Continued from Part 1.

11. Playing poker for a living carries an incredible social stigma.

If you tell someone that you plan on playing poker for a living, unless they understand the game thoroughly, you may as well be telling them you are going to be a professional roulette player. There's a common belief that gamblers are compulsive losers and that it's a shady thing to do. To be fair, most people know someone with a gambling problem or have been falsely told by a few other people that they were professional gamblers. They also aren't aware that you can win long-term. While it's this ignorance of the math that will keep your wallet full, you need to learn to live with the fact that a certain percentage of the people you know, possibly even your own family members, will think you have a problem. Be proud of your career, and don't let this affect you. Don't fight back because they only disagree out of love and care for you, and they won't understand until you have the long-term results to back your decision up.

12. You may have to provide health insurance for yourself and your family.

This is easier if you are single or if you have a spouse with a job that can provide insurance for your family. This is especially important if you plan on having children or anyone in your family has a previous condition. It can cost as much as $2,500 per month to insure a family. If you are at a traditional job that offers health insurance, understand that they are likely paying a discounted group rate, and that your rate when you are shopping for health insurance on your own will likely be higher. There is a federal law in the United States that allows you to continue your health coverage after you leave your job in some circumstances. Information about that can be found here: Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA)

13. Poker has no built-in retirement plan.

Since you will likely suffer some loss of income after leaving poker, and probably won't be playing into your late-sixties, you'll need to set something up to ensure your future is solid. There's no 401(k) company match, so you'll have to look into your options here.

14. Playing poker for a living makes it difficult to obtain credit at times.

Looking to finance a car or a house? Sure! No problem! Just tell the guy underwriting your loan that you are a poker player and expect to bring in megabucks this year!! Don't forget to bring a cosigner, because you'll need one, especially if you have been playing professionally for less than two years, as you will have a difficult time proving that your income is stable. Even if you can obtain credit for large purchases, you will often need a substantial down payment to ensure that the bank takes on less risk.

15. If poker is your hobby, and you go pro, you'll probably need to find a new hobby.

Do you love poker? If not, don't go pro. If you don't love this game, it will be absolute treachery to play for a living. If you do love poker, you have a chance. The saddest part about going pro is that by turning it into a job, you'll effectively kill your hobby. You'll love poker less, and there will be times that you even hate it, now that it pays the bills and you have to do it. By turning it into a job, you'll effectively kill your hobby.

16. Losing money is very stressful when it's your job.

You'll have bad weeks, and sometimes those bad weeks will come back to back. Sometimes they will come back to back to back. And it's stressful. After three weeks of losing, it's hard to motivate yourself to get out of bed and login to play another eight hours of poker. But you'll need to do this at some point. Before you turn pro, as much fun as this game is, it's hard to imagine that motivating yourself to play could possibly be a problem. After turning pro, it becomes much easier to understand this. I keep this old PocketFives post handy to explain this to aspiring pros: Pro Poker Players Discuss the Problems of Going Pro

17. The best times to make money playing poker is when everyone else wants to go out.

Sunday, Saturday, and Friday, in that order, are days where you get paid "overtime" in poker. Your hourly rate is likely to be nearly double that of a weekday afternoon. You'll need to adjust your schedule in order to play most of these days, because that's when the general population (i.e. your worst opponents) are playing the most poker. Since your victims play right after they receive their paycheck, and mostly at night, your schedule should reflect that. Unfortunately that means that playing poker is a night and weekend job, and you may miss out on some social activities because you have to work.

18. Set up realistic but ambitious goals.

One way that sales firms motivate their employees is to set up sales goals for the week, month, and year. If you do the same for yourself, and you make a big deal out of it, it will be easier to keep yourself motivated. Be sure that your short term goals are small steps to your long-term success. Also, contests are good for your head. There are some good contests and rewards on every site, and you can often find good ones right here on PocketFives.

19. You must adapt to the changes in the game in order to survive.

If you look at who was on top of the online world three years ago, and look at who is there today, only those who are on both lists have withstood the test of time. It's a short list of players. Not only do all of them have great discipline, but they all share one key attribute. They never stopped being a student of the game. While the rules of the game remain the same, it's important to stay on top of the latest strategies and continue the learning process. You never know too much, and the more you learn about this game, the more you should realize that you don't know enough. Finding a coach or mentor is very helpful, and at the very least, find a few friends who are at least of equal skill for you to learn from. As soon as you don't make an effort to learn anymore, it's time to quit.

20. If you make twice as much money playing poker as you did in your regular job, you will live the same lifestyle....if you are lucky.

If your logic for turning pro is that you'll be able to make slightly more money playing professionally, I highly suggest that you reconsider. Taxes in the US can eat up to 40% of your income (Thanks mostly to the 15% self-employment tax). You may have to pay for large expenses, such as cars and home repairs, without credit. As previously noted, health insurance, life insurance, and money to grow your bankroll will eat away at your profits. Playing poker professionally isn't a glamorous lifestyle for most. Though it might be your dream, don't expect to start your professional career making seven figures per year, or living a limousine-riding, jet-flying, kiss-stealing, wheeling dealing lifestyle. It's a job where you'll sit in front of a computer, do some personal accounting, and then play 8-20 tables at a time for several hours with a break or two. That's not glitzy at all. Doing it for several hours a day is a grind. "Hard way to make an easy living," indeed.

In closing, I know that the article seems to have somewhat of a negative outlook and that's because this is not an easy line of work. I've enjoyed my life since "plunging." I wouldn't recommend turning pro to too many people, and it takes a very special person to turn pro and withstand the test of time. Don't get me wrong. If you are that special person, and you have balance in your life, you will likely find that playing professionally is very rewarding!

* Part 1 of this article can be found here.

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Jennifear is a proud Contributing Writer for Pocketfives.com and a Presto Award Winner for 2006's Most Valuable Poster, as voted by the readers of PocketFives. She teaches private poker lessons, and you can find the details at Jennifear.com. A discount on these lessons is available if you support pocketfives.com by joining a poker site through one of the site links.

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