Challenges of Playing Video Poker Full-Time
Make no mistake about it. Unless you hit the jackpot, paying video poker isn't the quick road to riches. It's hard work just like other types of honest work. Before you consider taking up video poker as a full-time job, consider these issues first.
- Big budget. Professional video poker needs a big bankroll. Typically, you will need about three to five times the royal flush jackpot amount to play safely long-term. So if the royal flush is 4,000 credits, you will need at least 12,000 credits. If it's a .25c machine, that's $3,000 at least. No one said this was easy.
- No fixed income. This is perhaps the biggest setback to playing video poker full-time. You have no fixed salary like you would expect from regular employment. There will be days when you will go home a fat and happy cat, and there will be days when your bankroll gets starved. That's just the reality of professional gambling. It may be systematic, but it's still gambling.
- No benefits. A video poker player is on his or her own. There are no benefits, promotions or bonuses that you can rely on save for what the casino may give (and it won't be on a regular basis). If you retire or fall ill, you won't have anything to claim.
- Uncertainty. There is an element of uncertainty in all professional gambling, even video poker. Your bankroll is at risk whenever you play. If you cannot handle the pressure of gambling your hard-earned money, then playing video poker full-time isn't for you. Further, you WILL experience losses time and again and will need to keep playing to regain your money.
- Casino War. It's a war between players like you and the house. You are basically playing cat-and-mouse with the casino. Casinos look upon the likes of you as a pesky rat in the house. They are constantly changing their rules and searching for ways to trap you and frustrate your plans. In the future, video poker rules may change and certain games may no longer be available in the form they are in now. When that occurs, you'll need to adjust your strategy to the new system or else find another game you can win.
- Full working hours. Although you can play video poker at home, it can and will still take up your time. The best players in the world play for full working days, as in 8 hours a day for 5 days a week for every week of the year. You get no paid holiday leaves, by the way.
Even if you do play video poker for a living, you have to keep in mind its effect on your future career options. Stating in your resume that you played video poker for 3 years over the internet isn't exactly how you want to impress prospective employers.
In other words, be prepared for long-term status as a self-employed, independent person if you want to play video poker professionally. You have to be self-reliant, patient and disciplined to win in this game. And you must be willing to give up the comforts and benefits of other jobs you could have.