Profesional Poker Career: 1 Month Check-In

[Baulucky]

Nice start. Give us an update at 250,000 hands please.

[tripledouble]

First, you aren't a pro player, you're a student.

Second, make a living at 3/6 ? are you kidding me?

That's like saying you are a making a living working at a fortune 500 company, only to find out it's at McDonalds as a shift manager.

the way i read this: Hi, i 'm sick of working at nordstroms, i like playing poker, if i quit everything else i do and just play poker as my 'job' I can claim i'm pro.

What you are is lazy.

I dunno what you want out of life , but pro 3/6 isnt' gonna get you very far in the grand scheme of things...hard concept to follow for a guy who's never held down a real job in his life i know.

what poker is to you is a hobby and nothing more than a hobby. if you want to call yourself an unemployed hobbiest that's fine. You are not a professional poker player.

**edit**

ps good luck, build your roll, but don't live off of it right now...not saying a living as a pro player isn't in your future

[crownjules]

[ QUOTE ]
Second, make a living at 3/6 ? are you kidding me?


[/ QUOTE ]

A *GOOD* poker player can make over $70K a year 4-tabling this limit 40 hours a week. How is that not making a living? That's more then my entry level IT job pays me.

[pudley4]

[ QUOTE ]
First, you aren't a pro player, you're a student.

Second, make a living at 3/6 ? are you kidding me?

That's like saying you are a making a living working at a fortune 500 company, only to find out it's at McDonalds as a shift manager.

the way i read this: Hi, i 'm sick of working at nordstroms, i like playing poker, if i quit everything else i do and just play poker as my 'job' I can claim i'm pro.

What you are is lazy.

I dunno what you want out of life , but pro 3/6 isnt' gonna get you very far in the grand scheme of things...hard concept to follow for a guy who's never held down a real job in his life i know.

what poker is to you is a hobby and nothing more than a hobby. if you want to call yourself an unemployed hobbiest that's fine. You are not a professional poker player.

**edit**

ps good luck, build your roll, but don't live off of it right now...not saying a living as a pro player isn't in your future

[/ QUOTE ]

You're pretty much a dumbass.

8 tables * 4hrs/day * 60 hands/hr = ~2000 hands/day.

1BB/100hands * 2000 hands/day @ 3/6 = $120/day.

Rakeback @ 30% = ~.04/hand. * 2000 hands/day = $80 day.

So a decent player can easily make $200/day. Work just 5 days a week and that's 50k for the year. Living on 50k is very reasonable.

So sorry some of us aren't "big-time high rollers who can transfer tens of thousands of dollars to our buddies so they can play heads-up games against idiots on sites where there's no traffic" like you.

PS He is a professional poker player.

[tripledouble]

mcdonalds shift managers are professionals as well.


however, use your same math and move the stakes up to 15/30 or 30/60.

I dunno, maybe everyone who runs 3/6 on 4 tables is winning just like you said. But then again he's putting in less than 40 hours a week, he's not capable of paying his expenses off his play and continue to progress. Furthermore, he's a student and therefore has no real clue about life in the great big world.

sounds like a welfare living to me.

a better plan, finish school, get a job, continue with poker as your hobby until you can get to teh point where you are self sufficent, this seems like a terrible way to try to 'start' your pro career.

[Subby]

I remember reading your initial "going pro" post and getting all excited for you. I have been following you through your blog and this board since then and have been slightly disappointed for you just because it seems like you are having trouble getting going. It sounds like you are settled in nicely now and hopefully things will start picking up for good.

For "hobbyists" like me - or maybe it is just me - I always find reading about other guys' pro careers fascinating. It is just not something I would ever do (maybe when I retire), but nonetheless, a small part of me is living vicariously through you.

Best of luck.

[B00T]

[ QUOTE ]
Living on 50k is very reasonable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Living on 50k sucks.

People have to remember something being a "pro" poker player. First off it is widely accepted and noted that the poker boom is short-term. Ignoring the fact of what the government decides assume they stay out of it...

The recreational fish will not be around forever. They will move on to something else. Alright, forget this arguement everyone knows and excepts that point and the future points I'll state.

If this was your job and it had the normal progression of a regular job thats cool. For the sake of arguement making 50k is fine as part of your profession with the assumption of your annual 4-6% raise coupled with promotions and stockpiled vacation days etc etc.

As a poker player do you REALLY think that your income from playing poker from now to 2010 will be that of a Jr Accountant or whatever circa entry-level position you can attain?

Between games drying up, the difficulty moving up, and the abundance of struggling pros, the games are not going to be churning out 80k in profits a year. If you are diligent in doing such and playing 95hrs a week to grind out your 1bb/hr at 10-20 you will be working extremely harder in 5 yrs than the avg professional in a field.

In the future it will only get harder for a pro poker player to make a salary comprable to a career-oriented counterpart.

I am not slamming online pros or the fact that it <<is>> great RIGHT NOW. I am slamming the notion that you will always have this to fall back on and that you haev your guarenteed 50k a year with minimal work and the luxary of making your own schedule.

I would strongly urge anyone between the ages of 20-27 to please get off your pipe dream and do something constructive with yourselves. Best thing I can offer is play poker part-time at night (which is the best time to play anyway) and work your 40-50hr grind making 30-40k in your entry level job.

If you are not making 100k or have a realisitic chance of making 100k RIGHT NOW, TODAY, not in 2 yrs of practicing and moving up to 15/30 dont play as a pro. By the time you aspiring full-timers get to where you want to be, it is going to be way too late.

[GuruCane]

While I agree that the boom won't last forever (as everything is cyclical), don't piss on the guy's dream. Based on Jeff A's comment, it seems that the guy has some promise (I would also base this on his ability to 8-table and turn a profit as this is mind-boggling to me).

I would like to reiterate something that posters here have brought up numerous times: All you 20-somethings that think playing poker and dropping out of college (or, even worse, getting 2.0's or worse) is a good idea are really doing yourselves a disservice and possibly screwing yourselves for life. Anybody that can 8 table and pull down a couple of BB's/100 hands has to have some brains. Yes, they are often free thinkers and don't like workin' for the man, but why not put those brains to use in other pursuits while playing poker? For example, go to college, major in finance, get a 3.8, score high on the GMAT, work as an analyst for two years, go to b-school and then work in investment banking for 10 years. If you are able to do this I absolutely guarantee you will have the bankroll to play the WPT, the WSOP and on-line poker on your own dime for the rest of your life.
The down side of this is you will have to work hard, you will have to suck up to the man and, oh yeah, you would have to be an investment banker (notorious assholes).

[B00T]

I am not slamming the plans or his skill. I am slamming the notion that this is something that is profitable for the next 35 years of his life. More importantly escalating in profit from year to year.

Even if he could make 70k for the next 10 years and then online games are totally finished. Then what is he going to do? I cant think of many large companies that are going to hire a 35 yr old guy at a entry level position, when they want young people out of college with a lot better credentials.

I wish him luck, and that post wasnt so much just for him but people are definitely losing focus of the big picture.

[revots33]

Excuse me if this is a dumb question... but where do you get your rakeback from? Not sure how or where you go about signing up for this. Is it worth it for just a recreational player or do you have to play a ton of hands or high limits? Thanks and good luck.