Good starting bankroll?

[AceOfSpades24]

I live about 2 hours from the closest casino. The casino I want to play at has just $1/$2 cash games and a couple tourneys/week for $50 buy in. I mostly plan on playing the cash games, but might play in the occasional tourney. Anyways, I am going to move up there and try to get an apartment as close to the casino as possible. I was thinking about starting with a bankroll of $20,000.

I figure my expenses away from the table (rent, power/light, food) will be $1500/month. Now, probably won't be this much but just overestimating to be safe. Since I want to get an apartment close to casino, I hope to walk to casino or maybe even ride bicycle to avoid the extra expense of driving.

After 6 months of expenses it will be $9000 expenses leaving me with $11,000 to play poker.

I was thinking about everyday in which I play to buy-in between $300-$500. $300 would give me 36 sessions of poker. $500 would give me 22 sessions of poker.

Now, if I hit a losing streak the first month or so, then I could of course dip into the expenses fund to bankroll myself to build up. However, just in a vacuum, is 36 sessions, or 22 sessions for that matter a good enough bankroll to start off? I really want to do things the right way first so I don't go broke like I have heard so many stories, including many top pros. I think I am incredibly disciplined at the table and very frugal away from the table. Assuming I'm a winning player, which I definitely believe I am skills-wise, is this enough and how much should I expect to win per month?

I plan on playing 20 days/month or so, maybe slightly more. I also am shooting for a goal of $8K per month. Is this unrealistic? Not enough? Just right?

I was also wondering how many hours/day I should play to start. The longest I've ever played poker in one sitting was 8 hours, and I only did it once and I usually only play 4 or so each time I play.

Any other experiences about starting out and advice would be immensely helpful and I would truly appreciate any help that anyone has. Thanks, sorry for the length.

 

[Arjonius]

Your stated goal seems highly unrealistic. Playing 4 hours per day, you'll be dealt around 100 hands. $8k per month in 20 playing days is $400 per day. That's $4 profit per hand. In a $1/$2 game, it's 100 big bets per 100 hands. Not gonna happen. And that's without factoring in tipping.

As for the $50 tournaments, even if we assume no fee, $8k per month in 20 days is still $400 per day. That's a sweet 800% ROI. Again, not gonna happen.

 

[JOEBOB69]

Your "goal" is to make $400 a day.Live games ~30 hands a hour for 4 hours is 120 in a day.That's winning at $3.30 per hand.Thats 165bb/100 and just isn't going to happen over the long run.

 

[TheWall]

You're trying to make $96,000 a year working only 20 days out of the month. And only putting in 4 hour shifts. Tell me, does that sound too good to be true? Yeah, it definitely is. I don't want to rain on your parade because you might be a fantastic player, but if you really are that good then you need to build up some more capital and play some higher limits.

 

[AceOfSpades24]

Thanks for the replies.

I would like to clarify, however, that the amount of days I play/month as well as the amount of hours I play/day is subject to change. I was, more or less, asking what amount of days and hours per day I had to put in to meet my 8K goal or at the very least what I could expect to make with my current amount of hours/month.

I would also like to clarify, that I can definitely play 25 days/month with 6 hours a day, at least to start off. My point was just that I'm not used to longer days, like 6-8 hours, as I was just more used to playing poker with my friends or family and when I did play poker I would only play 4 hours on average per time. I CAN play longer, I was basically just asking how long I should play to start off. I don't want to become overly fatigued as it leads to poor play many times.

Also, regarding ROI, what is a good ROI I should shoot for? I honestly don't know much about ROI and will read up on it, but what's a good ROI to shoot for? Or how much $ per hand is a good amount to aim for.

I just wanna state that I wasn't trying to come off conceited like I could make that much with that workrate. I was simply asking HOW MUCH poker I should play to expect the 8K winnings/month. I'm just trying to know what I should expect so I'm prepared for it.

Thanks for all of the replies, I appreciate it.

 

[JOEBOB69]

ROI =return on investment.It is a term use in MTT's and SNG tourny's.
I believe a good player should have no problem keeping a 30-40bb/100 average.
1st)Live players are teri bad in general.They are way to lose,to drunk,to passive,have no idea about odds.(just bad)
2nd)A reason a good player can keep that good of a win rate is opening raises.At any given live table you can find people opening UTG for 4x-10x the blinds,and getting 4-6 callers.Compare to online this will never happen.

So if your good enough you win 40bb/100.Thats $80 for ~3hrs playing.So to make 8k that would be 300hrs.300(hours)/25(days)=12hrs a day.That is with no down swing no tilt,tiredness,not counting tips,and presuming your good enough to win at that rate to begin with.

 

[calicard]

Hourly Pay

Thanks for the replies.

I would like to clarify, however, that the amount of days I play/month as well as the amount of hours I play/day is subject to change. I was, more or less, asking what amount of days and hours per day I had to put in to meet my 8K goal or at the very least what I could expect to make with my current amount of hours/month.

I would also like to clarify, that I can definitely play 25 days/month with 6 hours a day, at least to start off. My point was just that I'm not used to longer days, like 6-8 hours, as I was just more used to playing poker with my friends or family and when I did play poker I would only play 4 hours on average per time. I CAN play longer, I was basically just asking how long I should play to start off. I don't want to become overly fatigued as it leads to poor play many times.

Also, regarding ROI, what is a good ROI I should shoot for? I honestly don't know much about ROI and will read up on it, but what's a good ROI to shoot for? Or how much $ per hand is a good amount to aim for.

I just wanna state that I wasn't trying to come off conceited like I could make that much with that workrate. I was simply asking HOW MUCH poker I should play to expect the 8K winnings/month. I'm just trying to know what I should expect so I'm prepared for it.

Thanks for all of the replies, I appreciate it.

Congrats on your taking the step and deciding to play poker to make a living!!!
May the flop be with you!!!

I do not think that playing poker pays by the hour. You could potentially lose your entire days buy in in less than a minute or vice versa you could earn your 8k in 1 sitting.Bottom line it is gambling

 

[LarryT503]

My advice. If you really have the funds to invest in this experiment, best of luck. How about if you just play and see what happens? If you lose, welcome to the real world, if you win adjust accordingly to make a living wage. Hope you have a plan B if things don't work out as expected?

 

[Shufflin]

So if your good enough you win 40bb/100.Thats $80 for ~3hrs playing.So to make 8k that would be 300hrs.300(hours)/25(days)=12hrs a day.That is with no down swing no tilt,tiredness,not counting tips,and presuming your good enough to win at that rate to begin with.

But if you accept profit of $3200/month (more than twice your living expenses) you can play 4.8 hours/day -- bump it up to 5-5.5 to be safe, and I would say that's a good start to your career. I understand it is good to have goals, but the $8k/month seems pretty arbitrary; and fairly unattainable at said limits, according to previous posts. I personally would be thrilled to be making twice my living expenses!! Good luck -- look forward to hearing how it goes!

 

[AceOfSpades24]

@JOEBOB Yeah, I know of ROI, I was just not positive on what the goal I should aim for. Thanks a lot.

@calicard, Yeah, you just have to handle the swings, good and bad as best you can. Thanks for the well wishes.

@LarryT, Yeah, that's essentially what I plan on doing. I didn't think I could go out right away and make 8K right off the bat. I was just going to experiment how often I should play and how many hours I should play per day. I mean, all I ultimately care about is if I make a good enough profit to live and at least some extra. Since I'll be moving two hours away from where I live now, I'll be able to devote nearly all of my time to playing poker as I'll be away from all temptation to spend money or devote my time elsewhere. Hopefully my loneliness works heavily to my advantage, haha.

I was thinking, perhaps just initially playing 20 days/4 hours a day and once I get used to it, then ramp it up to more hours.

Ultimately though, since I am very conservative away from the felt with money even if I were to make $40,000/year I'd be happy until I had enough to graduate to higher stakes where there's $5/10 games and $25/50 and then hopefully make some serious money. But yeah, I agree with the see what happens. Regardless of the advice I get, I will probably start slow just to get the swing of things and into the new lifestyle, and then after a bit, especially if I'm on a roll, then increase my workload.

 

[AceOfSpades24]

@Shufflin Thanks for the advice. And yes, I generally have high goals when I try my best at pretty much anything. I'm just wired that way, lol. I unfortunately don't always meet them though!

 

[MasterOfDisaster]

Wish I had only need $1500 to pay for all my bills and food every month.