[Al_Capone_Junior]

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I play about twice a week at the riverboat casinos and often clear about $2-400 in profit playing 3/6.
Online, I play .50/1 and STTs and, while I've cashed out twice and tripled my original bankroll, I have no illusions about the fact that I am a barely mediocre poker player at this point.

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Realism about your skills is good. However, "often clearing $2-400 at 3-6" isn't very realistic. $400 is a very large win for 3-6, and even $200 is a sizeable win that shouldn't be counted on happening very often. A realistic figure should be based on a significant number of hours of play, and your hourly rate after playing that long. We're talking many hundreds of hours, even thousands. Read "Gambling theory and other topics" if you haven't already.

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My boyfriend really wishes I would go on a huge losing streak, and not be able to continue

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This is a recipe for disaster here. By the time you are talking about EV and reading 2+2, your pokering isn't going to disappear, therefore you need support, not ignorant bullpucky and flak. Time to get with the program buddy.

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I'm not wild about the idea of possibly giving up one of my $250+ evenings at the casino to go play somewhere that I win no money

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Again, a more realistic vision should be taken here. While you're not going to make any money playing for free, about the BEST you can hope to do in a live 3-6 game is $6 an hour (over the long run). You might be able to beat it for slightly more, but given your self-described assessment of your own skills, this seems very unlikely. You are more likely to be a break-even or 1/2 a big bet per hour player at this point, but you haven't realized it yet. Believe me, you aren't going to have $200+ wins all the time.

After playing approximately 30 hours a week for a year and a half back in 2000-2001, I was pushing about 1500 hours, and had managed a win rate as follows:

3-6 full kill - $7.12 per hour

4-8 full kill - $9.30 per hour

8-16 full kill - $15.00 per hour*

Keep in mind that I became a serious 2+2er back in 1997, which is when I first posted on 2+2. I was also a math tutor in college, thus I have a much better grasp of theoretical aspects of gambling, like hourly rate, SD, EV, risk of ruin etc. I also have spent an average of 25-30 hours a week (sometimes much more) in a cardroom for the last nine years. I have also been an avid home game player for the last 2 1/2 decades (I started playing for money when I was nine [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]). Experience does count.

I tell you all this because from the tone of your post, it doesn't seem like you have a realistic handle on how much you can really beat the game of limit hold'em for.

As for your foray into the world of playing for points, realize that people will play much better poker when there's real money involved. However, there's something to be said for being able to adjust to different conditions. There's even more to be said for playing poker for FUN and not just money. I love home games where there's little money involved, mostly so I can play stupid, drink beer, and enjoy myself. My personal home games are $10 buy-in, and I play every hand. But I guarantee you that when I'm in a casino playing for bennies, I won't be playing like an idiot anymore. I have the experience to adjust to conditions, no matter what they might be. In time, so will you.

I just want to urge you to try and get a mathematically sound grasp on the reality of poker now, while you are early in your playing career, and before you develop bad habits or unrealistic expectations.

al