What are the differences between a pro and an amateur?
What is the secret behind players that win enough money on poker to being able to make a living on it? The answer on that question are more than one: many factors separate the pro from an ordinary player, and we should look on some of these in this article.
1. The competitive nature
Some of us want to be best. Such people always take their task serious and tries to reach the best possible result.
To be competitive lays not in everybody’s nature, but very often it could be said about a professional in poker.
2. Stamina and engagement
To extract money from online poker are time-consuming and sometimes fatigue. The money is often extracted in smaller portions and that means that a player must play many hours every day. Some professionals are constantly grinding at the tables, or, in these days, from their computers.
A player that lacks the genuine engagement won’t be able to do this more than a shorter period. A clear majority of people who are professional in any field tends to be highly motivated, and not just because of the monetary reward – they simple enjoy doing what they do.
3. The ability to perform on many tables
The key for many pros to earn a substantial amount of money every month is to multi-table. The reason is obvious: if you can earn $5 per hour from one table, playing on many tables could multiply the income.
It’s inevitably that the win rate per table will decrease by adding more tables, but the total hourly wage will definitely have a higher potential.
To be able to perform at many tables simultaneously, the player must be able to concentrate and think fast. By playing regularly, some of the fast thinking will eventually become routines.
4. Handle the situation as a self-employed
If the result is bad one month, your salary will be bad. Some people feel unsafe by leaving the conventional working life in which the same salary if receive every month.
If you want to be a professional poker player, you can’t really expect anything for sure. You must trust in your own capacities and you must save money from your great period as a reserve for less great periods.
At least in the first phase, you may have to work more hours than an ordinary worker. Do you feel fine with that or are you looking at poker for living as a glamorous deal?
5. Always improving
The environment changes and that's true also in poker. Other players get better and the methods to win will not be constant.
A pro is steady improving and does this partly from analyzing his own game. Analyzing your game is very important, but not many are doing this. It's seen as something boring and maybe unnecessary. Something that take time that can be better used by playing and winning more.
Still, the typical professional player invests time to analyzing his game and does it with a self-critic attitude. The professional – paradoxically – are always more willing to accept that there are weaknesses in his game that can be improved.
The best players know much more than the relatively good players. This is because there are tons of details in this game and it takes time to find them.
If you are serious about improving as a player, you need to make studying a habit. You can study with books, videos, hand reviews, forums, coaching etc. – but you really need to be doing this multiple times per week to continually improve over time.James Sweeney, poker coach and author to Unfolding Poker
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A relevant book tips is The Pursuit of Poker Success: Learn from 50 of the World's Best Poker Players in which the poker journalist Lance Bradley interview top players about their road to success.
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