Fuck you RL

TBH, this sounds like an awful idea. If you have not relied on poker before, I would look for work with guaranteed pay. Online poker is stressful enough, let alone having to rely on your winnings to support yourself and your family

relying on poker as any source of income is a big risk, since it is so swingy. If you notice, most the guys that post here are in their early 20's and don't have families to support.

The best advice I can give you is not to rail on your wife and accuse her of "being non-supportive" if you have a continuous down swing. This could potentially ruin a relationship and she could eventually begin to resent you. Trust me I know....

supportin' my family playin NL5 yo...ballin outta control dawg

sounds like a really bad idea. Get a job 100% seriously get a real job. Play the sngs on the side. Online poker isnt even stable right now. Withdrawal/deposit problems all over the place

please get a job and develop your game/start playing higher limits before you start even considering doing this

That's just massively retarded, I can't believe you're actually considering this.

I feel like I may have worded my OP a little wierd. First, I am not even close to a major source of income for my household. Wife makes all the money, I quit my job and we moved so she could get a better job and blah blah blah I don't have a degree and this is a small college town with very few jobs on the market. I currently am unemployed with little to no options. I will continue looking for something and if something presents itself I will still take it, I just feel that doing this will make me more money and make both me and my wife happier than me working nights at Dominoes 20 hours a week for minimum wage. I really don't know of any places in the immediate area that are crappy jobs like that that are actually hiring. This is the weirdest overpopulated small town I've ever lived in and I really am running out of options. My wifes income is plenty for us to get by, my income is strictly extra stuff. Extra nights out, weekend adventures ect. If I get a job working rando part-time hours I will almost never see my wife, since the hours will likely be evenings and weekends, and my wife is a teacher.

As for playing/higher limits before I start doing this, I disagree. I don't feel like the amount of money I make is relevant. The only thing relevant is if it is more than working whatever minimum wage job I would find otherwise. If it is then the stake I'm playing at is irrelevant. Do I feel like I'd be successful playing $26 SnG's? Absolutely. Is variance going to be higher? Absolutely.

I understand why this sounds kinda degen-ish, from the OP but I'm not playing $6 SnG's to pay my mortgage, I'm doing it to pay for Buffalo Wild Wings next saturday.....

On February 06 2011 04:14 attik34 wrote: I feel like I may have worded my OP a little wierd. First, I am not even close to a major source of income for my household. Wife makes all the money, I quit my job and we moved so she could get a better job and blah blah blah I don't have a degree and this is a small college town with very few jobs on the market. I currently am unemployed with little to no options. I will continue looking for something and if something presents itself I will still take it, I just feel that doing this will make me more money and make both me and my wife happier than me working nights at Dominoes 20 hours a week for minimum wage. I really don't know of any places in the immediate area that are crappy jobs like that that are actually hiring. This is the weirdest overpopulated small town I've ever lived in and I really am running out of options. My wifes income is plenty for us to get by, my income is strictly extra stuff. Extra nights out, weekend adventures ect. If I get a job working rando part-time hours I will almost never see my wife, since the hours will likely be evenings and weekends, and my wife is a teacher. As for playing/higher limits before I start doing this, I disagree. I don't feel like the amount of money I make is relevant. The only thing relevant is if it is more than working whatever minimum wage job I would find otherwise. If it is then the stake I'm playing at is irrelevant. Do I feel like I'd be successful playing $26 SnG's? Absolutely. Is variance going to be higher? Absolutely. I understand why this sounds kinda degen-ish, from the OP but I'm not playing $6 SnG's to pay my mortgage, I'm doing it to pay for Buffalo Wild Wings next saturday.....

I think the main problem you have from what I have read is your current understanding of poker and the variance associated with it, in many different aspects. You can go on for months making right decisions, and you will not make any money, maybe even lose some. There is no regular income with poker unless you have a solid foundation already and have built a bankroll large enough to support the variance. You are starting with a very small BR and limited experience, if I am not mistaken that is, and are trying to make this like a normal job. It is not a normal job, and you should not trick your wife into thinking it in any way is.

It would be best, for yourself, your relationship, your peace of mind, etc. that you pursue this one step at a time. While it sucks, it would be best to get a job, generate a steady income and pursue poker on your time. Study the game, get more experience, and when you reach a stake where you can make a decent wage you are comfortable with, prove you are worthy of beating the level and then consider following through with your plan.

Ask wife for a loan, don't cash out, move up. I don't think 50% ROI is sustainable and rake is a killer at NL5/low SnG. You pay for your Buffalo wings next Sat when you could pay for restaurant meal a month down the line if you just wait and build your BR.

And I get your job situation, if it's something you actually actively enjoy and it's not just an easy buck for you and you won't jeopardize your family then to hell with them haters do what you want to do


I mean you give poker a shot for 2-6 months fulltime, it doesn't work out and you can always get one of them crappy jobs, it's not like people will stop eating pizzas in the meantime. And once you get babies you will never have the opportunity to try. Maybe you are the next Dwan and by not jumping into it you would be passing on Millions! And if you are not (as you very likely aren't) so what, you can pursue a challenging career in catering with no harm done

wtf? all very dumb suggestions. sell the car!!!

Yeah, like do you have 2 cars between you two? If you do, snap sell one

As far as my BR I'm getting staked so "building a bankroll" is simply me building reputation as a reliable, profitable horse. I'm choosing the 6 dollar level because I know I can get staked so I have to risk zero of my own money. I feel like Lem0n has my mindset about it. Its mostly something I'm trying out, as opposed to a job that if its there now, it will be there in a month or so, and my lack of income is the same either way at the time being. And as I said before with the 50 percent ROI, it's probably not sustainable, but I see no reason that 20 wouldn't be. And in that case I'd be playing enough volume to average well over 100 a week which would accomplish alot more than McDonald's. I understand the variance associated with poker, which is why I picked a game that I feel has, comparitively low variance to other forms of poker. I could play MTT's. I KNOW I'd have a great ROI in 5 and under MTT, but that is variance city. I have a few friends that do this for a living. One is on a 20k downswing in MTTs. I get it, variance happens. In my last Staking opportunity I started with 250, it dropped to 100 then in about a week and a half went up to 800. I know that 30 BI downswings will happen. And I'm prepared for that.

As of right now I have nothing better to do than take a shot with sick volume and see where it gets me. I know people make a living at this level. I saw someone who was up like 100k in 4 dollar 180 mans last year. I'm not expecting 100k, I'm expecting like 4k lol...

My main beef with a crap job right now is the scheduling conflict with the wife. I feel like never seeing each other is going to be worse on our relationship than anything else. If I could find a job that would schedule me between 9-5 on weekdays I'd be all over that and play as I have been for extra cash to blow on all the things my wife says I can't have.

Anyways, I understand all of your concern and appreciate everyones advice. I will make it a point to keep actively blogging my progress here. I love the LP community and know that surrounding yourself with a good group is what allows you to progress. It also helps seeing that other people run bad.

As far as the cars thing I do have a shit car, that wouldn't be worth the effort of selling. Her car is the the nice one that mommy and daddy bought. AAAAAnd its the one that decided it needed a new alternator or however u spellz it.

i dont know anything about sngs but 50% roi sounds ridiculously high o_O. whats your sample size on that

20% also sounds pretty high...check what kind of roi the best players have

On February 06 2011 05:29 attik34 wrote: I understand the variance associated with poker, which is why I picked a game that I feel has, comparitively low variance to other forms of poker.

arent sngs super high variance?

i think microstakes cash would be lower variance.

Not as high as MTT's. I'd agree that Microcash would be less, but I can't get staked for that...thus for me its less variance since I have no risk of ruin with the SnG's since i'm being staked

The past few years has been the toughest yet for new and upcoming poker players to make their mark. I personally think if you came into the scene post 2005-2006ish, that you missed the bus. I can see your pretty set on this and honestly seem like a good guy, so best of luck pal.

I kinda understand missed that bus to an extent. The game isn't just FULL of fish. I was watching a video on Cardrunners and this coach was really suprised about how many NITs there are at the NL10 level. I really think its interesting given how much info is out there, so many people still don't have a clue. I still feel like the game is weak in general in the low to mid stakes and gets pretty tough after that. I have made a few really good friends who play at the highest level online, and people still do some terrible terrible things. And obviously thats where the money is made aside from run good. Even though the game is much tougher than it has ever been, I know I'm well ahead of that curve in the low buy-ins, and I know I'm doing as much or more to improve my game to a point that I can move to the mid buy-ins.

Thanks for the wishes Shenny!

This reminds me of my father because he gave up his job moving to U.S and my mom's been the main source of income for my family. I could see that he was feeling extremely frustrated because he was an Asian alpha-male type of a guy that needed to be the "man of the house." Then one day he decided to do all the housework and helped my mom prep for work and such. He also went to cooking classes to learn how to cook. Nearly every night, he gives my mother massages he self taught and even bought a real massage bed thing. Sure he wasn't the breadwinner anymore but my respect for him grew enormously because he was able to give up his pride instilled into him by the Asian culture and play the supporting role the best he possibly could. Yes my dad is fucking awesome.

I'm guessing your wife is a professor seeing as how you moved to a small college town. I'm sure your wife is an intelligent enough a person to not buy into the whole stereotype about the man having to make money. I think it's your job to do the housework and such and let your wife know your doing your best to perform your own role in the family. I believe spouses should be able to share a bank account and you shouldn't have to worry about not having enough money to repair your own car... It should be our car and our money.

Anyhow, I'd try to keep your BR growing and not withdraw every week or else you're just going to grind nl5 endlessly for buffalo wings and imo it's a waste of time and opportunity.

I really wish you the best of luck and hope that you find a way to let your BR grow instead and move up in stakes. (But only if you're ready to put in time/patience/frustration into studying the game to compete with guys at higher stakes)

I hope I didn't come off as trying to criticize you or how you and your wife run your marriage. I just believe there are better alternatives to make better of your situation.

I actually completely agree. Its been tough trying to get stuff figured out with me not working. I'm a 25 year old guy and dishes/laundry don't cross my mind til I'm out of paper plates and naked so helping out has had to be SUPER forced by me. Wife actually just teaches High School, but she knows the deal with the job. The big reason I need to come up with something is because I'm bad at wanting things. It used to be good when I had a job, I'd make some money playing poker, and spend it instantly. Especially now that I'm getting staked. All of my profit is mine to keep and I don't have to save any of it back to build a BR. The NL5 stuff is more just a personal thing that I'd like to do. I was watching some cash videos of moving a $200 BR from 200 to 10k using just rush cash games, and the guy does a great job of coaching through the video series. Really got me into it and I really felt like it would be a great supplement to add to my SNG's for alot of reasons.

Firstly I tend to spew when my tables get too far below my comfort level. I know this is mostly a discipline problem, but if I can prevent it by throwing in a rush table then I think its a very profitable idea.

Secondly I've done a great job in the past of starting with something, show good results, and then for whatever reason I just kinda stop playing, then do the standard degen thing and play a few $20 tournies with what took me a month to grind out at NL2. I wanted to really focus up and prove to myself that I could not only beat the micros (which I will freaking do) but that I could keep to a plan stick with the game and build something I could be proud of.

Third, after all that is done with and I've beaten micros and gotten to a level that I feel is very profitable, I can now use this to make the terrible impulse purchases that I often want to make . (example: I really really want a 4 wheel drive vehicle, because I hate my car and we live on a death hill where the city finds it fun to NOT plow our road when it snows. Soooo I could say ok im at this point, and when I earn enough to go buy this freakin used Jeep, I'm buying it... done)

My primary income from this plan is NOT the NL5. That money stays on til I'm beating NL50 or something, not going to set a goal but yeah, that money is going to be my pokerfund where I get to try and run it up and make bad purchases >.>

The primary income is from rolling over staked SNG's. I've been staked $200 to play just $6 90mans. The stake will end after it reaches $400. I would get half of the profit ($100) every time I do this. So the goal is to roll one of these over once a week. After I've had some success at this and I see what kind of volume I can actually put in, I will try to move up slowly. I've done staking things like this before where I splashed some $12's in and didn't really think they were that much tougher. Over a small sample I broke even, and I know for a fact that I had 2 of the worst beats I've ever been dealt on 2 FT's in them so that has something to do with the eveness in them. I feel like I'm progressing alot and will be profitable at this level. If nothing else it all comes down to shove fold, and I basically use an equilibrium chart for that, sooooo go go profit I suppose.