Building a bankroll while you're young....

[Python49]

Wouldn't it be easier for someone who has absolutely ZERO expenses and ALOT of time on their hands to become professional at poker at an early age so by the time they graduate they have the bankroll necessary to be playing high stakes?

All these articles and such I see about going pro seem to not even be related to someone young who is still in school with no expenses and that can actively balance their social life with just 5 hours a day of poker. I see alot of posts against going pro but what about for someone who is young with absolutely no expenses, don't they have a monster advantage at this point in their life to really build a bankroll to the point where they could play professionally later on? And don't give me all that jazz about playing poker ruining your college years.... everyone I know in college blows at least 5 hours a day doing something like playing a video game or sitting around bullsh*tting with friends, or um... "working" at their real job. Just seems to me that someone whose young can become pro alot easier than someone with expenses and children depending on them.. because if they go broke they are not in dire straits for that money.... Is this not the perfect time to try?

[Ed Miller]

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Wouldn't it be easier for someone who has absolutely ZERO expenses and ALOT of time on their hands to become professional at poker at an early age so by the time they graduate they have the bankroll necessary to be playing high stakes?

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If you have no expenses, you can't be a pro. At least not by the definition I used in my articles.

Well I think I beliave so. I dropped my school not long ago and I'm living with my mother, in January I'll be 20. I start playing poker only 3 weeks ago and I've been practising for becoming better player 10-14 hours a day. I've been trying to search for work, but haven't got one.(Really hard here were even adults have a great unemployment rate, I live in northern Finland)
Well I screwed up my chances and lost my $84. My only mistake was the decision of changing game type, from fixed limit to no limit, which I just seem not to handle at all. When I get to collect my next starters by selling myself on the street (kidding, maybe) I'll be back stick playing to fixed limits. (I had a nice $200 before I changed to no limit and got beaten bad)
I have 3 months free time right now, before I'm going to army(exactly the same date as I'll be 20) so if I get $20 somewhere the time and the investement would be used well.

[sbu97]

Yes, it is a great time to begin building your bankroll (whether you can be called a pro when your winnings don't pay your expenses or not). And staying in school while you do this is a great plan, because for almost everyone, poker will not last forever. And even if you don't go pro, you will have built a bankroll that you can play with during that terrible time right after college where you don't have enough money comming in to sustain yourself and pay for poker.
My only concern is that you shouldn't give up too much of this "bullshiting" time with friends. While your classmates are spending time together and building relationships that will last a lifetime, you will be in your room glued to the computer monitor. Instead of 5 hours a day, what about 2? I would give anyting to be back in school, hung-over and watching football with friends. Don't let poker replace this time interacting with others. That is not healthy.

[Python49]

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If you have no expenses, you can't be a pro. At least not by the definition I used in my articles.

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I think you know what i'm getting at... im referring to build a bankroll while they have no expenses, so by the time they do start having them they are already playing higher stakes at a much nicer hourly rate. =/

[ianlippert]

I dont know why ppl want to play poker to get away from school. University is probably the best time of your life. I dropped out of math about 3 years ago and am now planning on going back for science at the age of 25. If I could go pro it would be to support my schooling not leave it behind. As a pro you could go to university to do what you are actually supposed to be doing there, learning and challenging yourself without all the baggage associated with graduating and finding a job. Idealistic, but if I turned pro thats what I would do.

[Python49]

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building relationships that will last a lifetime

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5 hours a day is nothing.... if I get back in at night after spending a day out hanging with friends at 9pm.. I can play until 2am no problem. How is this taking up any time whatsoever... I think anyone who is spending every last hour with their friends has other issues I will not delve into. I can go months without seeing my best friends from back at home and then when I go see them its like we never were apart.. and my friends at college are the same way, why would the relationship dwindle from me spending 5 hours of time on my own? :/

[Shoe]

Take it as you will, but I graduated about 5 years ago, and looking back at college my only regret is that I spent too much time on the computer, and not enough time enjoying what I had. This is the best time of your life, make the most of it!

[KramerTM]

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5 hours a day is nothing.... if I get back in at night after spending a day out hanging with friends at 9pm.

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Are you guys hanging out on Sesame Street? Most college nights go a tad later than 9PM.

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I think anyone who is spending every last hour with their friends has other issues I will not delve into.

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No one is saying spend every hour with them, but 5 hours a day will seriously impede on the time you can spend with friends. And besdies, college is not a time to go weeks without seeing your best friends, it's pretty much the only time in your life when you'll be literally living with all your friends. Don't be that guy who sits at his computer every second he gets. Get out. Take a shower. Get laid. Chug a beer. For God's sake, don't play 5 hours a day.

[Python49]

I see my friends everyday.... go out every weekend... and can still play at nights during the weekday. Im confused, how is this affecting relationships with friends... but thats all beside the point. I just think with no expenses its a great time to build a bankroll for anyone who wants to go pro later. And for the record, I don't. Just was pointing out something I believe was being overlooked.

I think it's a great idea, but are your parents paying for your school straight up? You aren't helping with the expenses at all?
If not, that's great for you, my parents would want me to help them out as much as possible. Keep building that bankroll /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[sbu97]

Spend all the time you can with your friends. When you're out of school and never see some of these friends again, you will wish you spent more time with them. Keep playing, build a bankroll, that's great. But I think five hours a day is a little much. Of course maybe you don't have to work. Maybe you aren't involved in any sports or campus activities (where you also have a great time with friends and you can build your resume). Why even stay in school if you don't plan on making the most of it? I used to get up at 6 a.m. (because I was involved in ROTC), go to class, work, bullshit with friends, go out about five nights a week, and get to bed at any time between 12 and 3 a.m. I know that I couldn't have fit five hours into that day and made the best of it. There is plent of time for poker, but, as has been pointed out by others, this time will end and you will never have it again.

[StellarWind]

What you describe is very similar to a college student taking a coop job for experience. The student is working and earning money but he is not a professional.

That doesn't mean it isn't a good idea if done properly by the right person.

I'm in 3rd year at uni and have about 5 hours of classes a week. I live with a guy who works full time and probably make more playing poker through the week than he does at his job. Weekends and some weeknights I don't play because my time is spent doing other things and being hungover.

As long as you are sensible about how much you play at this point in time poker is an ideal part time 'job' for me. I can study while I play and don't have some [censored] with no qualifications telling me to answer a phone or get someone's order. Obviously, everything in moderation. but with some smart saving (my loan goes in a high interest savings account) I'm going to be one of the very few leaving uni without absolutely no debt (in fact firmly in the black) hopefully a good degreea and some [censored] good times aswell.

[Ryan11]

Umm five hours a night isn't much and you wont miss out on much. Even if you are out till 12-1 every night of the week.

When I was in college my days were out till 12-2AM, comp till 6 am then sleep till 11AM for classes? I got to schedule everyone of my classes and most didnt start until 1PM. You are in college you don't need to sleep forever each night. 4-6 hrs is all you need, you're young.

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Umm five hours a night isn't much and you wont miss out on much. Even if you are out till 12-1 every night of the week.

When I was in college my days were out till 12-2AM, comp till 6 am then sleep till 11AM for classes? I got to schedule everyone of my classes and most didnt start until 1PM. You are in college you don't need to sleep forever each night. 4-6 hrs is all you need, you're young.

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hmmm... did you spend much time in your English classes?

[Goodnews]

you forget that some people have crazy workloads like i do (~30 hour weeks), it always comes down to a decision between friends OR poker, never both. considering i am out of cash now, I have chosen poker since i refuse to add any more burden to my loving parents who are paying for tuition and rent.

if i cant feed myself, then there is some serious soul searching to do as to whether i should have left home or not.

[Python49]

if you are saying that if you have a 30 hour a week job then yeah it comes down to friends or poker.... but for some students, they don't have a 30 hr job and poker is their source of income. Hell you don't even have to play 5 hours a day... can just play 3 hours during the after noon or at night. If someone can't balance 3 hours into their day, they just need better organizational skills, IMHO. I have a tuesday/thursday schedule so I have a 4 day weekend built into my schedule... and on tuesdays and thursdays my classes still dont start until 11am. Typically during the weekdays I go to classes (tues/thurs) or hang out with friends, or get other stuff I need done like lifting weights or studying(m/w/f) during the day, usually get in around maybe 11pm, 12.. depends on what we're doing.. sometimes 9pm, who knows. Play poker until I go to sleep around 3-4am... on the weekends typically play a few hours during the day then go out to eat with friends and hang out at their house, go out and drink at night and come back wasted. I'm confused as to how people claim to not have 3-5 hours during a day to spend time on their own with a hobby... theres 24 hours in the day for crying out loud.

[Ryan11]

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hmmm... did you spend much time in your English classes?

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Nope .. didnt take any. I got a comp sci degree and my lowest mark was A-.

[chezlaw]

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hmmm... did you spend much time in your English classes?

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Nope .. didnt take any. I got a comp sci degree and my lowest mark was A-.

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In all the going pro threads i forgot to mention the advantage of not having to take notice of people who think speeling and puncuat,ion are of great importance.

chez

i don't think anyone has absolutely zero expenses, even if you have food and the roof over your head payed for their has to be something you spend money on, im still young and living at home while i finish my degree so i understand haveing limited expenses, but i like being able to buy things from time to time. What your proposing is working a 30-35 hour week that may or may not earn a pay check, now if your looking for a means to save some money and brain cells while u get through college spending that much time on a comp is probably a great idea. Maybe i just suk at time management, but i already find it hard to budget time between a girlfriend, a 13hour semester, and part time job, with the free time remaining i try to find better uses( maybe not better, but more enjoyable) for my time than building my bankroll. (quad tableing and playing by the book gets boring) Personally i don't want to look back and feel as though i wasted what will likely be some of my more enjoyable years. Your right it is easier with limited expenses and a lot of time, but i don't view college as being the best time to take a shot at going pro.

[ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't it be easier for someone who has absolutely ZERO expenses and ALOT of time on their hands to become professional at poker at an early age so by the time they graduate they have the bankroll necessary to be playing high stakes?

All these articles and such I see about going pro seem to not even be related to someone young who is still in school with no expenses and that can actively balance their social life with just 5 hours a day of poker. I see alot of posts against going pro but what about for someone who is young with absolutely no expenses, don't they have a monster advantage at this point in their life to really build a bankroll to the point where they could play professionally later on? And don't give me all that jazz about playing poker ruining your college years.... everyone I know in college blows at least 5 hours a day doing something like playing a video game or sitting around bullsh*tting with friends, or um... "working" at their real job. Just seems to me that someone whose young can become pro alot easier than someone with expenses and children depending on them.. because if they go broke they are not in dire straits for that money.... Is this not the perfect time to try?

[/ QUOTE ]



Can somebody please explain to me what this bankroll stuff is?

[Python49]

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Maybe i just suk at time management

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[Hallett]

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Well I think I beliave so. I dropped my school not long ago and I'm living with my mother, in January I'll be 20. I start playing poker only 3 weeks ago and I've been practising for becoming better player 10-14 hours a day. I've been trying to search for work, but haven't got one.(Really hard here were even adults have a great unemployment rate, I live in northern Finland)
Well I screwed up my chances and lost my $84. My only mistake was the decision of changing game type, from fixed limit to no limit, which I just seem not to handle at all. When I get to collect my next starters by selling myself on the street (kidding, maybe) I'll be back stick playing to fixed limits. (I had a nice $200 before I changed to no limit and got beaten bad)
I have 3 months free time right now, before I'm going to army(exactly the same date as I'll be 20) so if I get $20 somewhere the time and the investement would be used well.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you are practicing to be a better poker player for 14 hours per day, you are not looking for a job.

[daryn]

the answer is yes. start building.

[Goodnews]

you are right, with your schedule you CAN do pull off 3-5 hours a day of poker (on a side note, i would kill to have your schedule). what i am saying is not everyone has the amount of time you do, in fact im sure that the majority of the student posters here don't have a four day weekend.

I agree some what, playing poker is just as positoned socially as college in the set I am from really higher, and school is very boring and limited you can easily learn your self or over the Web any degree if you want but still most very learned things are studied in depth you could get a degree in poker as a self made major in some schools. Playing in Brunsons big games looks like the social limit better then what corporate. Besides doesn't the game of Poker play out better then the maybe cruel game of life? I play about 10 hrs a day no sweat and am learning the other hours, but I'm no reform student doing time for betting to much. You must be sober about the situation even so, the other big time players are not giving you anything and the curve to high stakes (over a 1000 blinds) is not like the lower it is smaller. I wouldn't take the invest stuff that is to much a big fear I would buy a place to live and just save it why quite? That story runs like fear to me, but he isn't talking the very highest players just some lucky hot hands now that needed all that incoherents to profit, the figures he shows are not likely of a very committed player All in all I would put my whole energy on what I really want rather then cover for the future

You must be kidding he means 50,000 not 200 I hope you leave your mother you sound ill.

2 hours a day at poker isn't enough to even make time Mn, were are you at most pro level cash games go on for 12 hours 2 hours is for kids in grade school

I well tell you all about it , number one making money is better then going to school you can learn all the humanites after most poker is work to a degree and a speculation so you have to have time and money to venture DA, play sit and gos on the net and make a monthly income then take time off and read up on other liberal studies or read a classic novel. If you are worried about the future buy gold and bury it with a ton of food but never claim 5 hours a day of poker is enough you can fold for that long. None of the greats of the past would quite why would you have a little drive first then sit down.

[HandCracker]

it is the perfect time, and that is exactly what i am doing.

[fyodor]

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it is the perfect time, and that is exactly what i am doing.

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me too

[Pog0]

I've found myself a comfortable home with a comfortable hourly rate in the 2/4 and 3/6 games. I'm not building my bankroll but rather my net worth to be able to start a comfortable life once I have some real expenses. Anyone advocate or rival my decision?

[kagame]

senior in college, started really building my junior year, and im all set to play professionally when i graduate if i so desire

a few of my friends are doing the same at various stages

two (maybe three) juniors who are on their way (10-20k)

a slightly older guy who "decided he was finished" and is losing his roll because of emotional problems

all of them except me are supported by their parents and would have had no way to save money if theyd had the usual expenses

as for me, i love the national merit state school scholarship

[obsidian]

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2 hours a day at poker isn't enough to even make time Mn, were are you at most pro level cash games go on for 12 hours 2 hours is for kids in grade school

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A lot of online pros only play for 2 hours a day. For some that could be anywhere from 800-1200 hands in those 2 hours depending on how many tables they play.