Poker News

Dr. Scott Aigner

Whether it was to start a new life, a gold rush, or to seek adventure, there have been countless Americans who have moved west over the centuries. At one time travel across America was in a covered wagon. The past thirty years it has been in a U-haul.

Unlike in the 1800’s when the migration was westward, the migration to Las Vegas has been from everywhere. There has been a phenomenal growth in the past decade and there is little evidence that this growth will slow down soon. Poker has also seen an explosion in popularity and has been growing exponentially over the past several years.

I have been contemplating a move to Las Vegas to play poker full for some time. That time has finally come. It has never been a better time for the professional poker player then right now, in my opinion.

In the past most of those who tried to make it as a professional would ultimately fail. I have read a number of articles on how tough it is to make it and have considered my situation very carefully. I made a plan to play professionally on a part time basis for 1 year and live out of a suitcase traveling to different venues to gain first hand knowledge on what it takes to be a professional poker player. During this time I found a few things that bothered me. First, was the travel. Second, was the additional expenses involved in the travel (especially when I was mainly playing ring games). Finally, was the fact that I was away from my family too often. If I didn’t have success in the past 16 months I certainly would not be writing about my intentions now. Could I still fail? Of course I could! But I have been living the dream and I want to continue. My poker career is unique when compared to most of the other professional poker players who started out young, single, and without family responsibilities. The majority also end their professional playing days in their early 40’s. I started mine at 45 and have a wife and kids. It should not be the ideal time to change careers but for me it is.

There are a lot of pitfalls to avoid when playing professionally. I know what they are and my level of maturity is pivotal to my success. I have the benefit of starting out with an adequate bankroll. I have been able to psychologically handle the ups and downs in poker and learned long ago to avoid the leaks that occur in a Casino environment. I have no desire to play games with a negative expectation. If I had moved to Vegas 10 years ago to play poker professionally there is no doubt that I would have failed.

This article is a little different than what I have written in the past. Some of you might even be slightly disappointed that I didn’t discuss strategy or a situational analysis. But for those who look a little deeper they will see that I did give advice about playing the game. Just as in poker we have to make educated guesses in life too. If we are not looking at the nuts we have to add an unknown factor into the equation. Life is a lot like poker. You need to have a plan, consider all of the alternatives, and make your best decision based on what you know and what you believe to be most likely (probability). It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

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