Playing Poker Full Time QUARTER 2.5 (8Month Report)

[RollaJ]

OK, here we go again…….
In November I left my Wall St. job and started playing poker fulltime. As you may have guessed it was really a long time dream come true. In February I posted my first progress report, and things were going bout as well as I could have hoped for. As you can see from my past posts, my goal is not to be world famous via a tourney win, or make millions. It is to support me and my family and have a more comfortable lifestyle without having to answer to the man.

Here is a link to the Q1 report: LINKY

I know I am late with the report, but I had filed for an extension with the SEC, so all is OK. I almost wasn’t going to write it, but over the past month Ive gotten 3 requests, so I figured what the hell, I can take some time out from my busy schedule 

Basically the reason I considered not writing was that, once you make the decision to play fulltime and do it, there really is not that much exciting stuff to write about, unless you win a major tourney, or go bust….. Unfortunately/fortunately neither one has happened to me.

Poker has been good to me so far, and I am still loving the game, and of course the lifestyle. I can’t believe I tortured myself for so long in a low paying, unrewarding, boring, long commute, uncomfortable dress code, answering to the man type of job. My new boss is great and he is very understanding. I get time off when I need it and have a flexible work schedule. As long as I put in my hours all is good.

The biggest thing that happened to me over the past 5 months was being in the hospital for a week in April and recovering in bed for 2 weeks after that. This scenario basically showed the best part of playing full time, and the very worst part of playing fulltime…..

The best part was being able to go to the hospital and doctors whenever I needed, no arranging or begging for time off (my old boss was a real prick). And to be able to spend a full 2 weeks recuperating in bed like the doctor ordered without having to defend myself or feel guilty about not going to work was great. And after the first few days home I was even able to play a little although the painkillers were taking their toll on my quick thinking and analyzing skills.

The worst part was of course not getting paid. As any self employed person will tell you, you don’t work you don’t get paid…. And that’s basically how it went down. I basically missed 2 weeks in April and a week in May where I hardly played, and even when I did it was short sessions that were rather weak. This is part of the reason you should have money set aside for expenses besides your bankroll, and more importantly GET MEDICAL INSURANCE.

One more thing I’d like to throw in here, my live game has really gone to crap. Ive noticed that the more I play online, the worse I do when playing live. I know why it is, but I have not really been able to adjust enough to counter the effect. Basically when playing online you are able to steal a lot more pots for small bets (I play NL), which means if you play well you can play more hands, Ironically at the same time people pay off big bets a lot faster online so when you do “catch lightning in a bottle” you can more often get paid… So when I go to the casino I don’t tighten up enough and I end up giving away too much money between winning hands when I play the small pairs and suited connectors for a 15-20$ raise in a 2-5 NL game

Some numbers:
8 Months:
+42,827
1151 hours
$37.22/hour
210 days played
27 days off
146 winning days
64 losing days
Longest Plateau 3/17-5/15 (255 hours of “break even” poker….. YIKES)
Best Day +2500 (3/7)
Best Month +8992
Worst Day -$2000
Longest Winning Streak 13 days
Longest Losing Streak 4 days
Win Rate Weekdays 38.67/hour
Win Rate Weekends 34.77/hour



So Basically:

1) Make sure you have health insurance, or you may blow your roll on hospital bills instead of using it for poker (my bills for 6 days in the hospital were about $25,000)
2) Notice my “longest plateu” in the numbers section, you can be a winning player and break even for a really long time. This also proves that you cant judge how you do at a certain site or in a specific game after even 10,000 hands

Again…. Sorry if I’ve sucked out on you at the tables…… Any questions are welcomed…. If you find a reason for a rude comment go F yourself [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[A-Baum]

$37 is a nice hourly rate, but weren't you making at least 1.5x to 2x that rate while working for the "man". I assume that only from you saying it was a wall st. job. Sounds like you took a major pay cut. Was it worth it?

[Bill Bixby]

No matter how much freedom you have, if I only made $37 an hour I would shoot myself! How many kids do you have anyway? I would rather work for the man and make about 35-40% more per hour, just me... But hey good job on the winnings, I wish you the best of luck my friend!!!

[Adde]

Heya Death!

Nice report. Good luck with future health and poker.

Some things that related to me...

* I've also been playing poker full time for a long time now. Not the same setup as yours, since I've got my medical stuff taken care of by pretty good health care in Sweden. Anyway, I don't think $37 an hour is that bad. I get by with slightly less.

* I also find that online play makes me a worse live player. Online poker is a fast game, live poker is not, and I just don't have the temper to sit and wait anymore; I've seen the light and cannot go back. No big deal though, I mostly play with friends, and for that purpose I've taken the stand that live play is entertainment, like going to the movies, a pleasure I pay for. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

* I've also played with pain killers, and that was some beautiful sessions. I've never played that laidback and inspired, and won quite a lot. I'm out of pills now though, so back to normal winrate. Hehe.

Cheers,

Adde

[Steve S]

[ QUOTE ]
No matter how much freedom you have, if I only made $37 an hour I would shoot myself! How many kids do you have anyway? I would rather work for the man and make about 35-40% more per hour, just me... But hey good job on the winnings, I wish you the best of luck my friend!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

40% increase on $37 isn't even enough to cover lost time commuting and the cost of commuting. It's all a matter of lifestyle. If you enjoy playing and the lifestyle it provides, go for it. It beats working a job that you dread going to every morning.

Just my 2 cents.

[spkid]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
No matter how much freedom you have, if I only made $37 an hour I would shoot myself! How many kids do you have anyway?

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow! Is 75k+ yearly income pittance for most of the people who post here. So bad, that they would shoot themselves? I must be one po' motherf*cker!

Anyway, it's all about "the man" and getting away from him. So I'm with you either way Death.

After getting a taste of the Big(Brother)4 I decided to start my own firm. You know, they actually bug the restrooms at some of the bigger firms. If I can't be alone with my johnson at least once or twice daily, I'm gone.

[J_B]

What limits/sites do you play?

[jfresh]

you had 2 months of break even poker, but wasn't that the period where you had to take ~3+ weeks off for health reasons? i guess 255 hours is a more accurate number, if that is how long you played break even.

how many tables do you play at once? you play only NL?

[RollaJ]

[ QUOTE ]
$37 is a nice hourly rate, but weren't you making at least 1.5x to 2x that rate while working for the "man". I assume that only from you saying it was a wall st. job. Sounds like you took a major pay cut. Was it worth it?

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
No matter how much freedom you have, if I only made $37 an hour I would shoot myself! How many kids do you have anyway? I would rather work for the man and make about 35-40% more per hour, just me... But hey good job on the winnings, I wish you the best of luck my friend!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I worked on an order desk most of the time I was there, I made $22 an hour, so no, I did not take a paycut at all.
As for killing myself for making only $37 an hour, I hadnt even considered going that route.
I dont know if those are troll statements or not, but in my mind $70k a year working from home is is rather good.

Also, I didnt put up those numbers to brag or get ragged on, this whole post is basically my way of helping people get a better idea of what they may encounter if they decided to go the same route. I would actually have preffered not to put up some of the numbers, but I did it as a favor. I had even considered not posting a follow up to Q1 but got a few requests over the last month or so, and decided to do it

[MajorCP]

Thanks for taking the time to share your achievements on the road to full time play so far. I found your posts to good reads and hope you continue with a satisfying lifestyle.

Ignore the trolls. Sadly, there will always be small people who derive part or most of their identity by putting other people down. An internet forum is a natural place for them to ply their trade, because like most of what they do, it's cheap and easy.