The Life of a Poker Player's Wife

My husband is a professional poker player.  I get many different reactions when I tell people what he does for a living.  Some people scoff and say rude things like, "Does he actually make money doing that?"  Some people's eyes immediately light up and tell me how cool it must be. 

I have mixed feelings about being a poker professional's wife.  First of all, I would never recommend this profession to any old Joe on the street with a middle-class or lower income.  My husband was blessed to have inherited quite a sum of money from a relative and was able to have a bankroll on hand to get him started in this endeavor. 

 Secondly, being a professional poker player is an actual job.  Some people may have the wrong idea and imagine we are flitting in and out of casinos wearing our finest evening wear, throwing money around, and living the high life.  This profession and way of life is definitely far from that.  We wear jeans, stay up until unGodly hours of the night, and are always eating room service in a different hotel.  Taking our own home for granted doesn't even enter our thoughts these days!

As a professional, he never plays any other casino games other than his professional choice: Texas Hold 'Em.  He does NOT have a gambling problem and never wastes money on games where the house has the advantage; i.e. blackjack, slots, etc.  He only spends the percentage of his bankroll that he can afford to sacrifice if he loses and always has enough left to live on.  Also, my husband has already had a long career as a CEO in a large Fortune 500 company, received his Bachelor's degree in mathematics, and a master's degree in finance.  He has been around the block or two and has some experience under his belt.  This gives him a great advantage over the young bucks who are spending every penny to enter each and every tournament they come across.  Also, my husband has had time to save and invest money over his lifetime and has the luxury to lose a little bit of it.

Traveling is also a big part of this job.  As a poker player's wife, I am accustomed to being alone much of the time; whether I go with him on his travels or not.  If he leaves me at home to go play tournaments, I am looking at a minimum of 4 days apart if he is going to Atlantic City and at least a week if he is headed to Vegas or some other casino-friendly state.  If I do travel with him, the majority of his time is spent working while the majority of my time is spent waiting for him to get out of a tournament.  Tournaments can easily last 13 hours at a stretch, and I end up becoming his little assistant by bringing him coffee and sandwiches to get him through.

Also, the financial aspect of being a poker player's wife can be very nerve wracking.  If you are the kind of partner who needs to have complete and total financial stability and know where and when the next paycheck is coming from, this way of life is not for you.  In the poker world, it is about 60% skill and 40% luck (depending on the player's level of skill).  Therefore, that leaves you with good days and bad days.  Sometimes my hubby makes $10,000 in one tournament and we can breathe a sigh of relief for the next couple of months.  Sometimes, the money trickles in at $100, $80, or $1,000 at a time.  Those are the times when we have to tighten our belts a little and just watch where and what we spend.

It really helps that I have a job working from home and can travel with him.  If we are in Vegas, for example, I can still work my regular schedule from our hotel room or rented condo on the wireless internet most resorts have available these days.  So, with my income, we ALWAYS having a realible source of funds to pay our bills if we absolutely need it.  For the most part, though, my husband makes enough money to support us very comfortably at a very unconventional profession.

Being a poker player is harder than many jobs.  The hours are bad.  You are usually working late into the night.  There are ups and downs in the game that would make many people pee their pants to watch all of the money and chips that change hands.  There are people that you have to play with (work with) who are people that really get on your nerves.  In order to work in this profession, you have to make an investment of your own money, which most people would find very unpleasant.

Overall, I am VERY proud of my husband.  He uses his mathematics and financial background as well as his tenacity and hard-working ethic to excell in a field where many would not.  As his partner and #1 fan, I support his choice of profession and can't wait to see what the future holds!

Being a poker player's wife isn't easy, but it sure is fulfilling to support someone you love achieving their dream!  He tells me I'm his good luck charm.

Like they say in Vegas, baby: Luck be a lady!!