How to Become a Poker Pro in 2025

Do you want to make it big in poker? Do you have a dream of becoming a poker pro one day or at least a successful semi-professional?

This is the first question that I ask everyone who joins my free poker newsletter. And I have received thousands of replies from many of you guys telling me that yes, you do.

But here's the problem.

Poker is not easy these days. And yes, even at very low stakes like I talk about all the time on this blog. Many poker players are studying more these days, improving and some of them play pretty well!

However, here's the other crucial thing. You don't always have to be the best poker player in order to make a lot of money or be famous in this game.

In fact I would argue that many of the most successful poker pros in history (in terms of money taken out of the poker economy) are actually not the best poker players in terms of skill.

They are instead the smartest poker players. They get this game on a much deeper level than most other pros. They know how to keep their cool better under pressure and they also understand the importance of game selection much better.

This is exactly what I am going to show you how to do in this article.

How to Become a Poker Pro

First things first, what is the best way to become a poker pro and make a ton of money at the tables?

Well, like I said, the games are no walk in the park anymore even at the lower limits. You have to play a lot, study a lot and be really dedicated in order to have big success these days.

I would estimate that at least 95% of people who play this game will never make significant life changing money in poker. In fact, most of them won't even win at all.

This is just the cold hard reality of the game.

Even making $100 a day playing poker is by no means a walk in the park these days, as I discuss in my latest video.

However poker phenoms do appear out of nowhere every single year and take over the game for awhile and become the new big thing.

In fact many people tell me that I am "living the dream" even though I haven't exactly gotten super rich from playing poker yet.

So while the deck is stacked against you making 5 figures, 6 figures or 7 figures a year in poker, it does happen to some people. After all somebody has to win big right?

By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to learn my simple system for exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My Free Poker Cheat Sheet Teaches You How to Make $1000 a Month From Poker

Are you struggling to beat the low stakes poker games? Do you want a simple step by step guide to show you exactly how to start winning consistently right now?

That is why I recently wrote this free little 50 page no BS guide to teach you exactly how to start crushing these games right now.

You will learn how to start consistently making $1000 a month (or more) from poker like I have as a 10+ year poker pro.

Enter your details below and I will send my free poker cheat sheet to your email right now.

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Start Small if You Want to Be a Poker Pro

So what should you do if you goal is to become a poker pro and make a lot of money in this game one day?

Well, I always recommend that you start at small stakes and learn the fundamentals first. You have to learn how to beat bad poker players before you can expect to win against other good players and especially against pros.

You should focus on using a simple TAG (tight and aggressive) strategy at first for beating the lower stakes which involves being selective with the hands you play, using position and applying pressure in the right spots postflop.

This is the same strategy that Phil Ivey recommends in his new poker training course.

And he's made $45,000,000 playing poker. Enough said!

Now, here's what you should NOT do if your goal is to start crushing the micros and steadily move up to bigger games. Do not listen to anyone who tells you that you need to know "GTO."

This is literally like a cancer that is killing the results of so many low stakes players. I know because I get the painful emails from them every single day.

As I have been saying for so many years now, you should be playing an exploitative style of poker in low stakes games where you are looking to counter the massive glaring weaknesses that almost all of the regulars still have.

Exploitative poker is the only style of poker that I teach by the way in everything that I put out here on the blog, in my books and in my YouTube videos.

Now don't me wrong. Once you get to mid or high stakes then you should begin to look into game theory optimal approaches to poker and play around with some solvers as well.

But it is literally less than 5% of people who will ever get to these stakes and actually have the skills to beat these games.

The bottom line is keep it simple when you are first starting out. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Just learn a simple tight and aggressive strategy and play in good poker games.

If you do this, it is really not that difficult to beat the micros even in today's supposedly tough games. Then you can steadily start moving up the stakes and making the real money in this game.

The Big Edges Are All Mental These Days

But here's the other thing that nobody else is going to tell you these days. The strategy that you use at the poker tables actually isn't even what matters the most anymore.

And that is because the mental side of the game (tilt control, work ethic, discipline) is more important than anything else if you want to become a poker pro.

By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.

If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.

Enroll in Play Fearless Poker

Get $100 OFF Use Code: 100OFF

In fact, in my opinion, the actual poker strategy that you use isn't even the #2 most important thing anymore. That honour goes to game selection (making sure that there is always a fish at your table).

So why is the mental side of the game so important now?

With the tougher overall competition these days at all levels, this means that your edges are thinner than ever and this ultimately means more variance.

Therefore, it is only those who can handle the constant ups and downs and keep playing their A-game who are going to be successful in today's games.

Maybe 5 or 10 years ago you could get away with having a bit of a tilt problem. After all, there was always some donkey around the corner waiting to dust off a stack to you.

This isn't the case anymore in today's games. If you aren't actively working on the mental side of your game now, you will get left behind, guaranteed.

This is why you constantly see me talking about regular exercise, good nutrition, meditation and solid sleep these days.

A post shared by Nathan Williams (@nathan79williams) on Sep 1, 2018 at 11:08pm PDT

This is the #1 area where I am beating my competition in today's games because hardly any other pros are taking this seriously.

I am better rested than they are, less stressed, more focused, feeling more confident and ultimately less likely to tilt when adversity strikes. This gives me that crucial edge that I need to stay on top.

You also need to develop the work ethic and discipline to put in the long hard hours at the table and also away from them studying and improving your game.

Those who are not willing to put in the work are being weeded out more quickly than ever these days.

If you really want to be a poker pro, then you simply have to be willing to work harder than the next guy.

Being a Poker Pro is All About Game Selection

So as I have mentioned several times now throughout this article, game selection is massively important if you want to be a poker pro.

So many people still make the huge mistake of just sitting down in any poker game and expecting to win. But this just isn't how the game of poker works.

Your winnings in poker are the direct result of the people that you are playing against. If you consistently choose to play in any poker game, you are literally giving up your poker results to random chance.

So what you need to be doing instead is finding the games with bad players in them. If you play online then you want to be looking for someone with HUD stats of a 40% VPIP or higher.

But even if you aren't using a HUD these players are still very easy to spot. Because they will for example:

• Limp too much
• Play too many hands
• Not have a full stack
• Bet way too much
• Call way too much
• Showdown bad hands very often

And these are just a few of the highlights!

In short, I don't play poker unless one of these guys is at my table. Because I know that they are the entire reason that I there. They are how I get paid.

By the way, I use a lot of different poker software and poker tools in order to identify these players, as well as the tough regulars quickly and easily.

For the complete list of everything I use at the poker tables, click here.

Now sure, these are the kinds of players who will get lucky against you sometimes because they are playing so many ridiculous hands. And yes it can be frustrating.

But you have to understand that poker is a long term game and in the end they are always losing massively.

The bottom line is that if you want to be a poker pro then game selection is simply part of the job. Amateurs sit down to play at any table. Poker pros are much more discerning.

Final Thoughts

So you want to become a poker pro do you?

That's awesome, poker is still a massive industry with tons of money in it, and it isn't going away any time soon despite what some of the pessimists will tell you.

And I am living proof of what you can do with just a little bit of dedication.

After all, I will be the first to admit that I am nowhere near one of the best poker players in the world. However I have made a 10+ year career out of this game now while so many others have failed.

I made a lot of money at the poker tables by using a simple TAG strategy, having good game selection and putting in a lot of long hard hours.

I think the main point of this article is that you have to really want it though.

In my experience a lot of people say they want to be a "poker pro" but when the first big downswing hits or that new show comes out on Netflix all of the sudden they find excuses not to play.

As the old saying goes, being a poker pro is a hard way to make an easy living. If you want all that freedom and the ability to play a card game for a living, then you need to earn it and respect it.

Lastly, if you want to learn how to start consistently making $1000 per month in low stakes poker games, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.

Let me know in the comments below what you think it takes to become a poker pro.

How to Think Like a Poker Pro: 3 Rules For Success

Poker is the ultimate game of mental warfare. Because it doesn't matter how good you are, you will get humbled by this game sooner or later.

In fact, I don't care if your name is Daniel Negreanu or Phil Ivey, you will get humbled again and again and again by this game.

And this is the main reason why so many people are ultimately not successful at poker. It is unbelievably difficult at times to handle the adversity that this game will throw at you.

I personally have gone through several stretches in my 10+ year pro career where I literally thought I was the worst poker player in the world and I would never win again.

I thought to myself maybe the haters were right after all! Maybe I really was just a luckbox fish on a heater. The thoughts that can enter your head during times like this are crazy.

Because even though I have millions and millions of hands of evidence to the contrary (that I indeed am a large winning poker player), this game can absolutely strip away any sense of logical thinking from you.

The only way to survive in this game is to learn how to think like a poker pro.

By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to learn my simple system for exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

1. You Have to Learn to Let Go

I think the first key to learning how to think like a poker pro is to understand before you even begin that sometimes you are gonna be so far up sh*t's creek without a paddle, you won't even know what hit you.

There are simply going to be times in your poker career where you will lose for days, weeks or even months on end even while you are playing excellent poker.

I am not aware of any other game on earth that has this kind of warped outcome. It goes completely against everything we are taught in life.

We are taught from an early age to work hard, get good grades, be kind to others, keep your nose clean and so on and good things will come your way in life. And for the most part this is true.

This kind of causal relationship is not always the case in poker though.

Sometimes you can completely destroy the competition, be out-thinking and out-playing them on so many levels, but all it takes is one lucky river card and you are done.

And this is why the first step in learning how to think like a poker pro is to just let go. I know it sounds a little counter-intuitive but this is all you can do sometimes.

There is no point in trying to understand it. How can you make sense of something that is inherently non-sensical?

Yes, that fish just hit another miracle on the river against you and your aces got cracked for the 8th time in a row. Welcome to the wonderful game of poker.

You can get either let this eat you alive and go tilt away half your bankroll like most people do, or you can learn to approach it like the pros do, and just breath, smile and let go.

By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.

If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.

Enroll in Play Fearless Poker

Get $100 OFF Use Code: 100OFF

2. What Goes Around Always Comes Around in Poker

Now I don't really consider myself to be a Buddhist but I do live in a 95% Buddhist country. And I believe that many of the concepts and ideas from this spiritual practice and philosophy apply directly to poker.

And I am specifically referring to the idea of Karma. Or as we often say in English "what goes around comes around."

A post shared by Nathan Williams (@nathan79williams) on Dec 9, 2017 at 8:15pm PST

Despite how crazy this game can seem in the moment sometimes, you will get "paid back" eventually for those 8 losses in a row with your AA.

It might not happen today, next week or even by next month. But it will happen eventually because at the end of the day poker is just cold hard math, odds and statistics.

And what I have learned more than anything is that if you consistently play well, then good results will come your way in the end.

This is why it is so important to find one consistent winning strategy and never waver from it no matter what your results have been lately.

This is the mistake that most people make. They determine their strategy based on whether they have been winning or losing lately.

If they have been winning big they will typically play a bit tighter and even quit early to "protect" their winnings.

However, if they have been losing though, then they will often play looser and more aggressive, make more bluffs, and play as long as possible to try and get even.

Sound familiar?

However, constantly changing your strategy like this depending on your results is like deciding whether you are going to be happy or not based on the weather outside.

Because you are giving up power over the one thing you do control in this game, your attitude and how you play the game.

You have to understand that short term results in poker are always going to be completely outside of your control. Focus on the one thing you do control, consistently playing each hand to the best of your ability.

3. You Can Choose to Play Good Poker All the Time

And this is indeed what I mean when I talk about how to think like a poker pro. The mindset of a poker champ is one of choosing to play great poker all the time, not just when they are winning.

You see, when we are winning in poker, hitting all our draws, coolering everyone and so on, poker is an easy game. Anybody can look like a genius when they have AA and the other guy has KK.

The real key to success in this game is all about how well you are able to play when you are the one getting the short end of the stick again and again.

Most people suddenly start playing a LAG style (loose and aggressive) and make all kinds of crazy bluffs and bad calls in a vain attempt to win it back.

And don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a LAG style of play. In fact I often recommend it and it's actually really profitable when done right.

But if you are a TAG player and suddenly turn LAG just because you are losing, this is going to be a disaster. And that is the mistake most people make.

Real poker pros and top players instead see losing as an opportunity to separate themselves from everybody else. And that is by sticking with the same disciplined strategy no matter what their recent results have been.

Because the truth is that you absolutely can choose to play the same solid strategy all the time if you want to. The buck always stops with you in this game. You are the one in control.

You should actually see running bad as a blessing. It is an opportunity to show what you are really made of as a poker player.

I love running bad because I know 95%+ of my competition at the micros will not handle it as well as I do. They will become overly emotional and make mistakes.

But hey, nobody is perfect. I certainly am not. And running bad for an extended period of time will get to anyone.

So if you feel that you are just too tilted to play a strong disciplined game, then you have another option as well, quit for the day.

We are often told growing up that "quitters never win." Again, this is true in most cases in life, but once again, not in poker. Being able to quit at the right time is a hugely important skill that all top poker pros possess.

And this is because they know that real long term consistent success in this game is just about applying the same winning strategy again and again and again over the long term.

Consistency is the Key to Everything in Poker (And in Life)

It's the exact same thing if you want to have success in areas such as business, fitness or relationships. You get good results in all of these with consistent effort over time.

It's about showing up consistently whether you feel like it or not.

A post shared by Nathan Williams (@nathan79williams) on Dec 17, 2018 at 8:48pm PST

This blog that you are reading right now is a perfect example of this. Why will thousands of people end up reading this blog post when so many other blogs out there receive very little traffic at all?

It is because I have consistently published an article every single week for 5+ years now on this website and have built up a large, loyal audience.

Same thing with my poker YouTube channel which recently surpassed 10k subscribers (thank you by the way). It's just all about consistent effort applied over time.

And it is absolutely the same with poker. If you apply the same simple poker strategies that I talk about all the time consistently over a period of months and years at the micros, you will win.

If you are just in this game for the quick buck or to gamble it up, then you may as well just give up now. Poker is not a get rich quick scheme.

In order to have success in poker you need to be in this thing for the long haul (months, years, even decades). This is how poker pros think.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to think like a poker pro is one of the hardest things you can ever learn to do because it often means suspending all logic and just blindly trusting in the process for long periods of time.

And this is extremely difficult in the "give me results now" world that we live in. The idea of waiting for months or years to see real results in poker is just not something that most people can handle.

But unfortunately this is the way that the game actually works in reality.

Most poker pros who I know have been at this thing for years and years, and like me, they have put in way, way more hours at the poker tables than the average amateur player.

They are truly in this thing for the long run. They know that in order to see the results that they want, they need to keep consistently applying the same winning strategy day in and day out.

But once again, let's get real here. You wouldn't start a new business and expect to start seeing big profits by next week right?

No of course not, it will often take years before you start to see any sort of real progress. It literally took Amazon.com 14 years to start turning a significant profit.

So why should you expect any different in poker? Why do so many people pick up a poker book or study a few charts and expect to be crushing the games and going pro by next month?

What if Jeff Bezos decided after a month or two that this Amazon.com thing would never work out because they weren't seeing any results yet? Just imagine that!

Look, the short term will always be complete madness in poker. Don't let it destroy you like it does to so many others. Challenge yourself to rise above and be stronger than the game.

Learn to think like a poker pro.

By the way, if you want to know about my day to day life as a poker pro traveling the world, make sure to follow me on Instagram.


Let me know your thoughts on how poker pros think in the comments below. Do you think it is important to remain calm and consistent?

This One Little Word is the Key to My Poker Success

Have you ever made a call at the poker tables even when you absolutely knew for sure that you were beat? Perhaps you just had to see it?

Well, if so don't worry because we all have. They even have a name for it. They call it a "crying call." But what if I told you that there is actually no such thing as a crying call in poker, only bad calls?

It is true.

There is actually one little word in poker that will drastically change your results at the micros in particular if you start implementing it right now.

When I finally learned to incorporate this one little word into my poker game, especially against the tight players at the lower limits, my results skyrocketed.

It literally changed everything for me. It is the key to my poker success. And I know it will be for you as well. So what is this one little word already?

Fold.

By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to learn my simple system for exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

Most People Don't Actually Even Like to Bluff

Here's the funny thing about poker. Most people are highly suspicious that other people are constantly bluffing them. It's this crazy little egotistical game that many of us play in our heads.

This suspicion is magnified drastically in a game like poker because you often don't actually get to see their cards if you fold.

So in other words you are always left wondering and wondering. And this eats away at some people. It causes them to become paranoid that people are constantly out to bluff them.

But here's the other thing about poker. Most people don't actually like to bluff all that often. This is especially true at the lower limits.

It is really only a handful of recreational players (fish) who like to bluff. And usually when they do it, it is so transparent and bad that you can just easily snap it off.

But the vast majority of regular players at the lower limits in particular (online or live) actually aren't bluffing anywhere near as much as you might think.

And this is because bluffing is not something that most people naturally like to do. It is a bit like lying. It can cause you to become nervous, raise your heartbeat a bit.

Bluffing also causes confrontation which many people do not like. It is much easier to just sit around and wait for the nuts and play an "honest" game.

So this is what most people actually do at the lower stakes in particular. They might make a small bluff here and there, but by and large, when they are betting big amounts, it's because they have it.

By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.

If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.

Enroll in Play Fearless Poker

Get $100 OFF Use Code: 100OFF

Turn Raise is Usually the Nuts, River Raise is Always the Nuts

In my first poker book Crushing the Microstakes I firmly stated that the turn raise is usually the nuts and the river raise is always the nuts.

And this is because in my vast experience of playing millions and millions of hands at the micro stakes online, this statement is almost always true, especially against the legions of tight nitty regulars that you will encounter frequently these days.

These set-mining nits who are playing on 15 tables just aren't running a random bluff against you out of the blue. You aren't special, they aren't picking on you for something to do.

No, they don't even have time for that!

When they raise the turn it's because they can beat your one pair hand. And when they raise you on the river you can literally bet the farm that they have your one pair hand crushed.

I am talking about players who are multi-tabling and have HUD stats of like 18/15/2 in 6max or 12/10/2 in full ring.


Here is an example:

You raise A♥A♦ from early position and a tight regular calls you on the button.


Flop:

3♣5♥7♠

You CBet

He calls


Turn:

9♣

You CBet

He calls


River:

2♦

You CBet

He raises...


Now, you can go ahead and make the "crying call" here. This is what most people do after all. But let me tell you something else that most people do.

They lose at poker.

And why do most people lose at poker? Because they make bad calls like this.

If you make the call here (on this board and versus this player type) he is going to show you one of the following hands the vast overwhelming majority of the time:

• 33
• 55
• 77
• 99

Many people will try to convince themselves that maybe he has a bluff or another overpair like:

• TT
• JJ
• QQ
• KK

The problem with this line of thinking though is that most tight regulars at the micros will just call down with these hands when you triple barrel. And if he had QQ or KK he probably would have re-raised us before the flop anyways.

So what is he left with? Yup, you guessed it. Hands that beat our one pair. Specifically sets. And it really doesn't even matter which one he has because all of them beat AA.

Most people will call here anyways without even thinking. And that is why they get the results that they do in poker.

The select few who win big in poker however will think a bit deeper and find the fold button instead.

Why is It So Hard to Fold a Hand Like Pocket AA or KK?

So why is it so hard for most people to toss away a hand like pocket AA in a situation like this? Well, I think they get married to how pretty their hand looks.

They think that having a big over pair like this is basically a licence to print money. The problem is that it isn't though. Hands like Aces and Kings are just one pair. And they can and will lose sometimes.

Now let's look at just how disastrous it is for your poker winrate to make the crying call here against a nut peddling nit in a situation like this.

You will often need to call as much as 50 big blinds in order to see a showdown with your pocket aces in a spot like this.


Let's assume some very typical bet sizing amounts of 3bb preflop / 55% pot flop / 70% pot turn / 70% pot river:

• Preflop: you raise 3bb + 3bb call + blinds = pot 7bb
• Flop: you CBet 4bb + 4bb call = pot 15bb
• Turn: you CBet 10bb + 10bb call = pot 35bb
• River: you CBet 25bb and he raises to 75bb = 50bb to call.

50 big blinds is an absolutely huge amount to call here when you know that you are beat a very, very high percentage of the time.

Now let's just think about how the math works if you were able to make the correct laydown here even once every 1000 hands.

This would save you 5bb every 100 hands. So if you are currently a break-even type player with say a 1bb/100 winrate you would now be crushing the games with a 6bb/100 winrate instead.

Please just let that sink in a little bit longer.

Making the correct fold in a situation like this a little bit more often could quite literally be the difference between you being a break even poker player versus a big winner.


Now you might be wondering does this type of situation actually pop up once every 1000 hands on average? That is debatable. I am certainly being a little bit liberal here in my estimates.

However, I hope the gravity of these numbers strikes a chord with you.

If you can learn to just stop making these bad crying calls against a nit on the turn or river it can actually improve your overall poker results in a massive way.

By the way, I discuss this in much more detail in my new Elite Poker University training. 

Learn EXACTLY how to start crushing small and mid stakes poker games, play semi-pro or even full time pro. Use my proven elite poker strategies to start winning fast.

Enroll in BlackRain79 Elite Poker University

Get $100 OFF Use Code: Elite100

The Key to Poker Success

So what this really boils down to actually is a very simple question. And that is: Do you truly want to be a winning poker player or not?

Because I will tell you what finally gets you to start making these folds can be summed up in one word, discipline. This is the real key to poker success.

Most people straight up just do not have it. After all, it's the micros right? It's only $5 to call. Who cares right?! They just have to see it!

But once again, if you are playing NL10 for example then $5 is actually 50 big blinds. That's no joke!

And like I just said, being able to make this fold more often can actually be a key difference between you having mediocre results in this game or being a large winner.

Look guys, it's really not rocket science. It's just discipline. It's wanting it more than the next guy does at the end of the day.

Amateurs make the call, pros fold. Why is this?

Because the pros have seen it enough times already. They are ready to learn from their mistakes. They take this game seriously. They truly want to win.

They don't need to keep getting their ego involved every time like amateurs do. Because that's all it is. It's an ego call. It's an "I need to see his set one more time" to satisfy my ego call.

Go See The Cold Hard Stats For Yourself

But as I always say, you don't even need to believe me or take my word for it. Just go log into your PokerTracker database right now and go see the results for yourself.

Just click on the View Stats tab, click on More Filters, then Actions and Opportunities. Now filter for all the hands where you got raised on the turn or the river and you chose to continue in the hand.



See all the glorious losses for yourself that came from your crying calls in situations like this! Let all that red ink fully sink in.

Because that right there is a big part of the difference between you finally getting the results that you want at the poker tables or continuing on with your "somewhere around break-even" ways.

It's having the discipline to finally start making the right folds when you need to make them. Now look, nobody is perfect, everybody still screws up and makes a bad call from time to time.

It is important not to beat yourself up about it when it happens.

But the biggest winners (the professionals) are able to make these folds most of the time. The amateurs get their ego involved and they just "have to see it."

And that is why they get the results that they get in this game. It's a simple matter of discipline. And it's always your choice every single day at the poker tables.

Final Thoughts

So what is the one little word that will completely change your poker results? Fold.

This is truly the key to my poker success. This is how I made a career out of this game at the micros as a 10+ year poker pro and now a multiple time poker author as well.

It's not easy to do. Everybody wants to see it. They want to know for sure that the guy has it again. But the problem is that you often have to pay a big price to see it.

And when we are talking about turn or river raises here, we are talking about a heavy price of 20bb, 30bb or even 50bb sometimes.

In today's micro stakes games where the edges are often very thin this is quite literally the difference between a winning and a losing poker player.

Begin with the tight nitty multi-tabling regulars at the micro stakes online. When they raise you on the turn or river, just start folding.

Bite your tongue and just do it. Remember that you pocket aces or your pocket kings are just one pair. And they aren't good anymore.

Do you really have to see it yet again? You already know what hand he is going to show you. Have the discipline to let it go just this one time and you will start seeing how easy it actually is.

I actually just laugh and fold these days. This nit has literally been waiting an hour to hit his set against me while I have been stealing so many other pots against him.

Now he finally hits his set against my pocket AA or KK and I don't even pay him off! Can you imagine how much that must piss him off?

It really becomes easier and easier once you get used to doing it. You don't need to see it. You don't need proof that the sky is gonna be blue again today either.

The bottom line is that when a nit raises you on the turn or the river he has your one pair hand beat. Just laugh and fold. And thank me later.

---

Lastly, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet to learn all my best strategies to crush the micros.

And let me know in the comments below if you are able to make the difficult folds at the poker table. Or is this something you struggle with?

How to Make $20 a Day Playing Poker (Simple Strategy!)

People ask me all the time how they can make $20 a day playing poker or some other amount like $50 or $100 a day. Now, unfortunately poker doesn't really work this way.

Poker is not like a regular job where you can expect to make a certain amount each day because there is variance built into the game which means constant ups and downs no matter how good you are.

So if we move the discussion instead to making "$20 a day from poker on average" then ok, now there is something to talk about.

If you want to make $20 a day playing poker on average, then there are some surefire ways to go about that. Such as, playing a tight and aggressive style in low stakes cash games like NL2 or NL5 while playing multiple tables at a time. You could also play low stakes tournaments and average $20 a day from poker.

Don't worry though because I am going to break it all down for you in this article step by step. Here is how to make $20 a day from poker.

By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to learn my simple system for exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

Why Would You Want to Make $20 a Day Playing Poker?

First off though, what's there actually to gain from making $20 a day from poker? This is a trivial amount of money after all for many people reading this article from rich Western countries.

However, you need to remember that $20 a day from poker (which equates to $600 per month) is actually a middle class to upper class income in most countries in this world.

For example, in Thailand where I live the minimum wage is about $10 a day. So this means that if you were able to make $20 a day from poker, you would be living a middle class lifestyle in this country.

And this is actually the case for most countries in this world. It is really only a handful of countries in North America and Western Europe where you need thousands and thousands of dollars per month just to live.

This is why you see tons of "professionals" playing online poker even at very, very low stakes who come from countries in Eastern Europe or South America for example.

Also the other thing is that we all have to start somewhere in poker. A lot of people make the mistake of playing at stakes that are too high for their current skill level.

But the methods that I am going to teach you to make $20 a day playing poker in this article only require that you learn how to beat very weak and unskilled competition in low stakes games.

Once you learn to beat these games you can use this solid foundation of knowledge to move on to the higher stakes games where you can make considerably more than $20 a day from poker.

By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.

Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.

My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.

If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.

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Make $20 a Day From Poker Playing Low Stakes Cash Games

For many years I made $20 or more a day from poker (on average) by simply grinding the lowest stakes cash games online. 

I am talking about stakes like NL2 and NL5 in particular where the blinds are 1c/2c and 2c/5c respectively.

I actually talk about it specifically in a new video where I show you how I make $20 a day in those small stakes poker games.

Now it might seem a bit odd to you how I can make this amount in such low stakes games where the maximum buyin is only $2 and $5.

The secret though is multi-tabling. When you learn how to play 4 tables at once, 10, 20 or even more, very small earnings on each table can add up in a big, big way over time.

For example, say you are playing a 2c/5c game online and you are able to earn 40 big blinds per table on average at the end of a 2 or 3 hour session. Also, let's assume that you were playing 10 tables.

Therefore, you made $2 per table (5c x 40 = $2). And since you were playing 10 tables your total earnings would be $20.

These numbers are not difficult for someone who is a decent to good player in these games and table selects as well.

Furthermore, even if your poker winrate is lower than this you could either play more tables or simply play a longer session in order to hit your target of making $20 a day from poker.

Now you might be asking yourself how on earth are you going to be able to play this many poker tables at the same time though especially if you are currently used to only playing one or two.

Well, I don't have time to discuss all the ins and outs of how to play more poker tables in this article. But believe me, it is much easier that it sounds.

Also, I have already written a huge step by step guide for how to play more poker tables anyways which will show you exactly how to do it.

Bottom line, multi-tabling online poker is a skill that most people can learn how to do, no matter how daunting it might seem at first.

And this is how you multiply your earnings considerably with online poker and make significant amounts even from very low stakes.

Lastly, in order to get high quality reads on all your opponents while you are multi-tabling, I highly recommend using a good free poker HUD.

Learn a Poker System to Make $20 a Day

And one of the main reasons why is because you will be using a poker "system" when you play. This means that most of your actions are completely automatic.

In other words, the poker system that I personally built and have used over the years ensures that I already know what to do in 99% of poker situations at the micros.

So therefore, all I am really doing is just clicking buttons. I can play 20+ tables at the lower limits while watching a movie.

My poker system involves using a very simple TAG (tight and aggressive) style of play which is heavily based around using position to your advantage, exploiting the weaker players, and constantly isolating and value betting against the recreational poker players.

So I am not playing "bad hands." I am not bluffing very often. I am always aware of my position at the table and where the fish is. If there is no fish at the table, then I leave. No ifs, ands or buts.

These are a few of the basics. But once again, I don't have the time to thoroughly explain the entire system in a short little blog post like this.

This is why I actually wrote an entire short little free book explaining my entire poker system in detail. It is only about 50 pages which means you can easily read it in an afternoon.



You can download it for free right here.

If you truly study and follow the strategies laid out in this free step by step guide (and give it some time, remember poker is a long term game), then you will without question be crushing the lower limits.

Make $20 a Day From Poker Playing Low Stakes Tournaments

Now you might be asking yourself what about poker tournaments? What if you prefer tournies instead of cash games?

Well yes, you definitely can make $20 a day (on average) from playing poker tournaments as well. The only difference is that the path to get there won't be anywhere near as direct as with cash games.

What I mean by this is that most poker tournament players actually end up losing small amounts on most days. It doesn't matter how good you are. This is just how poker tournaments work.

The variance is absolutely enormous in these things.

And this is because you have to beat enormous fields in order to make any kind of significant money and this means that you need to get lucky or "run good" for extended periods of time in the short term.

The payoff with poker tournaments though is when you finally hit that big score, a top 3 finish. This is when it all comes back to you and more. This is what good tournament poker players live for, the final table.

So if you want to make $20 a day from poker tournaments I would suggest playing at as many low stakes buyins as possible. The 50c, $1 and $2 buyin games are the best.

Low stakes rebuy tournaments can also be highly profitable because maniacs will artificially jam up the prize pool for you. You can also try your luck in a few low stakes satellites to much bigger tournaments where you can have a shot at some truly significant money.

I have personally won several low stakes tournaments before where the buyin was only $2 or $3 and I won over $1000 for first place.

In fact even though I am a cash game player I often just sit outside and play low stakes tournaments on the weekends to relax.

A post shared by Nathan Williams (@nathan79williams) on Oct 31, 2016 at 2:46am PDT

The best online poker tournies are almost always on the weekends, Sunday in particular.

So if you were to win just one of these tournaments per month you would already be well above your target of making $20 a day playing poker.

You can also play a few poker tournaments with a $5-$10 buyin if you want where the payouts are even higher. However, be aware that the players will be better and therefore your variance will be even higher.

What poker strategy should you use you might be asking?

Well, you can largely just use the same poker system by the way outlined in my free guide above. I should mention that I also use a lot of different poker tools and software to help me in both cash games and tournaments.

For the complete list of all the poker software and tools I use, click here.

Now, the only real difference with tournaments though is you will need to learn some push/fold strategy when you get short stacked in the later stages of tournaments.

But this is pretty easy though.

If your stack falls below 10 big blinds in a poker tournament you should almost always be shoving or folding preflop. Even with 20bb or 30bb you should be very picky about what hands you play and try to steal the blinds as much as possible.

By the way, if you want a complete guide on micro stakes poker tournament strategy you don't need to worry because I have already written that as well!

You can find it right here.

Final Thoughts

So can you make $20 a day playing poker on average? Yes, with a high volume approach in low stakes cash games or tournaments you can certainly do this.

You will want to utilize a solid tight and aggressive strategy in either format to make sure you are exploiting the weaker regulars and maximizing your value versus the recreational players.

By the way, I discuss this in much more detail in my new Elite Poker University training. 

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You can of course just play higher stakes games and make $20 a day from poker much more easily. However, you need to know that these games often have considerably better players in them that might be ahead of your current skill level.

This is why I always suggest starting at the lower limits no matter what in poker. If you quickly steamroll the lower stakes, awesome, then go ahead and move on up.

But always prove this to yourself first. Many, many people have made the mistake of letting their ego get in the way of their poker success.

Once again, if you want to know my basic poker system and how I created some of the highest winnings in online poker history at the micros, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker guide.

And if you want to know about my day to day life as a poker pro traveling the world, make sure to follow me on Instagram.


Let me know in the comments below if you make $20 a day playing poker. Do you think it is easy or hard?