The Life of a Professional Poker Player

mtdurham · #1 06-05-2004, 03:23 AM

Hi all, new to the forum...

I dropped out of college last Fall with visions of grandeur. I know for a fact there are a lot of others out there that wrestle with the same decision on a daily basis. I think it's important to see both sides of the coin so I created a website telling my story; a story that I believe more accurately depicts the life of a professional poker player...

hope you enjoy. http://www.geocities.com/guysfromraleigh

Vehn · #2 06-05-2004, 03:43 AM

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Grivan · #3 06-05-2004, 03:47 AM

Isn't this basically what is told to every person on here who claims they are turning pro. People know what they are getting into.

mat · #4 06-05-2004, 04:02 AM

im not trying to be rude but going pro when you play the 3/6 game sounds pretty stupid im fairly certain that most people here that play pro play at a higher limit. one bb per hour isnt even minimum wage here in cali i hope this is not truly your story. hey here's an idea stay in school until you can beat a limit high enough to aford yourself cigarettes in any state

mtdurham · #5 06-05-2004, 04:16 AM

oh ive played my fair share of 10/20 and 15/30...

it's just that at that point in my "career" my propensity to take 2 weeks off each month to go sailing in Florida, bar hopping in Manhattan, or partying in god knows where had put a huge dent in my bankroll.

I was jsut playing to get things going again, and trust me I was winning way more than 1 BB/hr... generally id play about 52-58 hours on a 4 day trip to AC and clear around $600-$900. You gotta understand that I saw pots capped pre-flop with 8 players in them at least once an hour. At least once a day you'd get into a heads up raising war with the nuts when someone else had sometimes as little as three of a kind. That would be an easy $50 or so that most books don't take into consideration when they talk about win rates.

Besides i live in NC and I rent out 2 bedrooms in my house so my living expenses are astoundingly low. Basically I pay about $150-$200 a month for rent/utilities/insurance, etc my health and car insurance was like another $180 a month...

Plus i like the way you dont have to pay attention to the game at 3/6... you can just hang out, chat, and drink beer... 10/20 is nice if i feel like actually playing, but after awhile that feels like work... IF your boss said he'd reduce your workload by 50% and your pay only by 30% and you were already living very, very comfortably wouldn't you be inclined to take him up on his offer?

Clarkmeister · #6 06-05-2004, 04:21 AM

Nice

mat · #7 06-05-2004, 11:47 AM

ok i like your reply, i sounds like you didnt think playing full time would feel like work. any full time player ive ever talked to, read about or whatever has always said that it is work. it sounds like you could have used that advice. and no i would not take a 70% pay cut for 50% less work. i dont work that hard anyway.

phish · #8 06-05-2004, 02:27 PM

The blackjack and drugs are your own problems that have nothing to do with poker. There are plenty of poker pros who have no desire to touch either.
But I can certainly see how turning 'pro' at the 3/6 or even 15/30 level can be pretty pathetic and boringly grinding. That's why I would never advice anyone to even think about turning 'pro' until they can crush the 50/100 game minimum.

dogmeat · #9 06-05-2004, 02:48 PM

I enjoyed reading about your life from the last six months. I'm sorry you (like others) feel that "even winning poker players are losers". I don't feel like a loser, but then again I am not waking up in my car, staying up all night doing coke or playing $3/6 in AC. Better luck in the rest of your life.

Dogmeat [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

Brian462 · #10 06-05-2004, 03:10 PM

I don't understand why drug addiction, having losers for friends, going out drinking every night, and generally being a screw up is automatically linked to being a pro poker player. If you do those things in ANY line of work you will fail miserably. Whenever I hear people complain about the horrible lifestyle of a pro, all I hear is how horrible their personal life is.

If you take out all the crap about being a complete loser and just look at the WORK part of it, poker is a great opportunity for anyone that takes it seriously. If you fail because you have no self control then you shouldn't have turned pro in the first place.