For those that play online for a living, how realistic is this?

[Rick Diesel]

I have been seriously considering quitting the regular job to become a full-time poker pro. I have been charting my play over the last 6 months, but this is still a ridiculously small sample to work with. I have been playing exclusively SNGs on Stars, ranging from the $55 to the $109.

Here are my stats over the last 6 months.

1,000 SNGs
23.7% ROI (variance between $55 and $109 is immaterially small, but I actually do slightly better at the 109s)
3 tables at a time
Average a little less than 1 hour per SNG

So I did some math, and found out that if I maintain my current ROI, playing 3 tables at a time, for 9 hours a day, 5 days a week, 45 weeks per year, playing an even mixture of $55 and $109s, I would make approximately $115,000 in a year.

Now my question is:
Is a 23.7% ROI sustainable while playing 3 tables at a time, 45 hours a week, for 45 weeks?

Additional results: In case this helps in any way, in the 1,000 SNGs, i have the following places...
1st - 160
2nd - 142
3rd - 138

Thank you for any comments.

[Reef]

45 hrs a week is the perfect recipe for burnout. I'd try your figures again with 20-30 hrs/week.

edit: I'm in college and don't play for a living

[Rick Diesel]

[ QUOTE ]
45 hrs a week is the perfect recipe for burnout. I'd try your figures again with 20-30 hrs/week.

edit: I'm in college and don't play for a living

[/ QUOTE ]

I just figured that since I currently average about 55-60 hours per week at my job, that 40-45 hours per week would be relatively easy.

That being said, this is precisely the feedback that I am looking for. Thank you for your opinion.

[SoftcoreRevolt]

I know a few people who have burned out trying to play 45 hours a week. It is tough. It is super tedious, sometimes frustrating, etc. If you want to play that much, just make sure you have ample distractions for much needed breaks. With SNGs this is actually probably more doable than grinding ring games, since you can start 3, and an hour later finish up and play some NBA Jam for a quick break, then get back to 3 more SnGs.

[Rick Diesel]

Right now, I probably average between 10-15 hours per week. I just figure that if I get rid of the 50-60 hour work week that I have at my real job, I could easily play poker for 30-35 hours of that time, and still have MUCH more free time than I had previously.

Obviously I would install breaks into my play time, as I would be home with my dogs all day, and would spend a lot of time playing with them.

[lorinda]

Your figures for $109s are unrealistic.

See 1-table tournament forum for details.

Lori

[Benholio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
45 hrs a week is the perfect recipe for burnout. I'd try your figures again with 20-30 hrs/week.

edit: I'm in college and don't play for a living

[/ QUOTE ]

I just figured that since I currently average about 55-60 hours per week at my job, that 40-45 hours per week would be relatively easy.

That being said, this is precisely the feedback that I am looking for. Thank you for your opinion.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just want to second what others said, as I had the same outlook. I worked 45-50 hours/week at my last 'real job', and now If I get 120 hours for a month I feel like giving myself a trohpy. 25-30 hours/week is the most realistic total.

In your previous job, did you work balls to the wall for the entire 50 hours a week? How much of that time was spent working hard? In most jobs you only spend a couple hours a day worth of high-stress hard work, but if you are only counting hours that you sat at tables for poker, then it is ALL high-stress hard work.

Considering the hours spent reading the strategy forums, posting hands, etc, 25-30 hours of table-time a week is pretty equivalent to a full-time 40 hr/week job.

[JoeC]

I sort of disagree. I've heard of guys putting in 35-40 hours consistently. However, I've never done this, so I can't tell you this definitively

[Kevin K.]

[ QUOTE ]
45 hrs a week is the perfect recipe for burnout. I'd try your figures again with 20-30 hrs/week.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't take the time to figure out how many hours a week the OP has been playing. I think it takes a certain type of person to handle 45 hrs a week of multitabling online for many weeks in a row, however.

I can't imagine myself going through 45 hrs a week of online play for very long while I am sure I could play 60-70 hours a week of B&M for months on end before needing a break. Depends on the person, I guess. To me, online play is really draining.

*edit* I just read your post about playing 10-15 hours a week and I completely understand your train of thought with trading in more hours at work for less hours playing poker. You never know until you get there, I guess. Maybe put in 8-10 hrs playing on a few of your days off from work to get a feel?

[k000k]

23.7% is very sustainable, you might even be able to improve it.. I dont know 1st hand, but from what I understand, very good players can be at 35-40% ROI.. In the smaller 10+1 and 20+2's that I play anyway..