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How long does it take to get good at Texas Hold’em?

Mastering Texas Hold’em takes 6 months to 2 years of regular practice and study. Spending about 2-3 hours a day playing and studying is the best approach. Poker professionals believe that true mastery of poker requires about 10,000 hours of practice – a rule of thumb for mastering all kinds of complex skills.

How long does it take to get good at Texas Hold'em

How long does it take for an average person to become a professional poker player?

First, if you want to become a professional player, plan on investing at least 4-6 hours a day playing and studying. Studies and real life tell us that most players need 3-5 years of solid training to finally reach a professional level. Take Daniel Negreanu, one of the greatest poker players of all time, as an example. He started entering the professional poker world at 18 and reached full-time professional status by age 21 – learning how to play like a god every single day.

Accumulating initial experience requires playing many games, so it only makes sense that more games are needed to further improve. Most successful professional players participate in at least 500 to 1,000 tournaments before they break through. These tournaments vary in type (a combination of online games and live tournaments) as well as time. Some important events include the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Becoming a professional poker player requires not only time but also financial support.

Starting bankroll: You need about $10,000 to $20,000 to participate in low to medium-stakes games.

Tournament fees: Tournament entry fees vary greatly. For example, WSOP events have buy-in fees ranging from $500 to $10,000. If you participate in 20 tournaments a year with an average buy-in of $1,000, that’s about $20,000 per year in costs.

Travel and lodging: If you participate in offline tournaments, travel costs will require a substantial budget. Just attending a few events like the WSOP in Las Vegas or European Poker Tour stops could cost as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

Learning resources: This includes poker books, courses, and coaching fees. High-level coaching can range from $100 to $300 per hour. Investing in learning resources could cost you between $2,000 and $5,000 per year.

Mental resilience

An excellent poker player can gracefully handle bad losses and remain the calmest person when facing stress. Emotional control is a major skill that impacts long-term success, as cited in The Psychology of Poker.

Poker strategies are constantly evolving. In 2017, when AI “Libratus” easily defeated top professional players in No-Limit Texas Hold’em, AI’s application in poker highlighted the importance of continuous learning. Annual subscriptions to advanced poker training websites or workshops typically cost between $500 and $1,000.

Poker superstar Phil Ivey turned professional after participating in many tournaments.

After calculating all the costs, becoming a professional poker player might require:

  • Starting bankroll: $10,000 – 20,000
  • Annual tournament fees: $20,000
  • Travel and lodging (annually): $5,000 – 10,000
  • Learning resources (annually): $2,000 – 5,000
  • Annual continuing education: $500 – 1,000

At the higher-end cost estimates, your first year might require an initial investment of $37,000 – $56,000. Excluding the bankroll payment, this could cost $27,500 to $36,000 annually for the following years.

How can I become a professional poker player?

Embarking on the journey, professional poker is no joke! Here is a realistic plan to help you through this journey.

Take the time to understand some basic principles of Texas Hold’em, which include hand rankings, pot odds, and basic strategy.

Learning materials: Purchase some good poker books (such as Kill Everyone and Applications of No Limit Holdem, which are two that I enjoyed), take an online course, or subscribe to a training site like PokerStrategy or UpswingPoker. It might cost you $500 – $1,000 a year.

Daily routine: Play poker 4-6 hours a day, both online and some offline. Practice on online platforms such as PokerStars or 888poker.

Study time – Spend 1-2 hours a day reviewing hand histories, watching training videos, and reading strategy articles.

Starting with $10,000 to $20,000 as your bankroll. This allows you to play lower-stakes games and climb up as your skillset progresses.

Bankroll management: Have a strict bankroll management guide. This is hypothetical, of course, but never put more than 5% on one game, for example.

You should know by now: Participate in 50-100 tournaments annually. A combination of online and live events would be ideal.

Buy-ins: Pool together funds to cover buy-ins for games. If you participate in 50 tournaments with an average buy-in of $200, then your annual cost would be around $10,000.

Volume of play: Try to play at least 1,000 hands a week. The more hands you play, the more situations you’ll be exposed to.

Review: After your game is over, go through all the available evidence and analyze how you played and the decisions you made. Analyze your play with software like PokerTracker.

Cost breakdown: Avoid picking a high price tag (js.src=automatic).

Starting bankroll: $10,000 to $20,000

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Learning resources (annually): $500-$1,000

Travel and lodging (per event): $5,000 to $10,000

Annual costs (excluding bankroll): $15,500 – 21,000

Coaching: Consider hiring a poker coach, with coaching fees typically ranging from $100 to $300 per hour.

Texas Hold’em Quick Start Guide

Understanding the basics

Objective: The goal of Texas Hold’em is to win chips by either having the best hand or by making other players fold.

Setup:

  • Players: 2 to 10 players.
  • Game deck: 52 standard cards.
  • Chips: These are what you use to make bets during the game.

Poker hand rankings: From highest to lowest –

  • Royal Flush: A, K, Q, J, and 10 of the same suit.
  • Straight Flush – Five consecutive cards of the same suit.
  • Four of a Kind – Four cards of the same rank.
  • Full House – Consisting of three of a kind and a pair.
  • Flush: Five cards of the same suit.
  • Two Pair: Two pairs of different ranks.
  • One Pair – Two cards of the same rank.
  • High Card – (Highest single card): After considering everything else, each individual rank is then comparatively rated with respect to a king.

Game flow:

Pre-Flop:

  • Blinds: Two players start with small blind and big blind bets.
  • Hole Cards: These are the two private cards dealt to you face down.

Betting rounds:

  • First Betting Round – (Pre-Flop): It begins with the player to the left of the big blind.
  • The Flop: The dealer reveals three community cards face up.
  • Second Betting Round: Starting with the player to the left of the dealer.
  • The Turn: The dealer reveals the fourth community card.
  • The Turn / Fourth Betting Round: The betting starts with the player to the dealer’s left.
  • The River: The dealer reveals the final community card.
  • Final Betting Round: The same as the previous rounds.

Showdown:

  • Players cannot continue in the hand until they reveal their hole cards and show a winning five-card poker hand during the showdown process.

In practice, this means that if everyone else folds or forfeits their chance to win (and no one re-raised), the last player wins without having to show a card.

Betting actions:

  • Check: Do not bet, and pass the action to the next player (only if no one has placed a bet in that round yet).
  • Bet: Place chips into the pot to make a bet.
  • Call: Match the bet made by another player in a single round.
  • Raise: Make a bet larger than the previous highest one.
  • Fold – Throw your hand away and drop out of the round.

Important tips:

  • Starting Hands: In the early to middle stages of a tournament, I would rather play strong starting hands (pairs, suited cards 10+).
  • Position: It’s better to act in later positions where you can see how everyone else plays before you act.
  • Betting Strategy: Size your bets based on hand strength and adjust according to opponents’ tendencies.

Example Hand:

Setup:

  • Player A: $1 (small blind) Player B: $2 (big blind)
  • Each player is dealt two hole cards.

Pre-Flop:

  • Based on their hole cards, players call/raise/fold.
  • Player C raises to $4, others call or fold.

The Flop:

  • The dealer reveals the first three community cards: (8♠, K♠, 3♥)
  • This gives players more insight into how they can make a decision for their next move.

Betting Round:

  • Player E bets $6, others call or fold.

The Turn:

  • The turn card is 7♦, which seems like a safe card for Seabrook.

Betting Round:

  • Betting actions (check, bet/raise, etc.) begin.

The River:

  • The dealer places 2♣ on the board.

Final Betting Round:

  • Players place their final bets.

Showdown:

  • Both players reveal their hole cards. Let’s say Player E holds K♥ Q♠ and Player F holds 8♦ 8♣.
  • The best hand is established: Player F wins with three-of-a-kind, 8s.
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