Becoming a professional poker player sounds like a thrilling concept. I have my dreams of becoming a professional poker star, and sitting in a packed casino among other pros while staying at lavish hotel suites around the world, but as an entrepreneur there is a conflict of interest, when it comes to having a dream like this. Gambling, by itself, is not a business stream of income, but the business behind gambling can be quite lucrative. I have observed the ways the pros make money from the popularity of poker and this may be shocking for some enthusiasts out there, but you probably aren't going to get rich anytime soon just playing poker online. You can, however, build an empire by playing though, and I don’t mean opening your own casinos, or spending your life savings trying to win the WPT championship.
Have an Ace Up the Sleeve
Gambling doesn’t need to be all about taking risks. Well not if you are in it to win it, like the pros do. What you do outside the casino is just as important as what you do while your inside, that contributes to becoming pro. This is where being a gambler and being an entrepreneur converge.
Behind the scenes pros are businessmen. You think they join all those tournaments with their own hard earned cash? They negotiate sponsorship, and/or endorsement deals. This is especially true for players who have gained celebrity through consistently winning or placing high in tournaments. This doesn’t mean you have to have fame in order to negotiate sponsorship deals, but having a track record of tournaments/winnings would make for a good bargaining chip. Building your track record could get costly if you have no creative means of coming up with funding. Sponsors will pour money into a pro’s tournament career, paying for hotel suites, meals/comforts, not to mention tournament fees, and even rebuying to insure better results. Why do you think you see some of the same faces at the final table during televised events? This is how pros think like entrepreneurs and not like gamblers.
You are a Brand
Before you become a professional poker player who’s funded, whether by sponsors or independently, you are just another poker enthusiast who loves to play the game as a hobby. Once you have made the transition to pro, getting paid just to play or represent the game, you are no longer just a player of the game, but a name brand. Most pros get a jumpstart in their career this way; by winning or placing high in some official tournaments (the tournaments don’t need to be top notch venues either).
Once an amateur has earned some credibility, they look for sponsorship and/or immediately jump into a branding process. You can look up almost any poker pro on the internet, no matter how popular or not, and find they have their own website. Thinking like entrepreneurs, professional poker players will utilize branding to create a business model out of their love for the game. So at this point, the more they play, the more credible they become with their website’s audience. There they can sell merchandise, offer lessons, and sell advertising to affiliates/sponsors in order to generate a revenue as a pro, which may in turn independently fund their next tournament entry.
The Entourage
You may notice that some players have that entourage that travels with them to tournaments, and special events. Some may think this is just a group of supporters made up of family and friends, but that’s not always the case. Similar to other forms of celebrity and branding like, rock stars, actors, and professional athletes, this entourage is made of public relations team members/interns that represent the player as a brand. Included in this cast of characters could be an event manager, agent, spokesman, business partners, sponsors, employees, and more. As you can see to become a professional poker player is to become an entrepreneur, and learn how to leverage your time and efforts, build a network, and focus on the game. This is how pros turn a game of chance into a reliable business model to create a living doing what they love.
Gambling doesn’t need to be all about taking risks. Well not if you are in it to win it, like the pros do. What you do outside the casino is just as important as what you do while your inside, that contributes to becoming pro. This is where being a gambler and being an entrepreneur converge.
Behind the scenes pros are businessmen. You think they join all those tournaments with their own hard earned cash? They negotiate sponsorship, and/or endorsement deals. This is especially true for players who have gained celebrity through consistently winning or placing high in tournaments. This doesn’t mean you have to have fame in order to negotiate sponsorship deals, but having a track record of tournaments/winnings would make for a good bargaining chip. Building your track record could get costly if you have no creative means of coming up with funding. Sponsors will pour money into a pro’s tournament career, paying for hotel suites, meals/comforts, not to mention tournament fees, and even rebuying to insure better results. Why do you think you see some of the same faces at the final table during televised events? This is how pros think like entrepreneurs and not like gamblers.
You are a Brand
Before you become a professional poker player who’s funded, whether by sponsors or independently, you are just another poker enthusiast who loves to play the game as a hobby. Once you have made the transition to pro, getting paid just to play or represent the game, you are no longer just a player of the game, but a name brand. Most pros get a jumpstart in their career this way; by winning or placing high in some official tournaments (the tournaments don’t need to be top notch venues either).
Once an amateur has earned some credibility, they look for sponsorship and/or immediately jump into a branding process. You can look up almost any poker pro on the internet, no matter how popular or not, and find they have their own website. Thinking like entrepreneurs, professional poker players will utilize branding to create a business model out of their love for the game. So at this point, the more they play, the more credible they become with their website’s audience. There they can sell merchandise, offer lessons, and sell advertising to affiliates/sponsors in order to generate a revenue as a pro, which may in turn independently fund their next tournament entry.
The Entourage
You may notice that some players have that entourage that travels with them to tournaments, and special events. Some may think this is just a group of supporters made up of family and friends, but that’s not always the case. Similar to other forms of celebrity and branding like, rock stars, actors, and professional athletes, this entourage is made of public relations team members/interns that represent the player as a brand. Included in this cast of characters could be an event manager, agent, spokesman, business partners, sponsors, employees, and more. As you can see to become a professional poker player is to become an entrepreneur, and learn how to leverage your time and efforts, build a network, and focus on the game. This is how pros turn a game of chance into a reliable business model to create a living doing what they love.
