Poker Tournament Pros

Here are some of the greatest poker tournament players to have ever lived. They have each won millions of dollars playing live and online poker tournaments.

Chris Ferguson
Chris Moneymaker
Clonie Gowen
Daniel Negreanu
Doyle Brunson
Erik Lindgren
Greg Raymer
Gus Hansen
Howard Lederer
Jennifer Harman
Joe Hachem
Johnny Chan
Mike Matusow
Phil Helmuth
Phil Ivey

Most people assume that becoming a pro poker player entails playing large cash games, but that isn’t always the case and there are tons of examples of people turning into a full-time pro poker player from playing tournaments only. There are easily a few thousand people that play online poker tournaments full-time and making a living. In some cases the players don’t even play high limits, but they do play a lot of volume.

There are several steps that must be followed if you plan on becoming a poker tournament pro. You need to make sure you have a big enough bankroll and I don’t mean a few hundred dollars. If you’re serious about playing online poker tournaments full-time you should have a minimum of 1-2 years expenses saved up in the bank. The hardest part about playing full-time poker is having the bankroll to cover your downswings, which are inevitable.

You can find tournament pros online that play all types of tournaments ranging from massive multi-table tournaments to simple heads-up tournaments. If you play heads-up tournaments you need to play a lot of volume in order to make sure you’re making the most possible income. The players that focus on MTT’s play far less volume, but they also have the trouble of trying to win a big cash, which isn’t easy at all. MTT’s always pay out the top 1-2% of the tournament with the majority of the money so trying to become a pro playing MTT’s only can be a tough battle.

Many poker players started out playing online poker tournaments and one of the most popular names is Annette Obrestad. She is famously known for grinding online poker tournaments before ever becoming a known poker pro on the live circuit. Hundreds of other young poker players have also made the leap from playing casually to playing full-time over the years. It takes a lot of skill, money and discipline when you’re starting out, but after a couple years you should have enough saved up that you could make your way through any type of variance.

The great thing about playing poker tournaments online is the fact that you don’t need to worry about buy-ins of $10K like you would if you were playing in the WSOP. Playing live tournaments is great if you already have a huge poker bankroll or if you’re trying to get lucky one time, but if you’re seriously considering becoming a poker tournament pro you should focus at mastering your online tournament game.