Hard-working graduate of the card school

'Patience, discipline, observation and a willingness to put in the hours' - applying these skills to poker helped Steven Carroll pay his way through his student years

FOR MANY OF us, the day we leave home to start college is the same day we finally begin to realise the value of money. The cupboards don't stock themselves any more, the bills roll in and we wonder where cash for the next night out is going to come from.

These factors force many students to take on part-time jobs, others to live thriftily and some to phone home for donations. Fortunately, when I was in my second year at university I met somebody who played poker professionally and realised it was an enjoyable way that I too could make a living.

Having never been interested in gambling, or cards for that matter, the idea of playing a game professionally fascinated me. Then, when I heard about how lucrative poker could be, I decided it was something worth pursuing.

The form of poker I learned, which most people now play, was no-limit Texas Hold 'Em. It is an easy game to get to grips with, but due to the depth of thought that is often involved, it is a very difficult thing to master.

Many people find it hard to believe, but poker does not have to be about bluffing, reading minds or taking huge risks. Patience, discipline, observation and a willingness to put in the hours are the main skills required.

Having grasped these basics and practised in games among friends, I decided to try my luck in a free poker tournament in a Dublin city-centre casino. The initial venture was not a success, but a second trip bore fruit and winning the tournament provided me with a ticket worth €250 for a monthly event.

I continued to think and read about the game and was fortunate to make good progress in the event, winning €600, which seemed like an astronomical sum at the time.

After that I invested half the winnings in an online poker account and began playing very modest stakes at a time when the online gambling boom was at its height.

The summer break from college meant time to play cards and my bankroll increased slowly but surely to a level where I was playing online games with a $100 (€64) buy-in, which meant I could earn enough money from a small amount of work each week to support myself.

That same year a casino opened not far from my home in Wexford and the initial novelty of the venue ensured that there was plenty of money being bandied about by poor players, which was there for the taking. However, poker is not without its pressures and in order to make a living from the game it is important to treat it as a business, which is what differentiates most long-term winners from the average player. It is vital to analyse which elements of your game are making or costing you money and which opponents are donating to or taking from your bankroll.

Programmes are available which enable you to record every hand you play online, so you can see your strengths and weaknesses clearly. Poker can be mentally strenuous and players must detach themselves from their money and remember that they will lose from time to time, as it is a game of averages. There are few other occupations where you can put in an honest day's work and come out of it hundreds, or even thousands, of euro down.

Maintaining my focus on college was obviously important and both winning and losing could make this difficult, but as time goes by players learn, as with any job, to leave work behind when not in the office.

While the game has many perks, such as being able to work from wherever you want whenever you want and not having to pay tax, poker is not a glamorous way to make a living. For online players it can be a grind, stressful and solitary, while players making a living in casinos they must get used to games that run from around 9pm to 6am.

Having the chance to play a game I found fascinating was a luxury and although I never wanted to do it professionally after my college years, it's easy to see why so many people have decided that playing poker is the job for them.