Sweet! I just won a Multi Table Tourney at Full Tilt thus proving to the world that I'm ready to chuck my nine to five and become a pro. Scores at tourneys do boost the confidence and bankroll levels, but they can also fill a medium stakes players' head with false visions of an "easy" living as a poker pro.

Sure waving those $10,000 bricks in the air after a world poker tour or World Series of Poker win does seem tiring, but what if it took you ten years to get to that point? Do you have the drive to eat mac and cheese or Burger King dollar menu items every day while busting short of the money in your seventh straight tourney?

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson has been a successful poker pro for several years, including taking down the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2000. As one of the popular "Tips from the Pros" from Full Tilt, Ferguson discusses the toils that average poker pro goes through to make their living via long nights at the cash games and 16 hour tournament days.

Here's the article from Full Tilt.com where Ferguson's simple advice to players wanting to go pro is... "don't do it, without giving it thought":

"Should I quit my job and play professionally?"

"Should I drop out of school and just play poker full time?"

I get these questions all the time and I always give the same answer: "Unequivocally, absolutely not. No way."

Clear enough?

If you want to explore being a professional poker player, you have to start out doing it part time. Spend your off hours thinking about poker and studying the game. Read and play and learn.

Before you even think about quitting your job to play full time, you should be making more money at poker than you are in your current employment. Don't think that one big tournament win provides all the evidence you need that you're ready to play professionally. You should be showing consistent profit over a period of at least six- months. Only at that point should you even entertain the idea of becoming a full-time pro.

Even then, you should be wary about taking such a step. Poker is a great pastime, and playing it casually is a lot of fun when you love the game. But when you become a pro, you have to play poker five or six days a week. In time, playing cards will start to feel a lot like a job. I happen to love every occasion I get to play, but for many people, it can become a grind... (continued to Full Tilt's site)