People love winning. In poker, the tension can build along with the pot and bring winners a hard fought win and some serious cash bank as well. The adrenaline and the lucrative rewards draw people into the high stakes game of strategy and deception. A couple big amateur wins or a long streak of positive play can lead aficionados to want to take it to the next level and try their luck and skill on the professional poker circuit. Some people naturally have what it takes to make it with the pros. Some people have the wealth to pad their way in with trial and error. And some just need the knowledge and savoir faire to get there and the guts to ride it out the highs and lows on the road to potential success.

Getting started on the professional poker circuit immediately requires several basic resources. One of course is money. You have to buy in to the games, be able to travel with short notice and of course to ante up. Enough money to win and lose is important so that you can feel confident taking risks and not let anger, panic or fear discourage you from calling or even losing a hand or two as learning experience. You can only recover from a loss or bad hand by being able to keep going without missing a beat. The only way to keep moving after disappointment is to be able to push forward. That requires money for the next bet or buy in.

Next up is time. You need the free time to practice, online and at amateur matches. You want to play with your friends, strangers, family. By playing with a variety of people you will experience the most styles of play and incorporate into your own repertoire the things that work. You will also get a better feel for people’s tells and how well they read yours or what yours are if you don’t already know. At casual games you can stop between hands and ask the people you know why they did something and try and guess their hand to see what you had anticipated earlier. You always want to watch as many games as you can, online, on tv and in person. The in person observations are very important as you will be able to get a feel for the atmosphere as well as the people’s motivation, whether they are bluffing and how the other players react to them.

Patience is also a requirement. You have to be patient to learn from everyone around you and really observe what works and doesn’t work for you. And you have to be patient when you lose. On the professional circuit, impatience is a tell and it not only shows you are unstable, but that you are new and easily rattled.

Expert and mega pro Chris Ferguson suggests knowing the game and just focusing on playing your own solid poker. Playing your hand the best you can with everyone else just falling away while you concentrate on the right move to make. Other pros suggest finding your own style. Technical knowledge and research are a must. You have to be able to recognize what the best move to make is in every situation. Enough knowledge from experience, watching other successful players and researching what to do with any and every hand will allow you to proceed on instinct when the chips are literally down while tensions and emotions are running their highest.

Poker is one of those games where experience and money will allow you to buy in. You don’t need to be in a certain physical shape or know anyone in the game. Many factors will help but the ability to buy in and the courage to get out there and stay out in winning and losing streaks will take you a long way. Playing professional poker is possible for almost anyone who loves the game and puts in the time to know the game and play it as well as they can. The first move to make is start playing amateur matches while you build confidence, while watching the local cash games, who is playing where, what you can afford and against whom you would do best. Don’t forget many people make their money in online games, which will take a great deal of selection for websites in your country with the most lucrative and legitimate games. For this, your best bet is to email some well known pros who have made money online and get suggestions. Most will give you general advice since you really aren’t a threat to them (yet!). As soon as the right game comes along where the people and the location feel right, you can buy in and get your first professional experience.