Gonna live off 2/4 - How long?

[xniNja]

If you ignore everything else everyone has said, but remember the following, you will be OK:

Attempting to play 2-4 in a B&M for a living will, with certainty nearing 100%, result in bankruptcy, poor hygiene, rail-bird-ism, general disdain for poker, the world, yourself, and life. Take a hint and realize that everyone and myself means well when I say: Not only is it clear you don't have the poker knowledge to play professionally, I would say the same thing to someone who I knew was a winning player.

Playing 2-4 professionally JUST ISN'T DONE live. It's -EV. Please listen. The end.

[PassiveCaller]

You're out of your mind... Get it over with and just shoot yourself in the head. Don't try something so asinine.

[sekrah]

[ QUOTE ]
If you ignore everything else everyone has said, but remember the following, you will be OK:

Attempting to play 2-4 in a B&M for a living will, with certainty nearing 100%, result in bankruptcy, poor hygiene, rail-bird-ism, general disdain for poker, the world, yourself, and life. Take a hint and realize that everyone and myself means well when I say: Not only is it clear you don't have the poker knowledge to play professionally, I would say the same thing to someone who I knew was a winning player.

Playing 2-4 professionally JUST ISN'T DONE live. It's -EV. Please listen. The end.

[/ QUOTE ]


Well said.. and Vincent.. Before you start going back over your numbers, "Well I made this much in this many hours, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.". Those were your results when poker was a hobby. When poker becomes your jobs, and the pressures of winning to live are on your shoulders, I guarantee you your win rate will be lower than it has already been.

Want to make money playing poker?

Get a part-time job, 20/hrs a week.. Spend the rest of your week trying to target 1 BB/hr in 2-4 ONLINE poker, and you might be fine.

Putting your entire life on the shoulders of your poker game will surely lead to a mental breakdown and potentially suicide. I've seen it.

I have a friend who played online about 12+ hours a day.. He hated a "real job". I don't think he's had one in about 2 years now. I'm telling you, he's a DAMN good poker player. But he didn't have the mental game.

As soon as he NEEDED to win to pay the bills, his house of cards came crashing down. He's still trying to grind it out, borrowing money from people, going on runs every now and then, taking a $50 stake into $200-$300.. but it always comes crashing down in the end. As of this moment he's dead broke.. He missed out on a trip to Atlantic City with me and some others a couple weeks ago because he hit a bad run online the week before we went.

I wouldn't want to live like this. Anyone who would want to live like that needs their head checked at the door.

[Hass]

You know if you get a job at MacDonalds you will make more money and also have less stress.....

[Jurollo]

This is the most ridiculous thread EVER
~Justin

[steamboatin]

If all you have is a few hundred dollars, then you might as well take a shot at being a $2-4 pro because whatever you have been doing clearly isn't working out.

In order to live on a dollar an hour, you probably don't have a car, medical insurance, a home or gainful employment.

I hope this is a troll post but if not, I say go for it. The primary concern of most posters will be, you may lose everything you have. If you have nothing to lose, you might as well take a shot.

[sekrah]

steam.

The point we're making is there is no reward for playing 2-4 limit!

As a number of us have said, you'll make more money and be less stressful working at McDonalds.

If he tries what he's proposing, he's going to end up with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. I don't think we should encourage it.

[steamboatin]

There is no reward for working at McDonalds. The primary reason for cautioning someone against playing professionaly is the almost certainty of them going broke. To late for the OP, He already is broke.

Howard Lederer was homeless for two years. He swept out the pool Hall during the day to get a stake for the $1-2 limit game that night, when bust, then rinse and repeat.

The OP has nothing to lose and there is no way He is working at McDonalds until He figures out on his own that playing poker for a living sucks.

Yes it would be smarter for him to get a job to supplement his income and take the sting out of the swings but we need to be realistic, He ain't buying.

Let me ask you this, what is the worst thing that could happen to the OP? Homeless? It is already on its way. His rent is paid in advance but He has no income and I wouldn't bet you can pay rent anywhere UP East on an $8 per hour job.

Broke? too late, that horse is out of the barn?

sick? Better off dead broke if you are going to get really sick because you are going to lose everything anyway because most health insurance sucks and you won't be able to pay the balance after the insurance denies most of the charges anyway.

I really appreciate your concern for the OP and I share your concern for his wellbeing but it isn't like He is blowing off a promising career or dropping out of Medical school to be a $2-4 Pro.

[MicroBob]

justin's post is most applicable.


but to respond to those who tell him to try getting a job at McDonald's.....I suspect he already has some skills that can get him a job that pays EVEN MORE.

He can read a poker-board (referring to the cards in the middle of the table....not a poker internet-forum)....thus he COULD train to be a dealer.


If poker-dealing is too tricky (and it might be) he could just do BJ dealing.


When I was 'between jobs' as it were I took a job for a couple months as a security-guard at a warehouse.
Had to be done. I was desperate for work and couldn't get ANYTHING. Tough times.


A couple months later, I was training to be a BJ dealer (in the free-school that the casino runs....but there are also schools that will train you for not too much $$) and in the meantime I worked for $7/hr in a bookstore.


After completing the little class I got my job dealing BJ.
I had even more spare-time for online-poker.

My 40 hour/week gig dealing BJ was slowly turning into a 30 hour...and then 25 hour a week gig.
I was signing-out early (if they needed to send a dealer or two home...which was almost every night) and just running home and getting in my online-poker play.

$20/hr or so playing online poker (3 or 4 tables of 2/4 or 3/6) > $14/hr dealing blackjack.


Eventually, it got to the point where I 'took my shot' and quit my BJ dealing job. Obviously I could always return to it (didn't cut any ties) if online-poker went badly but it didn't.
but it was obvious that I had a decent shot to make more money from home if I had more time to do it.

So far it has worked. I've been doing this for the past 16 months now and still enjoy it (although need to kick myself into getting motivated sometimes).


If the poster wants to use a similar plan as mine...but instead just play live poker on the side occasionally (perhaps get paid as a prop in some games) then he's welcome too. Although online-poker can be more profitable for reasons of less rake and multitabling and what-not. But to each their own.


Dealing (either poker or BJ) pays more than McDonalds. EITHER ONE pays more than trying to beat the rake on the 2/4 games. all you have to do to be a successful dealer really is:

1. show up on time
2. be sober
3. be able to pass the drug-test

(it's incredible the number of people that fail miserably on 1 .....or even ALL...of these steps)


You can try to make your $1/hr (or $4/hr or whatever....I still have a hard time believing this is serious)
or you can make a bit more than that working at McDonald's.
or you could make even more just dealing the games while continuing to work on your poker-game.

If your expenses really are so little then you would build up a bankroll of $2k or more in no time which at least is enough to give you a fighting chance for success.

[augie00]

[ QUOTE ]
I will plan to live off $1/hr, which I'm capable of.

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO. GET A JOB AT MCDONALDS. WTF.