Winning
I remember the first time I played in a brick and mortar casino. It was the early 80s, a 2/4 limit Hold'em game. I had no long term strategy, and I dominated the game while playing the most ridiculous
hands. Won hundreds of dollars.
After losing during my next 2 visits, I invested in every poker book I could find. Read them all, tightened up my game and started winning more consistently. Over several years I worked my way up the ladder until I had enough payroll to play in the 15/30 games which was the highest level games they had, and that size game was seldom in play. I usually ended up playing in the 10/20 games and maybe 2 or 3 times a month a 15/30 game would be in play.
So, to answer your question, I started winning consistently early, after about the second month. That's not to say I didn't suffer bad beats and losing streaks, but overall my bankroll improved until I
started living off the winnings and began
traveling in search of bigger games. Made enough to support a 6 member family in comfort for several years. Then disaster struck, which had nothing to do with playing poker.
I switched to no-limit when I started playing online. Hey, when in Rome.
It didn't take me long to start building my bankrolls again, but I already had the basics down from when I played limit.