Has anyone else considered that Professional Poker may be the Bubble of the 2000's, much as Online Trading was the Bubble of the late 1990's??
Everybody remembers how many online trading "experts" there were around 1999. Just watch the "ChannelingStocks.com" commercials for a taste of this idiocy. Most blew out quickly in the next 2-3 years. I predict a similar outcome will happen with Poker, although it might take 3-5 years to burn out.
Poker is near its height of profitability currently because it is the "in thing" (note increased TV coverage of tournaments, Hollywood actors/actresses playing, etc. ) and many bad players are piling into the game, thinking it is an easy way to make money or get rich. But the reality of poker is that much like trading, there will only be a small percentage ( definitely less than 30%, probably about 10% ) that will be long term winners. Once the newbies get their pocketbooks smacked and the reload bonuses and freebies drop off, a lot will drop out and the games will become a lot harder.
Eventually, the fad will fade and it will be onto something else. At that time, you will be in a much better place to have some real trading skills to fall back on than to continue to operate your "poker career".
There isn't really much of a barrier to entry currently for learning and playing decent poker. Basically, spend about $300-$500 on good quality poker books ( Sklansky, Malmuth, Ciaffone, Harrington, etc. ), play online for low stakes to practice, learn how to correctly manage your bankroll, move up in stakes as long as you are profitable, and repeat. I have gone from zero poker knowledge as of last December to consistently profitable at Hold'Em in about 9 months now. But I also recognize that there are a whole lot of fools and idiots in the game now. It was probably a lot harder to do that say 10-12 years ago when there weren't as many fish trying to play, and probably the required level of skill will increase markedly over the next few years, or when this fad is over.
In summary, I would milk the poker career now because chances are it is a temporary fad and you better develop some real skills (trading or otherwise) now so that you don't have to depend on poker later on when it is less lucrative. One thing is clear - it might be easy to make say $20-$50K a year on poker, but it will be very difficult to make $500K a year on poker unless you are a TV tournament winner.
Everybody remembers how many online trading "experts" there were around 1999. Just watch the "ChannelingStocks.com" commercials for a taste of this idiocy. Most blew out quickly in the next 2-3 years. I predict a similar outcome will happen with Poker, although it might take 3-5 years to burn out.
Poker is near its height of profitability currently because it is the "in thing" (note increased TV coverage of tournaments, Hollywood actors/actresses playing, etc. ) and many bad players are piling into the game, thinking it is an easy way to make money or get rich. But the reality of poker is that much like trading, there will only be a small percentage ( definitely less than 30%, probably about 10% ) that will be long term winners. Once the newbies get their pocketbooks smacked and the reload bonuses and freebies drop off, a lot will drop out and the games will become a lot harder.
Eventually, the fad will fade and it will be onto something else. At that time, you will be in a much better place to have some real trading skills to fall back on than to continue to operate your "poker career".
There isn't really much of a barrier to entry currently for learning and playing decent poker. Basically, spend about $300-$500 on good quality poker books ( Sklansky, Malmuth, Ciaffone, Harrington, etc. ), play online for low stakes to practice, learn how to correctly manage your bankroll, move up in stakes as long as you are profitable, and repeat. I have gone from zero poker knowledge as of last December to consistently profitable at Hold'Em in about 9 months now. But I also recognize that there are a whole lot of fools and idiots in the game now. It was probably a lot harder to do that say 10-12 years ago when there weren't as many fish trying to play, and probably the required level of skill will increase markedly over the next few years, or when this fad is over.
In summary, I would milk the poker career now because chances are it is a temporary fad and you better develop some real skills (trading or otherwise) now so that you don't have to depend on poker later on when it is less lucrative. One thing is clear - it might be easy to make say $20-$50K a year on poker, but it will be very difficult to make $500K a year on poker unless you are a TV tournament winner.
