[joop]

Cliff notes at bottom.

Sorry if this has already been discussed, couldn't find anything on it though, so here goes.

It's my contention that being an online poker pro is one of the hardest jobs a person could do. What are you thoughts on this?

I will explain my thoughts...

I play mid-stakes 6max LHE for a living. I try to play as much as I can each month, to make the most money I can, and as many tables as possible to maximise my hourly rate.

I've found that playing 6 tables is optimal for me in terms of hourly rate, and I just cannot drive myself to play more than 40k hands each month. Sure, I could play less tables and it would ease the load on my mind a bit - but I'd make less per hour. And I could play less each month, but I want to make the max I can.

Given the outline of 'my job' above, I truly believe what I'm doing is one of the most difficult jobs there is. I am constantly making decisions... many easy decisions like preflop and c-betting flops HU... but many difficult decisions that really take some thought. After a long session, my brain is just about fried. It takes so much concentration and focus - there's no looking out the window and thinking about the weekend like most jobs.

And then there's the swings. I think I handle these better than most. But I have yet to meet a poker pro (and I know quite a lot) that is uneffected psychologically by the swings. 100BB downswings in one day are quite common... breakeven stretches for weeks... 3-500BB downswings. It's hard to remain unphased. It's not even the money that bothers us - it's that thought in the back of your mind that you're no longer playing winning poker. The games are constantly getting tougher... am I currently being outplayed? It doesn't feel like I am... but I keep losing... this is what goes through a poker pros mind.

I'm trying to think of what other jobs are tougher. Sure, you have physical jobs... labourer, whatever... that's not the kinda difficulty I'm talking about. I would love to go out and "labour" for the same money I'm making playing poker, but it just doesn't happen. Any sort of office jobs is usually pretty repetitive and doesn't require a lot of brain power once you've been doing it for a while... plus you can always sit and do nothing for 5 minutes and nobody would know. I'm thinking something like a surgeon might be difficult... there's the emotional aspect of playing with someones life, but I'm sure once you get the experience that goes away. And then there's the old favourite of comparing a poker pro to an air-traffic controller...

I'm sure being an air-traffic controller is mentally intensive. You can't look away from the screen (similar to poker). You literally have peoples lives in your hands - emotional aspect. But just how many difficult decisions do you have to make? I'd say most decisions are pretty rudimentary. Can it really compare to being constantly put in tough spots by other smart players trying to outplay you?

I started writing this thread because I've just come off the phone with a girl I've started seeing. She's very demanding of my time... I've told her I'm busy when I play poker and that I can't be disturbed - but she doesn't see why I can't talk on the phone, or chat on msn at the same time. I am stupid, because I've allowed it whilst just playing 3 tables before... but once I crank up 6 tables and try to talk, she may as well be talking to herself. She doesn't understand how difficult it is. Does anyone that doesn't play? We have argument about this... I have said to her, "You have no idea what I'm trying to do here" (play winning poker). I really think it's one of the hardest things you can do.

Would love to hear other peoples thoughts on this.

joop

Cliff notes : I think being a poker pro is one of the toughest jobs there is and would like peoples opinion on this.