How good can a bad player ever be?

[AaronBrown]

No, I don't think your friend could do it. Not because being a low-level poker pro requires exceptional talent, like being an NBA star, or years of intense dedication, like being a scientist; but because of the way he says it.

Grinding out a living in poker requires initiative, discipline, focus, self-reliance and most important, self-knowledge. A guy who blames "distractions" like a job and wants to be given a bankroll and living expenses, and thinks what he needs can be found in books when he can't find it in himself (and has never opened the book), sounds as if he has none of those things.

There are plenty of people walking around who could be pros, but they wouldn't ask for any of the crutches your friend wants. If someone said "if I trained for six months, I could run a marathon in under three hours," I might believe him, even if he were out of shape and had never run seriously. But if someone said said, "if I had a cool-looking outfit and full-time masseuse, and a bunch of cheerleaders to encourage me, I could do it," I'd guess not.

If your friend said instead he could be a superstar poker player, that's different. It's easy to see there are WSOP winners without the qualities I mentioned (think: Stu Unger). But being a celebrity and playing great poker some of the time is not at all the same thing as playing good poker all of the time without the cheers.