Transition to Playing for a Living

I've recently lost my job after almost 4 years and have decided to play poker full time both online and live. I know I have an issue with getting bored with MTT play and lose my focus even after early positioning high in the ranks. Any tips on good habits?

If you get bored that easily maybe poker is not for you.

Try playing SNG that are shorter but definitely you will have to have patience in order to win some money or switch to roulette (and it will be more boring )

SteveStaxx said:

I've recently lost my job after almost 4 years and have decided to play poker full time both online and live. I know I have an issue with getting bored with MTT play and lose my focus even after early positioning high in the ranks. Any tips on good habits?

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Some recommendations:

1. Get any to-do stuff done before you play.
2. Declutter the area where you play online poker.
3. Try yoga, which is great both physically and mentally.
4. Meditate for 5-10 minutes before playing.

I admire what you're doing and hope the transition is profitable long term and relatively smooth. Keep us posted on how it goes.

I wish you the best of luck in your quest to make a living at it. I would take Rifflemao's advice, as it is all sound. I hate to "rain on your parade" but I have a few questions. How much were you making at you job before losing it? Was it full time (I assume it was)? Do you have an adequate amount in the bank to weather a bad run or do you need to see results right away? How much success have you had at playing poker, live or on-line? Depending on some of the answers to my questions, you could be setting yourself up for failure. If properly rolled, and depending on your skill set, you could very well make it happen! The thing that seems to worry me most about your post is the fact that you seem to lose interest or focus on a game relatively quickly. That is a major issue, especially if you are playing for your lively-hood.

SteveStaxx said:

I've recently lost my job after almost 4 years and have decided to play poker full time both online and live. I know I have an issue with getting bored with MTT play and lose my focus even after early positioning high in the ranks. Any tips on good habits?

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I think most people get kind of ancy sitting in their chair for hours hoping to place. It does take a lot of time to get it down and trust me I have been there many times. What you have to keep telling yourself everytime you start wanting to play every hand and become a "call machine" is that you didn't initially enter the tournament to do so. Especially after a cooler... haha trust me on that.

-You can write something on your desktop like, "STAY FOCUSED, WIN, ETC)
-Changing your lighting can help as well.
-The final thing I would say is stand up and stretch or get a cold soda or whatever you like.

Hope this helps! =)

Thank you Rifflemao, pretty much what I was looking for.
@waterboy73 - I have been playing poker since '98, the only time the boredom kicks in is online MTT and when I haven't seen a hand in an hour or more. I have more than 50k tucked away and used to make 70k yearly. In my new quest I recently placed 6th but split 2nd place money in a 50k Gauranteed live tourney and made 5k so I believe I'm on a good start.

I have the same problem with MTT's.. Try playing cash games more.. theres alot more excitement.. and theres a lower variance which is good for playing as a job..

At the beginning of the year I actually quit my job to start playing poker full-time just because I was so incredibly unhappy at my job.. having that said poker is something i love, its constantly on my mind.. im always analyzing hands or playing or wanting to play.. In order to play as your job you have to love the game and always be trying to get better..

If your constantly learning and never get that comfortable feeling of "oh i have a good winrate im good enough" than you can be successul..

a couple key things to remember that i struggled with at first and almost ruined my dream of playing fulltime...

1. Treat it like its your job.. you are your own boss but you need to act like your boss as well as employee.. at first i was lazy, playing whenever, taking tons of time off.. you have to be discipline..

2. you have to think of the long run bankrollwise.. its not like a regular job that you have the same paycheck every week.. if you set a goal of like $1000/week and you win $2500 one week you cant go crazy thinking ohh i have a $1500 bonus this week those big weeks are what will offset the losses..

3. keep the emotions of poker in the poker room.. this goes for most jobs "dont bring work home" but it especially applies to poker.. the emotional swings will kill your relationships if you cant keep them under control

domeburglar said:

3. keep the emotions of poker in the poker room.. this goes for most jobs "dont bring work home" but it especially applies to poker.. the emotional swings will kill your relationships if you cant keep them under control

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+1

I recently started playing almost full time for my job. I have some advice for you and others but especially in your situation.

One, if you want to make 70k this year, and online, you are gonna wanna play a lot of hands if you are playing cash. Two, If I were you, that 50k would not be my bankroll. I would take the 5k you won add 5k to it, and have a 10k bankroll online. Make sure you take full advantage of affiliate sites, some offer up to 100% rakeback with other deals and promotions like deposit bonuses. For instance, when I deposit on Merge networks, i clear my bonus, and move to another merge skin for another 5k bonus which clears pretty quick.

One big rule for online, is STAY OUT OF THE casinos. Do not play casinos. This almost wiped my dream away after thinking i could go in and play some theories, all online casionos in my opinion are rigged so make sure you stay out o them.

Good luck, and like someone else said, keep us updated.

My tip is to practice more and keep your mind clear and concentrate to the game. It`s all about losing bad habits and improving skills. Maybe playing sng wont result in getting bored so try it more often. I wish you GL.

enuff said:

+1

One big rule for online, is STAY OUT OF THE CASINOS. Do not play casinos..

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+1 we are here for the poker not casino. Let the fish from the casino come to you.

I'm wondering what the transition is like as well. I'm more interested in what it would take to be semi-pro and have poker as a second job. I'm close enough to mexico that establishing residency and playing on PS again is possible, although a stretch at this point in my life.

Mix up your game stick to small MTTS - like 9 and 18 man. 45 man maybe,
you need to be consistent in what you do.

Cash games can get boring also if your grinding all day it's very tempting to start thinking of a round figure for a target then over do it then go on tilt.

Try this = 5 days a week you work, this isn't meant to be fun, your making a living from cash and sit n gos.

Then one day a week you play tournaments, this is your fun day and you have a chance of making some serious money.

every 4 weeks dedicate a day to satellites to Big tournaments or live events

I suggest reading Barry Greenstein's book "Ace on the River" if you are contemplating making poker your job. He has some good advise on the subject.

Do some sort of physical activity and clear your mind before starting too play and don't go on tilt after after losing a hand from a bad beat if you get bored easily play heads up or as mentioned above 6 max cash tables or 1 table sit and go's GL

Have you looked at scenarios involving how much your minimum annual profit target will be and how much you'll have to play to reach it?

It's one thing for me to tell myself I need to make a min. of say $50k, but if I then consider that my current win rate is $5 per hour, it's not hard to realize that reaching my target might be harder than it seems when I only look at the target itself.

try to make yoga, and you have to search what do you like to play, cash money, mtts, sit&go, maybe you can try with sit&go, it take 2 hours and you can see result faster than mtt

Do not really have any advice to add as you already have some great answers here, just wanted to wish you luck and success .Oh and remember mind set is very important ,stay positive and visualize success and it is likely to happen......scorp

Become Pro

Has anyone on this forum playing in the US become a pro since Black Friday? If so, I am curious to know what you did to acquire a bankroll that would allow you to play professionally. And now that you are a pro, what do you do to maintain your bankroll, i.e. where do you play, what kinds of games do you play, how often do you play, etc.?

Thanks!

if you dont like the mtt you should play at cash tables or sit & go's all limits, I particularly this playing at tables sit & go 1.50dls 9 and 6 players and charge 3 and 2 respectively, are not long and win some money highest odds .. there also. luck in your game.

Getting bored in MTT's is a disaster waiting to happen. MTTs are all about patience. You can't get bored and try to create your own luck, or youll get felted!

I would try SNGs as they can take 1-2 hours vs. 6+.

Multitable some SNGs as well if you are having success.

I think you'd be better off using your free time to learn marketable skills that can increase your chances of being an employee or even being self employed.

If it was easy to become a professional poker player, everyone would be doing it. The fact is, it isn't.

Play more.

SteveStaxx said:

I've recently lost my job after almost 4 years and have decided to play poker full time both online and live. I know I have an issue with getting bored with MTT play and lose my focus even after early positioning high in the ranks. Any tips on good habits?

Click to expand...

I have found that if I play 3 or 4 MTT's at a time this problem doesn't exist. I have the same issue with getting bored..

Variety is the spice of life. At this moment in time. I have a limit omaha 8 cash game 4 sng's (1 table) a 9000+ tourney a 180 sng, a 90sng a 45sng a limit cash game and 2 razz cash games goin on. Don't have time to get bored. (on break at the moment or wouldn't be on here)

Great all around info here.

Also, let it come naturally. Don't force yourself to become a "pro".
In the mean time, just play play play, and learn a lot!

Best of luck