Many envy the life of a professional poker player. They get to set their own hours, play a game they love for a living, and travel around the world to various tournaments? Add in a nice income to boot, and you have yourself a dream job. So how does one become a professional poker player? Professional poker players don’t graduate from Poker Pro School, and there is also no award that bestows the "pro" status on a player. It is entirely a label that one opts for themselves. Even some people who lose money at poker consider themselves professionals. Generally, one decides to make poker playing his occupation for at least one of two reasons: One, they genuinely enjoy the game. Two, they feel they can make more money off of this profession than any other.
Online poker has allowed players more opportunity to become professional poker players than was possible a generation ago. But with those opportunities come potential perils and pitfalls that aspiring poker professionals must be aware of and respect.
There are four major turnoffs to being a professional poker player. First, it is not a very social activity. You are essentially playing at home, with little human interaction. You don’t get to enjoy the chat by the water cooler and other social perks associated with a regular job. Secondly, poker becomes very monotonous very quickly. Sure, you play a variety of games, but since a poker professional is primarily interested in making money, they will want to mainly play the one game that provides the highest hourly rate. Needless to say, this can become very boring, very fast. Thirdly, it is often thought that professional poker players don’t contribute anything to society. This has become less of an issue, as professional poker players are often times considered 'entertainers.'