Playing poker professionally – Part 1: Are you ready to turn pro?

Six months ago, Melle Bijstra was a sales manager from the Netherlands who played poker on the side. The 27-year-old started to play online during COVID-19 when he didn’t have much else to do and soon found himself in love with the game, learning from streamers.

It was there he found Jordan “BBZ” Drummond. “Things really sped up,” Bijstra told us in January. “I think Jordan does a terrific job of explaining things simply, and that’s exactly what I needed at the time. He presents maths and solver data in a way that’s easy to understand.”

A lot has changed in Bijstra’s life since then.

In 2024 he’s enjoyed the best year of his career so far and he recently left a job he loved behind to focus on playing poker professionally.

We had a lot of questions.

In the first of a two-parter series, we find out when Bijstra knew it was time to go pro, how it felt to leave his job, and what his poker week looks like.

Read on and stay tuned for part 2 of the interview where we find out how poker has changed now that it’s his sole source of income, and how he plans to accomplish his pro goals.

BBZ Blog: Hey Melle. The last time we spoke it was about a big downswing that you managed to overcome with some big scores. Now you’ve turned pro. How did you know you were ready?

Melle Bijstra: I’m not really sure I’m ready! I mean, I’m ready in that I’ve made the decision and I want to try, but I don’t know if this was the exact right perfect moment. I believe in what feels right most of the time, rather than waiting for the perfect time. Most of the time it’s easy to connect the dots looking backwards, but it’s very hard to do looking forward. So it’s a matter of just taking a jump, you know, and being able to live in that uncertainty.

Did you set certain targets that needed to be met?

I know I’ve done everything I can do… that I can control. And that’s what I try to do. There are a couple of boxes I wanted to tick before making the jump. The first was to understand what I was giving up – something I talked to Jordan about.

I had high opportunity costs, meaning that while my job wasn’t perfect, it was close to my ideal job because I got to do a lot of coaching. I got to help people kickstart their careers in sales. I was a sales manager, and one of the things I liked to do was coaching. I was also making good money, especially for age 27. So those two things combined meant that I had to make sure I wasn’t leaving too soon.

I also had to save up expenses for a year – for me, around $30,000. For me, savings and expenses were number one. Making sure I could live with the uncertainty of not knowing what I’m going to earn. Discussing it with my partner, making sure she’s on board so I’m not being reckless.

The next box was figuring out finances on the income side. I need to make around $30K a year, that’s my goal. So I reverse-engineered that and figured out how to get there based on my ROI. It was similar to working in sales. I realised what my average buy-in needed to be, and how many tables I had to play at once.

How did it feel to leave your job? Scary? Liberating?

This was a big one. In all honesty, I think for most people it will be liberating. It’s weird because it’s something I’ve worked towards my whole life since I was 18. Quitting your job is what me and my buddies would always aim for. At the same time, it was very hard because I quit on a high, and when I tell that to people, they go, well, that’s amazing, right? Yeah, but it’s also shit because… it’s easier to quit if you don’t like your job.

But poker offers things like being your own boss and spending my time as I want. I was excited to start the new adventure.

I hope to figure out a way to have a stable income coming in on the side. Jordan told me a lot of poker players have part-time income — something stable as no matter how good you are, you’re not better than variance.

How does your work week look now that you have more time to focus on poker?

I’m still working it out as I go. It has to be something my girlfriend agrees on. I also want to be the best version of myself when I play so that means sleeping well, eating well and working out.

SUNDAY

At the moment I play on Sundays, 10 to 12 hours until late.

MONDAY

On Monday I sleep in, work out, and study. That’s both mental game study, GTO Wizard practice and watching BBZ Poker Seminars. Those are the components of my study and I spread those equally. I also try to meditate and warm up before a session. I then play a session in the evening.

TUESDAY

Tuesday is similar to Monday. I’ll make sure I’m focused on something in particular – that might be pre-flop spots or post-flop spots or ICM. Then I play an evening session but I stop registering earlier than Mondays, as I play during the day on Wednesday.

WEDNESDAY

I play during the day so I can cook and spend time with my girlfriend in the evening.

THURSDAY

Same as Wednesday. When I play during the day I don’t work out beforehand but I do still warm up and study. I plan to work out five times a week so I fit that in whenever I can.

FRIDAY

Fridays are flexible. I can take time off, spend time with my girlfriend and friends. Or I can play and study.

SATURDAY

Saturday is the same as Friday. I talked to Jordan about it – it feels like a good day to play, but it’s also about life balance, life EV, whatever you want to call it.

I not only want to make my poker good, I want to make my life good.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in this ‘Playing poker professionally’ series.

You can follow Bijstra’s pro journey on his Instagram.