Ready to Turn Tourney Pro? You Might Want to Think Twice

  The poker world seems to be glutted with young bucks turning pro, but is it as easy as it seems? In short - no. To turn pro takes a lot of hard work, a lot of money, and a lot of success. Nothing wrong with those things at all, but for the casual player ready to quit his or her day job after they win a few hundred bucks at an online poker tournament, a closer look at what it takes is a smart move.  Sure, the money is attractive - seductive, actually. With millions of bucks being paid out in tourney poker every month online, not to mention the fifty plus World Poker Tour players who have become millionaires or the multi-million pots won in the World Series of Poker, it seems like playing tourney poker for a living is the way to go. Tournament buy ins, however, are enough of a deterrent for most people.  Just staying away from the huge buy in events isn't enough when routine smaller events run for $500 to $1000 a pop. If you bust out of one, you have to try again, and that's another hit to your bankroll. Dial it up a few notches to go for the "real" money prizes and you are paying many thousands of dollars just for a shot at a win.  Add to this the travel and lodging and food expenses in following a tourney circuit, and you have a job that is costing you a lot of money just for the chance to make a living. Can it be done? Short answer - yes. And it is done, by a lot of people. If you plan on it, however, just make sure you understand what is at stake.