I have played online poker since 2004 and have played professionally since June of 2006. I started out like everyone else, making the occasional deposit into random poker sites and losing the money – usually overnight. Out of frustration, I decided to do a little research and find out if it was possible to win at poker. A couple books later and I was able to grow a $250 deposit into a proper bankroll for the .10/.25 ($25 buyin) no-limit games and bring in a steady profit.

A year later I was playing .5/1.00 ($100 buyin) no-limit at a another site when I finally decided I would try to move up to the highest stakes possible and make a real living at this game. A month later I was playing the .10/.25 no-limit games again Needless to say I failed miserably at my first moving up attempt. It was after this downswing that I became motivated to learn as much as possible and make a real go at this game.

In June of 2006 I was back up to the 1.00/2.00 ($200 buyin) no-limit games playing 8-tables at a time and maintaining a $50/hour win rate. At this time, I was working at a dead end fast food job for $7.00/hour and becoming increasingly discontent with my job. Finally a confrontation with my boss in front of some customers led me to walk out of the job without even giving a two weeks notice. I was now a professional poker player.

It was a poorly planned transition but I was very lucky to run super hot after quitting my job. Within a week my bankroll had grown to $8,000 and I was taking shots at the 2.00/4.00 ($400 buyin) no-limit games. I ran hot at the 2.00/4.00 no-limit games and moved up to 3.00/6.00 ($600 buyin) no-limit the very next week. Soon, I was playing 5.00/10.00 ($1,000 buyin) no-limit and killing it! The month I quit my part-time $7/hour, $500 a month job, I earned $40,000 playing online poker in my underwear. Ok, I wasn’t really in my underwear the whole time.

Ever since then, I have been a professional poker player.