Starting my poker life - Opinions please

Hey everyone, i have been planning this move for over a year now and i'm about a month away. I will be withdrawing 6k from my 401k plan to use as strictly a poker roll. I will plan on starting the 1-2 200nl live at my local casino ( Horseshoe Hammond ) I will grind and grind till i get up to 8-10k then maybe take a shot at 2-5 500nl live.

Does this sound like a good strategy?

I have my 40 hour a week job and bring in $475 a week for bills/fun and saving so my 6k is only for poker.

I also want to play some tourneys but may be nervous to touch my roll for that... what is your opinions for touneys entries w/ this kind of bankroll strategy.

I know i can grind and play well at my local 1-2 and i am very determind to do this no matter what negative comments i get from fam and friends. I have to do this for myself.

I figure even if i struggle a little at first i will actually be building a second roll from my job savings on the side. My bills only are approx $700 monthly.

Thanks for reading and any opinions will be gladly accepted... Thanks!

currently i'm playing 1/2 and would obviously like to move up. much like you i plan to take a shot when i get my roll up. i've played 2/5 twice with mixed results. the game here has a $1000 max buyin so i'm going to wait until i can take a 2k shot.

my personal opinion is to forget about live tourneys and just focus on cash games. generally live cash games are just too good to waste your time in a $100 MTT.

If this money you will use to pay the buy-ins will not make you lack in your monthly budget and you feel safe playing limits that said, go ahead and good luck!

If you lose it all will you be able to repay your 401K before penalties kick in?

Good Luck!

WVHillbilly said:

If you lose it all will you be able to repay your 401K before penalties kick in?

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As long as i keep my job... then ill be fine

Your income out paces your expenses and you're not counting on poker to pay the rent. I say go for it. You've got to chase the dream sometime.

What kind of schedule/volume are you planning on putting in?

alaskabill said:

Your income out paces your expenses and you're not counting on poker to pay the rent. I say go for it. You've got to chase the dream sometime.

What kind of schedule/volume are you planning on putting in?

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This. Good luck man!

Go for it.


The positive side about tourneys is once you're knocked out you aren't going to lose anymore on that one. But for your goals I think regular daily tournaments are more of a distraction and won't help you get to your goal.

But I see they have $100 and $200 and $500 tourneys there - hmm... might be worth a shot but ultimately it is about your goal and the way you explain it tourneys are really not in the equation. Maybe once in a while to chill out?

bankroll management...must keep that

alaskabill said:

Your income out paces your expenses and you're not counting on poker to pay the rent. I say go for it. You've got to chase the dream sometime.

What kind of schedule/volume are you planning on putting in?

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Thanks for the advice! I'm planning on playin live 1-2 200nl 20-30 hours weekly. I work 7-330 so a few days after work for 5-6 hours and full weekends 8-12 hours.

PJSeg53 said:

Thanks for the advice! I'm planning on playin live 1-2 200nl 20-30 hours weekly. I work 7-330 so a few days after work for 5-6 hours and full weekends 8-12 hours.

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don't burn yourself out. i have few other responsibility's and i barely get 30/week.

good luck.

Don't do anything stupid.

PJSeg53 said:

............... I will be withdrawing 6k from my 401k plan to use as strictly a poker roll...

Does this sound like a good strategy?

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Not only no but HELL NO! Leave your frigging 401k alone. If you don't have any savings to bank roll yourself then wait until you do. By your own figures you have iver $1000 a month to build a roll.

Actually you should have 3-6 times your monthly expenses BEFORE you start "investing" in other things. That way when the chit hits the fan you'll have living expenses and won't have to touch your 401k.

Absolutely insane to dip in to retirement savings for anything less than life saving emergencies. Not only do you pay a penalty but you lose any gains that money could have made by leaving it alone. Don't be a ding-bat. If you can't wait six months (at least) then you need to get some help.

I always advise people to play with money that is completely disposable; i.e. that won't matter if they lose it all. Whether money from your 401k is disposable or not is up to you, but for me, it's absolutely not.

What I would suggest is to consider treating this as a shot taking type of situation. Put aside a few buyins, maybe 2-4, then take a shot at the game. If you find you're a winning player, your roll will grow, so basically NP. The main possible problem is that you'll have a large downswing before your roll is large enough to absorb it. Not great, but your net loss will only be the 2-4 buyins, and you can simply start over again.

If you're a losing player, you'll lose your 2-4 buyins, and the same thing will happen when you take your next shot. If this happens a few times, you can stop and look for ways to improve before returning to take another shot, and your 401k won't have been touched.

Arjonius said:

I always advise people to play with money that is completely disposable; i.e. that won't matter if they lose it all. Whether money from your 401k is disposable or not is up to you, but for me, it's absolutely not.

What I would suggest is to consider treating this as a shot taking type of situation. Put aside a few buyins, maybe 2-4, then take a shot at the game. If you find you're a winning player, your roll will grow, so basically NP. The main possible problem is that you'll have a large downswing before your roll is large enough to absorb it. Not great, but your net loss will only be the 2-4 buyins, and you can simply start over again.

If you're a losing player, you'll lose your 2-4 buyins, and the same thing will happen when you take your next shot. If this happens a few times, you can stop and look for ways to improve before returning to take another shot, and your 401k won't have been touched.

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Solid points. I would add that you (OP) haven't told us much about your poker experience. Have you been any kind of consistent winner in the past either live or online? How thorough is your knowledge of poker theory etc?

As for the bankroll we don't know how much is in his 401k (and I'm not asking on a public forum) but depending on its size 6K may or may not be a huge chunk of it. OP is a grown up who seems to have his life in order and is paying his bills. I'm not going to get too harsh on the 401k issue but Arjonius's advice is certainly a solid way to approach it.