Summer job = Playing poker, need some help

[Profit]

I'm sure ppl say stuff about going pro all the time and it annoys the crap out of all you guys, that's not what i'm talking about here /images/graemlins/smile.gif

First of all let me say this poker forum is great, i've only been a member a few weeks and have learned a lot, much more that the forum i use to participate in.

In two weeks i will be graduating with a major in personal finance, masters program to start in the fall. Tuition, room/board plus some spending money is all taken care of. Basically my point is that i don't have to "work" this summer due to my hard work the last 4 years, so i'm not going to. After all, i got the next 40 years to work right?

So starting May 17th and ending in late August i'm going to be playing more poker than i ever have before, and will be keeping more detailed records. Prior to a few months ago i kept track of winnings only.

Question one: Do you think pokertracker is a must?

Next, i would like to have a daily/weekly schedule. Meaning i would like to play everyday at the same time. I haven't noticed this as much in SNG's, but in Ring games i've noticed the competetion to tougher during the day than at night (i think the reasons i could give would be obvious enough)

Question 2: Do most of you agree with this? Is it the same for SNG? Friday and Saturday nite the best nites to play?

As i mentioned, i'm not playing with any money I can't afford to lose, it's earmarked for poker. I'm planning on starting this venture with my new bankroll, which will be $1,000. Not much, i Know. I'm planning on starting at the 10+1's NL at Party, which so far i've had no problem with, only 50 played. I'm sure you are thinking, if u are that confident in the 10's why not move up? Well, like i said i want this to last the whole summer and would rather be to cautious than to aggressive with my bankroll. I am also considering playing the 25 PL games. I have yet to determine which would be more profitable to me, and as of right now i dont think i have the means to answer this.

Question 3: Do most of you SNG players play it because it is more profitable for you or more enjoyable? I know several like it because it has a beginning and an end etc.

I think i will probably do a combination of both games, possibly at the same time. My thinking is this may keep me more disiplined in the PL games by folding hands i know i shouldnt play.

I think I need to have some sort of goal. Right now i really don't have one besides trying to become a better player. Right now i realize i am not very good, but good enough where i have been making money. Having a monetary goal to reach would allow me to determine how many hours i should b playing a week.

Question 4: Do most of you guys have weekly/monthly/annual goals? If so can you give me some gereral descriptions of them? Are they monetary in nature or based on percentages/statistics?

As i mentioned earlier, i want to set up a regular schedule. My concern is how many hours to play a week. Some weeks right now i play 10 a week, others 20-25. I plan on only playing 5 days a week, ideally weekends would be off but i think those days probably have the potential to be most profitable.

Question 5: How many hours do you guys play a week? Obviously this is different for everyone, but i would be interested to know when you feel "burnt out" I really have no idea how 40 hours of poker would effect me.

The rational thing would be to start at say 25 the first 2 weeks and go from there /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Obviously i have no intentions of getting rich, but am going to be using this as a great learning experience and hopefully make a comparable income to an office job i could have for the summer. If i surpass that, great, if not i know i will have had fun. (of course this is assuming i don't go bust in day one /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Any other comments would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

[RED_RAIN]

I'll say it take it for what it's worth. Probably not what you are looking for. Playing poker all summer will not help your resume. Not sure how well your career track is already though.

[Profit]

thanks for the reply. The masters program is two years in length, i will have no problem getting an internship the following summer, Also i'm just ending an internship so it is of no concern to me right now.

[William]

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I'll say it take it for what it's worth. Probably not what you are looking for. Playing poker all summer will not help your resume. Not sure how well your career track is already though.

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Perhaps the guy just wants to take a summer off doing something he enjoys. This after graduating from college (congrats BTW) and before starting with a regular job in August, as he mentions.
If that's what he wants, don't you think he deserves it?
I do, and I am usually the first one to tell kids not to quit college because of poker.

William /images/graemlins/cool.gif

[TylerD]

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In two weeks i will be graduating with a major in personal finance, masters program to start in the fall. Tuition, room/board plus some spending money is all taken care of. Basically my point is that i don't have to "work" this summer due to my hard work the last 4 years, so i'm not going to

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Congratulations, sounds like a good idea to me.

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Question one: Do you think pokertracker is a must?

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For ring games, yes for SnGs so-so, I don't use it, i use my own spreadsheet as I'm one of those freaks that plays games other than Hold'em.

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Question 2: Do most of you agree with this? Is it the same for SNG? Friday and Saturday nite the best nites to play?


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Don't know, don't play during the day. I do play between 6 -12 GMT (1 to 7 EST) and the games are good then.

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Question 3: Do most of you SNG players play it because it is more profitable for you or more enjoyable? I know several like it because it has a beginning and an end etc.

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Less variance for me, and yes I prefer it to limit HE, which is probably more profitable.

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Question 4: Do most of you guys have weekly/monthly/annual goals? If so can you give me some gereral descriptions of them? Are they monetary in nature or based on percentages/statistics?

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SnG wise I try to keep up a good ROI and good win percentages. Bankroll wise I set a monthly target and try to reach it, cashing out anything over that target.

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Question 5: How many hours do you guys play a week? Obviously this is different for everyone, but i would be interested to know when you feel "burnt out" I really have no idea how 40 hours of poker would effect me.

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I guess about 20 hours, only recreational play really though (perhaps you might class it as semi-professional).

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Any other comments would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

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Have fun and see you at the tables /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Profit]

thanks for the comments, especially TylerD for answering my questions /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I also have a spreadsheet set up. I have it to calculate: place %, ROI, Profit, winnings, buyins. Is there something else i should add?

[lacky]

A bit wordy, but here ya go:

Question one: Do you think pokertracker is a must?

As was said before, very helpful for ring games. The export stats feature is very helpful for getting a feel for style of play for everyone that has played you, and since it puts them directly into the player notes it is very time efficient. There is no export feature for tourney stats at this time so unless u want to study the stats for all the players and hand write notes it has little value for tourneys. I’d rather spend my time playing. I write player notes during the games on things I observe and leave it at that.


Question 2: Do most of you agree with this? Is it the same for SNG? Friday and Saturday night the best nights to play?


It seems to me that u can just go off the # of players on. When there are over 30,000 on party, the games are pretty soft. That accounts for all weekday evenings and weekend evenings. During the non peak times, late night seem a little easier then daytime, especially weekends. I may be cynical, but I consider this the drunken factor, seem like some players MUST be drunk the way they play.


Question 3: Do most of you SNG players play it because it is more profitable for you or more enjoyable? I know several like it because it has a beginning and an end etc.


I started playing limit .5/1, worked up to 3/6, playing 3 to 6 handed (for 6 handed had to use 2 computers, 2 accounts). Then I switched to $25 NL, worked up to 100 NL, had some nasty runs, and then switched to $11 NL sng’s for a change. I have worked my way up to $55’s. IMO the sng’s offer the best profit for the good player with the least variance (smallest losses when running bad). I think this may be because there is no standard text for sng’s. You basically have to figure it out for yourself. Ring limit games are all about playing the hands correctly over and over and over…… In sng’s how u play a hand changes throughout the tourney, making it easier to play much better than some of your opponents. Also, the sng’s are most like the WPT events on TV, which probably brings in more newbies to sng’s. You would think that wouldn’t matter at the $55’s, but a significant # of $11 players that get lucky and win $50 will then “take a shot” at $55’s and are basically clueless.

Question 4: Do most of you guys have weekly/monthly/annual goals? If so can you give me some general descriptions of them? Are they monetary in nature or based on percentages/statistics? (And Question 5)

My hourly ave over the last 167 hours and 650 tourneys is a little over $50/hour playing 4 tourneys at a time with an ave ROI of 26%. I will be thrilled if I can continue to maintain that. My goals center around # of hours worked as this has been my biggest struggle. We have a new baby and 2 older kids and I am playing Mr. Mom now that my wife has gone back to work. This is the first job I've ever had that I just can’t do if I am sick, tired or upset about anything, so getting in 30 hours a week is a challenge. If I ever get past $80 an hour the wife will quit and take care of everything, then I think 45 hours a week would be doable.

As far as a rigid 5 day a week 8 hour set shift goes, forget it. Again, you just can’t play if you are sick, tired or upset about anything. If you’re sitting there wishing you were out golfing, you’re not concentrating. Might as well be golfing, it’s cheaper!! So you end up playing when you feel good and don’t have other commitments, and taking days off when you don’t feel up to it. But really, a flexible schedule is one of the best parts of playing poker. No boss to call if you decide to ditch for the day.


Note: I would encourage you to try playing 2 then 3 then 4 tourneys at a time to see if you are able, some can, some can’t. If you can play 4 at once it makes for much higher hourly earnings. Say you can play 4 $11’s at an ROI of 30%, or 1 at a time at 50% ROI, the difference per set of tourneys is $13 vs. $5.5. You must be able to set your screen resolution under control panel to 1200 x 1600 so the games don’t overlap. New computers will some older ones wont.

So anyway, pretty long winded but good luck. I started full time last December and it’s been quite an adventure!

Steve

[t_perkin]

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It seems to me that u can just go off the # of players on. When there are over 30,000 on party, the games are pretty soft. That accounts for all weekday evenings and weekend evenings. During the non peak times, late night seem a little easier then daytime, especially weekends. I may be cynical, but I consider this the drunken factor, seem like some players MUST be drunk the way they play.


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Early morning EDT (3am - 6am) is probably softest and this is usually the lowest attendance. So I don't think it is as straight forward as just the number of players. But certainly it is not far off after 9am EDT

Tim

[Profit]

Thanks for the response Lacky!!

I completely agree with playing multiple SNG's at a time. I plan on playing 2 at a time, and figure i will average about 2.5 SNG's per hour this way. Last nite i played 4 SNG's, 2 at a time to see how it would work out. My results were pretty good, could have been great. 1 1st, 1 2nd, 2 4ths. In one of my 4ths i didnt give the SNG adequate attention as i was heads up in another. So although im going to start playing 2 SNG's at once, im going to stagger them by about 5-10 mins to try to avoid having the "crunch time" happen at the same time. Maybe that won't either but oh well, i just have to pay more attention.

I have a laptop computer, won't allow 1200x1600. 1024 x 700 something is the best i can do. THis allows me to have both screens up but with half the screens overlapped. IF i could have both full screens up that would be awesome. I have another monitor and may be able to devise a way to work on that.

As far as the schedule goes, ya i know what you are saying. But, i think i am going to try having a schedule, but obviously am going to be flexible with it. One day like you say i may not feel like playing poker or have something else to do, so be it. I think at least though if i have a schedule it will help me to get my hours in, which i think is going to be the biggest factor, getting enough SNG's played.

I would prefer longwinded responses to sparse comments any day. Thanks again!

[lacky]

I use a laptop also with a 19" moniter hooked to it. Using extend desktop under screen resolution i can use both screens at once. The 19" will go 1200 x 1600 so i put the 4 games on that, and view the lobby, notepad, player notes etc. on the laptop screen. If you are gonna play seriosly you need that setup. IMO it will be easier for you to play 3 games that dont overlap at all than 2 games that do. Ive done it both ways, it makes a huge difference.

Good luck
Steve

ps. dont let the swings get you down, in 4 days i made $3000, was a poker god, then in the last 2 have givin $1000 back, cant do a thing right. Thats definately the poker life!