In my book, Treat Your Poker Like A Business, I was extremely adamant about poker players treating their poker games much in the same way an intelligent business person
would treat any other business. I talked a lot about viewing your bankroll as working capital, creating expectations similar to any other business in the sense that you probably won’t make a ton of money from day 1 and essentially teaching people to create a situation for themselves with poker that allows them to treat their poker game the way a true professional would. But today I was talking with a poker friend and had some thoughts that counter some of the advice I preached so adamantly in my book. So I thought I would share it with you all.

One of the big things that I stressed as being important in my book was for people to be somewhat cautious when it comes to starting poker as a career in the first place. I advised people to transition into poker after setting aside a significant amount of living expenses and sent an overall message of caution and playing it safe. A lot of why I said that in my book was so I wouldn’t have any guilt if a father of 5 read my book and became inspired to tell his boss to fuck off and chase his dream of becoming a poker pro, possibly jeopardizing the welfare of his entire family. I am not sure I can even have that kind of impact on someone, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

For those who know nothing about how I came to being a poker pro, I was down to my last $1,000 with $1,500 in bills due at the end of the month. If I couldn’t come up with the money, homelessness, or at the very least some kind of terrible situation, was just weeks away. So I put my last $1,000 online, chased bonuses around the various poker rooms and 400 hours of poker later, I had $8,000 to my name at the end of the month and paid my bills. The rest as one might say, is history.

While I don’t think I can in good conscience tell someone to quit their job and just “go for it,” leaving their future up to their skills at the tables, I’m starting to wonder, can I? Stay with me here a second while I explain. While I can say for absolute certainty the husband/father trying to make ends meet should never do something like what I did, it may not be such a bad idea for a kid with a strong work ethic and a dream. Because the thing is, if you don’t go after your dreams now, I think it is likely you will never get a true second chance at them ever again as responsibilities pile on in your life. Because not only might this be your only chance, it may be the only time you will ever have that fire up your ass to ever do something like that again. Now that I have a perspective of being a husband and a father, as well as someone who has a reasonably substantial amount of money and resources, it is not always easy to pursue something the same way you would if you were just a broke kid with a dream.

There is something about being broke and having a dream that will allow you to pursue what you are dreaming of with the intensity it really takes to conquer something as difficult as being a poker pro. When you have a nice family life and a decent 401k, there just isn’t that same intensity or urgency to conquer things like there is when you are young, broke (more important than being young is being broke) and hungry. In
fact I think being broke is such a critical element of being a poker pro that I wonder how many of us poker pros have become successful AFTER achieving some reasonable amount of financial freedom in another career? When you have that nestegg, it is easy to skip a few days, take time away and do something else, not be too worried if you don’t progress rapidly and/or just kind of not fight for it with that same passion you might
if you had it all on the line.

Two powerful quotes come to mind come from two people I admire who could not be more different. Eminem said in his song “Lose Yourself,” that “Success is my only motherfucking option, failure’s not.” My golf hero, the legendary Ben Hogan, said, “My family wasn’t rich, they were poor. I feel sorry for rich kids now. I really do. Because they are never going to have the opportunity I had. Because I knew tough things and I had a tough day ALL MY LIFE. And I can handle tough things. They can’t. And every day that I progressed was a joy to me. And I recognized it every day.”

As much as I draw inspiration from what Eminem said, there is nothing that compares to what Mr. Hogan said, to me anyway. When I watch that interview where he offered that quote, it sends chills down my spine. In my opinion, Hogan is right. There is no sweeter joy that I have ever experienced in my life than the joy I felt when I had truly made it in poker, knowing full well what is was like to be poor and stare death in the face when I was lying in that hospital bed after the heart attack I had at the age of 23. In some strange way, I will never be more grateful for anything than having been dirt poor and having a near death experience at such a young age.

So what does this all mean? Well, I am not entirely sure to be honest. But what I do know is that life can be short and life can be cruel. But the more you put yourself out there, the more you just don’t give a fuck what anyone else says and you pursue your dreams with all of your heart, the better the chances are that you will lead the life you have always dreamed about. And as much as I try to treat my poker like a business, ironically enough, it was NOT treating poker like a business that got me my start in poker.

So with that in mind, unless it is too stupid of a life decision because of your circumstances, I say go for it, if anyone is asking me. If someone 24 years old with minimal expenses wants to put some money away and chase their dreams in poker, I would tell them to go for it. And I say that not because I think each and every one of them will go on to make millions of dollars at the felt, but rather because even failures can be a great lesson. I chased golf for 15 years each and every day. Ultimately, I failed. I have had some business ventures that failed too. But everything I failed at taught me the lessons that have allowed me to succeed at poker and in other business ventures. So sometimes, even when you lose, you win. Life is dynamic. You can not approach the idea of failure in a bubble. Things you fail at today may be things that are the reason for your successes tomorrow. There are stacks of books a mile high of successful people who have told their stories of how they got to where they were today. Some of them are from people who got a degree, stayed patient and did it the “right way” (whatever that means). But I would be willing to wager that most of those books were written by people who took chances and weren’t afraid to fail.

So from the guy who wrote 204 pages on treating your poker like a business, for whatever it’s worth, you have my stamp of approval to take some chances in life and be willing to risk looking like an idiot, or a genius.