While I don't doubt you've read everything you've said you have read, I don't think you've taken all of it in.
First let me c/p some appropriate blog ramblings:
Dorkus Malorkus said:
To meander a little, much like any other casual poker player I have harboured dreams of turning pro. I still recall with amusement me thinking about how I could easily just open up a dozen tables of $50NL and happily grind away. I had only very limited liabilities at the time (I still lived at home with the parents until about six months ago), so I would always figure I had nothing to lose in giving it a shot. I often mulled over taking a week's holiday from work and doing a 'trial run', but I always ended up talking myself out of it.
On reflection, how wise I was.
Poker is a soul-destroying game. When one turns pro, (s)he crosses the line between poker being 'fun' and being 'a job'. I, like most casual players, play poker mainly because I enjoy it. I enjoy the learning process, and applying the learning process in actual gameplay. If someone came up to me and absolutely guaranteed that I would make $0 in profit over the rest of my poker playing career (but not make any losses), I would still play every now and then. I believe that's the question you need to ask yourself if you're unsure exactly why you play poker.
The great thing about having a 'normal' job is I have a boss. Sure, it may not seem great when I'm getting yelled at for doing something wrong or making long-winded blog posts when I should be working, but ultimately it's great for me because I have someone to answer to. A professional poker player has nobody to answer to but themselves. While on the surface this sounds wonderful, unless you are very, very commited and are capable of very high levels of self-control, you will end up lagging behind in your poker playing 'duties'. When you play less, the downswings hurt more, you have less working capital available, you tilt, you lose more money because of said tilt, and eventually you end up having to either go back to your old boss with cap in hand and say "oops" or look for another job.
I don't have the level of discipline required for the above to not apply. I don't believe that that level of discipline can be taught, so I'm somewhat stuck. If I don't want to play poker, I don't have to. I like that luxury.
Anyway, the moral of the story is don't be too hasty in 'turning pro'. The ability to distinguish fantasy from reality is a key characteristic of those of sane mind. It's okay to occasionally daydream about winning the WSOP, or even daydream of 12-tabling $50NL for 8 hours a day if you're particularly sad, but don't cross the line without due care and attention.
Second, let me address some of the points you've raised.
Sohmurr said:
I also have $4 on Full Tilt and expect to have more by June 27 when I'll have played in 4 more WSOP Fantasy Freerolls.
Never 'expect' anything in poker. You will more likely than not be let down. It's okay to be confident, and I don't know how these
freerolls pay, but don't 'expect' anything from them - unless they pay a lot of the field it is more likely (no matter how good a player you are) that you will cash in none of them than it is you will cash in one or more.
Sohmurr said:
The short version, as I said above, is that playing professional poker is about all I can think about. Is it the glory? Probably not. Is it the money? Partially yes. Is it the freedom? Yes. More than anything, this is probably the reason.
Freedom? As you set out, with your BR and the limits you will be playing (even allowing for a year to casually 'build up' a BR), to make any sort of a decent wage you will have to grind out an unholy number of hours a day. Yes, you can take your own breaks and holidays, but don't let this fool you into some illusion that you are 'free'. When you take a break, you are losing money (assuming you are a winning player). If I want a week in Spain, I can take a week's paid holiday - if you want a week in Spain it will cost you a week's 'wage'. Aside from what I said above, another great thing about having a normal job is that every now and then I can turn up, do a half-assed job (for whatever reason), and still get paid for a day's work. You obviously can't do this with poker - if you don't play you don't get any money, and if you play half-assedly you will leak money at the tables. In that sense, poker gives you much less 'freedom' than a normal job.
You wouldn't be as socially 'free' as you think either. Prime time for poker players is prime time for socialising. Most bad players show up on the weekends and in the evenings (and especially on weekend evenings). If your friends want to go out on Saturday night, you either have to forego the juiciest night of poker in the week and most likely most of the following day for 'recovery', or you will have to brush them off. If I want to go out on a Saturday night I can, because I don't work on Sundays (but even if I did the 'half-assed' rule above could well apply).
Sohmurr said:
Lastly, I have about $250. I was thinking of maybe taking some of it down to the super soft $2/$2 and $2/$4 LHE games at my local card room a couple times a week and working up that way. Yes, this is again not a full BR. But I've gone in with only $40 5 or 6 times before and come ahead ~$20-$40 in all. It would also earn more than trying to take it online.
As someone said, variance will bite you in the arse if you continue to think like this. Okay so 5 or 6 times you've profited a small amount. Here's the good news - some days you will go on a huge heater and win three times that. As for the bad news - you will have losing days. Through no fault of your own you could easily leak a fifth of that roll in one day playing the limits you do through no fault of your own. If you're prone to tilt, then it will get worse.
As you move up in the future, your $40 losing days will become $400 losing days. Can you handle that? I know it's all relative to your total
bankroll if you follow proper BRM, but losing hundreds or thousands of dollars through no fault of your own is soul-crushing, and losing it when the majority of it
is your fault is even worse.
I don't mean to put you off. You have a dream and are intent on pursuing it which is good. I stumbled into the job I'm in at the moment purely by chance as I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself, so you are better than me in that respect. All I am saying is to expect to fail, as over 90% of people who try this sort of thing will (and many of that 90% will have had much more experience than your ~10k online
hands and half a dozen live sessions).
Good luck.
Dayne G. said:
GOING PRO IS SIMPLE... VERY, VERY SIMPLE!!!
Quit your job, quit your school, and play- simple. Anyone can "turn pro."
WINNING??? Now that's not so simple.
Dude you appear to be a cliché generator. A
malfunctioning cliché generator. WPT will no doubt be in touch offering you a commentary position soon.
