If you were me..............
 

..........what would you do? I am single. I am a high school teacher. I have the option to take next year off if I so choose, and still come back the following year and have my job. I will make 52K + benefits next year as a teacher. I 4-table 5/10 6max. I play OK/kinda good. I have a nice rakeback deal where I make $0.071/hand. I can get in 300 hands/hour. If I play 35 hours each week for 45 weeks and beat the game at a modest win-rate (0.9bb/100) I'll make 76K total. Tell me what to do.

Re: If you were me..............
 

You realize none of us are familiar with the culture of educators. Although you are allowed to take the year off, would there be some detrimental effect on your teaching career? Or is it something that is common? Have you played at least 50 or 100K hands at this level?

You may want to consider waiting until you can beat the 10/20 at 1BB/100. I think it is the + benefits part that makes poker -EV until then.

Re: If you were me..............
 

So I'm guessing that taking a year off, you lose a pensionable year and delay your rise up the pay scale accordingly.

I'd say if you love poker, have a life outside of the school you teach at, aren't prone to tilting or taking shots, go for it.

BTW, I really like that you used a superconservative winrate.

Re: If you were me..............
 

Do you get most of your summer off? If so, why not just play full-time in the summer?

Re: If you were me..............
 

You have a fallback position if the poker thing doesn't work out. You don't have a family to support and the associated reasons not to do this.

I'd say, do it. You may not ever be in a better position to do so.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
You realize none of us are familiar with the culture of educators. Although you are allowed to take the year off, would there be some detrimental effect on your teaching career? Or is it something that is common? Have you played at least 50 or 100K hands at this level?

You may want to consider waiting until you can beat the 10/20 at 1BB/100. I think it is the + benefits part that makes poker -EV until then.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have 30K hands at 2/4, 70K at 3/6, and 60K at 5/10 6max. I am over 1bb/100 total.

Health insurance will cost me $400/month, which is a lot but it is the same coverage I would have at school. I am guessing I would be missing out on about 5-7K in retirement benefits. I could survive on 2K/month, and live well on 3K/month.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
..........what would you do? I am single. I am a high school teacher. I have the option to take next year off if I so choose, and still come back the following year and have my job. I will make 52K + benefits next year as a teacher. I 4-table 5/10 6max. I play OK/kinda good. I have a nice rakeback deal where I make $0.071/hand. I can get in 300 hands/hour. If I play 35 hours each week for 45 weeks and beat the game at a modest win-rate (0.9bb/100) I'll make 76K total. Tell me what to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is your user icon accurate as to how you feel when you get a bad beat? If so, stick to teaching [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img].

Re: If you were me..............
 

What grade do you teach? You get the summer off correct?

Re: If you were me..............
 

Do you like teaching? Also, if the poker goes well, do you think you would move up and go for year two?

Taking a leave from my job was an easy decision as it is unrewarding and has no benefits (independent contractor). I know a lot of teachers and, depending on the school system, their feelings about their careers range from love to hate.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
Do you like teaching? Also, if the poker goes well, do you think you would move up and go for year two?

Taking a leave from my job was an easy decision as it is unrewarding and has no benefits (independent contractor). I know a lot of teachers and, depending on the school system, their feelings about their careers range from love to hate.

[/ QUOTE ]

I could use the time away.

I should also mention.........
 

.....that I have a 1000BB bankroll and 5 months living expenses set aside.

Re: If you were me..............
 

Teach and play in your spare time. Keep trying to move up in limits. If you are successful in moving up you can still teach, make more than 76K from poker in your spare time and still have plenty of free time to do other things in life.

Re: If you were me..............
 

Is this a longterm plan to play poker and quit teaching? Or just a sabbatical to do something you enjoy? At some profit point would you simply decide not to go back to teaching?

Is there something that would prevent you from delaying this a year? By then you should be at 10/20 with the potential to double your profits. (Which would make it much harder for me to go back to teaching)

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
Is this a longterm plan to play poker and quit teaching? Or just a sabbatical to do something you enjoy? At some profit point would you simply decide not to go back to teaching?

Is there something that would prevent you from delaying this a year? By then you should be at 10/20 with the potential to double your profits. (Which would make it much harder for me to go back to teaching)

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm just taking the year. If I turn into Bicyclekick and win 250K, then maybe I'd have to reevaluate. I assume I will eventually nmove to 10/20, but I am trying to be extremely conservative when assessing my potential earn so as to not delude myself.

Re: If you were me..............
 

I'm in a similiar boat. I'm quitting/sabatical teaching after this year. I do make much less than you at teaching.

We both have the summers off. How many hours have you put in so far? Can you sustain 35 hr weeks. I tried but it's a really big drain. I've decided to make my goal 30 hour weeks. I think you should never make professional poker estimates with more than 30 hr weeks. Rerun the numbers that way.

Also nobody ever considers the effect of getting better. As a prolific HUSH poster I imagine your hourly will increase substantially between now and June 2006. By then it won't even be close (and that's if it is close now).

I have one more thing working against me. I'm a computer science teacher and there aren't very many of us around. So my programs may just fall apart when I leave. I'd feel sad if that happened a little.

Just some ramblings.

Krishan

Re: If you were me..............
 

I would like to change my vote from play, but it's close to play, and it's not close.

WTF, go for it, man. You are a proven commodity. I followed your posts when you were going through losing and stagnation hell and you made it through. I'll take that over some kid who runs wildly hot out of the gate anyday.

I don't have the slightest reservation about my decision and I did not have quite as much fall back on security that you do. Furthermore, I'll bet you will far exceed your projected winrate.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You realize none of us are familiar with the culture of educators. Although you are allowed to take the year off, would there be some detrimental effect on your teaching career? Or is it something that is common? Have you played at least 50 or 100K hands at this level?

You may want to consider waiting until you can beat the 10/20 at 1BB/100. I think it is the + benefits part that makes poker -EV until then.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have 30K hands at 2/4, 70K at 3/6, and 60K at 5/10 6max. I am over 1bb/100 total.

Health insurance will cost me $400/month, which is a lot but it is the same coverage I would have at school. I am guessing I would be missing out on about 5-7K in retirement benefits. I could survive on 2K/month, and live well on 3K/month.

[/ QUOTE ]

Teach and it's not even close. The 5-7K in retirement benefits alone tip the balance.

Consider the poker as a part time job if you wish but stick with the job.

Think of it this way. If you play poker for a living, what are you going to do for fun? Teach the occasional night class? I don't think so.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]


Think of it this way. If you play poker for a living, what are you going to do for fun? Teach the occasional night class? I don't think so.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is wierd. It's not like he doesn't have other entertaintment options other than poker. He'll do those in all the extra hours he has when he isn't playing poker for a living.

Krishan

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
[Think of it this way. If you play poker for a living, what are you going to do for fun?

[/ QUOTE ]

Get drunk and bird-dog beaver?

Re: If you were me..............
 

nh

Re: If you were me..............
 

Good thoughts. One advantage I have is that I teach physics, and there just aren't that many of us around so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting another job if I chose to take more than a year.

I actually play about 30 hours/week now and I have a full-time summer job, so IMO 35 hrs isn't too big of a stretch. I am trying to account for the times when I'd rather eat glass than play, thus I have planned on taking off 7 weeks/year. The average working stiff grinds out 2000 hours/year. If I can't survive 1575, I should be shot.

I also hope I can improve. From what I read in HUSH, one has to be retarded not to beat 5/10 for more than 1.5bb/100 (I guess I'm retarded). Even if this is an exaggeration, IMO 1bb/100 is reasonable for me and likely on the low end of what I can expect. I hope.

Re: If you were me..............
 

Just play poker for fun if you just make that amount

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Think of it this way. If you play poker for a living, what are you going to do for fun? Teach the occasional night class? I don't think so.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is wierd. It's not like he doesn't have other entertaintment options other than poker. He'll do those in all the extra hours he has when he isn't playing poker for a living.

Krishan

[/ QUOTE ]

Call it what you will although I don't think that's necessary.

This is the way I think of it. I mostly love my job but sometimes wish I could do something else. I really enjoy playing poker and could probably go pro if I decided to. However, poker serves as a source of entertainment and stress relief from what I do for a living. It fills a particular niche in my life that it would no longer fill were I to play for a living.

YMMV

Re: If you were me..............
 

I think you can't go wrong taking the guaranteed 52k + benefits and supplementing that with poker income. Look at poker as the dazzling commission you make and your teacher salary as insurance in case you don't make your numbers one month.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think you can't go wrong taking the guaranteed 52k + benefits and supplementing that with poker income. Look at poker as the dazzling commission you make and your teacher salary as insurance in case you don't make your numbers one month.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: If you were me..............
 

Why not do both?.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]

I also hope I can improve. From what I read in HUSH, one has to be retarded not to beat 5/10 for more than 1.5bb/100 (I guess I'm retarded). Even if this is an exaggeration, IMO 1bb/100 is reasonable for me and likely on the low end of what I can expect. I hope.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't think 5/10 is easy at all. I think people win for 50K and post and then tank over 100K. In short it's really easy to go on 200 bet upswings and viscious downswings. This makes a huge impact on winrate.

All that said, because you work so hard on your game, I think you WILL get better and see improved results.

The hours you are putting in with a part time job is very very promising.

You are posting this early. When you get to June of next year, I'd say making 6 figures will be a relatively conservative estimate of your yearly expectation. This comes from a fellow shorty.

Krishan

Re: If you were me..............
 

I just recieved my certificate to teach in Jan. Alas, I have not even thought about looking for a job, nor will I.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
I think you can't go wrong taking the guaranteed 52k + benefits and supplementing that with poker income. Look at poker as the dazzling commission you make and your teacher salary as insurance in case you don't make your numbers one month.

[/ QUOTE ]

You make a good point, but there is more to this than $$$. I surely could make a lot more by teaching + playing, but I'd like some time to live as well. The independence I would have is something that one can't put a price on.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
Why not do both?.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to have "me" time.

Re: If you were me..............
 

I'd teach and it's not even close.

[ QUOTE ]
I have 30K hands at 2/4, 70K at 3/6, and 60K at 5/10 6max. I am over 1bb/100 total.



[/ QUOTE ]

I don't thnk you have a high enough winate to justify it.

What is your winrate broken down into each limit?

1BB/100 over all 3 limits isn't spectacular. Your beating the game which is good but you need a much higher winrate to try and go pro in my opinion.


WHat happens if 3 months down the road Rakeback ends?

Re: If you were me..............
 

If I were you, I'd take a year off, this year. The poker boom will probably never be more profitable than it is now.

I would definitely go back to teaching though. The retirement benefits are great, and it has other more meaningful rewards which you will remember once you shake off some of your burnout. And poker is a better hobby than a job.

During your year off, however, you should take your game to new levels. Not just limits, but you should learn other games, NL and non-hold em games, as well. Travel to casinos. Learn tournament poker. If you dedicate yourself to improving and expanding your game(s) you will find that you can make more than you do now at poker, possibly much more (and possibly at a different game). Then you may be in a position to substantially complement your salary as a hobby.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
I'd teach and it's not even close.

[ QUOTE ]
I have 30K hands at 2/4, 70K at 3/6, and 60K at 5/10 6max. I am over 1bb/100 total.



[/ QUOTE ]

I don't thnk you have a high enough winate to justify it.

What is your winrate broken down into each limit?

1BB/100 over all 3 limits isn't spectacular. Your beating the game which is good but you need a much higher winrate to try and go pro in my opinion.


WHat happens if 3 months down the road Rakeback ends?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't have my numbers in front of me, but at 2/4 it's like 2.2, 3/6 is 1.7 and after dropping 200BB in my last 5K hands my 5/10 is at 0.88.

Rakeback dying would obviously suck, but that is why I have 5 months living expenses in reserve. How high should my win-rate be?

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why not do both?.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to have "me" time.

[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like you have honestly thought this out thoroughly, and are also aware of both your talents and shortcomings in poker. The only thing you seem to underestimate is the amount that poker will take over your life and thoughts if you decide to play full time. A big downswing will severely criple your emotional health even away from the table.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Why not do both?.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to have "me" time.

[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like you have honestly thought this out thoroughly, and are also aware of both your talents and shortcomings in poker. The only thing you seem to underestimate is the amount that poker will take over your life and thoughts if you decide to play full time. A big downswing will severely criple your emotional health even away from the table.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know. I've had a few 150 drops, and just had a 200BB drop. I think I'm dealing with them OK, as I KNOW it is not about NOW but about the long road. That said, if I have a 500BB drop, I'm not sure how I'll react.

Re: If you were me..............
 

If you could build your bankroll whilst doing this it might be worth it. E.g. If half your profits were for living expenses. You would vastly improve over the course of the year, and also be able to move up stakes pretty quickly. In that way, you might make six figures.

Re: If you were me..............
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you could build your bankroll whilst doing this it might be worth it. E.g. If half your profits were for living expenses. You would vastly improve over the course of the year, and also be able to move up stakes pretty quickly. In that way, you might make six figures.

[/ QUOTE ]

I live relatively simply. I could easily survive on rakeback alone. Well, not "easily" as I intend to pay my taxes, but I could likely live if I cleared 2K/month.

Re: If you were me..............
 

Bob,

Your benefits package turn this.

Yes you could gross more playing poker. But you are going to be incurring additional expenses.

Off hand I would say matching social security would take out a chunk. The replacing your health insurance. As well as retirement benefits and stuff like that.

If you were saying you were going to go get your masters or something like that, I would say it is a good idea. But not for a career.

I know sometimes you like to let off steam after bad runs. But I wonder if keeping your teaching job might be better for your emotional health as well.

Re: If you were me..............
 

I'd say teach and play part time. During your summers off play full time. Then one day retire with a nice pension/retirement benefits and you can have a nice moneymaking hobby.

Good luck,
Matt

Re: If you were me..............
 

PokerBob,

I really think you should go for it. It sounds like this is something you have thought about and really want to do. You have a huge bankroll, and enough living expenses to get you through the hard times. This will probably be the only time in your life you will be able to do this since you don't have a family to support. I'm truly a believer in doing what you want in life. Life is a gift, and you have to make it what you want. If you want to try playing poker for a year so you can travel or have free time you should do it. What's the worst thing that can happen? If you go on a large downswing you have the savings to support yourself. Even if the worst happens and you go broke, you are obviously intelligent enough to get a job making $2k/month until you can get your teaching job back.

I wish you the best of luck in your choice.

Durs