Going Pro in Atlantic City

[Brudder Andrusha]

I really can't believe how many negatives have been said about Atlantic City!!!

I have a place on the Boardwalk, south of the Hilton, looking south!

Its a fantastic place!

Fresh air, beach, biking, close to main drag but far enough to have all the gambler dregs not wander down and see the good living.

It is my *dream* relaxation place!!!

The big difference for me is that I'm there only on weekends and it took me *19 years* to get (And not from playing poker!)

I agree if you can't afford a place then you shouldn't be going there in the first...

I also have anudder place in Kyiv.

Check it out here!

[berya]

http://www.dynamicwebspace.com/10MB/...dy/Day_05.html

21. Platform #1 Central Railway Station.

I have seen this platform many many times as I have lived almost half my life (5 minute walk from this place!) on Yriczkovo.

Nice very nice pictures.

[samz]

I would want to factor in cost of living -

You can get a much nicer place in Philly than in NYC.

The upside to NYC is that you can get plenty of experience against good players without leaving town - also the down side.

[Brudder Andrusha]

Pryvit Berya...

I'm glad that it brought back memories.

I don't know which Platform is better!

The one in Atlantic City or the one in Kyiv!!!

[scrub]

[ QUOTE ]
An hour from Foxwoods. Tons of great restaurants. Lots of clubs. Some inexpensive housing opportunities. Despite what you may have heard, plenty of very nice neighborhoods.

Paul Darden and four Foxwoods pros that I personally know live in New Haven. PM me or respond here if you have questions.

[/ QUOTE ]

I guess you could say that I've been a pro this summer, and I live in New Haven. I've played a lot at Foxwoods and I've played a lot online. I would never want to live in New Haven if play at Foxwoods was my primary game. The few weeks that I've put in 30 hours or more up there have beaten the hell out of me. It's just too long of a drive to make, especially if you're going to make sure you're in the room when the games are good.

New Haven is a great city, though, and gets a bad rap it doesn't deserve.

I don't think moving to AC to be a pro is a good idea because AC would be a terrible place to live. I've spent a lot of time down there and I couldn't imagine living there (unless it was in the Borgata... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

Some place on the CT shoreline would be better since it's a shorter drive to Foxwoods (although the Foxwoods 20/40 isn't always great and there isn't much else to play is you don't want to sit 75/150 mixed games or play a lot of 5/5 NLHE). The shoreline is pretty expensive, though, so you'll have to be pretty far up 95 into the boonies to be able to afford something.

The games at the Taj from 20/40 up are probably better and offer a wider selection of limits as you move up. Absecon and Brigantine are much nicer than AC itself (which makes the set of New Jack City look inviting).

You'll make much more per hour playing online than playing live, though. And you won't have to live in AC.

scrub

[highlife]

[ QUOTE ]
An hour from Foxwoods. Tons of great restaurants. Lots of clubs. Some inexpensive housing opportunities. Despite what you may have heard, plenty of very nice neighborhoods.

Paul Darden and four Foxwoods pros that I personally know live in New Haven. PM me or respond here if you have questions.

[/ QUOTE ]

you are right, New Haven's not bad if you dont mind high poverty levels, gang violence and tons of coke and heroin trafficing.

[Indiana]

Gotta say that I agree with what you are saying. Al is way to negative, probably because he didn't have what it took to be the best....I'll tell you that sitting here 9-5 everyday in front of my computer screen working for the man is very very unhealthy...I am always tired and bored as fukin hell....

Playing poker as a pro is a serious possibility and is worth the risk...

Just my 2 cents,
Indiana

[toots]

Poker's fun. Writing code is even more fun. If you don't think so, you should probably play poker, or do just about anything other than writing code.

I wish I could say that writing code is steadier work than playing poker, but I think those days are long past.

[Al Schoonmaker]

The internet and television have dramatically changed the economic picture. David Sklansky wrote an introduction to "Small Stakes HE." He pointed out that it is now possible to make 50K per year online at small stakes such as 3/6.
However, David and I live in Las Vegas, and we know that the overwhelming majority of working pros have little money, and some of them are deeply in debt. The debtors include people you have seen win huge prizes on TV.
Poker is a long term game, and career planning is an even longer one. Don't think only of the money you made in a good month. Look at where you are likely to end up. The long term prospects are better than they were just a few years ago when I wrote my book, but they are still pretty grim.
For example, I know of several pros who have been busted by medical costs because they have no insurance. I know of VERY few pros with anything resembling a retirement plan. It's great to make a lot of money playing poker when you're young. But do you want to end up like Johnny Moss? He was the greatest in the world, but he had to live on the Binion's charity. Are you better than Johnny? Or the other former greats who end up struggling to beat 4/8 to pay their rent?
Look at the LONG term.
Regards,
Al
Poker is a great second job.

[MicroBob]

Al's thoughts are intelligent and realistic as usual.

I've got a couple of questions and rather obvious observations here.

McBluffin - You say you've played online full-time for a year and then say you have 35k hands in your p-tracker.
I sure hope you have played more than 35k hands in a year....
I also hope you realize that winning results over 35k hands of 10/20 6-max is hardly the long-term.


Anyway, your details on your 1-year of online-poker success seem confusing to me. Have you been winning for the whole year but are only posting your win-rate for your last 35k hands? If that's the case that doesn't seem like an appropriate way to assess your win-rate if you ask me.

Some bankroll thoughts....I'm assuming these have all occured to you, but just in case they haven't I'm going to bring them up anyway. No offense intended:
You better have a monster bankroll to be thinking about playing 100/200.
300 BB's is obviously the recommended number. But I would probably still be uncomfortable even around 500BB.
It's not too unusual to lose 50BB on a few lousy beats in a single session. If your bankroll is large enough that you can take a $10k hit (or consecutive $10k hits) and just shrug it off as no big deal then I guess you really are ready for 100/200.