I often get asked in casual conversation and small talk what I do for a living. It's always been my response to tell them I play poker. The people asking me always seemed puzzled or once in a while surprised and very intrigued. I have asked my other professional poker player friends what they say and they say all kinds of things to avoid having to go into detail and repeat themselves. The things they range from are I'm a card player, I play poker, I'm a professional gambler, I'm a stay at home dad, I'm self-employed, I make money on the internet, I play a zero-sum game similar to options trading, etc.
I find it interesting to note and this is in my personal experience that playing poker in the midwest is mostly frowned upon. On the west coast and in most other countries you are viewed as a celebrity. Most people that frown upon it give reasons like you're mixing with mobsters, you don't contribute to society, it's unreliable, its gambling. The people that seem to view us as celebrities or look up to us more think that we are extremely skillful, that we are the last real cowboys, that we are pursuing a tough road one that they would say is the hardest way out there to make an easy living.
I will tell you this much: There is no difference between what I do and what goes on in the trading pits at say the Chicago Board of Trade . We both analyze probabilities and situations with incomplete information to make the best possible decision by looking and weighing all these combinations in order to give us the best chance of success for a good outcome. Just as I could play perfectly and do everything right, sometimes in the short run anything can happen. This is known as variance and mathematically graphed looks like a horizontal wavey line or hill of ups and downs. In the short run variance is high and true equities are hard to determine if you don't know what you're doing. This is why having a firm understanding of the math involved helps avoid this fuzzy thinking that can occur. In my game just as in many others where we squeak out an edge, many trials or the longer we play or trade, the more we start to realize our true edge.
My profession simply is based off of a single 52 card deck. I know that each card is worth roughly 2% and that when I need to hit a queen on the next card in order to win or continue in the hand, I know im roughly 8% or about 1/12 to hit it. I calculate all this math and determine how much I stand to win should I hit and if the risk is too high for the reward or low enough that the reward is worth it so I continue or maybe even raise and commit more money.
Its funny when you talk poker. Over the years I've noticed that we speak in a way that must seem foreign to those not familiar with poker's terminology or the concepts we refer to which you must know and master to become really good in this game. Some of the concepts we sometimes refer to are pot odds, implied odds, reverse implied odds, SPR (stack to pot ratio). Some of the terminology are things like set mining, check raising, 3 betting, LAG (loose aggressive), TAG (tight aggressive), outs, fish, shark, bet fold, raise fold, river, flop, etc. The list goes on and on.
As they all say, it takes a day to learn and a lifetime to master but in the last 10 years I'll tell you I've learned (and believe me I know a lot about the game) it's probably best to play only on the side and to keep the money separate from your normal bank account. I never got to that point and always mixed and I have never played to the level needed to have a good easy living. I also always played full time for sole income many times. It just puts a lot of pressure on you to do well. You don't want to die young right? Less emotion you live longer. Even if playing on the side you should still write out your goals and bankroll requirements.
Poker is rough on your health overall and the game can take everything from you if you're not careful. Life is all about balance and as I said the game can consume you which I think is why a lot of poker players die young and broke. The game also has its benefits though like high competitiveness, the emotional rollercoaster of winning/losing, the ability to keep your mind off of other stresses in your life because you're just focused on the game alone, the comfort you feel knowing there's always something you can do to make a little money (assuming you're better than average).
Anyway, that's my two cents and I hope that my 10 years of full timing it in poker have an impact on you one way or another. Overall though looking back I'd say don't do this for a living! If you do, much respect but also not too much respect, you're still a poker player until you do something better with your life like giving back!