20 years or more doing a full time job, you'll wish you were playing poker full time .
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.
Just win the WSOP then play casual poker, I am sure that is the best way out
I like your suggestion and someone shouldn't leave current earnings until he/she can get that earning.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.
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.
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.
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.
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.