26 yo former pro poker

[MarkTheNatural]

I joined this forum a year ago after reading Fastlane, however I never took full advantage or contributed in any way.

I recently bought and am most of the way through “Unscripted ” and it has reinforced truth in my entrepreneurial journey.

I knew when I was 16 that I wanted to be a professional poker player and I focused strictly on that for just short of a decade. All I did was study and seek out friends that were better at poker than me. I won a lost lots before i was 21. Eventually I started to get it and I excelled quickly. At peak in 2015ish I got into the top 500 in the “Global Poker Index” which is a worldwide ranking system for tournament poker players, ranking over 290,000 players world wide. In my early 20s I played in some very high stakes games all of which I had financial backers and worked for commission. I participated in the World Series of Poker every year I was old enough and had mild success. Poker taught me so much about human nature, risk, and EV which I was happy to hear MJ talk about in Unscripted . Poker was a nice gig, I made tons of great connections and I have a solid network in my state because of it. Overall I would say for a professional my career was mediocre for a professional. My heart hasn’t been in it for a few years and it is definitely not a fastlane Business. My heart is in Business and entrepreneurial activities. (I was going to put a link to my stats but because some of my small business ventures ride the grey area of some laws I would rather stay anon)

About 3 years ago I started to realize I wasn’t as passionate about poker as I once was so I started reading lots of books in the self-improvement and Business category. All I knew is I didn’t want to work for anyone else.

Fast forward to now and I spent the last two years, reading, working out and building up different types of income and making various business deals and arrangements. I love training at the gym and in January I’m sending in a video application to American Ninja Warrior and that goal really drives me. In my state we have some favorable laws toward cannabis and I got my licenses to cultivate in my home. This was a good skill to learn and it pays all of my basic life expenses. I then started an online poker club on a phone app (its been 9 months) with my poker network that produces a great income for me (trusted party/banker) I used some of this money to purchase 10 vending machines that make me a little bit of money as well. I am also invested in crypto (down lately but I’m even overall) and I bought into a Vanguard fund. I’m a great hustler and I have temporarily solved the money issue for now and I’m mainly interested in learning more on here as well as getting ideas for my next Business. I’m sorry this was so long, and I hope to connect with some of you and thanks for having me.

 

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[Xeon]

Welcome to the forum! I've a question about poker and poker players, if you don't mind.
Always been curious about the poker "underground sub-culture".

Do professional poker players go to poker schools/training academies to reach the skill level they have?
You know, there's guys out there who can go into a casino and win big every time. These guys have no job, because gambling/playing poker is where they get 100% of their income from. They can beat the House, until the casino bans them. They can "guess" and "read" others' cards.

I'm not sure if they're self-taught or it's something like the world of magicians/illusionists, where you find a mentor to teach you the skills of the trade.

 

[MarkTheNatural]

Welcome to the forum! I've a question about poker and poker players, if you don't mind.
Always been curious about the poker "underground sub-culture".

Do professional poker players go to poker schools/training academies to reach the skill level they have?
You know, there's guys out there who can go into a casino and win big every time. These guys have no job, because gambling/playing poker is where they get 100% of their income from. They can beat the House, until the casino bans them. They can "guess" and "read" others' cards.

I'm not sure if they're self-taught or it's something like the world of magicians/illusionists, where you find a mentor to teach you the skills of the trade.

Poker is a little different than playing vs the house. In poker you play vs other players and the house takes a small fee out of each pot to facilitate the game. I’m not a fan (and I learned the hard way just like many other poker players did, that it’s a losing proposition to play against the house)

However I have some friends who understand “advantage play” meaning they can count cards to take the house edge from a small negative EV to a neauteal or slight +EV. Anyone who tells you they win every time is lying. It simply gets the odds slightly in your favor until you get caught. You can easily go broke and we describe this short term fluctuation as “variance” in poker and gambling.

There’s no formal way to become a professional. It’s a self-decralred thing and way to file taxes. “Professional gambler/poker player”

Self-taught is the way. But you must invest a lot in education to not suck. I wouldn’t advise it as the evolution of the game makes the barrier of entry much harder for one to excel. Most players lose long term because it’s a 0 sum game. Business is better because you can create a Win/Win in terms of value instead of a win/loss like in poker.