Utterly embarrassing and honest confessions of a 1 year pro

[CourtesyFlush]

Great post TStone. I was really looking for someone to talk honestly about social isolation that can occur when playing poker professionally. Thanks for this. I think you received some great advice from others that you will hopefully gain from.

Best of luck,

CF

[Buccaneer]

TStone I read your post a few days ago and was impressed with the naked honesty in it. That must have taken some motivation to do that. You touched somewhat on the effect that egos have on this board. Basically you said that some of the posters here can be insensitive jerks, that thier jerkie post affected your quest for poker knowledge in a negative way but in your quest for social acceptance here your post became curt, condensending, and attacking as well. You also appoligised which took balls. It is disturbing that you were attacked in your post yourself and they only thing that I suspect this accomplished was the bloating of many ignore files.
I have learned a lot reading your post and I am glad that this site exist. I get what I come here for when people tear apart hands and explain options. I don't get anything out of it when people tear apart each other.
Good luck in the decisions ahead of you. We all have several of these moments where we look inward for direction. You are about to make some decisions in your life. Take your time and make the ones that are right for you.

[CanIPlay]

Go to college, live in a dorm, play 20 hours a week to support yourself. You will meet people, you can exercise at the rec center, you will be investing in your future, you might find your passion in your life.
College is the best 4-6 years of your life, do not miss it. If I could have played online Poker I would have went to school for 10 years. I put my 40 hours a week in at Jack-in-the-Box, now that sucks.

[KingMedicine]

[ QUOTE ]
vpaco,

kewl. How is thai life? How much american $ per month u need there to live? Nice beaches? Easy to find clean pretty girl?

Please do tell,

Indy

[/ QUOTE ]

a bit off topic, but i just got back from a month in thailand. for vacation purposes, you can stay at an OK place on the beach for 5$ a night or a pretty nice place on the beach for $10 a night. it's definitely worth it to splurge. meals are $2-$4 most of the time.
the beaches are beautiful. the humidity is wretched. the thai girls are decent, but unless you know some of the language, good luck at getting with one. being so, learn some of the language.
all in all, thailand is awesome and cheap. go for a month and travel around. itll cost you about 500$ (not counting flight to/from).

[12AX7]

Wow, Isn't it amazing how TV made poker acceptable?

I was playing game on the strip back around '98-'99 just before this TV poker boom. Dealers then used to say, "A dude, all the local casinos are killing Vegas Poker. No one comes out here to play anymore."

Geez I had my hand on the pulse of the future and didn't even know it. LOL!

Funny how TV is the arbiter of what is "acceptable".

Wonder if I can get into the TV biz! LOL!

[12AX7]

Off topic, but I love your "screaming avatar". LOL!

Hope you don't mind, I saved a copy. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

So tell this 42 year old wanker, how did a 20 year old become a pro poker player so quickly and effectively?

[TStoneMBD]

well ive written about my story before, but basically a friend taught me how to play nl a couple years ago, and we would play heads up no limit for a few bucks just for fun all the time. i decided to read a bunch of books on poker and was a marginal player at the time.

a couple of friends decided to take me up to turningstone one night just for fun and we all sat down in the 1-3 spread limit game. my heart was racing (LOL), and i had my pair of sunglasses and everything. wow what i noob i was. i took the 1-3 game for $250 that night, which was obviously just an extreme case of luck, but i was the favorite in that game even after rake considered.

i went back a few times during a few month period and continued to do well. then one night the casino opened up a new 1/2 NL table. at this point i had already read like 5 or 6 books and was fairly good, certainly the favorite in that game at the time. the table was NUTS. this lady was open raising to 25 EVERY hand just for the hell of it. the other players werent any better either. needless to say i got lucky and made $900 that night.

i decided to sleep in the hotel and played the next day, and performed well again. i got the hotel for another night and ended up staying for about a week. i really loved the thrill of it and when i got back, after a couple of months i decided that it would make sense for me to just get an apartment up there with no lease and see if i could pull this "pro" thing off. it certainly made more sense than spending $700 on a hotel there for a week.

going pro was working out, but playing 1/2NL for a living is really hard as the stakes are simply too small. i was averaging $13/hr after a few months. i was fortunate to come across this website and studied limit poker all day and night. after a couple of months i jumped into limit games and have never looked back.

to date ive read 14 books, but havent been reading any for the past few months.

somewhat pathetic story, but it is mine and you cant have it. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Jgents]

[ QUOTE ]

My content in life is dwindling as my devotion to improving with poker is starting to fade. I don't know how I'm going to find happiness in the longevity of life,

[/ QUOTE ]

There's more to life that just your job--poker. Let the things life has to offer you enhance your life, not control your life and be the source of your happiness, because sooner or later you will find it that hapiness truly comes from within and not from external things. I'm sure you've heard that before.

There are so many things you can do--pursue other hobbies, go to college, travel the world, find you a nice woman to raise a family with, etc. You've made some money and you have the financial independence and freedom that alot of our population would love to have, so enjoy yourself and take full advantage of it.

Best wishes for a happy life.

[12AX7]

Sounds like an OK story to me. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Wish I had the mental grit to recreate it. But the writing style of most poker books makes them work for me to read.

Over the years I've owned many poker books. Haven't played nearly as much as the list of titles I've had would lead one to believe though. I've owned and read through most of the famous "Pre WPT" titles. LOL! Never been able to truly *study* them with peace of mind though.

Problem is the only time I get to study things like this with any rest is when I'm unemployed! That brings other stresses, so poker has always been a somewhat back burned "someday I'll do all the in depth studying like it was a collegiate course" sort of thing.

At the minute I do have some time, so I'm trying to make up for lost time. Odds are I won't be able to recreate you success though.

But glad to see some folks have managed to make it really happen.

[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

One thing is for certain though. The internet poker thing has made it possible to try it without having to move back to Vegas or CA. But I'm not sure if a global card room is +EV or -EV (for me personally) yet.

Well, as Caro would say. Straight Flushes!

[TStoneMBD]

in some senses you are luckier than i am that you have came across this forum before deciding to go pro. if i knew what i know now i never would have tried to go b&m pro at those limits and skill level. instead i would have studied here and went pro through internet play. b&m play is so outclassed by internet play for so many reasons. if you do muster up the dedication to learn poker and consider going pro, certainly dont try to go pro playing live, but online instead. playing live is certainly more socially fulfilling, but has so many financial pitfalls in comparison to internet play.