serious post about playing poker professionally

[stankphish]

[i moved this post from general texas hold'em]

my situation is this, im 20 and currently in the process of getting prematurely discharged from the military under honorable conditions, i havnt been in long enough to get the GI bill or any benefits from it. i know that i want to be a professional poker player, i really cant see myself doing anything else and being happy. im still very intent on getting a college degree though. what i want to do is get into dealing poker then turn semi-pro while im in college then eventually pro. im thinking very long term though. i really have no interest in playing tournament poker or no-limit, just a great limit player. i feel i have enough talent to reach this goal over time, i just really lack experience.

i despise playing poker online and i only have 1.5 months of casino experience from when i went down to the casinos in seattle. while there my game progressed tremendously and i and others(floormen,experienced players) felt that i was a lot better than most all the newer players that that have been playing for a year or so with only 3 weeks of putting in 8-16 hour days at the cardroom and a couple of months worth of home games that i dominated.

so here are my questions and concerns. keep in mind i despise playing online and im genuinely thinking long term.

1. What is the best way to get into dealing? schools, on the job training, etc...
2. Where should i move to based on which games are the easiest to beat and dealing jobs/schools availability? im considering seattle/tacoma,vancouver b.c.,boulder colorado, foxwoods, and southern california.
3. Does this seem reasonable?

I sincerely appreciate any advice.

[stankphish]

In the old thread stinky pete wrote:
[ QUOTE ]
it's highly unlikely that you're a winning player.

start reading books now.

(this is my honest, sincere advice. not trying to be a dick here.)

[/ QUOTE ]

i appreciate the honesty. but i never said i was a winning player, just that others and myself think that i have potential. im just a student of the game. i have read books and im going to continue to, along with browsing these forums zealously.

i read alot of posts by kids who's cards have been running hot and are asking advice about whether or not they should drop out of college and play poker professionally for the rest of their lives. im realistic enough to know that i cant support myself off of poker right now. what im most concerned with is getting into dealing and making enough money off of that to put myself through college while learning the game well enough so that in time it can be my profession.

and that takes me back to my original questions, especially on where should i move and the best way to get into dealing. also any other advice/personal experiences from truly professional poker players would be much appreciated.

[Popinjay]

Play online, no doubt. The online game is extremely lucrative right now and you may hate yourself later for passing up such an opportunity. If you are serious about this you need to get over your own personal "hate" for playing online.

[LImitPlayer]

Get over your dislike for playing online.

There are so many benifits to playing online that the loss of a read of a player by looking at them is overcome in so many ways by the benifits of playing online.

Rakeback, Less rake, No dealer tipping, no commute, Rakeback, No travel costs, ability to selct the tables, ability to use player notes while playing, no waiting lists, ability to multitable, more hands per hour, oh yeah did I mention Rakeback?

Playing 8 tables at a time I am averaging about 425 hands per hour, compare that to the 35 hand sper hour you get playing in a B & M Casino.

I can play the same amount of hands in 1 month that a B & M pro can play in a year with all the benifits listed above.

Only time i step inside a real casino is when I want a change of pace, maybe once a month or so.

[PairTheBoard]

stankphish: "im still very intent on getting a college degree though. what i want to do is get into dealing poker then turn semi-pro while im in college then eventually pro."

"3. Does this seem reasonable?"

Going to college sounds reasonable. Working your way through college sounds reasonable. Working your way through college as a Dealer sounds reasonable. Transitioning from Dealer to SemiPro Player to Pro Player sounds reasonable; it's more the exception than the rule but it's definitely been done. Making this your "longterm" plan sounds reasonable especially because it provides you with longterm Outs if things don't go exactly according to plan.

You might want to consider the colleges in the area you move to when deciding where to go.

How to get the dealer job? Can't help you there. I assume networking, talk to dealers, floorpeople, casino managers, etc. Ask around some more on the Internet. Research it.

gl

PairTheBoard

[bernie]

[ QUOTE ]
i know that i want to be a professional poker player, i really cant see myself doing anything else and being happy

[/ QUOTE ]

Based on what? What you watch and hear about?

[ QUOTE ]
while there my game progressed tremendously and i and others(floormen,experienced players) felt that i was a lot better than most all the newer players that that have been playing for a year or so with only 3 weeks of putting in 8-16 hour days at the cardroom and a couple of months worth of home games that i dominated

[/ QUOTE ]

Based on 3 weeks? Or 1.5 months?

Be careful what other people may say as they may be reacting to seeing you go on a good run and cashing out with a couple racks as their only reference.

I've sat in a game where some players thought a guy was good based on his stack size. I was asked once, by a guy sitting next to me, as the guy in question was coldcalling my UTG raise in MP with JTo and pulls the pot.

This is more-so with floorpeople. In my cardroom, seattle area, there are only a handful of people I really trust in their opinion of my game. Mainly because I know how they play and what they've studied. It's a nice pick me up to hear, but be real careful about the value of it. The best evaluation you can get is on here, joining in on threads where you can test your thinking against other players.

You've mentioned nothing about what you've studied about the game. Just that you lack experience playing. How much could you really absorb in 1.5 months?

I think your plan is fine, imo. You may find that it's better to deal and play on the side. By then you may realize just what playing as a live pro takes and you may change your mind. Especially when you hit that first real bad swing.

b

[stankphish]

After 3 weeks my game started coming around. Regardless of what the other people thought at that point i no longer felt outclassed by the other players at the table except for 1 or 2 very exceptional players who i later found out were professionals.

So far ive read Supersystem and caros book of tells. Most of my study has come from analysing my play, with my friend who put himself through college by playing, at the end of each casino session and home game. reminding me when the only reason i won was b/c i sucked out or my cards were running hot, or the various reasons why i didnt win that night and helped me plug alot of leaks. i used turbo texas holdem for a while then i got poki poker. and last but not least reading 2+2 forums for hours at a time.

As far as the reasons for me wanting to do this, i want to be one of those people that you occasionly hear about earning there living doing something that they really genuinely love.

[The Goober]

[ QUOTE ]
2. Where should i move to based on which games are the easiest to beat and dealing jobs/schools availability? im considering seattle/tacoma,vancouver b.c.,boulder colorado, foxwoods, and southern california.

[/ QUOTE ]

In terms of pay, seattle area might be your best bet. WA state laws say that everyone has to make minimum wage ($7.35 here) regardless of tips (as opposed to some places where the base wage is less than minimum). I've also heard dealers talking about how much better treated they are here than CA - better tips too.

That being said, I've heard its kinda hard to break into dealing here, and I have no idea how'd you go about doing it.

[jordanx]

1. Learn how to deal from a school or a dealer. Audition at cardrooms for a job. It takes a lot of hard work and training to get a job.

2. Washington, California and Nevada have quite a few card rooms. Nevada is probably your best bet, but isn't on your list, so WA is probably a good second option.

3. It's your life, you're a big boy, you can make your own choices. You seem to think you can do it, give it a shot.

[IlliniRyRy]

It doesn't seem like you have that much experience. You definitely need to get over your dislike of online play. If you're sitting there just dismissing that statement, then you're probably too stubborn to be a winning poker player. If you ask me, playing B&M for a living is a ridiculously frustrating grind. I've been a winning player online for several years and I've had a few losing months, even after playing tens of thousands of hands. This means if you become a limit hold 'em B&M pro, you'll have losing YEARS. There's no way around it, eventually you will have that kind of bad luck no matter how good you are. Not too many people can deal with that, me included.