Borrowing $25,000 to play full time......

I'm tired of playing with a short bankroll. So here's my new idea. I have the opportunity to work part time Mon thru Wed with full time benefits. The plan is to take out a loan for $25,000 and play mid limit games. I live in So. CAL and finding games are no problem. Borrowing 25,000 at a low interest rate is not hard to do.

well, one reason to play is that you can play or not play or just do whatever you want. i would have to assume being in debt would really make it a job.


on the other hand if its an unsecured loan then its a freeroll, anyway.


but seriously, i dont see why you would need to borrow more than 5k at a time.


brad

why not put in plenty of hours and move up in limits as your bankroll increases. this way you can be sure you are a winning player. since you dont have a bankroll now what makes you think you will be able to keep one later. you need to prove it to yourself. then if you are wrong you will nothave a debt to pay.

Hard question similar to Ray's. You live in SoCal and have a job now it sounds like. You have wide game selection in some good games. How come your bankroll is short? If it is because you have spent winnings, you have to figure your bankroll requirements with expenses. If it is because you don't play a lot and have a job and thus have not worried about bankroll, well maybe borrowing makes some sense. If it's because you can't really beat the games for a significant amount, don't borrow.


But wow, that could be a great lifestyle. Mon-Wed to keep some guaranteed income and benefits and a connection to the world, and play the rest. I would like that a lot. It is worth taking some risk if you can pull it off. The risk may be trying in itself, as opposed to taking on debt to do it.

Into the compulsive zone we go. Suppose you lose?


Sounds like trouble to me.

Sounds like you better plan of having a REAL job, for as long as, you owe money on the loan.

That has to be the stupidest thing I have ever heard in my life. Why not work for 6 months and build a $10k bankroll?? Borrowing that kind of $ to play poker with is suicide.


There will be extra pressure on you to win, you will lose all enjoyment from the game, and you will end up owing $25k when it is all over!!


you won't be able to afford to play with your grandmother when this is all said and done.


If you're that good a player, you shouldn't need to borrow that kind of $. If you're not that good, that borrowed $ will go down the toilet.


You might try Paradise Poker, then you can run up a huge credit card debt at 20% interest, and lose to a rigged game. That sounds fun.

Borrowing is always easier than paying back. The first rule of gambling is to not gamble with money you can't afford to lose and you'd be violating that rule right at the start.


If your bankroll is "short" play smaller and build up a bigger bankroll.

It all depends on why this man is short bankrolled but there is nothing inherently wrong with borrowing to adequately bankroll oneself. Take an example: you have been a winning 20/40 player for years but now have blown it on the stock market. Why go down to 3-6 games in order to build a bankroll if you can borrow 25K and stay in your 20-40 game that you know you can beat?


On the other hand, if you have never played 20-40 and suddenly want to move up from 3-6 and intend to do so by borrowing...well, that may not be such a good idea.

He said "I'm tired of playing with a short bankroll." I assume this meant he had been doing so for a while. I also assumed that by "bankroll" he meant his poker bankroll which would be independent of stock market investments.


I know all business ventures are in a sense gambling ventures, but borrowing to play poker strikes me as a bad business plan. I've know many, many people who have borrowed money to play poker (including thsoe who have borrowed from me) and I can't think of one happy ending.

Well, it seems like everyone is echoing Ray Zee's message here, in their own words.


But like skp says:


"Take an example: you have been a winning 20/40 player for years but now have blown it on the stock market. Why go down to 3-6 games in order to build a bankroll if you can borrow 25K and stay in your 20-40 game that you know you can beat?"


I think that's the most important thing here, along with the fact that you'll have to earn enough to be able to cover the interest rate. If you're going to be breaking even just on the interest rate, then it's obviously not worth the risk.

1. Playing mid-limits... what do you consider mid...? If you mean frmo 10-20 to 30-60... have about 12-15k for starters.

2. Don't borrow. Work and try to build your bankroll. If you can't build it now, what makes you assume you can build it when you borrow.

3. The added pressure of borrowing will make it not worth while.

4. Maybe find a partner... someone who trusts you and would take you on as a partner, this way you can play bigger without the fear of getting wiped out. Not too big, just when the opportunity provides itself.

5. Keep acurate stats to insure that you are a winning player... meaning, just because you are plus over 1500 hours time doesn't necessarily make you profitable. Go by your hourly wage. First see if it is worth your time!

6. Remember, enjoy playing... if you don't then you are the real looser.


'The High Rolling Foreigner' -- Atienne DuBlanc

Hi Steve:


I agree with some posters' advice not to play with money you cannot afford to lose, build your bankroll at LL, etc.


What is your real goal in playing poker? By posting this question, it seems that you are unsure of what you really want and are trying to convince yourself that borrowing is the right track by hopefully getting more aggreable responses. But what you're getting is not what you expected, right?


Ask yourself: Are you a good enough player to have at least a 51% chance to be a winning player in the long run just to be able to payback the loan or are you counting on your part time job to pay off just in case? Hey, they say that, statistically, good players make 1 to 1.5 BB per hour. Are you close enough to that?


I don't know, it sounds too speculative to me. Maybe you should call 1-800-GAMBLER.


Just some thoughts.

Why not instead work full-time and get yourself a bankroll of 25K. Sure, this will probably take 6-8 months, but at least you're not borrowing against yourself. You should still have plenty of time to play on the weekends, which is probably when most pros make their $$$ anyway.


spanQy

Andy:


I concur with your view.


In gambling, and poker is certainly a form of a gambling, people typically do not win when they mst win.


I hope the original poster reads these responses and takes them to heart.

Wrong!! Once again you cannot make enough money in poker. You can make one big bet per hour if you are lucky, that is most likely 20 dollars an hour without benefit. Profesional poker players are rare, and most of them are miserable. Poker is not like a golf or any other sports. I guess that is why they say poker is gambling with positive expectation.

I love poker but I have almost ruined my life because of it. /images/smile.gif

PS. Actually right now stoke marker ruined my life.

sounds like a great idea tome. Truely i believe the more players with big bankrolls, the better the game shall become. 25k does sound like a bit much unless you'll be playing with the big boys in which case you might like to look for an even larger amount. in my opinion 5 to 6k would be ample in the 20-40, particularly being you live where u live. your idea of the part time job also sounds like a winner, good backup. if you start earning six figures then dice the part time. Good Luck, Play Good and Use the Force.