Insomniac_1006
Visionary
Silver Level
I recommend keeping it a hobby.
Can you imagine the pressure to win if it was your only source of income? That would kind of take the fun out of it and turn it into a grind.
Better to get an education and a day job and take up poker as a "second job".
Oh, I didn't answer the question. 43yo, want's to make mega bucks playing as a second job. If I have five years of living expenses saved up and a decent bankroll, I would quit my day job and go pro.
Can you imagine the pressure to win if it was your only source of income? That would kind of take the fun out of it and turn it into a grind.
Better to get an education and a day job and take up poker as a "second job".
Oh, I didn't answer the question. 43yo, want's to make mega bucks playing as a second job. If I have five years of living expenses saved up and a decent bankroll, I would quit my day job and go pro.
flint
Visionary
Silver Level
As it is said > Poker is the hard way to earn easy money.
I have tried playing 5+ hours 5 days straight (during which my small bankroll dissapeareded), I don't think at the moment I have the mental patience to become a PRO, you need nerves of steel. Think about getting a major downswing and seeing some of your food money draining away!
However, I will turn Pro once I get past the few hundred thousand mark in my freetime. Once you have a decent bankroll (100k+), you probably don't have to worry as much and can take days to yourself.
I have actaully been thinking about combining a few of my passions together to make a multi-career. This would mean that I would combine business, music and poker to feed from.
I have tried playing 5+ hours 5 days straight (during which my small bankroll dissapeareded), I don't think at the moment I have the mental patience to become a PRO, you need nerves of steel. Think about getting a major downswing and seeing some of your food money draining away!
However, I will turn Pro once I get past the few hundred thousand mark in my freetime. Once you have a decent bankroll (100k+), you probably don't have to worry as much and can take days to yourself.
I have actaully been thinking about combining a few of my passions together to make a multi-career. This would mean that I would combine business, music and poker to feed from.
riverboatrat
Visionary
Silver Level
pro? no
semi pro? thats my goal for the next 2 years.
I have a great job and with it a good lifestyle, poker is more than a hobby for me, it's a way of life. It borders on controlling my life, but I won't give up my job for it.
semi pro? thats my goal for the next 2 years.
I have a great job and with it a good lifestyle, poker is more than a hobby for me, it's a way of life. It borders on controlling my life, but I won't give up my job for it.
zachvac
Legend
Silver Level
18 year old college Freshman. No intentions on going pro, but I intend to keep playing. I go on tilt too much when it's just a fraction of my spending money, I simply couldn't handle losing money even for just a week in what's supposed to be my job, my source of income. If you're gambling with your paycheck, the worst you can do is lose it, if your gambling IS your paycheck, you're not only losing money, you're not making any money either.
But even if I could handle the swings, play well consistently, grind it out, I'm expecting to make more money from my first job out of college than I would for poker. I'm not sure what the average online pro makes, but I'm pretty sure that if I do well in college, I'm looking to make a good amount of money with a computer science degree.
Of course I have thought about writing my own poker software (and after playing ultimatebet, I'm convinced I could do better lol). Then I could move to the Caribbean or wherever online gambling can't be prosecuted and run the site from there lol. That's the one way to make a consistent income with no poker skills whatsoever. You just sit there and watch the money rake in.
BUT more realistically, I'll keep playing poker, got a good game going in college with some friends, I consistently make money from that, play a lot of online poker (but currently I am down online). I'll just keep on working to get better. Poker as a job would be no fun, unless it was the kind of job where I could just retire because I'm rich as sh** and instead play poker. It's fun for me, and I want it to stay that way.
But even if I could handle the swings, play well consistently, grind it out, I'm expecting to make more money from my first job out of college than I would for poker. I'm not sure what the average online pro makes, but I'm pretty sure that if I do well in college, I'm looking to make a good amount of money with a computer science degree.
Of course I have thought about writing my own poker software (and after playing ultimatebet, I'm convinced I could do better lol). Then I could move to the Caribbean or wherever online gambling can't be prosecuted and run the site from there lol. That's the one way to make a consistent income with no poker skills whatsoever. You just sit there and watch the money rake in.
BUT more realistically, I'll keep playing poker, got a good game going in college with some friends, I consistently make money from that, play a lot of online poker (but currently I am down online). I'll just keep on working to get better. Poker as a job would be no fun, unless it was the kind of job where I could just retire because I'm rich as sh** and instead play poker. It's fun for me, and I want it to stay that way.
arkadiy
Legend
Silver Level
Emperor IX
Cardschat Elite
Silver Level
Should've just said 18, 17 is still illegal
I don't really care that much, honestly. Appreciate you watching out for me though
zachvac
Legend
Silver Level
Should've just said 18, 17 is still illegal
Is it illegal to play in home games under 18? If so I think that rule is really stupid. IMO if you're old enough to waste your money on a toy you want really bad you're old enough to waste your money on poker. Both of them you pay for entertainment, and both can be bad investments. Online I can agree with simply because I think under 18 you can't even make purchases online.
This is why I don't understand all the anti-gambling laws. It's perfectly ok to waste your money on anything from a new car to a new house, yet if people gamble, they'll gamble away their savings and leave their family in debt. Why not ban purchases of cars? After all there are people who waste money on those.
Personally I think poker can teach you a lot of lessons in life, specifically about choices, consequences, and of course probability. This happens within each hand as you have to weigh options, determine the motives of others, and calculate odds, and it happens when it comes to managing your BR. Now whenever people discuss the Iraq war and not letting previous sacrifices be in vain, the first thing I think of is pot odds, what do we have to risk and what do we have to gain? But instead society as a whole in general frowns on it and consider it luck. It can teach you life lessons as well as change the way you think about things, IMO for the better.