101. Ill take you through the ins and outs of pro poker play. Once you have your degree, you can go out in the real world and perhaps take action at making a LIVING with this great game. But remember just about every professional poker player will tell you the same thing: Its a tough way to make an easy living.

SKILL LEVELS Just about every poker player OVER-ESTIMATES his own poker ability. If you asked every player in the world if they were good or bad, Id guess about 90% would claim to be GOOD. This is IRONIC of course because about 90% of all poker players will end up LOSING money with the game. As an example, just think about how many players LOVE to tell their bad beats stories. Ever wonder why that is? I think a big part of it is that they need an EXCUSE so that they DONT have to say, Wow, I was totally outplayed!

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Ego plays a huge role in poker from amateurs to pros. But when youre considering making the jump to playing poker for a LIVING, the stakes are too high to let your ego get in the way. You need to separate FACTS from VANITY. Here are three initial steps to take to get the facts about your own poker playing ability: 1. Ask Around Ask those people you PLAY WITH what THEY think of your poker skills. Dont just ask your buddies either talk to strangers at the casinos, chat with other online players, and have a friendly talk with your table nemesis if you have one. The point is to seek out opinions from OTHER parties about your skill level. Get a consensus. If nine out of ten people say, You suck you probably do. 2. Track, Track, Track Are you truly a WINNING player? How much money have you won this month? This year? Whats your hourly rate? What percentage of games do you win? Before assuming you have what it takes to be a poker pro, you must be able to answer these questions effectively and a have a clear history of tracking your play. Cold hard numbers dont lie. After you log a solid 250 hours of poker, youll be able to get the REAL picture of your poker playing ability. You cant really fool yourself by saying, Oh, I caught bad cards or I had the WORST luck because after 250 hours, your cold cards are equaled out by the hot streaks. If you are a loser after 250 hours, there is a good chance that you are going to be a loser at 2,500 hours. 3. Play A Variety Of Players Sure, you might be able to DOMINATE the card game at the local pub with your DRUNK friends but that doesnt mean youll be able to compete with strong players at the higher limits the kind of games youll be playing as a PRO. Pros play a majority of games against players they know they can beat. But at higher stakes than what youre probably used to. So before thinking about poker full-time, be

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sure to get a WELL-ROUNDED and complete picture of how you fare against the competition out there. Try out different games, try out different stakes online, go to different casinos, and so on. See if your previous success was your SKILLS or just BAD OPPONENTS.

PERSONALITIES Playing poker for a living requires skill patience and perhaps most importantly, NERVES OF STEEL! When you work at a real job, you get a regular paycheck. Every two weeks or so, a check shows up on your doorstep like clockwork. Hell, you may even get a BONUS from time to time. BUT NEVER will your boss call you in his office and say: You know, your work lately hasnt been that great so were going to KEEP your paycheck this week, AND were going to take $3,000.00 from your bank account sorry. As a professional poker player, you can literally work your ASS OFF all day only to leave thousands of dollars POORER! Theres no other job like this in the world. It takes an incredibly strong stomach to deal with the intense ups and downs and the different swings of luck youll encounter. Its difficult to be able to PREDICT if youve got what it takes to handle the emotions of being a pro. The only real way to know is to experience it first hand To be successful, youve got to have an ungodly amount of POISE. Pretty much every successful career player has poise (despite what it looks like on TV). This means the players are in CONTROL of themselves at almost all times. They dont get impatient and make silly moves at the table if they dont like the way a certain table looks, they WAIT for a new opening. They are LOGICAL about each decision and REMOVE EMOTION from their game. Let me ask you this simple question: When is the last time you went on tilt?

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If you still go on TILT (or within the last 10-15 playing sessions), then youre NOT ready for a career as a poker pro. Because tilt at the poker table is just a microcosm of the tilt youll feel in LIFE as a poker pro. If three consecutive bad beats sets you off then just wait for THREE MONTHS of cold cards!

POKER MENTALITY If you only play poker for FUN, then making the jump to poker for a living may not be for you. Because to be successful, you must be able to play at DULL tables against BORING players and sit patiently for hours waiting for the right times to make moves. The best players treat poker like a BUSINESS not a hobby. Its a way to make money. Period. Sure poker pros love the game and respect it, but they arent playing for pride. Theyre playing to pay the mortgage, car payments, and win more MONEY. Do you ever get TIRED of waiting for good cards? Do you get annoyed by quiet slowmoving tables? If youre going to win money consistently, youve got to be able to play ten hours at a time at a BREAK EVEN rate as you patiently wait for the BIG OPPORTUNITITES to rake in large pots. Of course, besides being patient and ignoring that itch for excitement, you must also be able to handle LONG HOURS and LATE NIGHTS every day. When you hear poker professional, what do you think of? Lots of people think of the guys who win the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour and take in multi-million dollar purses. But only a SMALL FRACTION of pros win those tournaments. Hell not all pros even ENTER most tournaments, depending on their preferred game. And most importantly, the WIN RATE of even the best pros is very small. Just because you see someone on TV a lot one season doesnt mean he always makes the final table for every tournament hes in. What you DONT see is all the frustrating losses hes had to GET to this point. For every final table, theres five ten twenty maybe FIFTY bad tournaments.

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Most of the money that youll MAKE as a pro doesnt come from that BIG tournament win. Instead, it comes from grinding it out at the casinos and card rooms. Try playing poker for a 12-hour session FIVE DAYS IN A ROW. If you find yourself getting too tired, youre not ready for the pro life. There are lots of players who have a DEEP PASSION and LOVE for poker but they dont have the PERSONALITY needed to play full-time. Thats why many of the greatest players just play SEMI-professionally which may be a viable option for you too.

BANKROLL Strangely enough, the BANKROLL isnt why most players fail to make the jump to fulltime play. A lot of people think all they need is a large bankroll to start full-time play. But the truth is, if you dont have all the OTHER ASPECTS of the game under control, the only thing a big bankroll achieves is PROLONG the amount of time before you inevitably go bust. With that being said, having TOO SMALL of a bankroll is truly the kiss of death for professional poker players. If you try to make the leap without a bankroll, youre just one run of cold cards away from going broke. So once you have the OTHER aspects of the game under control its time for you to start building your bankroll A lot of people ask me HOW MUCH they should have in their bankroll before going fulltime. Of course, theres no universal amount that will guarantee your success. But when I coach players starting professionally, I usually advise them to have at least 300 times the big bet. So for instance, if youre going to play the $15-30 games, you should have about nine grand for a decent bankroll. Even then, youll be a little short but you can probably get away with it at this level. If I had to do it all over again, Id wait until I had about 500 times the big bet or fifteen grand for the $15-30 limit or no limit games.

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Personally, I prefer no limit, as you know. And for professional poker players, I think no limit offers more UPSIDE. What I mean is, no limit players can usually build a large bankroll MORE QUICKLY than limit players. I think that the IMPORTANCE of a sufficient bankroll is best illustrated in this story from a friend of mine: When I started playing poker professionally, I was full of ambition and (like every other player alive) I planned of winning the WSOP. I soon realized that taking home a bracelet was less important than making my house payment. My bankroll was not nearly what it should have been. Every time I sat down, I sat down with about 5% of my stack! I squeezed by for a few months until I caught a cold streak of cards. Literally, I was broke in less than 6 weeks. I was down to my last tournament entry fee when I finally turned my luck around. I started winning regularly and when I finally had my old bankroll back, what did I do? I started playing LOWER stakes. I learned that you cannot play past your supports and if you do, you are going to get burned. After playing a couple months at lower stakes, I was able to move back up and havent looked back since. I now make a nice living (Im no Bill Gates) and love what I do so much. If I had brought just one less entry fee with me to Vegas, I would be pushing papers in some office not working the best job in the world.

FINANCIAL SITUATION OK, lets talk about the FINANCIAL RISK youre taking by becoming a full-time poker pro. Because there IS considerable risk. Ive developed what I like to call the 6-week rule when it comes to making the transition. The rule is simple: If you have enough savings that you can live with losing your income for a FULL SIX WEEKS, then youre likely ready for a trial period. (Ill explain the trial period later.) Note, of course, that savings is not the same as bankroll. There are always exceptions to the 6-week rule. Here are some situations that might hinder you from going pro You are expecting a new child soon.

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You are expecting to lose a second income soon. You are trying to purchase a home (pro poker player doesnt look too good on a mortgage application). You are relying on an income source that you are not receiving yet (social security, settlement income, capital gains, etc.) You are having problems paying all your debt payments. If you quit your job and poker doesnt work out, you will find it very difficult to find a new job. Quitting or leaving your current job will mean the loss of a retirement or pension package. You currently rely on the medical insurance offered by your employer, and buying an individual plan would be prohibitively expensive.

There are countless situations to keep in mind. The key is to be HONEST WITH YOURSELF.

GAME TYPES Most professional poker players have a specialty game. They have a single game or style where they CONSISTENTLY excel against their opponents. Chances are, you ALREADY KNOW your game. Its the game that you always feel relaxed at where you pretty much KNOW youll come out ahead. Its the game YOU LOOK FORWARD TO when you first get to the casino or log into your online poker account. However I want to caution you about falling in love too much with your game. The reason is because it can hinder you from EVOLVING as a poker player and ultimately making more money. Ill give you an example. Lets say that you play in $50 buy-in, 50-player tournaments. This month youve played in 20 tournaments and cashed out 9 times for a net profit of $2,550.00. The total TIME you put into these tournaments was 100 hours, which means youve made about $25.50 per hour. This $2,550.00 in profits constitutes a large portion of your winnings this month and its considerably more than the $550.00 you won playing in $3-6 no limit cash games. You only play those cash games after youve been knocked out of the larger tournaments so youve only spent a total of 15 hours on these games.

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While your net profit is much less with the cash games than with the tournaments, your HOURLY RATE is much higher in the cash games. The cash games are yielding you $36.66 per hour versus the $25.50 in tournaments. Fifteen hours is not long enough to make any definitive win/loss statements (it should be at least 100-150 hours before you can do that). But its still long enough to tell you that you should start playing more cash games to see if they are more profitable in the long-term. Dont forget that you must treat poker like a BUSINESS if youre going to make it fulltime. Dont make your decisions based on emotion or what feels COMFORTABLE. Youve got to constantly be trying new games, different stakes, and tracking EVERYTHING to decide what will make the most money for you. Here are some of the factors youll need to consider 1. Tournaments versus cash games Most poker players and fans see the GLORY of the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour winners and the HUGE windfalls of cash that follow. Contrary to popular belief, that is NOT how most poker players make their living. Most pros play low and middle-stakes cash games online and at the casino. The players who make it on TV a lot are those that are career tournament players. They play tournament after tournament after tournament because thats where they excel and find the most opportunity. Going from a $55 satellite to a $5,000,000.00 poker win in a matter of DAYS is certainly sexy. But dont get too set on it in the beginning. Because most career poker players make their living from cash games not tournaments. Im not trying to convince you of anything. Im only trying to show you whats out there. Here are some of the pros and cons of pro tournaments versus cash games: Tournaments Pro Pro Pro Huge payouts mean that players only need to play and win once in awhile to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Ever-present media coverage makes players celebrities and opens the door for endorsement deals to the top performers. Incredible amounts of pride and satisfaction come from

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Con Con Con Con Con Con

Com Cash Games Pro Pro

winning a large tournament. Huge playing field means income is inconsistent and unreliable. Players must constantly travel from city to city to follow the large tournaments. Testing to see if you have the stuff could cost tens of thousands of dollars. The structure of the tournament means that you must play every type of player and you have no control over who you play unlike a cash game, where you pick the table. You must play against all the top players in the world. The competition couldnt be tougher. Even though payouts might go to the top 10% of all players in a tournament, the REAL money only goes to the top 1-2% of players. Playing in tournaments means paying to get to the game and paying for your time there. You must buy your food, your hotel, etc. This money goes out even if you dont win and increases the money you lost during the tournament. You can play every day in the same location without every having to travel. The players you encounter at low to middle-stakes games are not the most talented players in the world. Often professionals make a living beating tourists and amateurs. You have more control over who you play. If three talented players sit down and reduce your edge, you can simply leave with your winnings. As a consistent winner, you can go out and play more to win more money. Big wins in tournaments can be separated by months even years. Cash games are always available. Right now, you could go online or to a casino and find a cash game. Chances are your ideal tournament isnt so readily available. You will never make $1,000,000.00 in a day playing $5-$10 no-limit games. Profit comes from consistency. You must play more hours and days to make real money than strong tournament players.

Pro

Pro

Pro Con Con

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The only way to really know whats best for you is to try everything out. Most pros I know play BOTH cash games and tournaments. Ive tried both and right now my preference is cash games. 2. Stakes Another huge misconception that many players have is that professional poker players all hang around the high-stakes games where the minimum bet is $5,000! The truth is, a lot of pros can be found in the middle-stakes games at the casino. Online pros can even make their living at the smaller limits by playing multiple tables at once. A smart experienced player could literally make his living at just $10 Sit and Gos! Think about it: he could average $30 per hour consistently by playing at multiple tables. If he played 8 hours a daylike a regular 9-to-5 jobthat would be $240 a day. At five days a week, thats $62,400.00 per year And if this player jumped up to $20 Sit and Gos with similar win rates, hed be able to pull six figures. High-stakes games offer a lot of upside to the players because after all, you can win thousands of dollars within just a few hours. But you need a much larger bankroll and the competition is generally more talented. And most of all, you need the GUTS to handle the swings. Low-stakes games are the opposite. The competition is soft and bankroll requirements low you just need the ability to GRIND it out day after day. A happy compromise is in the medium-staked games. $10-20 games are quite popular. They offer nice upside for winners but still attract a lot of fish to the tables. Theres an old maxim that says you should shoot for one big bet an hour. But this is an OLD maxim. Most advice from poker professionals was written BEFORE the explosion of poker. Thats when card rooms were filled with sharks and just the occasional fish. Today, poker rooms consistent of SCHOOLS of fish more than enough to feed all the sharks! So with all this fish-flooding in low-limit games, it makes it easier for a good player to win the big bet maybe FIVE times an hour. That player will have to be especially adept at the game, of course, but it is possible.

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And this also means its easier than ever for YOU to make your full-time living at poker given that you have the patience and stamina to grind it out. Online players can use an even LARGER multiple. Good online players can win TEN times the big bet an hour because the action online is faster and looser than offline poker. 3. Online versus offline play Speaking of online poker, its another important factor in your deliberations. Online poker has most definitely EXPLODED over the past two years which as you know means more fish and dead money online. Just about ANY experienced poker player will tell you that online players are much less talented than casino players. Luckily, this weak competition is combined with a FAST-PACED NATURE that online poker brings. This makes it an appealing medium for pros. The benefits of online poker over live poker are quite obvious work from home, easier competition, more hands per hour, multiple games simultaneously, and the option to play whenever you want. However, there are drawbacks. They may not be as obvious, but they are very important. The first drawback is REDUCED EDGE. The money that pro poker players make comes from the EDGE they have over other players multiplied over thousands of hours of play. Online poker possibly reduces that edge for some people. One factor is software programs and bots (including illegal ones) that assist online players. Another is the possibility of collusion. Also, if youre the type of player that excels at reading the body language of your opponents, you lose that advantage online. These things make winning online possibly more difficult. Another drawback to online poker is that it requires more POISE in some ways. Because online poker will serve you many more BAD BEATS than regular poker. The reason is because theres consistently more action in every hand online which leads to getting rivered and drawn out more often.

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The actual PERCENTAGES are going to be the same of course. Youll still beat players on flush draws two out of three times. But if the players on the draw call TWICE AS OFTEN online, it means youll get outdrawn twice as much along with double the win rate. The increase in bad beats often throws players. They get bent out of shape and upset and ultimately let it ruin their game. If you tilt easily and tend to lose control, then online poker may not be for you. Online poker can also be BORING AS HELL. When you fold a hand at the casino, you can talk to your opponents look around check out the cute waitress whatever. But not online. All you can do online is watch computer-generated avatars play and most of the time theyre not even animated! This is a major reason why online play is too loose players are simply BORED of sitting there and folding. They want to play a hand! Obviously, you cant let the emotion of boredom affect your game. Youve got to have the discipline to stick to your game plan and wait for the right times to make a move.

TRACKING AND EVALUATION Tracking your play is a CRITICAL element of the successful career poker player. If you dont track your play, youre not going to be able to properly identify which games generate the most money for your bankroll. Of course, money isnt everything. Most people know of a job they could take to make more money but it means sacrificing something they value MORE than money. For example so far this year, Ive earned a higher rate per hour playing in tournaments than in casinos. But playing in tournaments all the time means CONSTANT TRAVEL. It means leaving my home. The slightly higher earning rate isnt worth the sacrifice at this point in my life. So I dont play in as many tournaments. While you should play the games that are proven to earn you the most money, you should also spend some time TESTING new games. Explore a little. Your skills will mature and change over time. Also, trying new games will sometimes give you NEW

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INSIGHTS about the games youre used to. A lot of poker pros credit their skill-building to games like chess and backgammon. Remember that you need to log at least 150 hours or so before you CHANGE games. Any less than that could be a fluke or lucky streak. And until you hit at least 300-500 hours of tracked play, you should STILL be cautious. If you cant handle the 150 hour minimum, you may not have what it takes to make it as a pro. Because if theres any one skill that you MUST posses, its patience. And discipline. (OK, two skills.) After all if you dont have the ability to make careful, deliberate, calculated risks, then youre just GAMBLING.

WORKING WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY Honey, I need to tell you somethingIm quitting my job. What?!? What about our car payments? House payments? What about the kids college tuition? What do you plan to do for money? Umm, well Im going to play poker for a living HAHAH, oh, WHEW, I thought you were being SERIOUS for a second! Talking to your family and friends about becoming a professional poker player can be well, TRICKY. The challenge is that if you dont have the support of those close to you, its easy to get off on the wrong foot. But GETTING support from family is not usually easy. Young, uncommitted players have it easiest. No kids to feed, fewer bills to pay, and no retirement plans right around the corner. But not all poker pipe-dreamers are so lucky. Some have wives or husbands who dont like the idea. Some have kids to take care of. Some have mortgages to pay off. AND SOME HAVE ALL THREE! When handled properly, though, taking the jump to pro doesnt have to be a point of contention in your relationships. It can often be minimized to just an unpleasant point or hopefully something your family is proud of!

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Ive been through this process the good and the bad. Here are the methods that work for me and the people I talk to. These methods arent guaranteed to work for everyone but like I said, theyve been effective in my career 1. Dont moan about your bad beats. Especially if your loved one isnt a poker player, they wont understand how poker is a game of skill if all you talk about is how UNLUCKY you are! 2. Keep pristine records. If it comes to a point where you need to PROVE that you are winning player, having kept accurate records will show in black and white that you consistently win. 3. Be responsible with your bankroll. Either save your winnings or use them to pay bills. If you save them, you will build a nice savings account. Paying bills will also present poker as a legitimate income source. Taking your winnings and squandering them on a new toy or mad shopping spree will make poker seem like a hobby not a potential career. 4. Dont put pressure on others. A line like- We always have your income just in case while possibly a reasonable statement usually doesnt go over well. 5. Get others involved in poker. Why is it that if I were a close friend of yours that I could understand your choice to go pro so easily? Because I am also a poker player. Even if they arent competitive, if you get your loved ones involved in the game theyll understand the skill involved and be more likely to go along with your decision. 6. Dont over-promise. If you tell your wife that you will be able to retire in 6 months because you will make $100,000 a week playing $30 tournaments, she is not only going to call you a liar, but she wont believe anything else you say. (Especially after you break that promise.) 7. Make it a cooperative choice.

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While it may be your plan to go pro no matter what, dont say that. Telling someone, Its my life, Ill do what I please!! is basically telling them Im the boss, you go to hell. Listen to others and let them know their opinion matters (even if it doesnt). 8. Slowly make the change. Use the concepts of semi-professional and trial period as ways to gradually make the move. This will take the shock out of the jump. 9. Get allies. Say you want to win over your motherbut you think your father would be an easier sell. The solution is to tell him first. If you convince him its a good idea, hell be more likely to be your ally and defend you. 10. Be passionate and honest. Dont be afraid to tell people how badly you want this. Tell them it is what you want most in the world. If they care about you, this will mean something not necessarily enough to convince them to support your choice, but it will make at least SOME impact. The most IMPORTANT thing you can do is to remember to see things from the other persons perspective. Poker is usually automatically associated with gambling and risk and the idea of making it a full-time income source usually scares people.

SEMI-PROFESSIONAL PLAY Semi-professionals are players that make a SUBSTANTIAL income from poker, but still have an ADDITIONAL income source to support them. Honestly, this is where MOST serious players belong. The semi-professional level is a great way to TRANSITION into professional or it can be the destination itself. If you dont know whether youre ready to go pro, then THIS is where you belong. In fact, this is in many ways BETTER than being a full-fledged professional poker player. Because you dont have to worry about many of the security issues presented

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by pro poker player. You dont have to worry (as much) about going broke but the money is still useful and improves the quality of your life. OK, so lets assume that you want to play semi-professionally as a TRANSITION period into the glorious ranks of PROFESSIONAL PLAY Here are the top five things I recommend doing to make the transition smooth and successful 1. Track, track, track I cannot stress this enough. Poker is a game of calculated risks. Your edge comes from calculating your risks BETTER than your opponents. So your goal is to take as FEW risks as possible. Why take a risk by not tracking your play when you dont have to? Its only going to cost you your hard-earned money! Dont just track your winnings and the date of play. You want to be DETAILED: log your playing times, mood, earnings per hour, opponents skills, and notes about the session. 2. Build your bankroll Some players waste their winnings on unimportant things and wait until they are ready to play full-time before they start trying to build a sufficient bankroll. This could take months even YEARS to build and will delay your goals and dreams. 3. Experiment Dont fall in love with a single game that you play every session. If there is a local cash game that you can crack every time you play, by all means play whenever you can. However, also play at local casinos, in regional tournaments, and if you are every traveling, try to spend some time at those casinos so you can get a taste of their style. By varying your game choice, youll be able to increase your skill level to a stage where you will really be competitive even if you are faced with a situation outside your comfort zone. 4. Expand your poker arsenal At this point in your poker life, even a small tip will be able to provide immense value to your game. Pick up whatever information you can. Buy books and DVDs, talk to other

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players, and examine the play of other good players. Picking up just one more poker weapon will make you a more solid player and take you closer to your ultimate goal. 5. Dont build reliance If you start paying your bills with your poker income, make sure that it is only shortterm. Because if you start relying on your poker winnings, youre going to be FORCED to play and win. Essentially, you will become a professional poker player AND a regular 9to-5 worker.

TRIAL PERIOD The trial period comes after the semi-professional level. Its perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT stage of the process of going pro. Using a trial method, you can test out whether or not professional poker is right for you without burning too many bridges Heres what you do: Once you are totally ready to make the jump to professional poker (your game is ready, your bankroll is built, your financials are in order, and you know exactly what games net you the most profit), go on the TRIAL PERIOD. Youre not going pro what youre doing is TRYING it out for a few weeks. Take a leave of absence from your job dont QUIT and start playing poker full-time. Tell your friends and family that youre trying it out no commitments yet. The only real change from the semi-professional level is that youre now playing FULLTIME and not bringing in an additional income source. After a few weeks of your trial period, youll KNOW whether its time to be a professional poker player or not. If youre not ready, everything is still fine because you can still return to your job and all you lost was a few weeks of pay and some of your bankroll (which should never hurt your standard of living at this level) Whats the secret to knowing after the trial whether youre READY or not? The following criteria MUST be true to go pro after the trial

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1. You made money at a rate where you could meet all your bills and still save 10% of your earnings. 2. You enjoyed playing the entire time you didnt get overly bored, anxious, or frustrated. 3. You closely tracked your play and clear patterns have developed. 4. You didnt have any major breakdowns where you lost an inordinate amount of money over the course of any single night. There are other ways to know if you are ready or not, but these four criteria combined with that little voice inside you will give you a good idea of whether or not youre ready. While the trial period is going to tell you a lot about your ability to play at the professional level, you cannot hold the trial until you have completed a period of play at the SEMI-PROFESSIONAL level

UNEXPECTED COSTS There are a lot of costs that you might not see that are associated with playing poker for a career These costs can be significant and shouldnt be overlooked before you make any decision to leave your current job: 1. Insurance 2. Pension 3. Travel to and from games 4. Higher tax rates 5. Loss of company car, cell phone, or computer. 6. Loss of any fringe benefits provided by your employer. Be aware

TAXES If youre going to be a professional poker player, you need a professional tax accountant. Period.

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The tax and gambling laws are far too confusing for any one human being to understand as youll see when your TAX ACCOUNTANT doesnt even know what to do in many situations. There are a lot of strategies youll be able to take, including writing off your travel expenses to major tournaments and to the casino. Also, ask your tax account whether INCORPORATING is a possible option in order to open up new tax-saving strategies. The MOST IMPORTANT RECOMMENDATION I can give you is to be detailed, be careful, and KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING. You can ultimately SAVE a lot of money and time and hassle if you just keep track of everything. Im talking about receipts, winnings, losses EVERYTHING. Ive found these two websites to be most useful when I have a question about gambling law and taxes: http://www.gambling-law-us.com/ http://www.irs.gov Remember you can gamble against two over cards, but dont gamble against the IRS. Be smart. Pay your taxes and obey the law.

SECOND INCOME Most professional poker players are only really pros for a brief period of time. Something usually happens to their game or in their personal life and theyre pushed beyond their limits I highly recommend building a second income or having an escape route in place. You dont even have to think of it as a backup plan as much as a smart move for your financial future. After all do you really think youll be playing poker for the rest of your life? The worst thing that can happen is that you go pro, end up borrowing a lot of money, bury yourself in debt, and dont come out on top.

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Believe me, its an easy spiral to fall into especially with all the shady lenders out there who want to stake you for incredible interest rates and all the $10,000 tournament buy-ins Think about a contingency plan. Whether its an investment property, money from players YOU stake, business consulting or maybe even a book deal. Lol. The point is, have a plan B for a second income you can fall back on.

CONCLUSION OK, that wraps this special report: HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER. If you have any specific questions, please email me at roy@royrounder.com.

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