Weekly Earnings.

[aesic]

I have been playing poker for several monthes now and have recently decided that I would like to obtain a "steady" extra income of $100-$200 per week for college spending money (I play .5/1 NLHE at UB). From my experiences I believe that $100 is a very achieveable goal for me. My question is, what is the best way to make this a "weekly income."

One way to do this would be to play until I make $100, then stop for the week. For example, if I make $100 on Monday in the first 2 hours, then I would not play for the rest of the week. The other option would be just to play as much as I want/can and see what I earn at the end of each week.

Stoping at $100 would be more steady, but at the same time would stop me from winning more. Also, if I have a week of loss, I would never be able to conteract the loss.

What seems to be the best policy (this might be common knowledge but I don't know it)? Also, out of curiosity do professional poker players stop when they win their weekly/monthly earnings goal, or do they keep on playing (I'd think that they keep on playing).

Thanks,
aesic

[pudley4]

How many hours per week do you average?
What is your current win rate (BB/hr)?

Let's say you win 2 BB/hr playing 2/4 (whether that's 1 table, 3 tables, etc, doesn't matter). That's $8/hr.
Let's also say you can play 15 hours/week. That means on average you'll take in $120/week. (Obviously some weeks you'll win more, some you'll win less.)

The best way to make it work is to only take out your $100/week. If you have a sufficient bankroll, you should be able to take out the $100 even if you have a losing week. If you make more than $100 in a week, the extra will stay in your bankroll as a buffer against the losing weeks.

You can also decrease the fluctuations you see even more by waiting until the end of the month to cash out your ~$450.

[Homer]

The problem with stopping immediately after hitting $100 is that you won't be putting in an appropriate amount of hours such that in the long run you average $100/wk. Remember, some weeks you will never hit +$100. For example, let's say you average $10/hr and are available to play 10 hrs/week. Something like this could easily happen:

Week 1 - 4 hrs, +$100

Week 2 - 6 hrs, +$100

Week 3 - 10 hrs, -$80

Week 4 - 3 hrs, +$100

Week 5 - 10 hrs, -$70

Week 6 - 5 hrs, +$100

Week 7 - 3 hrs, +$100

Week 8 - 4 hrs, +$100

So, you'll have made $450 in 45 hours, which is right on your win rate of $10/hr, but you'll only have made $45/wk.

A better way to do it, to ensure that you make $100/wk in the long run, is to play [100/W] hrs/wk, where W is your win rate. So, if you make $10/hr, you'll play 10 hours/week whether you are winning or losing. If you do this, the above weeks might end up looking like this instead (Week's 3 and 5 would stay the same):

Week 1 - 10 hrs, +$220

Week 2 - 10 hrs, +$110

Week 3 - 10 hrs, -$80

Week 4 - 10 hrs, +$70

Week 5 - 10 hrs, -$70

Week 6 - 10 hrs, +$240

Week 7 - 10 hrs, +$130

Week 8 - 10 hrs, +$180

Obviously, after only 8 weeks, you shouldn't expect to be up an amount exactly equal to your win rate times number of hours played, but the idea still holds true. In the long run, you'll make $100/wk by playing 10 hrs/wk, and if you stop playing whenever you hit $100 in a week, you won't get in that many hours/wk, so in the long run you will make less money.

-- Homer

[Nottom]

Figure out what you hourly earn rate is and then play however many hours it would take to achieve your goal based on that number.

So if you want an extra $150 a week and earn $10 hour playing poker then you should plan to play around 15 hours a week.

You should try to play this much whether you are winning or losing because its all one big session and if you consistantly quit early when you are ahead, you will be regretting it when you finally hit a bad streak.

[JTrout]

I believe that $100 is a very achieveable goal for me. My question is, what is the best way to make this a "weekly income."

1) Read good poker books.
2) Be a bonus whore.

If you are serious in your goal to make $100 per week, then playing only at UB is not the best way to achieve your goal.

Good luck.
JTrout.

[RydenStoompala]

This project is interesting on a few levels.

[ QUOTE ]
I would like to obtain a "steady" extra income of $100-$200 per week

[/ QUOTE ]
I assume you put the "steady" in quotes because you know it wont be steady? If this is just college spending cash, specifically beer money, then it sounds ok.


[ QUOTE ]
One way to do this would be to play until I make $100, then stop for the week


[/ QUOTE ]

Unless you shouldn't. Who's to say that you wont earn $500 or more that week? Then lose for five straight weeks? It's one long game, so it's better to take a break from the game because you feel like it, not because you're up a little.

As long as this is not a substitute for a real job where you need the cash to survive, then it's possible. The average pot at your NL table is $18-$20 I think. The post about not limitting yourself to one site is important and accurate. Also, I would examine building up your bank roll and then bumping up your limit while trimming your playing time. You're facing an aweful lot of grinding.