A Pro's Journey: Decisions and Time

Hello Poker Dicas readers, today I'm starting a series of articles on the journey it takes to become a poker professional. I'll be writing about strategies, bankroll and tilt control, Sng, MTT, among other subjects related to the area. My aim is to take you through the entire journey of a poker player, but first I'll give you a summary of my poker career.

My nickname is Matuks and I've been playing poker professionally since 2011. I started playing cash live and ended up coming to online poker when I started a project with a friend, which was to deposit $50 and turn it into $50k. During this time I ended up in pre-Steal, formed a team with 2 friends called WTF team, and am currently playing for a gringo team.

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Article 1 - Decision and timing

If you're reading this article, you've probably thought or are thinking about becoming a professional poker player. But before you do, you need to analyze all the factors involved in your decision:

• Reality vs. Illusion

The mistake I see most often in beginners is believing that being a poker player means you won't have to work, you won't have to study and you'll have an easier life. If this is your initial thought, you can already look for another profession, because if your goal is to be a poker player, you'll have to work and study a lot more than others. You really have to love what you're doing so that you don't give up halfway through. If you don't, you'll just be "another player" among many who don't achieve the desired success.

• Dividing your time

First of all, you need to choose the type of game you're going to play. Depending on your time, you can play Sng, MTT or Cash game:

1. SNGPlaying Sng allows you to manage your hours and have control over how long your working day lasts. Even if your hours are short, you can still do a lot of Sng.
2. MTT: To play MTT you'll need a long working day to get a good volume. I recommend it for those who don't have commitments that might get in the way of the tournament. For example, if you register for 4 MTTs at 13:00, and you have an appointment at 16:00, it's better to play Sng or Cash, because when you have an appointment, you're already waiting for it to fall through so you can fulfill it, and that's like throwing money away.
3. Cash Game: With the possibility of starting and finishing the game at your preferred time, we have the Cash game. I'm not going to delve too deeply into this now because I'm not the best person to talk about it. During "Steps of a Pro" I intend to delve into Sng and MTT, which are the types of games that have brought me the most profit.

And that concludes today's topic. In the next article we'll talk about bankroll management, managing your money and variance.

Glossary:

SNG: Sit and Go

MTT: Multi table tournament

Questions, doubts and suggestions?