Negreanu's advice on going pro
KidPoker shares his wisdom to aspiring professional poker players.
After taking a break from his cheeky antics on Twitch, Daniel Negreanu has mapped out what a potential professional poker player should consider before quitting their job to play the game.
Speaking in his blog, KidPoker compared life as a pro player to being a small business owner, with an emphasis on having a 'mission statement' and also keeping customers (less skilled players) happy.
He stresses the importance of money management (including taxes) and to always be learning while you are playing. Negreanu suggests that you should always have at least two hours of study for every ten hours of play.
The blog post goes into a surprising amount of detail about how fledgling poker pros can make incorrect assumptions about how much they need to play, and how much money they need to set aside, to meet their annual goals.
Pro poker is hard work
In fact, Negreanu does not paint a rosy picture at all, which is by design, as he suggests that only a select few can make poker work as a career:
There are maybe 2%-5% of people that can make this lifestyle work. Less than 5% of ball players in the minor leagues will ever make the big leagues. There are many careers where the odds are heavily stacked against you. There are heroes, those special people who have “it” and find a way to make it, but most will fail. This holds true in poker as well.
My intention wasn’t to discourage you from chasing your dreams, whatever they may be. My intention was to illustrate to you that it will require HARD WORK. It will not be as easy as it looks on TV. Are you willing to put in all that hard work, all the while knowing that even if you do, it still may not be enough?
Are you a professional player? Do you agree with Negreanu's views on studying? What is your advice to new pro players? Let us know in the comments.
