I want to play poker full time

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Jagsti

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20 years or more doing a full time job, you'll wish you were playing poker full time :p.
 
zachvac

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20 years or more doing a full time job, you'll wish you were playing poker full time :p.

Probably true, but I'd argue the reverse is true as well. We humans are never satisfied with what we're doing. There are definitely pros and cons for both, for example you can pick any hours you want to work for poker, no travel time, no travel costs (gas prices are a tad high these days :)), wear whatever you want (or nothing at all ;)), and probably doing something you enjoy more. So I'm not saying there are no pros to playing poker for a living, but these are the kinds of things people already know. I'm trying to point out the things that people don't think about, the fact that the salary is deflated by lack of benefits and increased taxes and the fact that grinding it out 40 hours a week at a poker table is tough. It can be fun, but you definitely earn that money.
 
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bustme

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Let's put this in perspective. I'm a full-time student who plays poker on the side for spending money. I started the school year with a little under 4k. I had to pay for books and of course everything I do for fun. I now have half of that despite several hundred in live poker winnings (online winnings stay online besides the $200 I recently cashed out). And I had my parents paying my tuition and room and board (along with my scholarship). I assume if you're going pro you don't have that. You'll have to afford rent or house payments, food costs, plus the entertainment costs. What happens if you hit a bad run next month? You lose a thousand in the first week, easily possible given that you have to be playing limits high enough to make a living. Now you have a total of $3k minus all the living expenses, which probably put you more in the $1-2k range. See my point? $4k may be enough for a bankroll, but then you need the money to support yourself. Even if you break even instead of losing money, are you going to take money from your poker bankroll to pay the bills? All of a sudden you're underrolled and at risk of going broke. With most players they have to beat the rake. You have to beat the rake, the rent, your insurance, your food, other necessities, and of course the entertainment, you're going to have non-poker fun right? Even without any of this $4k only rolls a casual player (the 20 buy-in rule) for 200nl. Are you going to make a living there? $4k is just such a laughably small amount to start with. My estimate may have been a bit on the high end, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. This estimate is just so small it's not even close. One bad week and you're hurting for money. Don't do that to yourself.

You got a point that I have to have more than the actually bankroll.... atleast pay for 2months in the future ore some.............

I am also a student. But I have been thinking of maybe study part time next year and play poker.
 
arkadiy

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Just win the wsop then play casual poker, I am sure that is the best way out :p
 
flint

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Just win the WSOP then play casual poker, I am sure that is the best way out :p

You stole my idea except I'll win a couple of bracelets and the move on to EPT because its tax free for us europeans :)

Seriously, I'll concentrate on online now and start playing more live once I move to Macau for my exchange period at the end of the year.
 
roland cote

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zach bought one point that I think may be key in any persons attempt to go pro. Try it if you really feel you can do it. You may be questioning yourself the rest ofg your life!
 
H

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Consider the hourly rate you make at your current job. Say it's $20 an hour.

To earn the same amount playing poker as you do now, you'd need to play in a $10-$20 game for the same number of hours as you currently work, and show a consistent profit of at least one big blind / big bet every hour.

That means you need access to a reliable $10-$20 game for all those hours, and a bankroll to suit. That'd be... what, 30-50 buy-ins at $2000 apiece? So a bankroll of around $60-$100K?

If you'd like to earn more than your current job, you'd have to adjust the figures accordingly.
I like your suggestion and someone shouldn't leave current earnings until he/she can get that earning.
 
pokerace3454

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use pokertracker and ace hud look out for my poker coach blazed 187 if you want to fish about it if you play at pokerstars at NL$600
 
N

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I am new here, and I am just a casual player - learning ropes on PS - .50 / 1 NL.. I have a ton of real life experience at 1/2, 2/5 plus my wife and I hit the circuits when they are in MS...

First, I would love to know where rent is only like $500 a month.. and Gas is $100.

As a person who owns his own business, I would see going pro as taking even more risk than owning your own business. I would advice going Semi-Pro first... Keep your day job, especially if you have an exempt salary where you may not like it but it is providing you with an income where you don't worry about your money all the time... you have insurance, 401K, etc. Then stick with that, play online or in a casino during your spare time... Nothing says you can't work during the day and hit the cards from say 6 to 11 each night, plus 8 hours on Sat and Sun... over the course of a year, if you can make what you feel is a comfortable living live the DREAM
 
flint

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Also you could try something like Prostaker to minimize the risk you are taking when thinking of playing professionally.

Edit > Ups, that is only for Nordic players. I bet there are similar sites for players from other countries as well...
 
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Yea i'd agree with trying to go semi-pro first. Keep your day job, perhaps work a few less hours, then try to play ~5hrs a day and a little more on weekends. If it is working out after a year then maybe you should give going pro a shot. But i think at the start you want to supplement your income with poker rather than it being your sole income.
 
Munchrs

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semi pro would be what i would decide to do if i was going to attemt to go pro. I would get a job that is 3 days a week and can cover 60%+ of weekly expenses and play poke rthe rest of the week.

OP can we have some more info on what stakes/games you intend to play?
 
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Numenor80

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Well, whatever happens I wish you the best. If I were you I'd make sure I had a significant bankroll before making this HUGE decision
 
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Im also working to become a professional poker player. My situation is a little different. I actually lost my regular job and right now poker is my only option. That's a good thing though. I love the game and I do believe I will eventually make a lot of money.


You lost your job and you say poker is your only option? How about going out to find a job any job. Playing poker doesnt sound like the answer for you right now, with no income comming in.
 
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philber420

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Im also working to become a professional poker player. My situation is a little different. I actually lost my regular job and right now poker is my only option. That's a good thing though. I love the game and I do believe I will eventually make a lot of money.


You lost your job and you say poker is your only option? How about going out to find a job any job. Playing poker doesnt sound like the answer for you right now, with no income comming in.
 
BelgoSuisse

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semi pro would be what i would decide to do if i was going to attemt to go pro. I would get a job that is 3 days a week and can cover 60%+ of weekly expenses and play poke rthe rest of the week.

Same here. With the extra bonus that in france, if you have a regular job as your main activity, poker earnings are tax-free... :D

On the other hand, 20-tabling 25nl 8 hours a day 50 weeks per year as some suggest is probably one of the most unbearable job you can find.
 
BelgoSuisse

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Maybe it's just me, but I would never try to play poker for a living if I thought I'd make like 30k/year (meaning part of that 30k would have to be spent on benefits you usually get from a job). I'm assuming 60k-80k as a minimum yearly salary.

It's not just you, Zach. :)

I think 60k-80k is actually a bit low. If you can make that much money playing full time, you can probably do 15k-20k playing in your spare time in addition to your regular job, of which you keep full benefits. That's likely to be a much better deal in many cases.

I'd probably start considering playing poker full time if I could earn at least $100/hour. Which means I most likely won't ever.
 
AlexeiVronsky

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I'd have to agree that you shouldn't go pro at this point, you would be better served taking up poker as a second job until such time as it doesn't make sense for you to do your primary job anymore. I'd say you need to be making at least twice your income playing poker for an extended period of time, and have a fat bankroll. I'd also keep the bankroll completely separate so you can grow it at the fastest rate rather than using it to buy things to live on, and you should invest any part of your bankroll you're not likely to need in the near future in a highly liquid, low variance form that you can grab your money quickly if you have the need like in various length CDs depending how likely you are to need a certain portion of it at a given time.
 
aliengenius

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fwiw, most current pros didn't sit down and decide to just make it their career; rather, they woke up one day and realized that their "hobby" (into which they were putting all their free time) was making them more money than their current "real" job. In other words, the decision was made for them, after they already knew they could be (because they already were!) successful-- it wasn't a matter of guessing if they could make it or not.
 
sisko

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i read something about art. i am not sure i can translate it properly into english, so i will cut out all literature stuff. just replace art with poker

"if you dont want to be dissapointed in art, never see it as a job. no matter how talented you are, search money and power somewhere else. so if you cant get what u deserved, you wont be angry with art"
i will run a greenhouse, viva strawberries :beer:
 
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I play poker full time now and make a pretty good livin out of it, I wouldnt bank on how good u are or if u can make it in poker just on tournys. U have to be good in cash too bc thats where u can make some good money and it really helps ur game to improve. If u live near a casino then i would sugest playing there as much as possible but play online too, i would do like 70/30 in favor of casino. I started out with $5000 grand and went to tunica, Ms and built it to $15,000 and then went on to Atlantic City and then vegas. Now i play mostly online but get to the casinos atleast 3x a month.
 
Jurn8

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i play 600 hands in 2.5 hours FR playing 4 tables so is my hands per hour 240 or do i then divide it by 4 to get 60 because i was confused about when zach and somebody said they average 50 hands per hour when i thought i was doing 240 lol ??
 
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Running scripts with 12 tables or just clicking away? I dont even think I could see the cards on my current monitor with 12 tables. Can do 4 pretty easy though.
 
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