Poker as a job...

ok you're going to want to be dead serious about poker if you are going to go anyway. You have 2 months to play until you can make $20 an hour so you better work your ass off until you can achieve that. My advice is to grind your current limit and try to play at least 6 tables at once comfortably, preferrably 8. Play all fucking day. Then, do that for a couple days, and take a day to talk to other players and find out what you need to change/adjust in your game. Play for a few days again all fucking day and improve and beat the game more. Rinse/Repeat, move up limits. Do this until you are at 50 nl and you will make $20 an hour.

Basically, if you want something, you have to go and get it, you can't be a pussy and expect things to be given to you.

yea man i feel like this all the time. I am fortunate enough to be pretty financially stable due to my parents and also am doing pretty good career wise(enterting my 2nd internship this summer after my junior year). I have made money playing poker but i just all these people making so much. I have played a lot of hands, but i guess i have ever 'grinded' my way through cash like most of these people. I have never had HEM or PT3 tiill now, and I honestly think that is the way to go. Grinding NLHE cash is prolly the best way and getting the help you can is essential. Get PT3(since HEM sucks apparently see thread) get a CR or DC suscription(i'm getting one when i feel i will have the time to watch) and just grind it out. Talk to Uptown, who is at NL100 after about oh 1 month starting at NL2 and being terrible. Talk to other people who you are have seen move up stakes at a good rate and get a feel of how they think. Haha, i'm like giving advice to myself since i am just beginning to do this. So anyway, definitely try your best and good luck!

On March 01 2009 03:06 Big_Rob_48 wrote: ok you're going to want to be dead serious about poker if you are going to go anyway. You have 2 months to play until you can make $20 an hour so you better work your ass off until you can achieve that. My advice is to grind your current limit and try to play at least 6 tables at once comfortably, preferrably 8. Play all fucking day. Then, do that for a couple days, and take a day to talk to other players and find out what you need to change/adjust in your game. Play for a few days again all fucking day and improve and beat the game more. Rinse/Repeat, move up limits. Do this until you are at 50 nl and you will make $20 an hour. Basically, if you want something, you have to go and get it, you can't be a pussy and expect things to be given to you.

I know. I'm saying that I've got two free months to put 16 hours a day into this and do all the work I can to make it happen. I want to fuck my mind every day until it can't take anymore, sleep, then repeat.

Where can I find good players to talk with? Forum posts? Hand posting? Is there a chat somewhere where I can seek advice?

at nl 50 you can make 15$ an hour without a great winrate, if u 16 table nl50 FR on ftp u make 10$ an hour from rakeback. But i dont know many people that can 16 table for as many hours a day as they could work.. when 16 tabling your making a decision every second, do that for an hour and your brain is pretty tired.. its VERY hard to do that for 8 hours a day every day.. it would insta burn me out, plus you have to be very good at playing lots of tables.. i duno, i made the mistake of living on my own from nl10 and up.. and it was a huge mistake, i quit my job and started playing full time.. now i have to cash out 10 - 20 bi a month just to live the way i do, and im very lazy , and poker has taught me to not value money, and changed me ALOT in bad ways.. my overall advice is dont do it, ive done it, and it was a mistake.

get a job, keep it, grind on the side, wait till ur at nl200 or able to do very well at nl100, then get on ur own if you really want to.. but trust me, having a job is still awesome, its a way to meet people outside poker, meet girls, and be able to socialize. Having a part time job would probably be a very fun part of my life if i chose to get one right now.. im just 2 lazy to show up somewhere when needed lol.

poker as a profession has great risk in terms of job security and longterm future, especially if you are unable to be profitable live. It's a risk reward situation just like any other, and I would imagine that the people who have taken the poker route fully understand this. I remember Myth mentioning how he gave up a career in Biotech to pursue poker, Daut gave up PHD in physics, etc which are great livelihoods to go into. But they were willing to take the risks and put in the work and have come out successful.

dude dont do it ..poker really isnt fun then u take it as job..

On March 01 2009 03:09 Sliggy wrote: Is there a chat somewhere where I can seek advice?

There's #liquidpoker in quakenet, but no one ever talks in there when I go in. Maybe it has some activity during Australian hours.

I cant see poker lasting long enough for it to be a job

You won't make it if you don't have good self-discipline.

Most likely scenario is you will be sick motivated, especially after reading big_rob_48's post, and you'll have a 'do or die' mentality/believe you'll do anything it takes but you will burn out very quickly without any previous experience.

My advice is download the e-book 'Self-Discipline in 10 days' by Theodore Bryant, and get the free 7 day trial on deucescracked and try to watch at least 2 microstakes series videos/day and dl the rest you can't finish in 7 days (subscribe and pay once you get a solid roll and can afford it obv). You should also build a 'optimal' schedule you'll want to follow and make small changes daily until you're following it 100%. When you set your goals, try not to make goals like '3 buy-ins a day' or 'move up two limits this month'; set goals that'll help you improve and maximize % of time spent playing your A-game in each session..

all i can say is, when your playing good, and running good dont get lazy in the mind and think the heater will keep lasting. ALWAYS be on your A game, because a downswing is always around the corner.

i agree with the others that say that doing poker for financial reasons makes the game really really boring.

i make approx 30/hr playing nl25 with a decent win rate 9 tabling, but honestly, do it because you like playing. once you play for a living, it becomes way different, and i feel like this is just a cop out to a real job. like everyone said before, you really need to look at yourself before commiting your life to the sick life.

On March 01 2009 03:13 milkman wrote: at nl 50 you can make 15$ an hour without a great winrate, if u 16 table nl50 FR on ftp u make 10$ an hour from rakeback. But i dont know many people that can 16 table for as many hours a day as they could work.. when 16 tabling your making a decision every second, do that for an hour and your brain is pretty tired.. its VERY hard to do that for 8 hours a day every day.. it would insta burn me out, plus you have to be very good at playing lots of tables.. i duno, i made the mistake of living on my own from nl10 and up.. and it was a huge mistake, i quit my job and started playing full time.. now i have to cash out 10 - 20 bi a month just to live the way i do, and im very lazy , and poker has taught me to not value money, and changed me ALOT in bad ways.. my overall advice is dont do it, ive done it, and it was a mistake. get a job, keep it, grind on the side, wait till ur at nl200 or able to do very well at nl100, then get on ur own if you really want to.. but trust me, having a job is still awesome, its a way to meet people outside poker, meet girls, and be able to socialize. Having a part time job would probably be a very fun part of my life if i chose to get one right now.. im just 2 lazy to show up somewhere when needed lol.

I don't have the experience of playing for a living at low limits, but I can tell you there was a long time that I really wanted to play for a living. It didn't work out because I had these set goals of having to make x an hour be at x limit by x day so I can live my dream and do what I want. You start wanting it to much and forcing it. SInce then I decided to put my degree to use and got a good job. I started playing again for fun when I felt like playing and my game was just so much better. I'd recommend what Milk is saying, get a job and grind on the side. You never have to worry about how you're going to eat and you're bankroll is 100% your bankroll so you can move up faster and take more aggressive shots if you want because if you go broke it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

I am left without choices.

It is starting tryin poker in next 2 months to build roll and live from it.

I've like 9 months from there to estabilish good bankroll.


or, I can spend my whole life working as taxi driver or so..

well, it's never too late for school, but I missed so much of it that im rly confused and will give poker a try..

what im worried about, is my girlfriend

dude dont do it ..poker really isnt fun then u take it as job..

Once you are really well-rolled..

whats not fun in playing tournaments all over the world?

i don't want to do this forever. i'd just like to do this while I'm attending school. if i can make 20 an hour that'd be fantastic! i'd make a lot more money because my hours would be way more flexible and i'd save money not having to drive to work / buy a uniform. i also don't like bosses / dealing with people

On March 01 2009 04:24 ck20 wrote: I am left without choices. It is starting tryin poker in next 2 months to build roll and live from it. I've like 9 months from there to estabilish good bankroll. or, I can spend my whole life working as taxi driver or so.. well, it's never too late for school, but I missed so much of it that im rly confused and will give poker a try.. what im worried about, is my girlfriend Show nested quote + dude dont do it ..poker really isnt fun then u take it as job.. Once you are really well-rolled.. whats not fun in playing tournaments all over the world?

dude u have abs no idea how low of a % of people are lucky enough smart enough and determined enough to be able to travel around the world and play tournaments.. it costs SOOO Much money to do that shit. Just your outlook "im out of choices" and being stupid about it mixed with how much harder poker is and the % of people trying to make a living at it now, u have very close to 0% of ever making it to what your thinking about..

but doesn't that basically mean that you have to play NL10, make a winning and cash out all of the $20/h profit to pay rent/food etc.? in the end that makes it hard for you to move up unless you have a bit saved up money in the bank or so

awh nevermind, just saw the parent-part. gl with your endeavours mate

In 2 months I worked my way from nl5 to nl100. (and now i still play it the cash out degen i am)
I'm a student who lives on his own ofc and have a lot of side activity's that cost quite a bunch of money. Poker is an excellent job for this as you do make around 3-4k a month. Everyone says don't do it and stuff but I think you should do it. BUT you need to invest A LOT OF TIME in getting better, vids, talking about HH's with other people, everything that makes you think about the game.

first thing you should do is dont play on stars on low stakes. get something with preferably high rakeback and you will be fine once you reach like nl50