How much can you make beind a Professional poker player?

[PhiberOptik]

How long does it take to get good enough?

[Dynasty]

Good enough for what?

The $ you make depends on the limits you play and the # of hours you put in.

[PhiberOptik]

How much can I make playing $30/$60 for 4 hrs a day, Monday to friday at 6PM to 10PM on pokerstars.com?

[CrackerZack]

If you're the best player at the table, probably around $100/hr, if you're not probably less. If you're bad, you'll probably lose money. If you're average, you probably won't make much money either.

The first questions you ask are too vague, this one is too specific as no one here knows you or how good you are.

[Homer]

How much can you make beind a Professional poker player?

An expert can expect to make 1 - 1.5 BB's/hr. As the limits increase, it will become more difficult to earn more than 1 BB/hr. For example, if you were an expert in a 15/30 game, you could expect to make $30/hr ($60K/yr, assuming 40 hrs/wk, 50 wks/yr).

How long does it take to get good enough?

Some people will never become expert poker players, no matter how hard they try. Some people will become experts rather quickly. It depends on who you are.

-- Homer

[LondonBroil]

I won $185 last night in 18 minutes at a short-handed 5-10 table. Does that make me an expert poker player?

[Tyler Durden]

Yes.

[Homer]

I won $185 last night in 18 minutes at a short-handed 5-10 table.

Congratulations.

Does that make me an expert poker player?

No. However, you are an expert nitpicker if that makes you feel better.

-- Homer

[PuppetMaster]

[Ed Miller]

[eugeneel]

I already know I am going to hear from a lot of people who will not believe me but I have been making about 120-140/hr playing shortnanded 10-20 and 25-50 games on pokerroom during the last four months. I have been playing these high limit games for only 6 months total but this is not a positive swing as have played for about 20-25 hrs a week during this time. If you still doubt me I can offer you to watch me play or read some of the longer threads in the internet section and you will see that I have a very solid reputation as a player on pokerroom.
I am one of the best players (definitly in the top 5) on the website now who play these games so I am not saying anyone who feels they know the game well can make nearly as much.
I have only been playing poker for a year and a half after I read my "Hold'em poker for advanced players book." I am only 20 years old. What makes me a great player is not only my skill, it is also my ability to select thr best games and avoid the people who make me think too much. I also always try to offer the fish to play one on one. I also never let personal pride interfere with how I play the game (which is to maximize profits). The funny thing is, I was in a live casino last night and no one would believe I am making the kind of money I am making. The usuals who play the 10-20 games there 5 out of 7 days only average about 20-30/hr. If they played online in the games I play I'm sure they would make much more.

-Eugene

[Tyler Durden]

[huzitup2]

Put me in the group of those who DO believe you.

If we split the difference - 10-20/25-50 - and say you've played all your time playing 15-30, I definitely believe that in short-handed and heads up games 4 [big] bets per hour is possible.

However (nonetheless AND notwithstanding /forums/images/icons/smirk.gif) , I do NOT think your sample size is adequate.

Your total hours played - a little over a thousand - online, where the games move MUCH faster, almost has to correspond to a standard deviation of somewhere in the $1,500/hour range.

This being the case, your results sit somewhere on a curve that runs from a "worst case scenario" of you being a $25 per hour losing player, to a "best cases scenario" of you being a $275 per hour winning player.

The simple version of the formula for this conclusion can be found on page #65 of "GT&OT".

Your overall standard deviation divided by the square root of the number of hours you have played yields your "adjusted" st. dev.

In your case:

1,500 (your st. dev.) / 30 (the ~ sq. rt. of your hrs. played) =

an adjusted st. dev. of $50/hour.

99.7% of all possible results lay within 3 st. devs. of the mean; for you the mean is ~ $125/hour (your win rate).

If you are still winning at a rate of ~ $125/hour after another 6 months (total 2,000 hrs) your new adjusted st. dev. will be ~ $33/hour, making it a virtual certainty that you have found your "pot of gold".

If you are still at $125/hour after another 18 months you have found the "holy grail".

Your adj. st. dev. will have been cut to $25/hour, meaning that your "W/C/S" will still leave you a [virtually guaranteed] $50/hour winner.

Of course you can get to 2,000 hours more quickly simply by playing more often and/or longer sessions, but you did make it quite clear that one of your priorities was finding the softest games; this being the case, you may not be ABLE to play more than the ~ 90/hrs/month you're currently playing.

I don't question your ability; I can't - I've never seen you play.

My wish is to point out that after ~ 500 hours it is still QUITE possible (though IMO rather unlikely) that you ARE running very lucky.

I hope your success continues; it PROBABLY will even if your win rate does drop slightly - and I'm not saying it will drop.

Heck, it might go up !

*

Best wishes

- Chris

[inkstain]

I am only 20 years old.

I hope you don't get caught before your birthday comes up.

[inkstain]

If you're the best player at the table, probably around $100/hr, if you're not probably less. If you're bad, you'll probably lose money. If you're average, you probably won't make much money either.

Where are you getting these numbers from? Best player at the table... but better by how much? I hear so many people talking about what the expected earn rate is for a <whatever> limit game, and many pro-wannabe's and so-called experts responding by saying something along the lines of "1 BB/hr". If everyone of the same / similar skill level played for, say... 10 years at 40 hours per week (let's say there's no rake!), would they all come out ahead ~20k BB's at the end?

I like to believe what Roy Cooke says repeatedly: "... recurring sum of volume multiplied by net edge equals expectation."

[George Rice]

What's really funny is that he states that "If you're average, you probably won't make much money either." If you're average, you will definately lose money. The house must have its share too. And I mean an average 30/60 player, not an average poker player. Also, the swings will be very big, so you will need a huge bankroll (50k?) if you are better than average. I doubt that 25% of the players are making any money at that level.

If I was winning $40-$50 per hour in the long haul at 30/60 I'd be very happy, and probably the biggest winner too. So that would be $40k-$50k a year at 1000 hours of play.

"If you're bad you'll probably lose money." Another funny one.

"If you're the best player at the table, probably around $100/hr, if you're not probably less. If you're bad, you'll probably lose money. If you're average, you probably won't make much money either."

[George Rice]

Yes, but he's been living at two tables at once. So he's the equivalent of 40 years old.