So, we have all often wished to have the luxury of being able to travel the world as freely as we want, as well as being able to work on the go too, so essentially your location and where you end up is never really a problem. Poker travel as a full-time job means that as a player, you will be able to see the world and experience amazing destinations, all in the name of poker as your full-time commitment and career. Some of the best players in the world in the world have world travellers on the back of their resumes and hey, it is true, you can experience the best of both worlds here! Being able to do this as your career, but to do it right, so it is all worth your time is important.

So, we thought to mention a couple of facts that you should keep an eye out for, to make sure that as you make the transition from poker player to poker traveller, it will be a smooth transition for you indeed.

Our top tips…

Travelling For Free
Did you know that, the agencies that you sign up to be a poker player for, should and usually pay for your travel fees to and from certain tournaments, casinos and gigs. European poker agencies have free travel and accommodation for their players that attend any European events for the poker season.

This works from the agency side, as they negotiate and make deals with the casinos on your behalf, to ensure that you are taken care of for your visit over there. Of course, some agencies are more generous than others and that is something you may discover if you play for multiple different ones within your career. Usually the better you play, the more you have a right over to in terms of the freebies. One thing you should keep in mind is that, most agencies big or small, will require you to spend a certain number of hours playing at the poker table, before you can officially ‘clock out’ from working hours and have access to all the free inclusive aspects of your contract. On average the hours of play are usually 4 hours per day or up to 14 hours for the entire weekend, if it’s an end of the week kind of gig!

We suppose you may be wondering as to how your hours are kept track of as you play? Well, this is usually via a device that you need to wear as a bracelet. This ensures that for every poker table you join, it automatically registers you and keeps track of the time spent there playing.

Opt To Play Remotely
Online poker tournaments have made it possible for players to actually play and participate purely online from their laptops or PC’s. Again, this is very flexible and will essentially allow you to choose where you want to play, anywhere across the globe. The only issue about when you play online is, you will need to make sure your online connection is pretty top notch, one that is seamless and will never interrupt your motion of play. Another thing to keep in mind is, the tournaments that occur across the world will all have different time zones. This means that you will need to make sure that you stay awake at different hours that are not local to your time zone. After a while that can get kind of difficult and perhaps mess your natural cycle of the day.

Due to the challenges that are faced here in terms of the odd hours played and crazy shifts that you will need to participate in, having time to recuperate in your own off season, will certainly help you and keep you motivated to the career of poker.

Having A Separate Hustle
This is very important, as we all know how uncertain poker wins actually are. At certain times you will find that you have enough to personally finance an entire year of poker travel and accommodation, with the winnings you make, the next it can all be gone within a click of your fingers. By making sure you have a hustle on the side that can finance you when the times are rough or for the ‘rainy days’ as it is often called, you will never find yourself struggling to attend the next poker event across the country and seas. Sure, travelling for poker is fun, but it is also expensive. By making sure you can finance your endeavours, you will be making sure that you are always covered. This will always be particularly useful, before you manage to actually make the cut of an experienced poker player who can get sponsored by agencies for flights and accommodation.

Travelling Tips
Whenever you are out and about, always make sure you have a backup of items to allow you to play to the best of your abilities. If you happen to be playing remotely, you will need to make sure you can always attend as and when you are requested to poker tournaments. By having an extra battery pack, mobile data (in case the Wi-Fi connection is unstable), a VPN and another laptop-if possible, you will be setting yourself up to fight all possible disturbances to your livelihood!

Always make sure to check the weather of your local destination that you will gamble in. For example, the Pokerstars tournaments at the Atlantis Casino Resort have always had disturbances due to hurricane seasons and weather conditions, which can again affect your travel to and from poker destinations, or even your connection to the live events that are streaming. Keep it in mind.

Setting Up Your Own Accommodation
When setting up your own accommodation, make sure to be aware of the best value for money and convenient providers. Airbnb is a highly popular provider for poker travellers everywhere. Why? Because Airbnb is pretty much international, meaning wherever you decide to stay, you will always be able to set yourself up for a couple of nights, with the basic necessities such as Wi-Fi, etc. included in your stay. It will definitely make things far less complicated for you, rather than having to set up things separately for yourself. In addition to this, when you happen to be travelling solo, things can be quite safe at times if you are deciding to stay at some random motel in the middle of no-where. Airbnb has regulations and rules that will always protect you, should you ever need it.