Preparing to turn Pro
 

There are lots of considerations. Since my wife is cool with it and has insurance on our family turning pro is possible for me.

The considerations are on the business end. Living in America means that any month or year playing online may cease to be an option.

The nearest casino to me is a 2 hour drive and a total cost of $20 round trip with gas and tolls. This may sound trivial to some of you but when I figure my hourly rate I have to subtract $20 from my winnings AND add 4 hours to time played for the drive time. Should I deduct $.32 per mile for wear and tear on the car as well?

This casino is my fall-back, if online isn't possible then nights that there are no home games I will drive out. In other words I'll always have access to a profitable game.

In light of this I've been spending several hours each week trying to locate home games with reduced or no rake. Next to playing winning poker this has been top priority. The home games that I'm currently involved are the loosest poker and have no rake what-so-ever. If I can fill my week with them I will.

Another consideration I am trying to make easier is the liquidity of my BR. Having enough in Neteller for when 2-3 sites run a dep. bonus, enough on my site of choice and then enough for live games is going to be a challenge. For those that want to say Dep bonus is too small to consider I say an extra 1500-2000 is a couple vacations to Vegas each year.

Do you guys want updates as I progress or does this stuff make you yawn?

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

What about the critters' food?.

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

They all will be on a strict seafood diet. They'll have to fish just like me.

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

Where is Marengo and where is the closest casino to you? I live in Highland Park which is a northern suburb of Chicago and I know some games up there.

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

Marengo is in Il near Rockford and Trump is the Casino I spoke of. I would be very interested in hearing about any games you know of. Please PM them to me.

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

What about rockford charitble games? That's sort of like a casino...

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

Haha, I've been there a couple times over the summer. The rake is really high though, atleast I thought, and then the dealer tips really add up too. I'm only 19 so it's the only casino I've ever been to.

Ponks

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

You might want to consider dropping a few aliases every week until you become a full-time pro (Jan. 1st right?). Pro poker is all about successful time management. If you do this, on Jan. 1 you will be down to something like 4 or 5 aliases which will be much more manageable.

If you want advice on which aliases are expendable just let me know.

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

I'd be interested in getting your updates.

This might be jacking your tread, but I think it's related so, I'll ask my question. You said that your fall back plan is to persue live games. For me though, if I were to go pro, I would use the extra time to search for other business opportunities. Have you thought about other possibilities other than different poker venues?

I wonder what other full timers are doing to help themselves be less dependent on poker income and to be able to eventually get back to playing poker to provide just side income. Rental properties, hotdog stands, coin-op laundromats, bagel shop???? Has anyone thought along this line?

I have a 9 to 5 corporate job which I'm so close to ditching once everything is in place. One big factor in this decision, however, is having some kind of plan to build another business so that I can ween myself off of poker in 2 to 3 years. Although I could probably come back to my current career if I go pro and things don't work out, that would be the last thing I would want to do. So for me, it's important to have a plan for something else other than poker as a longer term source of income.

Re: Preparing to turn Pro
 

I go to Rockford Charity games but at most that is 2 days per week. The rake is high unless you play 5-10 or 10-20. The 2-5 game has the exact same rake as 5-10.

If internet get's outlawes I need to play more than 1-2 days a week, but yes it is where I play live when they have them.