One of the biggest pitfalls of being a professional online poker player is staying healthy. Live poker players have a hard enough time, but at least they have to walk through a casino to get to the table. Online players, on the other hand, only need a 400 square foot studio apartment to get by.
Schedule
Perhaps the best part about being a full-time online poker player is the freedom to be your own boss and keep your own hours. Feel like waking up at three in the afternoon and playing poker until sunrise the next morning? You can if you want. Despite the opportunity you have to make crazy hours, however, I don’t recommend it. Try to stick to a fairly regular schedule, including sleep. Keeping an irregular schedule can be very hard on both the body and mind.
You can run into the same situation with online poker. If you’re up until the wee hours of the morning one day, barely play the next day, and then play during daylight hours another day, your body will have trouble acclimating. Even if the times you like to play are when the rest of your neighborhood is asleep, try to stick to some sort of regular schedule. No matter what it is, your body and mind will appreciate it as long as it’s close to consistent, just like if you had a regular day job. This will probably be harder for multi-table tournament players, as those can last a long time, but you should still be able to figure it out.
Scheduling includes breaks, too. Give yourself time to get up and stretch, have a leisurely lunch, or just rest your eyes and brain for a few minutes.
Diet
Speaking of lunch, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of settling for quick, easy, unhealthy meals and snacks when you are strapped to a computer chair all day, especially in a job like poker when you are constantly “working.” Do whatever you can to try to eat at least somewhat healthy.
While there’s nothing wrong with nibbling on a bag of chips sometimes, try to substitute it with something nutritious whenever possible. Opt for the diet version of soda and, better yet, have real fruit juice or water.
Lunch is easy. Light deli meats like turkey, chicken, and ham are good in sandwiches – use fiber rich bread and go easy on the cheese and mayonnaise. For dinner, learn how to cook quick and healthy meals. Not only will they usually be better for you than take-out, but it’s also quite satisfying to cook for yourself.
Activity
You’re not going to find a much more sedentary job than being an online poker pro. You don’t even have to get out of bed to earn a living. Because of this, you will want to find time to partake in physical activity. It doesn’t have to be much. A stroll around the neighborhood after your day is done will get the blood flowing. A few push-ups and sit-ups every so often is a good idea. When I was in college, one way I kept my upper body in shape was to put a pull-up bar in the doorway to my bedroom. Every time I walked in or out of my room, I did a few pull-ups.
No matter what you do, try to get your body moving and get that heart pumping a little bit at least a few times per week. Jog, play basketball, use your Wii Fit, or whatever you’d like; just do some physical activity.