idly curious

[j.k.]

What is the generally accepted (if there is one) limit at which a winning player can make a living at it. Winning 1 bet an hour at 15/30 isn't bad, but you'll play 60 hours a week to live comfortably. This doesn't factor in bad cards/bad run for a month or two and suddenly you are living in a refridgerator box. So what does the average pro making a living play at....30/60? 40/80?

A follow up would be about bankroll size. The generally accepted answer to support playing at a specific limit is 300 bets, but is that enough to live off of with no supplemental/regular income?

thanks,
j.k.

[pudley4]

If you play on the internet, you can play significantly lower limits (search this forum for davidross's "Playing online for a living").

300 BB is just for your bankroll - you'll want to have several months living expenses already saved up before you start.

[Nottom]

[ QUOTE ]
Winning 1 bet an hour at 15/30 isn't bad, but you'll play 60 hours a week to live comfortably.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe its just me, but I can live comfortably on much less than $1800/week ($93600/Year).

[CrackerZack]

no $hit. seriously, I like living it up and certainly could do so on less than 90K/yr. Down near blacksburg, 90+K puts you in the top 1%. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Vehn]

1st off you have realize that most pros do not pay much in the way of taxes if at all. After taxes something like a fast food restaurant manager takes home probably $400 a week. There's a lot of ways to do that "good" in poker if you put in the hours. I know one local pro in particular who plays only 15/30 and is simply awful, but compared to the rest of the field he is certainly good for $10-$12/hour consistently. Thats enough.

[Kenrick]

The answer certainly depends on where you live and how you live. Living in BackwoodsTown, Idaho obviously has a smaller cost-of-living than Chicago or New York or wherever. In some places, 100k gets you a VERY nice house and yard. In other places, 100k might get you a small lot with a shack on it, or even only the lot itself.

If you figure one bet per hour (per table) as a decent rule of thumb, I'd lower that figure to be conservative, then you can compute your lifestyle needs from there. One thing about being a professional gambler is you need to take into account the extra money from various job benefits you might be giving up. Health and dental and things can make an otherwise-so-so wage look good. A job that gives, say, a $300 monthly car allowance, that's $3600 a year right there.

'Course, if you play poker at home as a home-based business, you generally have less expenses such as for car maintenance, gas money, dry-cleaning, parking permits, etc.

If poker is your only source of income, I don't think having a bankroll of 1000 big bets is out of line at all. The standard 300bb figure is for if you would play at that level down to zero. If you would go to a lower limit if you lose half, then, while you are protecting your bankroll, you are really only playing the higher level with 150bb. Different people need different levels of security. If it's an only source of income, I can't see playing a level without a minimum of 500-600 big bets.