Making a living in 2015 from cash games ?

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ahmshere

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Hello everybody :) As you can all see that poker is getting tougher and tougher every year .. I imagine that the online field is almost impossible to beat and the live one implies a lot of variance since you play fewer hands per/h . Nowdays, it's a realistic goal to make a decent living from poker ? If so what form of poker do you choose online or live ? In my country living costs are between 400-600$ a month... (because Romania It's a pretty poor country) . My bankroll is 3k$ and I intend to support myself from poker until I will make enough money from it to invest in a bussines. I am willing to invest 100% in my game in order to be succesful but I want to know if this is possible anymore ... Do you guys succeed in making a living from poker ? And also how much hours do you play ? At what stakes ?
 
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lukeellul92

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Few things:

Is it realistic? No. Getting a 9-5 and saving etc is realistic. Poker is not.
Is it possible? YES! Don't let the odds scare you. It is definately possible.

Yes poker is becoming harder and more popular etc, but it's also turning alot more players every year into fulltime players.

Cash games are the best way to make a living, this is well known. The variance in tournaments is incredibly high, and other then the TV pro's that you love to watch, most full time players make their money off of cash games.

I can't stress this enough: Do not think you can sit down and be a pro... Be prepared to dedicate years of your life to this. So keep a fulltime job as well as poker on the side, and go fulltime when you're ready.

You have a 3k bankroll. That's heaps for online stakes, but even for $1/$2 stakes (Usually the lowest a live poker room offers), that's not enough, it's only 15 buy ins. You can go through this in a week if you're not careful.

IF you want to play live, save about $10k. That's enough to get going for $1/$2 and even $2/$3. This however is NOT the case for online. The general rule of thumb for online is you want "100 buy ins" of the stakes youre playing.
You can be a bit more lenient when playing live, generally if it's less then %5 of your bankroll, you can afford to play those stakes.
 
Lostmyhouse

Lostmyhouse

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What a horrible crybaby attitude.
But you are right people "like you" will not do any profit.

No offence but i really know that i job would do you better.

Forget about everything you have heard about "easy money",
 
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lukeellul92

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What a horrible crybaby attitude.
But you are right people "like you" will not do any profit.

No offence but i really know that i job would do you better.

Forget about everything you have heard about "easy money",

What in gods name are you saying? Who are you calling a cry baby? Your attitude is not needed.
 
alipalip

alipalip

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Yes it`s treu that in tournaments the variance is bigger than in CG but i know ppl who make their living from tournaments.So i think it depends from ppl which form thay play.
 
LD1977

LD1977

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You are rolled for 25NL and at that level you can make 400-600$ per month (including rakeback and bonuses) fairly easily.
 
nitulbhatia

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My advice to you would be play at the lower stakes make a little money and build up. If you play too high $3000 can go away very fast. Best to get a job and make a consistent income and save a little every month. A little saved every month from a job for about 20 years can make you a millionaire, thats the best path to take. Variance doesnt guarantee you a profit in poker, live or online.
 
Lostmyhouse

Lostmyhouse

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What in gods name are you saying? Who are you calling a cry baby? Your attitude is not needed.

I don't mean to be offensiv or rude. It's just that many people have the wrong picture of poker, it is not wrong really, everybody wants to win money and poker has a skillelement so it is the only real option. It's just that it takes work and skill and those two often appear when a person have a love/interest for the game.
This person don't even mention that he/she likes the game.

But hey if the person has a real interest for the game andlikes to play then am i the first one to recommend a try at it.
A person in a poor country have the advantage from currency and so on.
 
S3mper

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What a horrible crybaby attitude.
But you are right people "like you" will not do any profit.

No offence but i really know that i job would do you better.

Forget about everything you have heard about "easy money",

I don't mean to be offensiv or rude. It's just that many people have the wrong picture of poker, it is not wrong really, everybody wants to win money and poker has a skillelement so it is the only real option. It's just that it takes work and skill and those two often appear when a person have a love/interest for the game.
This person don't even mention that he/she likes the game.

But hey if the person has a real interest for the game andlikes to play then am i the first one to recommend a try at it.
A person in a poor country have the advantage from currency and so on.

I think you misread OP - Also this isn't 2+2 and you're not WVH so don't be an ass :D <-- (This is a joke :D )

OP only mentioned living in a poor country because it pertains to why he only needs $400 a month for living expenses.

Also - If he is interested in trying to play the game for a living I think it's fairly safe to assume he has a passion for the game. He doesn't really need to mention it.

It's also a very legitimate question as the game is getting tougher every year. Also, the future of making a living from poker can be quite questionable as the game gets closer to perfected.
 
Mr Sandbag

Mr Sandbag

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I don't know how much experience you already have with poker, but it's unrealistic to think you will "decide" to turn pro and be successful right away. Be prepared to learn how much you actually don't know about the game. There is a reason every poker-loving person in the world isn't going pro; poker is a very difficult game even against bad players.

My advice: if you have a job, don't quit but instead spend more of your free time playing poker. Find someone to talk to about poker. If you don't know anyone, become a very active user on forums and post/read hand analysis threads. The biggest leaps in your game will occur when people tell you how badly you played a hand when you believed you actually played it perfectly.
 
S3mper

S3mper

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Blasphemy. CCers are always correct.

Then wouldn't the person who have posted the hand up for hand analysis have played the hand perfectly if CC members are always correct? :D
 
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pokervike

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If your using a hud be honest with your investment. Hope and dreams are for the movies.Take a look at 30k in hands. Are you profitable on a long term basis? Are your swings big or small in comparison to others? If you NEED $600 per month you should probably avg. $1k per month and save to build BR and save to cushion bills. If you do then you can be a bit more selective about what games to be playing rather than sitting down because you NEED the money for the month.

Treat it as if your business (it should be treated as an investment fund) then would you as a CEO invest in your poker skills. I think if we're going to give you an honest answer it deserves an investment approach. It's really not about YOU. It's about your MONEY.
 
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sunshine0410

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This also depends on where you live. I live in switzerland and 5000$ per month wouldn't be that much. After university you earn about 6-8k (in the beginning) and it's hard to earn more in poker.
 
Poker Orifice

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If you're interested in learning & have the mental faculties to deal with playing poker for a living, earning min. $600/mth. should be really easy.
I'm sure there are many who are already doing that in micro/low stakes from your area & others that are similar.
 
Dorugremon

Dorugremon

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Hello everybody :) As you can all see that poker is getting tougher and tougher every year ..

I don't see that at all. Every game I've ever seen is dominated by rec players and fish. That applies to both live, and on-line (at least as far as Carbon is concerned). About the only difference I've seen is "hot shots" who know all the buzz-words, but have learned just enough to become a danger to their bankrolls and themselves.

Nowdays, it's a realistic goal to make a decent living from poker ?
That's a question only you can answer. FWIW: poker (or card counting or other advantage play) has always been a helluva tough way to make an easy living. At least a nine-to-five has a certain level of security you will never have as a professional player. Reagrdless of how good you are, you will run card dead, and get sucked out, and have everything come out all wrong even though you did everything right.

You hear the occasional story about how some guy pluncked down a few hundred at a blackjack or Poker table and won and never looked back. Some people win the Lottery too. In either case, it's damned improbable. Most pros are always riding that financial roller coaster. You can get broke any time. Most successful pros will tell you they've been broke more than once.

Being able to play your best when you're scraping the bottom of your 'roll with the added pressure of having to make the rent isn't something everyone can do. It requires some extra fortitude and most would-be pros don't have it.

It is now, and has always been, easier said than done.
 
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Giveitago

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These kind of questions are always silly to me. Obviously there is plenty of room to make money, else sites like this wouldn't exist to get better and help people get to that point. Dorugremon summed it up pretty nicely, it's hard work to get to that point but it's possible and plenty of people do it. However, many of them will go broke at some point for various reasons. Either insane bad runs, poor bankroll management, thinking you're better than you are and staying in tough games, etc. For most people a regular job is the way to live even though the idea of "easy money" is tempting.
 
alipalip

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I stardet to play in January until now i made $200. :) so i won`t make my livings with poker:) The good news is that didn`t made deposit. So we will see how much i can make.
 
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Toobuck4U

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Sorry OP but it's fairly apparent if you're asking these questions you are very far from being able to 100% support yourself by poker. 99% of ppl that play poker are losers in the long run. Keep grinding on your off days and get a job.
 
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hffjd2000

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In my experience, before black friday, its possible to make profit online.

Today, the game is tough like rock.
 
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AviCKter

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I think it depends a lot on which place you stay, whether there are enough games that you can get in, given that you have a small roll. As far as I know, there are many places in Bucharest that offer €0.20/0.50 games, which means you have about 60 Buy-ins, which is fine, I guess. But there's a catch (and this is my observation), there are not enough people to get the action going and it is usually late when the games start and people don't play for more than 2-3 hours, weekends are a different story.

*So the question whether you can make €400-600/month, possible. Given you do it every day and never skip. (Are you willing to skip the weekend parties and club hopping? When most of your friends are having fun?)
*How many hours? There are many people who have posted there experience, suggestion. I think you should listen to them. That said, in general the answer would be every day, the maximum hours you're allowed to play, to go with.
*Stakes? I think the lowest, €0.20/0.50, if its available.

All I can do now is wish you luck!
 
MrFerguson

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Definatly possible, I don't at the moment, but i am absolutely determined and have such a competitive mind frame with anything that I won't stop until I do.

I will read, study and devote my time to learning and playing the game until I do. The way I see it is other people can make a living out of it so why can't I?
 
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kisintin01

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I wonder - the author got the post of higher education? If yes - what thoughts then. easier after higher school to find a normal paid job than trying to make in poker. Yes there proffesionaly, but their unity.Romania poor? then what to talk about Ukrainians .lol
 
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