Online poker has allowed players more opportunity to become professional poker players than was ever possible just a generation ago. But with those opportunities comes potential perils and pitfalls that aspiring pros must be aware of and respect.
First, a professional poker player is never “made.” Professional status is not guaranteed to continue once it is earned. Only through excellence and prudence can an aspiring poker player be able to stay in the ranks. There have been plenty of “short timer” professionals that ended up being a flash in the pan because their status got to them, and ate away the very fire that was so important in becoming a pro. Many new professional poker players let everything get to their head and they become careless, reckless, and broke. There are countless stories of big time pros that went bust.
A true professional poker player will maintain his respect for the game rather than get caught up into ego and glamour. Real pros realize just what a tough grind professional poker is and how that status is something to be respected rather than to bask in.
Once a player obtains professional status, another pitfall is to think that there is nothing more left to learn. That is yet another fatal mistake. The old adage about poker taking an “hour to learn and a lifetime to master” holds true for even the most successful professional and the pro who thinks that he no longer needs to do his homework, study opponents, learn from mistakes, or respect the odds will not be a pro for long.