Going Pro, Your thoughts and a question or two(fairly long)

[WannaGoPro]

I have been thinking for a while about trying to go pro and before all you veterans out there shake your head and think "oh no not another one" let me say I have no delusions about the difficulty in doing this.

I have thought this out carefully and will make an attempt to do so after certain conditions have been met.Here is some background info on myself.

I have been playing poker about 1-2 times per week at the casinos for the past 9 years (since I was first old enough to step into the casinos. I never kept accurate records of my wins or losses in the casinos as this was purely a hobby for me, something I enjoyed. If i am to be truly honest with myself, I would say I was a break-even player. Approximateky 18 months ago, last January to be exact a friend introduced me to Online Poker and I was immediately hooked. There was no commute, no tippig the dealers, instant access, lower rakes, huge selection of games etc, etc.

I have been self employed for the past 7 years and because of my fairly long work week anywhere from 40 -60 hours a week, I started to play poker only online as it is much more convienient. I dabbled in the micro limits for a while until I was comfortable and trusting of the fairness of the game regarding the random number generator cashouts etc., then I jumped into the 1-2 and 2-4 limits. After losing about $1000 i realized I wasn't as good as I thought I was,(hell I wasn't a fish I was the king fish) got mad at myself and then decided to really study the game.

This is when my game really started to improve. I bought some books, searched the internet for forums such as this one and bought Poker Tracker. In April 2003 I reinvested $1000 into 2 sites, $500 into Pacifc Poker, and $500 into Party Poker, with bonuses That brought my bankroll up to $1200 spilt between the two sites. Since then my bankroll has acccumalted up to $27,300 I have been playing 20-25 hours per week and I have 203,318 hands in my Poker Tracker Database from Party poker. I am making 5.42 BB/100 hands, I have none in there from Pacific as it doesnt work there.

My current setup is I multitable: 1, 3-6 table at Pacific and 3, 1-2 tables at Party


I am 28 years old, have a 2 year old daughter and I am engaged to get married on Nov 15 of this year. I have responsibilities and I am not going to make a foolhardy decision. I used to joke with my fiance and friends about "going Pro" and at some point I realized it stopped becoming a joke and I was serious. My fiance realized this at the same time I did and was "uncomfortable" with the idea. My fiance is a police officer and she has these visions in her head of people asking her what her husband does for a living or me getting shot after I take some russian mafia guy for a couple of grand in a game of poker in an underground club(she got this last idea from the movie rounders even thou no one gets shot in the movie)After many long discussions we came to an agreement:

When I sell my business which will be sometime in the fall of 2005 or the summer of 2006,(It is important to note that I was planning on selling it anyway as I am really starting to hate it, I am NOT selling it because I want to take a shot at going pro) I will set up a seperate account for poker in which a one time deposit of $15,000 US will be placed. If that is gone then so is my poker career. I need to be completely honest with my fiannce about my win/loss record. This is a poker bankroll only we do not need living expenses from this. We make a comfortable living between the two of us and for the one year that I am going to try this living expenses are in no way an issue even if I lose it all. Anything I win will be kept as a bankroll until I get to the point where I decide I feel comfortable taking out my winnings as extra income. If in a one Year period It is not working out then I stop playing for a living, keep it asa hobby and go out and buy myself a new business and get back to work.

I would be intersted in hearing what those of you who have attempted this or are doing this think about what I have said. I am playing 4 tables at once averaging 5.42 BB/100 hands at Party with a Poker Tracker database of 203,318 hands at the 1-2 limits doing 3 tables at once and have won $15,928 at Pacific playing 1 table of 3-6 for a BB per hour of 2.6 This data also reflects the fact that I have been multi-tabling exclusively. If i was playing only 1 table my BB/100 hands would be up higher but my return would be lower

I firmly believe that I have suficient data to prove that I am a winning player and I am going to make the plunge when I sell my business so long as I keep winning.

It might also be important to note that I live in Canada so the $27,000US I have made is $35,000 Canadian. Also Casino winnings in Canada are tax free, even from overseas casinos. I am certain about this as I have had my accountant check into this about 3 months ago when my income tax was due. I am currently making about $80,000 per year and I realize that I can not expect to make that much playing low limits, or possibly at all as I gradually move up into the higher limits and I am ok with that. If I can do about 40-50k per year Canadian which is about 35k US I will be happy

My plan is to slowly progress throught the limits and do the "David Ross Thing."

Is there anyone out ther making a living multi-tabling at low limits? Everyone seems to be stuck on the idea that you need to play at a minimum 10-20 to barely eke out a living and I dont understand why people dont multi-table at lower limts where the competition is much easier.

Any feedback would be welcome

[Ulysses]

Just to clarify, this post is about what you're going to do in either late 2005 or mid 2006?

As far as your ability to succeed, I hope you're better at playing poker than searching for information on the Internet, as this topic has been discussed in dozens of threads on this forum. You should play around with the "Search" feature here to find many takes on the questions you pose.

[bicyclekick]

I bet you'll do well, at least for a few years /images/graemlins/smile.gif. You've been self imployed for so long so you know what it's like to be at home a lot. Like that, you'll probably burn out from this too. Not that it'll stop you necisarily, you'll just not like it.

5.6bb/100 after 200k hands? I believe you, but that's astronomical. A streak of 20k at that is a lot more reasonable, but damn, 200,000 hands is a lot. If you can beat that game for that mcuh, why in goodness sake are you only playing 1/2? I can't imagine you to not be a winning player at 3/6, let alone be able to beat party 15/30 right now.

[BreakEvenPlayer]

If you beat the $1-$2 game for 5.42 BB/100 3-tabling, there is no reason that you should continue playing that level.

[Webster]

Don't forget the fact that if you are a pro you will ALWAYS feel guilty about taking time off instead of playing.

2 week vacations will make you feel like you SHOULD be playing. DOn't forget about health insurance for you and the kids, don't forget about retirement savings.

[Baulucky]

I have been living off 1-2 and bonus whoring as only income for the last 6 months, more poker than whoring in the last 3 months. But I own my house, car, and have no major expenses (no taxes either in my country for gambling online). My last 3 months average at $2.4K/month.

I understand you hating your small business or a job. I'm starting to tire of poker too, it's a gruelling grind. I'm still coping with looking at it as a job. My BB/hr is much lower than yours. I also want to move to higher limits, and I can't play 4 tables for any sustained length of time, 3 is my comfortable number. My short term goal is to play 5-10 like I play 1-2 today (same BB/Hr of ~2.7), and I will shoot to be playing 15-30, 20-40 by the end of the year.

I think your $35K a year goal is quite achievable, but putting in the hours (even at 5-6 per day, 1 day off a week) is quite hard for me. I would not trade it for a job that paid the same or even 50% better. As it currently is, I can't get any job in my country paying even half, so I have no choice.

Taking 1 year and $15K to test yourself sounds great to me. Most businesses take more $ and more time to define their profitability. You even have time to move up in limits before you sell your business. Nice plan.

[O Doyle Rules]

Two Suggestions:

Immediately start multi-tabling Party's $3/$6. You are leaving way too much money on the table.

Find an Empire affiliate who offers a rake rebate. The rake return would be huge for you, especially if you start playing 40 plus hours.

Between your increased winnings at $3/$6 and the rake return, you have an earning potential in excess of $80K per year.

Two Negatives:

I am one that still wonders about the long term viability of being an "online pro". I think there are too many clouds on the horizon that could potentially impact the profitability of online play.

Multi-tabling online could quickly become a grind and then it would seem like any other type of work.

[Fudomyo]

I find it odd that you've played 200k hands and you have no clue how you play at 5/10 or 15/30? I've played about a 10th of what you have and I've at least played in those and know my win/loss rate there. It seems like this would be prime info to someone like you who wants to go pro.

Have you tried any higher limits?

[davidross]

Clearly you're not doing this on a whim, so if you have done all the analysis and still want to go for it, then do it. Your win rate is phenomenal, the best I've ever heard of, so you should be able to win enough. As a fellow canadian I need to point out to you that gambling winnings become taxable if they are your only source of income, you can be declared a professional gambler. THere was a famous case of a guy who made all his money playing pro-line and had to pay thousands in taxes.

I thank my lucky stars every day that I stumbled on this as a way to make a living. I don't miss the commute to work, or the endless meetings of the corporate world. I hope the good games last forever. As someone else mentioned, try to get hooked up on an affiliate programand get some of that rake back.

As I have discovered, the sooner you move up in limits the better. First of all you don't need as high a win rate, and the effect of the rake is greatly reduced.

Dealing with the family thing is tougher. My mother doesn't want anyone to know what I do, and although my wife has been terrific and supportive, she doesn't like me talking about it to other people either. I also worry about my kids thinking that I just play games all day and don't really work, so why should they.

I'm sure you will be successful.

[Baulucky]

Hi David, I hope all is well:

How is your BB/hr holding at 15-30?. Have you tested the 30-60 for any meaningful amount of time?. Or the 40-80 at Paradise?.

I wonder what goes thru your mind after "graduating" from that year of intensive poker hours.

[O Doyle Rules]

[ QUOTE ]

As I have discovered, the sooner you move up in limits the better. First of all you don't need as high a win rate, and the effect of the rake is greatly reduced.


[/ QUOTE ]

I know this to be true, but I am struggling with the mental aspect of handling money swings which are three times as large even though I have the bankroll to support it:

150 BB downturn at $5/$10 = $ 1,500
vs.
150 BB downturn at $15/$30 = $ 4,500

To David and others, do these swings hurt (mentally) three times as bad or do they now feel the same as the lower limits since you've now been playing $15/$30 for some time?

[cardcounter0]

150 BB downturn at $5/$10 = $ 1,500
vs.
150 BB downturn at $15/$30 = $ 4,500


The professional looks at each as 150 BB lost. The minute you start converting BBs into actual dollars you are lost.

"I could have bought a really nice {insert desirable object here}" -versus- "I lost 150 BBs."

See the difference? The only difference in limits should be the color of the little round clay objects you use to keep score.

[O Doyle Rules]

Thanks Card,

You are exactly right. I haven't got to this level of thinking at $15/$30. I think it is because of the dramatic jump in stakes from the $5/$10. No one likes a 150 BB downturn, but I am confident enough in my play at $5/$10 that I accept it as a normal event, one that my long term play will overcome. I am still definitely thinking in terms of dollars at $15/$30, and I am not sure how quickly my thinking will adjust the dollars into just big bets. I view $ 4,500 as a good sum of money....

[davidross]

THings are going very well thanks. My win rate has settled in at 1.5 BB/100 hands. I haven't even thought about trying 30/60 or higher. Unless I plan on trying it for an extended period of time, i feel like I'm just gambling. I'm trying a lot of tournaments and that keeps it fresh for now.

[davidross]

It really only hit me hard the first couple of weeks. Remember the wins are bigger too, and since my expenses haven't changed, we've been able to sock away a very nice "reserve" fund. Having that sort of security really helps me to ignore the $2,000 losses that happen once a week, and the 5K losses that seem to happen every couple of months.

I still curse the gods while I'm in the midst of them, but I don't lose any sleep after I'm done for the day.

[lowroller]

I am one that still wonders about the long term viability of being an "online pro". I think there are too many clouds on the horizon that could potentially impact the profitability of online play.

O'Doyle, could you give your thoughts on this??

[MicroBob]

it may or may not be around for the long-term...but for now it seems do-able.

there are at least a few players on here that i know of who derive their sole source of income from low-limits and bonus-whoring.

i'm passing the 3 month mark since i left my low-paying job....and i have made more than my monthly-nut each month and my bankroll is slowly growing.

i have enough to play higher if i like...but i'm taking it slowly and just growing a little bit at a time....even if that means i have to put in a few more hours each week.

i'm 40+ hours each week...because less than that and i get worried about the effects of a losing streak.


i'm playing anywhere from 1-2 to 3-6 limit, and NL-25 and NL-50 (with some quick stretches into NL-100). anywhere from 3-8 tables....usually 4-5 but it varies depending on mood.
i know of a couple other players on 2+2 who make their living on the low-limits.
right now i'm also collecting bonus-dollars playing SNG's at UB becuase they are offering a special promotion this month.


no shame in making your living at 3/6.
4 tables X 1.1BB/hr = $25/hr = $1k/wk (40 hrs) = $50k/yr

i'm making less than that on the lower tables right now...but i suspect that i can make it reasonably safely to the $1k/wk range reasonably soon....and perhaps can continue to move up from there.


more to the point....i freaking LOVE it.
i enjoy my new "job" immensely.
i either take my laptop down to the internet coffee-place down the street and sip a latte if i want to get out of my abode....or i'm "working" at home while surfing 2+2 and watching a ball-game or a clint eastwood movie on TV.

i have a flexible schedule and can work when i want. obviously the night games are a bit better....but i'm a night-owl anyway so that works out fine for me.

the free time allows me to see my GF whenever she is off work (she is a nurse at a hospital and her days change each week)...i also have more time for other things such as getting in shape a bit via running and an adult soccer league....things that were virtually impossible to fit into a busy 'regular' work-week schedule.
and i'm saving a ton on gas money by not having to make a long commute to work for tight-wad, mean employers/supervisors.


you seem to have a workable plan.....and an insane win-rate (especially weird that you never moved up).
the gravy-train of online poker may or may not last forever....anything can happen and if it goes south for whatever reason (tougher games....legislation...whatever) then i'll have to adjust somehow or pursue other employment.
but for now it's working out great for me and i suspect that you should do just fine.

[Webster]

[ QUOTE ]
Dealing with the family thing is tougher. My mother doesn't want anyone to know what I do, and although my wife has been terrific and supportive, she doesn't like me talking about it to other people either. I also worry about my kids thinking that I just play games all day and don't really work, so why should they.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's funny - I only play 20-25 hours a week but I can't stop wife and kids FROM talking about it - I wish they would keep quite!!! At the moment I'm only playing small stakes and only for vacations money to USVI but . . . the dream is always there.

[O Doyle Rules]

Hey Lowroller,

My approach to most things tend towards the more conservative side, which I would view staking one's entire future on playing online poker not a good long term plan.

I think there are several outside influences that could potentially impact online poker's long term profitability:

1. Federal/State efforts to stop it through legislation/regulation/prosecution/intimidation, etc.

2. Technology--Bots that can play ABC poker online at a profit. We are fast approaching this day. What will happen when a program becomes available to do this? (PokerOffice is a huge step in that direction) Human greed being what it is, how many of us could resist not buying a program that could play profitably while unattended? What will happen when more than half of the players sitting at the table are bots?

3. Media -- They giveth and they taketh away. What happens when the fascination with poker in the media fades? (Or even goes negative about online poker -- Addicting our youth to gambling?) Any good farm pond that is fished will need to be restocked.

4. This could be the same as the Daytraders in the 90's, a fad that does not last. What happens when the number of players at Party drops to 4,000 instead of 40,000?

All this negative stuff aside, I do view online poker as a heck of an opportunity, how long this window of opportunity stays open is what I question.

[Baulucky]

It's nice that greed hasn't gotten into you. Great job.

[O Doyle Rules]

Didn't say I wasn't greedy. In fact, I think by definition a winning poker player exploits their greed to its fullest extent. (Excluding cheating)

[OrangeHeat]

[ QUOTE ]
we've been able to sock away a very nice "reserve" fund.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes - Having a bigger bankroll makes things much more comfortable as you move up. I am trying to keep 400-500BB's now. Losing 150BB isn't too bad when you have 350 left.

Orange

[beachbum]

O Doyle, I couldn't agree with point 4 more. I graduated with my mechanical engineering degree in '98 and worked as an engineer for 3 years. During that time, the stock trading bug bit me and I decided to try it professionally. So in early '02, I packed up the U-haul, passed my Series-7 exam, and headed for sunny California where I got a job with a professional trading firm while a friend in the biz helped me get started.

Long story short, I got a job as an engineer again late April of this year. I was officially a daytrader for 2 years, but transitioned into paying the bills playing poker online starting in January of this year. My last trading office I worked at, my manager was one of Chris Ferguson's best friends and officially the CEO now of Fulltiltpoker.com's company. They got me into poker and taught me the game, so a short 4 months after I started playing I could make a living at it.

My point is he (as well as many, many others) would tell me how EASY it was to make a lot of money as a trader. For about a 3 year window from '98-'00, they would tell me idiots made $250K per year, while good traders pushed a million per. When I got started in '02 it was tough and just got tougher. I finally had to quit because it became incredibly tough just to pay my bills, while I saw trader after trader blow their accounts up.

I finally had to consider my future and figure if I wanted to get back into my degreed field, that window was only open for a short period of time longer. Life as a trader was miserable for a freakin' year and a half. Life as a poker player was much easier, but still emotionally challenging. It had less bankroll requirement, less variance, less downside risk, much better hours, etc. However, the 2 occupations are sisters of each other and the thing that made trading very lucrative (lots of liquidity, extreme popularity, everyday people "willing" to lose some money at it, etc.), is making poker lucrative now.

I still play for fun, and extra income. I've switched from grinding out a living at 3,3-6 tables to strictly MTT play. This variance is much higher, but I don't care so much about it since I have a regular income coming in. I miss playing for a living most days as I leave at 7am and get back from the commute at 6:30 pm, but I think it was the right move. For the same reasons I quit as a trader are why I'm not a pro poker player anymore. I just don't want to wake up 5 years later, hate playing poker, find online play super-hard, have no other job skills, and not be able to get an engineering job again.

Roy Cooke from Cardplayer.com wrote an article on it: http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_magazine/archives/?a_id=13397 . It's accurate and eye-opening and I can relate to every point he makes about the downsides, except for drug abuse. I'd love to hear any comments or further discussion.

[AlexM]

[ QUOTE ]
Also Casino winnings in Canada are tax free, even from overseas casinos. I am certain about this as I have had my accountant check into this about 3 months ago when my income tax was due.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seriously? I wonder how hard it is to become a Canadian citizen. /images/graemlins/wink.gif (and also how hard it is for a Canadian citizen to live in the U.S.) /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[ QUOTE ]
I am currently making about $80,000 per year and I realize that I can not expect to make that much playing low limits

[/ QUOTE ]

Why not? When I was playing 2/4 on Party, I was making about $10 an hour per table. With 4 tables at 40 hours a week, that's $10*4*40*52 = $83,200. Maybe you can't *expect* to make that much at low limits, but it's not all that hard either.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
Also Casino winnings in Canada are tax free, even from overseas casinos. I am certain about this as I have had my accountant check into this about 3 months ago when my income tax was due.


[/ QUOTE ]

i believe that david ross (canadian internet professional player) posted that you do indeed have to pay taxes if it is your sole source of income...or something like that.
he said something about writing the book about his experiences as one way to avoid having to pay taxes on all his winnings.


note - i've actually BEEN to canada (several times in fact) but this doesn't exactly make me an expert on their tax laws. just repeating what i remembered reading in these fora.

[stocktrader23]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Lowroller,

My approach to most things tend towards the more conservative side, which I would view staking one's entire future on playing online poker not a good long term plan.

I think there are several outside influences that could potentially impact online poker's long term profitability:

1. Federal/State efforts to stop it through legislation/regulation/prosecution/intimidation, etc.

2. Technology--Bots that can play ABC poker online at a profit. We are fast approaching this day. What will happen when a program becomes available to do this? (PokerOffice is a huge step in that direction) Human greed being what it is, how many of us could resist not buying a program that could play profitably while unattended? What will happen when more than half of the players sitting at the table are bots?

3. Media -- They giveth and they taketh away. What happens when the fascination with poker in the media fades? (Or even goes negative about online poker -- Addicting our youth to gambling?) Any good farm pond that is fished will need to be restocked.

4. This could be the same as the Daytraders in the 90's, a fad that does not last. What happens when the number of players at Party drops to 4,000 instead of 40,000?

All this negative stuff aside, I do view online poker as a heck of an opportunity, how long this window of opportunity stays open is what I question.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see online poker going anywhere. People like to gamble and they always will. 95% of players online are pure gamblers.

Feds. The feds need to allow US companies to start poker sites rather than forcing all of the money offshore. Their approach to anything like this in the past has always been to do what they can to affect the sites but never prosecute the players.

As for bots, big deal. I've looked at the inner workings of one of the current bots and the technology just can't compare to an actual player. If I were at a table of bots today I would be happy.

[lefty rosen]

If you can beat these tight aggressive game you can beat any game on the planet. If you can't then you may not be able to be a pro player. How long the soft Party games will last is anybody's guess. Same with the soft Pacific and Intercasino games...........

[lefty rosen]

Taxes have to be paid if the government can prove your a definate long term winner. Not a guy who got lucky and if someone understands poker they know that a guy can't win 80k playing 4 tables in a year and get lucky(well the mathematically odds would get really long).

[beachbum]

n/m

[O Doyle Rules]

[/ QUOTE ]
quote:
I don't see online poker going anywhere. People like to gamble and they always will. 95% of players online are pure gamblers.


[/ QUOTE ]


True. But I was talking about things that could possibly impact the long term profitability of the game and perhaps someone should take these things into consideration before doing it for a living.



[/ QUOTE ]
quote:

Feds. The feds need to allow US companies to start poker sites rather than forcing all of the money offshore. Their approach to anything like this in the past has always been to do what they can to affect the sites but never prosecute the players.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wishful thinking IMO. Once again, if the Feds and/or states are moderately successful in their effort to stop online gambling, it could dramtically impact long term profit.



[/ QUOTE ]

quote:

As for bots, big deal. I've looked at the inner workings of one of the current bots and the technology just can't compare to an actual player. If I were at a table of bots today I would be happy.

[/ QUOTE ]

You might be able happy. How about all the fish? Once again, a potential drain on the long term profitablity.

[faxwoods]

sorry, but this might be very silly question. regarding the original post by wannagopro, he stated "I am making 5.42 BB/100 hands", what does BB stand for?? any replies would be appreciated

[astroglide]

As for bots, big deal. I've looked at the inner workings of one of the current bots and the technology just can't compare to an actual player. If I were at a table of bots today I would be happy.

if they were capable of beating most people for even tiny amounts of money, it will make you very unhappy.

[snowbank]

I don't understand how if you write a book you wouldn't have to pay taxes. Anyone know anything about this?

[MicroBob]

ask david about it....he posted about it before.

as i recall....he thinks he can count writing the book as a seperate occupation..

you don't have to pay taxes on the gambling winnings in canada unless the gambling is your 'sole source of income'. if he writes the book, then gambling is no longer his sole source of income. i don't know if this is contingent on him successfully selling the rights to the book (to actually make income on it) or not.

something like that...don't look at me though
i don't even understand US tax-laws much less Canada, eh??

[davidross]

For me as a canadian, gambling winnings are tax free unless you are a professional gambler. By writing a book and earning something from it I could declare my occupation as writer, then my gambling winnings remain exempt.

THis won't apply to you unless you are canadian, and play professionally.

[snowbank]

When are you putting your book out?

[GuyOnTilt]

THis won't apply to you unless you are canadian, and play professionally.

Huh?

GoT

[mooshul]

BB means BigBlind
If you are making 5.42BB per 100 hands at 1/2 that means you are making 10.84 per 100 hands played (5.42 x BB)
Ratios are used instead of monetary amounts for comparison to higher/lower limits. Hope that helps.

[bicyclekick]

[ QUOTE ]
BB means BigBlind
If you are making 5.42BB per 100 hands at 1/2 that means you are making 10.84 per 100 hands played (5.42 x BB)
Ratios are used instead of monetary amounts for comparison to higher/lower limits. Hope that helps.

[/ QUOTE ]

not in this case. in this case it means big bet - the amount bet on turn and river.

[Boopotts]

Hi there-

I don't think it's possible to continue making 28$ an hour or so when your main games are three 1-2's. Just something else to consider.

Good luck,
Guy

[lefty rosen]

No I agree 3 1/2's even if the players are moronic are tough to beat for 9 an hour for one table let alone 3. To beat one table for that you have to really know how to isolate the maniacs and know the rocks and bluff them and do things like this or your win rate won't be that good. for 3 2/4 games that are soft this is possible.

[Blarg]

That's one heck of a win rate for that long a period of time. I can't see how it could last.

Then again, if you move up, you may be able to get by just as well earning far fewer bets per hour.

But you can't judge how you'll do at higher limits by how you're doing at lower ones.

I think you might feel more comfortable gambling for a living if you could get yourself up to higher level games. That way, if online games really dry up, you can get by playing fewer tables on them, just one or two tables online perhaps, considering you have your wife's job helping you cover a lot of financial bases. And if online goes completely bust but you've worked your way up in ability to the level where you can beat a 15/30 live casino game, then there will probably be games for you no matter what happens in the online world at a wage that will at least pay some bills, even though it won't give you a spectacular living standard.

You may already be closer to that level now than you think, since so many people say online games are harder than live games, and your win rate is so high even when you play multiple tables.

If it were me, I would slowly work my way up the limits a bit more, to test myself and prepare myself for being a winning player well outside the realm of multi-tabling the fish at Party's lower limits.

I'd value that learning and the sense of security gained from finding out your true skill and talent for the game above whatever money you were making, actually, until you felt very solidly that you knew where you stood in higher level games. Money comes and goes, after all, but big life decisions don't come along all that often.

Everyone's different of course, but I don't think I would feel comfortable trying to play for a living if I couldn't multi-table at least at 5/10 and actually more like 10/20 or better. Not that I absolutely wouldn't consider it at all, but I know I'd be unhappy with the tension about whether my skills could continue to support me, and I bet that tension and lack of confidence would have a very real effect on my play.

[HoldingFolding]

Since playing online gives you certain freedoms, I would set aside some of that time to explore new potential businesses or educational self-improvement. This would alleviate the fears of those around you, whilst providing a springboard should the life of an online poker pro begin to pale.

I think the 'monotony' would eventually get to me. Trying to relieve that tedium by taking risks (higher tables, bigger MTTs) would be my downfall. With an alternative career/business in place cutting back on the number of hours might alleviate that.

[Sully]

[quote}Why not? When I was playing 2/4 on Party, I was making about $10 an hour per table. With 4 tables at 40 hours a week, that's $10*4*40*52 = $83,200. Maybe you can't *expect* to make that much at low limits, but it's not all that hard either.

[/ QUOTE ]

No offense to this poster, but I think this is a major place where the math starts to get off track. For me, it takes a bit of time to get a few good tables going. I probably take a little more time than most when I'm scouting tables, but the reality is that takes time to get and keep good tables going. 40 hours in front of the computer does NOT equal 40 hours of table time. Tables break up, go rocky, etc. I think even if you sit at the first four tables you can find, you still can only get actual play about 75 - 80% of the time.