上周，我在去学校的路上碰到了一个家伙，我们一起聊天。原来，他辞去工作，从一个成功的会计师转业为一名职业扑克选手，是拉斯维加斯赌场常客。我必须承认，我最初的反应是纯粹的嫉妒。毕竟，我一直怀着一个秘密的想法，抛开我现在的生活，在拉斯维加斯寻找舒适的生活。但因为一些众人世俗的想法，使我不敢轻易执行我的想法。

　　但经过长时间的与他聊天，我才意识到，做这么大的决定是需要花费很多心思的。他很快打消了我所有的想法。他的日子是在拉斯维加斯的顶级酒店的豪华套房里以及周围优雅的赌场度过的他。在拉斯维加斯赌场上，他玩的是高赌注的扑克游戏。他说，事实上，他是住在镇郊外，与另一个崇拜者分享一个房间，一个大厅和一个浴室。诚然，他获得的经验还不能给它带来一定赌博优势，他需要慢慢建立一个资金，但这不是他所设想的。后来，他对我来说，坚持玩在线扑克网站，他也可以得到相同的经验，并能保持他白天的工作，而无需移动到拉斯维加斯赌场。

　　我问他成为一名职业扑克选手秘诀什么，他是这样建议的：选择一个24小时开放的在线扑克网站，白天工作，晚上玩在线扑克。这种方式，即使你打不好或连输，你仍然有你的薪水可以填补资金空缺。必须面对现实。如果你有一个家庭需要支撑，不要放弃你的工作。问问自己，这是否仅仅是一个过渡阶段。扑克是否真正是你的血液，它是否是你后半生真正想要的东西，或者它只是一个爱好。仔细思考这个问题：你辞掉工作后是否真的能够成为职业扑克选手？

　　译文：

　　So You Want to Become a Professional Poker Player?

　　Last week, I bumped into a guy who went to school with me and we got to chatting. Turns out he quit his job as a successful accountant to become a professional poker player in Vegas.  I must admit, my initial reaction was pure jealousy. After all, haven’t I always harbored a secret desire to throw in the towel, turn my back on the comfortable but mundane existence of my life and head for Vegas to make a killing at the poker tables on a permanent basis?

　　But after a long chat with him, I realized that making such a drastic decision required a lot of thought.  He quickly dispelled all my fantasies that his days were spent sleeping in luxurious suites in the top Vegas hotels, and his nights were spent around classy casinos, scotch in hand, playing high stakes poker games with a blonde draped on his arm like a good luck charm.  In fact, he said, he was living on the outskirts of town, sharing a room with another wannabe-pro, and a bathroom down the hall. True, he was making enough at the poker tables to keep a roof over his head, and he was getting the experience he needed to slowly build up a bankroll, but it wasn’t quite what he had envisioned.  In fact, he admitted to me, he might have gotten the same experience by sticking to online poker sites and keeping his daytime job, without having to move to Vegas.

　　I asked him what tips he had to offer my readers about becoming a professional poker player, as a man of experience, and this is what he had to say:

　　Keep your job and play online poker at night.  Or play in the day and get a night job.  The 24/7 hours of online poker sites allow you to be flexible.   Also, in this way, if you hit a bad streak, you still have your salary to fall back on.

　　Be realistic.  If you have a family to pay for, the chances are that you’ll never make enough to support them on your poker earnings alone.  Don’t quit your job to follow your dream just yet.

　　Ask yourself if this is just a passing phase or if poker is truly in your blood and something you’ll be wanting to do for the rest of your life.  If it’s just a hobby, such as golf is, think carefully.  How many do you know who quit their jobs to become professional golfers?