Summer Predicament

[LesWormMurphy]

Hello again,

In order to raise $1,500, I got a job bussing restaurants. But due to the lack of business in Florida during summer, I haven't been called back and I've been looking for a job again, like I have been since the start of summer.

So I've been thinking while I've been searching, more and more, about starting to play more small stakes poker at the several card clubs/casinos in Florida. Not quite yet, because I'm far from ready to be a CONSISTENT winner, but eventually.

Thus far, I've charted out the hold'em starting hand charts in the SSHE book on about 15 pages, taped them to my wall and played a whole bunch of play money 5/10 PP so that I'll know when to play each hand, in accordance to position. My goal with that is to make playing the right hands profitably preflop 2nd nature, and once I have that down cold, I'll move on to the postflop strategies.

So, getting to the point here.

Considering I'm only going to gamble when I have enough cash (Somewhere between $40-$100) that I've scraped here and there and put aside specifically for gambling, and all the work money is invested in a checkings account (In other words, I'm not gambling hard-earned money away)-- Say I work on my poker game for the next few months, can easily afford to lose, and can consistently beat the small stakes games ($1-$2 HE), would you say I could raise $1,500 w/o resorting back to 9-5 work.

Take into consideration that it's not like I'm quitting a REAL job to play poker all day long-- that would be foolish at my current skill level.

Thanks a lot.

[mtdoak]

My advice? Take what you have (be it $50 or $100), jump over to the internet forums, and start 'bonus whoring', which is using the online sites bonuses to slowly build your bankroll. Play microlimits (many sites offer as low as .05/.10 games). You'll be making more off of the site bonuses, but it'll let you slowly move up limits and learn the game well. You can turn $50 into 500 rather quickly, and you can go from there.

[JRegs]

If you're starting out with $100, I think the best way for you to make money is to take advantage of various online bonuses. I don't think that $100 is enough of a BR to play live games.

www.bonuswhores.com (http://www.bonuswhores.com)

[W. Deranged]

I'll leave the more thorough evaluations to more experienced posters, but here are my thoughts:

1. Those Florida games are not the place to look for consistent winnings, no matter what your skill level and/or bankroll. They are tiny (1-2 or 2-2), meaning you will be hard-pressed to make the equivalent of minimum wage even with perfect play. The rake will be absolutely deadly as well.

2. Pre-flop standards are obviously a necessary foundation to winning play, but post-flop play will ultimately be far more important in determining your bottom line (it is a much broader, more complex, and more expensive/lucrative realm). You must feel comfortable with be pre- and post-flop play before you should undertake a serious poker investment.

[LesWormMurphy]

In regards to the Florida gambling limits, they do have $2-$4 at one card room. I'm sure I'll need a bigger roll, but would that be the place to go to make enough money to beat the rake? (Assuming I'm a consistent winner, and have a large enough bankroll)

[Roland19]

The rake sucks everywhere in Florida. Play online and bonus whore.

[W. Deranged]

Probably not. Live play has huge costs that you might not be considering, including things like gas, dealer tips, etc... At any place I've played, games at 2-4 and below live are killed by the rake.

Think of it this way. If the average rake is 2 + 1 dealer tip (this is probably a low estimate, btw), and you are playing 30 hands an hour and winning 2-3 on average, you'll be giving away somewhere in the neighborhood of $6-9 an hour, or around 2 big bets. This means you'd have to be beating the game for well over 3 BB/Hr in order to be showing any kind of meaningful profit (and that is still well short of a rate of profit that could serve as full-time income).

So, even at 2-4 you'll only be showing consistent profits if you are very soundly beating the game. Online games will be somewhat tougher, but do note that the solid online players here aspire to win in the 2-3 BB/100 range, and you will probably average 100 hands over 3-4 hours. You get the idea.

[krimson]

[ QUOTE ]
In regards to the Florida gambling limits, they do have $2-$4 at one card room. I'm sure I'll need a bigger roll, but would that be the place to go to make enough money to beat the rake? (Assuming I'm a consistent winner, and have a large enough bankroll)

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems like your just ignoring the intelligent and realistic replies you got. Start bonuswhoring, it's your only hope.

Why? 300bb bankroll to play 2/4 would be $1200... by the time you get that your only $300 away from your goal.

Why else? If you somehow became a winning poker player in a short period of time and were destroying the live 2/4 for 2 bb's an hour, that's still only $8 an hour, which is way less than you could be making bonus whoring the micro-limits.

[LesWormMurphy]

Thanks again for the replies,
You guys have been more than useful.

Now about the bonus whoring--

If I'm understanding this correcly, I sign up for an account with something like Party Poker, put in $100 and get $20 back because of the bonuses?

If I'm wrong thus far correct me, but assuming that I'm right so far-- I stick to Microlimits for a while, and after a certain amount of hands are played, I move on to higher limits?

The idea of internet play for actual money never crossed my mind because I'm very enchanted by live play. I like seeing the chips, players, dealers.. you get the idea.

But if internet play is as lucrative as you say, then it looks like I should consider it.

Lastly, once I turn 21 and can actually gamble outside of Florida, what would you guys say is the bare bottom minimum limits for profitable play, considering I can consistently beat the game? 3/6, 4/8 or even 5/10?

Thanks again guys,
Your a big help.

[lil feller]

You've almost got the bonus thing figured out. The site you sign up for won't release the bonus until you've played a specific amount of raked hands. Be sure to read the fine print regarding what limits count (some sites don't count micros). Once you've played the correct number of raked hands, you don't move up. You cash out. Then you open an account at another site, and repeat the process.

As far as consistently winning at B&M, it really depends on the rake. Most places charge 5-10% up to $4, plus a jackpot $1, then probably a tip. Beating a $6 rake is tough, and i'd say that 10/20 is probably the smallest game you can hope to do it in consitently. You might be able to do it in 4/8 or 6/12, but the games would have to be really good.

hope that helps

lf