Two Plus Two Older Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Older Archives > Two Plus Two > Two Plus Two Internet Magazine

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #21  
Old 11-03-2005, 04:05 AM
TheGame1020 TheGame1020 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: The Burgh
Posts: 75
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

I think 2+2 Mag should write more articles about going pro and how playing poker for a living is such a grind. We don't need to learn about the game. Poker strategy is only secondary to cautionary articles about going pro. This is what I want to read.
Reply With Quote
  #22  
Old 11-03-2005, 04:51 AM
Scuba Chuck Scuba Chuck is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: 1-table tournaments
Posts: 1,537
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

[ QUOTE ]
To make good money playing poker you must play/study long hours just as much if not more then a regular job. If you don't think playing multiple tables at once for 6 to 8 hours a day isn't exhausting, well my friend you are sadly mistaken.

[/ QUOTE ]

I get the sense that you probably have gone pro too early.
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 11-03-2005, 05:20 AM
TimM TimM is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: New York
Posts: 147
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

I quit my day job last February. I'd like to rebut this article based on my experiences, at least somewhat.

Anyone considering playing poker as their main source of income should have played enough on a part time basis to get a good idea of his chances for success long before pulling the trigger. The formula for being a poker pro at cash games or sit+gos is very simple. Learn to play technically well in an ABC style. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Keep studying and improving. Don't move up faster than your bankroll or emotions can handle. If someone reasonably intelligent can follow these rules, they have a good chance of at least making a modest living.

Now if you want to call it failure to be making only 50K per year and not being able to move higher, I can think of worse ways to fail. Certainly one could easily suffer the same fate in a regular job. But there is great potential for someone who can move beyond this. It's like free-rolling if you can make an amount comparable to your former job, but with a chance to make much more if you turn out to be good.

As for getting famous, I know most cash game pros regard this as counter-productive, and prefer anonymity. Anyway the average person has very little chance of getting famous anyway, so playing tournament poker would probably give them a better chance than anything else they could try. But I wouldn't recommend playing poker with the goal of getting famous, while simultaneously trying to make a living at it, because the best ways of getting famous in poker involve spending lots of money on travel expenses and tournament entries with little chance of recouping these expenses.

As for it being unhealthy and dreary, it's only as unhealthy and dreary as you allow it to be. I have to admit I don't do the best job with this myself. I do only play a little over four hours a day at most now. I try to work out twice a week but occasionally skip it, so it comes out to around six times a month. I don't get out as much as I should, but I do have personal reasons for this, and should be ready to change that in about six months or so. I have lost about 20 lbs since I started playing full-time, but I still have a lot more I want to take off. I would be doing much better if I simply ate all my meals at home and never went out.

One other thing I have to work on is controlling the mood swings that go along with the bankroll swings. It feels great to run good and it's depressing to have losing or break even stretches. I think part of this is due to the fact that I am moving up pretty aggressively and am always evaluating myself based of the highest limit I've ever played, which is currently 20/40. My goal for the near term is to reach 30/60 and stay there for a while. For every other limit below that I only stayed as long as it took to increase my bankroll enough to move up. I'm hoping that getting stable at one limit for a while and getting some money in the bank will help decouple bankroll from mood.
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 11-03-2005, 05:37 AM
Mason Malmuth Mason Malmuth is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Nevada
Posts: 1,831
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

Hi Everyone:

I haven't read this thread and probably won't get around to reading all the posts, but I do think there is a mistake that Robert Gilbertz is making. That is, he's not thinking about the future.

I'm a pretty good example of this. I played a fair amount of poker for a number of years so that I would get material for our books and would have the money to invest in them. I've even read posts on the Internet about how I drove an old car, lived in a crumy apartment, and didn't have much of a life.

Of course this wasn't true. (For instance I kept my tennis up by playing regularly several times a week.) But even if it was, so what. I was building for the future. If Robert saves some of his money, and I'm assuming he's a youg person in his twenties, the same thing can happen to him.

Now he probably won't be as successful as I am now because Two Plus Two got lucky that a poker boom came along and we just happened to be perfectly situated for it. But he can still be in real good shape financially in the future and have the opportunity to really enjoy life when he gets older. This can be especially true if he invests his money wisely.

So I see nothing wrong, and in fact encourage it, to making some sacrifices when you're young if that helps build your future. So I would argue that Robert's life may actually be much better than he indicates even though he is describing it accurately.

best wishes,
mason
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 11-03-2005, 10:36 AM
Zetack Zetack is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 656
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

[ QUOTE ]
It sounds like this guy really hates his life. I mean it seems like every month there is a new article about how being a pro sucks. I know it is a BIG step, I know it is not for everyone. Does someone really need to write an article every month telling me this?

It almost seems like they regret their choice to go pro, they slam poker and make their lives seem miserable. Well, guess what then quit. Quit! And that is the same advice I'd give to anyone else. If you go pro and don't like it, then [censored] quit. Just like anything quit and go back to your old job.

December 2+2 Magazine
"Playing poker for a living"

Playing poker for a living is a big step. It can be a hard life but some people like it and are successful at it. Make sure you have a backup plan if you try it and if you aren't successful/hate it then you can go back to your old job no harm done.

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

[/ QUOTE ]

I think his point is something along the lines that when folks hear poker is a hard way to make an easy living, a lot of folks go, well that doesn't apply to me--I love poker and I'm a solid winning player and moving from a hobby I spend a lot of time at, to a full time job won't be that big a change.

And his point is, no it really is that hard and yes, it's going to be that hard for you too. Not that his life sucks so bad that he wishes he hadn't done it.
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 11-03-2005, 10:39 AM
Zetack Zetack is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 656
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

[ QUOTE ]
Also, making money at 3/6 is easy for those who know how to do it. 50K a year seems like a reasonable estimate for online profit at 3/6. I understand that there are plenty of posters here who don't "get" Limit HE, but for those who do, this statement is taken as an easily understood truth.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah I hear this all the time from folks like you who say 50k is a reasonable estimate. And sometimes folks through around numbers of what you would have to make to prove it. But I've actually only seen about two guys claim to have made 50k a year at 3/6 and one of them went out and got a regular job when the burnout hit.


Easily understood truth? I'll take it as a possible, but far more difficult, accomplishment than most people around her believe.

--Zetack
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 11-03-2005, 03:47 PM
TimM TimM is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: New York
Posts: 147
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

[ QUOTE ]
I've actually only seen about two guys claim to have made 50k a year at 3/6 and one of them went out and got a regular job when the burnout hit.

Easily understood truth? I'll take it as a possible, but far more difficult, accomplishment than most people around her believe.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone who averages $4000+ per month at 3/6 without playing some absurd number of hands should be moving up pretty quick. So what you will find is that no one who is good enough to prove this claim will actually stick around long enough to do so.
Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 11-04-2005, 03:50 PM
kahntrutahn kahntrutahn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 78
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

[ QUOTE ]
I love you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dude, you told me you loved me last night... what the hell?
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 11-04-2005, 03:57 PM
kahntrutahn kahntrutahn is offline
Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 78
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

[ QUOTE ]
I "recover" in minutes from a poker session

[/ QUOTE ]


Teach me your secret sir... personally, 6 hours of 6 tabling and I'm spent... I just want a good meal, a blowjob, and some sleep. And still, I don't feel "recovered." This is when winning, and losing *shrug*

I guess it gets better with time (actually, I feel that it has for me) but I still struggle with this a couple times a week.
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 11-05-2005, 07:15 PM
PieInTheSky PieInTheSky is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: california
Posts: 1
Default Re: I Quit My Day Job

What you wrote was only true for you. My First 9 months as a full-time pro has not been anything but fulfilling. You should probably look to balance your life a little better. Myself, i take weekends off and spend it with my friends and girlfriend. If all you do is play poker than poker is your life not your job. Start treating it like a job and your life will improve.

Good luck, PITS
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:08 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.