One of the big concerns I have with playing poker for a living is the potential for repetitive stress injuries. This is a big concern in many professions - whether you're a pianist, drummer, secretary, assembly line worker, masseuse, porn star, etc.  Poker is no different.  I'm basically sitting in my chair for 50 hours a week - usually playing, but sometimes watching videos, reviewing hands, etc.  I play 120K hands a month - each hand probably requires on average 2 clicks of my mouse or gamepad.  That's THREE MILLION clicks a year.

There are two possible types of injuries.  Body injuries from actually sitting at a desk most of the day, and hand injuries from all the key clicks.  Any time you feel any type of prolonged discomfort, you should look into alleviating that discomfort as soon as you can.  Don't let it go on for months.  Here is part I of my basic ergonomic tips:

* Make sure you have a comfortable chair.  I have a busto $200 padded chair, but it's comfortable.  It's great if you can find a cheap chair you can sit in for 4-12 hours a day, but since you'll be sitting there for long stretches of time, money should be no object (well, maybe a little).  It seems like every other month, someone posts in the threads "should I spend $1500 for this chair?"  If you find it comfortable and it's adjustable, the answer is "YES!" It's like sleeping on a crappy mattress.  Sure you can get by, but when you are talking about spending 1/3 of your life on something, it makes no sense to be uber-cheap.

* Sit in your chair comfortably.  I probably have bad sitting form in my chair, but I have no body pain whatsoever.  Well, there was that one time I leaned and I sat on one ass cheek too long, but those thing happen.  If you have any sort of prolonged discomfort, look into improving your sitting position.

* Make sure you have a ergonomically friendly desk set-up.  You desk shouldn't be too high.  Ideally, your arm should feel relaxed when holding your mouse.  There are people who have their wrists contorted when they use their keyboard and mouse, and that makes no sense.

* Make sure your monitor is the appropriate distance and height.  IMO, the monitor should be eye level or below.  Having a monitor that is too high up will cause neck strain.

* Every so often, look away from the monitor, or do some stretches at your desk.

I'll write Part II (about desktop ergonomic tips) in a later post.