Is pro poker right for me? [LONG]

[LImitPlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
I have done it. It was not exciting. You do not
have the tools yet to decide whether you are
BOTH a winning player and truly can handle
the pressure of HAVING to making a profit.
Yes, some days you will lose...and some weeks
AND some months!


[/ QUOTE ]

This is somewhat of an exaggeration. A pro poker player (I am assuming a wining player here, otherwise there is no point in going pro) will not have a loosing stretch as long as a month, let alone months if they are playing online multitabling, playing the low limits such as 3-6 or 5-10 like the OP wants to.

The sheer # of hands that you will play in a month along with rakeback deals that any pro should have will make a loosing month almost impossible.

[Nomad84]

[ QUOTE ]
The sheer # of hands that you will play in a month along with rakeback deals that any pro should have will make a loosing month almost impossible.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree that it should be unlikely, but nothing is out of the question entirely. As such, I would obviously need to be financially and emotionally prepared for that possibility. BTW, I have seen graphs posted here from some well known posters that contain hundreds of thousands of hands of data, but have break-even stretches of 50k+ hands. Of course, break-even is still profitable with rakeback, but putting in a ton of hands doesn't necessarily guarantee profit for the month even for a winning player. Obviously you know that, but I'm just saying that I appreciate his pointing out some things to be prepared for. Rare events still happen if you play long enough, and sometimes if you don't play too long at all.

[JKratzer]

Go for it. I'm about 6 months into your exact plan and I'm very pleased. I graduated in the spring pre-med and delayed applying to graduate schools. I play poker as my only income and wasn't planning on doing it long term. I just got back from traveling around Europe in November. I will be applying to med schools here in the next couple months.

I was very unsure of my plans when I originally decided to do it when I graduated. Now I am very happy that I went with it, I think you'll always regret not taking a chance and trying something you love if you don't do it now. You will probably never have another opportunity to pursue this so definitely go for it.

As far as what to tell your parents, you could start by showing them your original post.

Best of luck,
JKratzer

[patrick_mcmurray]

hey Nomad

I am a poker pro at the moment but do not plan to do it forever. Like you, I am taking some time out, and doing something that I enjoy doing (on the whole), while saving money and deciding what to do next.

While not wishing to be negative for the sake of it: what concerns me about your post is that you have only played 35000 hands.

I play NL and have been a winning player since I started. HOWEVER I did go through a four month period where I made nowhere enough to live on (say $2000). This was after maybe 6 months of consistent winning, and has been followed by another 6 months of consistent winning.

Bear in mind that it can be quite stressful, especially if you drop a couple of buy-ins. (Easily done!)

But on the other hand I love being my own boss, and my winrate is much better because I am not playing while tired after a day's work.

Anyway PM me if you have any questions as I don't check this forum very often.

gl
Patrick

[lefty rosen]

Most Americans that have career ambitions are uptight and anally repressed. I suspect if he was philosphy major or a major in a field that didn't have great job prospects he would have a different attitude. Engineering is the ultimate anally repressed field out there........ [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[dibbs]

[ QUOTE ]
You do not get performace reviews or yelled at
when you don't do well at poker..

[/ QUOTE ]

Side query, am I the only one who yells at myself and talks nasty sht to myself in my book-keeping when I play poorly?

[Nomad84]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm about 6 months into your exact plan and I'm very pleased.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks very much for your reply. I'd be interested to hear more about how much you play, what games you play, and your Europe trip, if you don't mind sharing.

[Nomad84]

[ QUOTE ]

hey Nomad

I am a poker pro at the moment but do not plan to do it forever. Like you, I am taking some time out, and doing something that I enjoy doing (on the whole), while saving money and deciding what to do next.

While not wishing to be negative for the sake of it: what concerns me about your post is that you have only played 35000 hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

I plan to put in a lot of hands between now and graduation. So far, I've played about 10k this month, and I'll probably shoot for another 10k before the month is over. I'm doing this primarily because I need more experience, but also because I need to know how well I can do at playing a lot of hands each month.

[ QUOTE ]
I play NL and have been a winning player since I started. HOWEVER I did go through a four month period where I made nowhere enough to live on (say $2000). This was after maybe 6 months of consistent winning, and has been followed by another 6 months of consistent winning.

Bear in mind that it can be quite stressful, especially if you drop a couple of buy-ins. (Easily done!)

[/ QUOTE ]

I really don't expect this to get too stressful since I will be overbankrolled and I will also have plenty of additional savings. Downswings are somewhat stressful on their own, but I don't think that I'll feel financial pressure on top of that.

[ QUOTE ]
But on the other hand I love being my own boss, and my winrate is much better because I am not playing while tired after a day's work.

Anyway PM me if you have any questions as I don't check this forum very often.

gl
Patrick

[/ QUOTE ]

I may PM you later on down the road if I decide to do this. Thanks for your comments.

[Nomad84]

[ QUOTE ]
Engineering is the ultimate anally repressed field out there........ [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

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

[MicroBob]

Didn't read the whole post (or thread).


But it really is pretty much up to you obviously.

Don't be too confident in your ability to beat the games until you have actually done it...but if the money isn't too hugely important to you then do what you like.


I have disagreed with others regarding the stress though and I still do.
Even in losing-skids I find online-poker to be significantly less stressful over almost any other job I've had before.
Having to get up at 7am and work for uptight morons REALLY sucks.

I feel like I have virtually total freedom and flexibility. I was able to take several trips this year...far more than I would have been able to from a 'regular' job.
It was either ofr a tournament...or just a trip where I brought my 'job' (laptop) with me.

March - Party cruise to Mexico (and placed in the money)
May - To Florida and New Orleans (visit parents and go to Jazz-festival respectively).
July - Vegas for WSOP
August - Florida to visit family
October - Washington DC and West Virginia (sight-seeing and to visit my Grandma respectively)
November - Florida again



when I'm not out and about travelling I get to work whenever I want and do it while watching the ball-game on TV or at some coffee-WiFi place on a patio drinking an iced-latte.


Yup...sometimes I lose...sometimes I win. I am currently going through my worst losing streak ever right now and am pretty certain it is not just variance but that I have somehow developed enough bad habits that I am (or at least 'was') no longer playing a winning game (kind of weird...but we each battle our own demons).

If you have the maturity to step down in levels when you are getting clobbered and not let the wins and losses get to you too much then I recommend it.

But obviously it's not for everyone as there are plenty of people (such as in this thread) who absolutely hate it after 6 months and go back to a regular job.
For some people the stress of making the rent is just too much to handle.
I keep ehough in living-expenses aside...and with the remainder (my 'poker' bankroll) I typically play at limits lower than necessary just so I don't sweat the ups and downs as much.

If/when you get clobbered (as I have) you can always just grind it out at low-stakes and rely on rake-back, bonuses, propping, whatever and that will be enough to get you by.


FWIW - I too did not have a significant sample-size when I quit my job and I was not convinced that I was a long-term winner. But, in my situation, I could always just get my former low-paying job back whenever I needed to.
frankly, I thought I was just taking a 3-month 'shot' to see how it went. I had been running pretty well and was making more from home then at work so I went for it...but fully expected to have to return to my job.
My 3 month 'shot' has lastabout 20 months now.


It's not the end-all-be-all.
If I had a zillion dollars I certainly wouldn't be spending all this time at home clicking buttons.
The game is fairly enjoyable...but not THAT much (thus it's sometimes hard to motivate myself to study). But as far as making a living is concerned it sure beats a LOT of alternatives for a lot of reasons.


Also - if you are a reasonably healthy individual it shouldn't be that expensive to get health-insurance.
I know people get benefits from their jobs...but I hardly think this is a complete reason for keeping a job you hate (as I know some people do).
you can just buy your own health-insurance and live a freer life.
(however, it's different if you have some pre-existing condition where you wouldn't be able to get cheap insurance if you left your current plan and I know a couple people who are kind of 'trapped' in their current work situation because of this)