Success of kids and patience

[William Wilson]

Anyone feel they aren't doing well enough soon enough?

First off, I'm 28, which I'm sure some consider a kid. I began to study poker seriously at age 26 with almost no prior knowledge.

I'm a winning player, but I don't have any ROI or tell-tale percentages like some here. I go by the money I've deposited and the money I've cashed. I haven't made any real money, but my winnings made paycheck-to-paycheck life a bit easier when I'm running well, and have allowed for some nice gifts for my wife and me that we wouldn't have been able to afford.

I'm still prone to big downslides which aren't always a matter of bad cards. I often have to take a few days off to re-evaluate my game and search for holes.

However, I see young fellows doing so well so soon, and it is often discouraging. I'm not talking about studs such as Gavin Griffin and John D'Agostino, I'm speaking merely of those who are making five figures regularly and haven't even been playing as long as I have.

Is it wrong to want such successes, or should I be satisfied with a hobby that can sometimes be financially rewarding?

I suppose it's analogous to a high school sports star who wonders if he'll ever be good enough to earn a scholarship and perhaps go pro.

How long does one have to play before he/she accepts he/she will never be an exceptional player? How many here have experienced modest winnings early in their careers and eventually emerged as killer players?

Is it worth the patience, or should I learn to be happy with what I have?

EDIT: I wrote this post without seeing the one about college kids who want to go pro. Forgive me for any overlap.

[blaze666]

well there is the regular post about making 5 figures, but that's still not many people. they are just naturally good. i expect you are doing about average.

[PokerProdigy]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone feel they aren't doing well enough soon enough?

First off, I'm 28, which I'm sure some consider a kid. I began to study poker seriously at age 26 with almost no prior knowledge.

I'm a winning player, but I don't have any ROI or tell-tale percentages like some here. I go by the money I've deposited and the money I've cashed. I haven't made any real money, but my winnings made paycheck-to-paycheck life a bit easier when I'm running well, and have allowed for some nice gifts for my wife and me that we wouldn't have been able to afford.

I'm still prone to big downslides which aren't always a matter of bad cards. I often have to take a few days off to re-evaluate my game and search for holes.

However, I see young fellows doing so well so soon, and it is often discouraging. I'm not talking about studs such as Gavin Griffin and John D'Agostino, I'm speaking merely of those who are making five figures regularly and haven't even been playing as long as I have.

Is it wrong to want such successes, or should I be satisfied with a hobby that can sometimes be financially rewarding?

I suppose it's analogous to a high school sports star who wonders if he'll ever be good enough to earn a scholarship and perhaps go pro.

How long does one have to play before he/she accepts he/she will never be an exceptional player? How many here have experienced modest winnings early in their careers and eventually emerged as killer players?

Is it worth the patience, or should I learn to be happy with what I have?

EDIT: I wrote this post without seeing the one about college kids who want to go pro. Forgive me for any overlap.

[/ QUOTE ]

I say you should keep at it, in my opinion there aren't that many people who are "naturally" good, even some of the top pros. Yet, people like to say that's why people are successful (even at things besides poker), but it's probably just that they don't want to admit that some people work harder than them etc... So I say only give up if you really want to.

[BluffTHIS!]

Most minor league baseball players won't make it to or stay in the big leagues but they are getting paid to do something they love and still have a chance to improve and make it. If you could get good enough to make 100K a year playing poker, would you want to quit just because you aren't good enough to make the 1mil a few make?

[Bodhi]

If you want more money then take up something different than Poker because it's easier to make more money in many other professions (plus they give you benefits). It would probably take a few years of school, but you've already shown the willingness to study and work hard for long durations of time.

As for being a great poker player who makes lots of money, I probably don't have enough perspective to assess the situation. I'm only 26 and have been playing regularly for less than 1 year. However, I can say that a lot of others are more comfortable taking shots at bigger limits than I am. I rarely try a limit outside of my BR, and the game has to be really soft. For instance, I read bicyclekick's story and his discovery of the 15-30 game at Pacific. He certainly didn't have the BR for it, but he gave it a shot, caught some cards and made thousands. I suspect that a lot of people take this sort of risk, are equally skilled, and some catch cards and others don't and go back to their regular limit. Remember that a lot of these stories you hear are short-term-successes, like one or two years.

Take your time, play your game, and don't take any risks with your BR unless you can afford a new one.