How many play for a living

I was just wondering how many of you guys actually play poker for a living? If you do, where did you start and what would be your biggest piece of advice for getting to that point

I don't, but i've gotten to a point where my poker hourly salary is slightly higher than my real job's.

Advice? Change your avatar, imo.

I don't,,, but I get social security and can't afford to risk playing high stakes,,, but I do win 10 to 15 percent of my monthly income playing very low stakes games....I would suggest starting out at low (or at stakes that you could lose and not kill your bankroll) and work your way up.... I really think Bankroll Management is not discussed enough as a very big part of trying to come out a winner. Just my low budget thoughts LOL
Take Care

If you wanna get technical poker is 100% of my income 8 months of the year... I am a student with no part time job. Total income during these 8 months: maybe 50 per month.

IMO 1st,get your education and a good paying job!
Then play alot of poker and if it works out that you can quit your good paying job and play poker for a living then congradulations.

I am a small stakes profitable grinder ,and do not need poker or a job
for a living.

You need to fully understand the variance of poker as an income. If you do decide to go to poker full time you will find that it is a lot of work. You have to be very strict with bankroll management and be able to handle not going on tilt. If you make one bankroll mistake (i.e. playing at a higher limit when tilting) it could mean going broke. Poker is a hard way of life, but if you can do it, it is very rewarding.

I have done it all when it comes to poker and my recommendation would be to try playing more in your spare time first, rather than quitting your job. One common mistake that part time players make is they over estimate what they "would make" playing full time. For example if you play $10 sngs and play about 10 a week and you average $30 profit for a week, you can't think "Well if I play 100 a week I will make $300 a week." You might, but you can't think of that as a guarantee.

Just my advise, good luck man, poker is great.

Thanks for your tips guys. I don't plan on making poker a career any time soon. But one can always hope . My end goal with poker (if you can really ever have one) is to be as good as I can get. I don't really have any specifics in mind. It is a great challenge that kicked my but my first deposit and I'm ready to return the favor. I do think a career in poker would be amazing though.

I hear a problem with going full time is that game selection is very different. For me, I can pick a good game bc I do not play more than 10 hours a week. But this can be a challenge for a full time poker player. Sometimes you have to be in the bad games which may not be very profitable.

I know people that play full time, both students and out of college etc.

My advice would be 1. Use good BRM. Make sure your rolled for games etc.. I mean your playing for your lively hood.

2. Always keep learning. Always make sure you review your play, session reviews, whatever.

gl

Did any of you guys start out as a dealer, or spend any time dealing at all? If so how did you get into that and do you think it helped your game at all?

dealing sucks cuz you're basically everyone's bitch. you can earn more if you deposit like $200 and then play for 2-3 months and study seriously

HAHAHAHA. play for a living? I deposit so others can play for a living. HAHAHAHA

id be on tilt if i played for a living, so stressed, but i play part time and go to college, have a job soon hopefully so winning poker on the side of having a salary job will be nice...poker is too swinngy to have it as a job unless your baller status and make 10k a day :P

I'm kinda playing for a living but it's only temporary. But for this year anyway I'm supporting myself 100% and saving money and when I go back to school most likely next year or the year after will be using poker money for tuition. I definitely would not want to be playing poker for the rest of my life with absolutely no back-up plan.

But yeah, advice would be just keep working hard at getting better. There's not like some line drawn, for most people it's just they realize one day that poker's paying them more than their real job, like Belgo mentioned. What people decide to do after that varies. But yeah, basically sticking to brm (20 buy-ins for no limit hold 'em is laughable btw) and continuing to work hard and improve and make sure you are playing your A game as much as possible is pretty important imo.

I severely beg to differ that you could make more in 2-3 months with a $200 bankroll than I can dealing 4 nights a week. Hell I will give you 10 to 1 odds on whatever you wanted to lay down. I highly doubt you were ever a dealer because of your statement, you are definitely not everyone's bitch. Dealing is a really fun and exciting career that pays well.

In response to the question about dealing. Yes, dealing helped my game. It helped me more with my ring game play and also with reads. I find myself at work pretending I am in the hand sometimes and I so want to say to the guy pondering his decision, "DUDE, CALL HE IS BLUFFING!!!" and then he mucks and the other guy shows a busted draw, lol.

I went to dealing school to help my chances at getting hired. Some casinos don't require prior knowledge or school, but it helps your chances a ton. When I went it was $850 for a 6 week course and it covered Holdem, Omaha, Omaha 8ob, Stud, Stud 8ob, and Razz. We even covered Pineapple and Crazy Pineapple. The nice thing was that the school taught us the procedures of the casino I was trying to work at, so we knew how they did the rake and also the house policies. I went to the school in 2006 and didn't get into the casino until 2008. We only have one casino close enough to Buffalo to be able to commute to work and that's why it took me 2 yrs to get a job. I love it, and PM me if you want more info.

I wuddnt mind b-in a dealer at a casino. Sounds fun.

As for poker as a living it would b nice to make $1k a week/month but it's jus too risky if u go on tilt and bust most of ur bankroll. Which other job can u grind for hours and only make +$5?/-$100 lol.

It's only good if u win big at a MTT (+$20k). If i did win big tho i'd cash out n still have a job, so u wernt spendin all ur money on poker lol.

If you are disciplined and put in the hours your long-term rate is all that matters. Sure it sucks when you have the day you lose a few buy-ins and the week where you either lose or break even, but also what other job can you grind for an hour and end up making a few thousand? Sure you could lose a few thousand the next hour, but the point is that if you stick to good bankroll management and are a solid winning player, you will be able to survive the downswings and in the long run will have a decent winrate that is basically better than the heavy majority of jobs you can find today if you can beat 200nl+.

Seeing as I`m not working much right now I`ve been able to play alot. I can`t say that it`s any steady source of income but I do have many weeks where I do send 200-500 home just from playing on my free time. Hopefully oneday I`ll be able to play full time.

technicly I dont play for a living because I own a couple small buisnesses,but I do generate alot of extra income from playing poker.
I generally spent most of my time playing cards or fishing and letting the jobs run thereselfs without to much hassle.
But I do not keep poker as my main source of income,just extra fall back money in case,while steady building my bankroll till I want to do it as a main source of income.

i would like to put $1k on this, assuming you tell me the amount of money that i need to make (the amount of money you make dealing 4 nights a week), and provide some type of proof

How much of the total money that you make in a week are in tips? I was just looking for a %.

ah, Dentist!




No really I don't know but kind of a neat thread.

lol.........That what I was going to say but you said it first. How about I don't play for a living but I live for POKER

Same here. Im down about but not quite $150. So I guess Im the opposite of a poker pro.

My only advice (and I only supplement my income with poker) is to know the ups and downs are going to happen. My second piece of advice for people that are playing live is you have to come in with a more then just one buy-in (i.e playing 1-2NL and only coming with $100). I don't care how good or tight you are, i$ht happens and cooler hands come. You need to be prepared to buy in for a little more if need be and battle back (with out going on tilt of course).

I realize that it may by impossible for me to prove to you my earnings, since it is tip based and I could easily just fake/fudge the numbers. You just have to trust me. How much you think you can make MAXIMUM with $200 starting bankroll in 2 months. Over $2,000? Over $5,000? What do you think?

poker was and is my only income right now as a student til i get a full time job this summer

i'm willing to bet $1k, getting 10:1 from you, that i could make 7.5k from $200 in 2 months

gogogo?

What site? How would we monitor this? If you lose the $200 are you aloud to reload? How often will you be playing? Am I aloud to play against you? How do I know you wouldn't bail out when you failed and not pay? I am interested.

you're a baller

stars

any way you want

not allowed to reload

as often as i want

you're allowed to play against me

i would escrow my $1k and you would escrow your $10k

Poker is very cruel kind of job. You can play absolutely right, but without the luck it is useless. Life example: KK pocket, KK2 - flop, all-in from villian, call of course. He opened AA. Guess turn and river cards
Yes there were A and A

After games like this I wonder should I continue play poker

What is that quote from a famous player...

"The hardest way to make an easy living"

....something like that

Im still at university and live off poker earnings so technically I play for a living but still in education.

Zachvac what way did you mean the statement ( 20 buy-ins for no limit hold 'em is laughable btw)? btw Did you giveup Baseball? Goodluck
DuaneK