Beginner wanting to start a poker career?

[dj11]

He is still active as of today. Most likely he just hasn't found the User CP button.

 

[PJSeg53]

People on here are so rude and arrogant... This site is a joke

 

[fletchdad]

People on here are so rude and arrogant... This site is a joke

Explain this comment please.....

 

[Samango]

People on here are so rude and arrogant...

You kinda get used to it after a while

 

[woohoo sue]

People on here are so rude and arrogant... This site is a joke

the arrogance comes from experience ....... the rude is something you are interjecting into the posts from EXPERIENCED players.

rephrased it would go like this "you people here are so experienced that you are coming off harsh IMO... please lighten up on the 17 year old, then we can all sit down and laugh."

see so much better...now you try

P.S. thoroughly enjoyed the read and agree this boy had a healthy enthusiasm for poker for a man of 17 years. All advice was sound and with merit. Hope he heeds your warnings and finds his poker path.

 

[PJSeg53]

Explain this comment please.....

go read my last 2 threads and you will see what i mean...

 

[PJSeg53]

the arrogance comes from experience ....... the rude is something you are interjecting into the posts from EXPERIENCED players.

rephrased it would go like this "you people here are so experienced that you are coming off harsh IMO... please lighten up on the 17 year old, then we can all sit down and laugh."

see so much better...now you try

P.S. thoroughly enjoyed the read and agree this boy had a healthy enthusiasm for poker for a man of 17 years. All advice was sound and with merit. Hope he heeds your warnings and finds his poker path.

Somebody please tell me what IMO means.. Im new to forums.. Thank you

 

[Big_Rudy]

People on here are so rude and arrogant... This site is a joke

Which begs the question, "What are you still doing here if the site is a joke?" Oh yeah, wait, only about 20 more posts to get into the freeroll club. You go, you live baller you. You can do it!!!!!

 

[CrossedLine]

IMO = In my orifices.

 

[fletchdad]

go read my last 2 threads and you will see what i mean...

No. Explain or GTFO

 

[dizzydirk82]

wow so much negativity... just find dizzydirk82 heads up on carbon 5/10 nl and i would love to teach you my friend...lol

 

[ddeely1]

good luck poker is a very hard thing to make a career out of. there is a significant amount of luck involved in the game. now that I play for fun instead of for a living I enjoy it a lot more

 

[c double]

Young Grasshoppa-

You may overestimate how many of us have a full-blown poker career, and underestimate just how hard it is to do that.

That being said, once you turn 18, I don't know that you want to spend a lot of time in 2NL. Yeah bankroll management, and this and that. If you played 2NL well enough to break even on Dad's dough, I'd start off at least at 5. If nothing else, cut down a couple tables. Play 3 instead of six at the higher limit. My early days were on 10NL and 25NL on bodog, and then you walk into a casino (you're gonna wanna do that at some point, and in many states you can go at 18. Or here in Dallas it's all underground, so a 15 year old can go buy into a 3-6 NL game) the average pot is $45 or so and i was scared shitless to call a raise- the standard raise was a full buyin where I was used to playing. Playing that small can also teach you habits that don't translate into the bigger, more aggressive limits. If you're approaching it like a career, consider that, and don't hesitate to deposit another hundred if things don't go as planned. If you're approaching it as entertainment, then you might want to start as low as you can so you can get the most possible hands in with minimum risk.

 

[micromachine]

Why the hell is this thread still going lol the guy gave up poker months ago AFAIK

 

[otari]

Just stick to low stakes for now, and read up on some good poker literature. I personally recommend Dan Harrington's books. He's a smart man.

 

[ChipTowerz]

@R1ace best of luck to ya!(yes, a little luck does help...especially in online poker**) start out small dont aim too high and over time i hope it works out well for you UNLESS you're playing against me haha

$ChipTowerz$

 

[dan abnormal]

Id lose my mind if I had to rely on poker as my only income, MAN that is a hard road. I keep thinking it would be so cool to do this as a career and once I start trying to put in any volume (and my volume is nothing compared to real players) the game suddenly quits being fun cause then I start pressuring myself and YOU GOTTA VERY TIHICKED SKINNED to go on the road and do this as a career. Just learn the game, let it be fun and if you master the 8 million variables in this game, then you might do well. Listen to what most of these people posted, most are very good players (try out some CC games and if you can even hang with these players then consider that an accomplishment) . Is this guyeven still posting or did he make it pro already

 

[Samango]

This thread was started in April
He's changed his mind now
https://www.cardschat.com/forum/poker-goals-challenges-wins-46/finished-ever-211845/

As micro machine said we should probably just let this thread go now

 

[TakinOver]

We all want to make a living in front of the screen at home. Some1 has to lose for some1 to win. Playing hours a day or week is best for learning. Of course when your 18. Read and learn and take notes on players. Always keep your job and play a lot of poker and start to pick your lucky hands. Get ready to be called donk all the time. Experience is key to getting better. Wish you big pots and large ITMs in the future. Good luck.

 

[catchitfool]

R1- my advice is to learn what you are better at. Cash or Tournments. Find a Pro and take him/her to dinner. Its a grind traveling on the tour and not cheap. If you want to be a cash game specialist, Id recommend watching the sharks on-line, take notes, predict what cards they have. Practice Patience read books study. learn tells and reverse tells most important BRM . good luck

 

[slowhand]

Just seen on the news - R1ace is new IT professional of the year. He wanted to say thanks to a website called Cardschat for helping him find his career path.

 

[noreraise]

although the average is around 25k a year, i wonder how people manage to survive like this? it makes around 2k£ a month.

800 mortgage/rent (for a 2bed house in 4-5th zone in london dont think you can get any cheaper unless you rent a flat)
bills, insurance, food, etc. makes around 1.5k of monthly expenses

if you have a family to feed and a non-working wife which is looking after your kids then the expenses are even higher so earning the uk average you probably would just about have enough money to live a simple life

I MIGHT BE WRONG BUT AS I LIVE IN THE UK IMO - as you said the 23k average is mainly earned by young people that just left school/university and are starting their career or people without any qualifications that get the rest of their money from benefits otherwise i can't see how you could live a life with such salary.

And to mention that out of the £25k earning you pay about £4.5k in taxes (income tax + national insurance), it's pretty tough mate. That's why young people don't get married, or if they do, both of them work and delay having children till a later date.

 

[Aces2w1n]

Being a pro is hard and if you love poker you will probably lose that love at some point, like any job, it is a job and stops being a hobby. What I say now is not meant to be mean, just a reality check. You are nowhere near a pro. It take more than a few weeks at 2nl and reading some stuff and watching shows (watching shows will not help you much at all as far as understanding what it is like to play for real) There is so much other work to be done to become - and remain - a winning player. AND unless you are real lucky, you will spend a LOT of time and probably not make all that much money anyway.

IMO study and find a good job, you will probably be happier in the long run. Poker is NOT an easy way to make money.

Check this link out:
https://www.cardschat.com/playing-poker-professionally.php



This below I copied form another forum, and did not want to include a link, so I just copied The name of the author was not there, or I would have posted it. (Mods, is this ok, should I include a link to another forum??)


Many envy the life a professional poker player. Who wouldn't want to set their own hours, play a game they love for a living, and travel around the world to various tournaments? Add a nice income to boot, and you have yourself a dream job. So how does a professional become a professional?

Professional poker players do not graduate from Poker Pro School, and there is also no guild that bestows the "pro" status on players. It is entirely a label that one adopts for himself. Even some people who lose money at poker consider themselves professionals. Generally, one decides to make poker-playing his occupation for at least one of two reasons:

On the one hand, they may feel that they can make more money at poker than they could at any other occupation they could acquire. Generally, these players have logged in over 500 hours of poker and have measured their hourly rate to be significantly higher than any other job they could get. To track statistics like these, a pro would use a website such as (I removed this, due to link)

On the other hand, they may simply enjoy the poker lifestyle so much that they will sacrifice income for freedom. Also, the extent of a professional's career varies. Most poker professionals view their poker-playing as a temporary job. They may be between jobs or expect to enter a higher-paying occupation in the future. Only a relative few view poker-playing as a career for life.

A solid professional is fundamentally a businessman. He or she understands how to play poker to maximize his or her income. The incomes of pros are entirely diverse and depend on the skill, bankroll, guts, and luck of the player. The amount of hours that pros play also vary. The only thing they have in common is that poker is their primary source of income. Raw poker skills are only a fraction of what is necessary to make significant money playing poker. One must know what game he or she excels at most in terms of hourly rate. A true, solid poker professional plays the poker game that gives him the highest hourly rate. Generally, the factors that affects one's hourly rate include:

1. One's skill compared to others' skill
2. Number of hands per hour and tables the person can play
3. The rake or time charge
4. The variance involved

Taken together, a person with less cardplaying skill can easily make more money than a very skilled player if the less skilled person is smarter about all of the other factors. Since pros are interested in making money, they must play against people who essentially are interested in losing money. This means playing in soft, loose games. Also, because a poker player wants to exert his or her edge as much as possible, the number of hands one plays is a critical factor. Of course, it depends on the type of game the pro chooses.

If a pro is a Limit Hold'em player, then his or her medium of playing is of great importance. Playing on the internet at 3 tables at once will easily yield five times as many hands per hour compared to a person playing in a brick-and-mortar casino. If the two are playing the same limit against comparable competition, the internet pro can easily make five times as much as the brick-and-mortar player. While the B&M player can focus more on his one game, the internet pro has the advantage of a lower rake and the ability to play many more hands per hour. At Limit Poker, hand volume is much more important than player reads.

For No-Limit Poker, reads are more important. Thus, a player might not be able to play two or three games at once. Again, it depends on the player, but his or her choice of medium will greatly affect his or her hourly rate.

Tournament professionals exist, too. However, they are rare compared to the number of cash game pros. This is because tournaments have a high level of variance and tend to have stronger competition than cash games. It is also much harder to calculate one's hourly rate at a tournament because tournament income is so volatile. While there are certainly famous, successful tournament players, many who choose this route end up failing. Compared to cash game players, tournament players are notorious for being in debt and dependent on others' staking them.

There are four major turnoffs to being a professional poker player. First, it is not a very social activity. If you are an internet pro, you are essentially playing at home, with little human interaction. You do not enjoy the chat by the water cooler and other social perks associated with a regular job. Secondly, poker becomes very monotonous very quickly. Sure, a pro can play a variety of games. But since a poker professional is primarily interested in making money, he will probably want to mainly play the one game that provides his highest hourly rate. Needless to say, this can become very boring, very fast. Thirdly, many take issue that the poker player does not really contribute anything to society. This has become less and less of an issue, as professional poker players are often considered 'entertainers.'

Finally, and most importantly to many, poker can have a highly variable income. Based on my own data, my standard deviation per hour is 6 times my hourly rate. This basically means that if I made $100 an hour, there is about a 68% chance that in any one hour I'd make between -$500 and $700. The rest of the time I would have an even larger swing. This is not appealing to many, who couldn't handle the stress of such fluctations of income. The poker professional must not be phased by these fluctuations at all. Generally, poker players with large bankrolls tend to fare better and play with less fear. While their poker winnings are what puts food on the table, any single day, week, or month means relatively little to their overall bankroll.

What a true professional worries about is not the luck of the cards but the changes in the poker market. Professionals need to play against poor players. One makes money because one has better relative skill than others. If a pro is playing against a bunch of pros, then he or she will make little to no money. A poker professional's income is much more dependent on the skill of others than himself. After all, he has probably perfected his skills as much as he possibly can. The only thing that can affect his relative skill is the skill level of the opposition. If no new, poor players enter the poker world, the professional will probably have to look for a new job.

For the above reasons, most solid poker players do not become professionals. Many of those with the skills and bankroll necessary to play poker can make just as much (if not more) money at another job. They also may simply love another job so much that they would rather do that line of work than poker, even if they made more money at poker. It is probably a good thing for poker professionals that being a full-time poker player is not too appealing of a job. If many people became pros, then the competition would be too tough to make much money at poker!

Poker is often better as a secondary job. 'Semi-professionals' enjoy poker as a side income and hobby without relying on it as a stable source of income. They also avoid the anti-social, monotonous nature of professional poker playing. Some semi-pros make a very significant income from playing cards, even more than many professionals! After all, none of the last three winners of the World Series of Poker were professionals at the time. Poker as a lucrative hobby instead of a profession is the route that most winning players take.

Agreed and great post. It's negitive but its harsh reality and you really need to be psychologicly strong. It's not just the Poker or the players it's the outside views of Poker and what people will do.. You need to be strong to succeed and go against all odds and yes it's that hard. It's not just the cards you play. It's everything

 

[ibsiegel]

I am studying IT at the moment and will be going and finishing university at 22-23 years of age so i have until then to see how my poker goes and obviously i will be focusing on my IT just incase.

I think we all have the secret dream of being a pro and no one should take that away from you.......... On the other hand i like to believe that most of would also like to see our fellow members here succeed in life as whole. Do well in that IT career it will sustain you but by all means don't ever give up on your dreams.

GL when its time for you to play.

 

[jimmylytle2]

yup true am a beginner too trying to win my first game everyone is good at there game u have to keep up with them on there game going after your dream