Pro's who play live at medium stakes :

[spoohunter]

I'm looking for advice from pro's who play live at stakes between 5/10 and 10/20.

I am turning professional, although in a sense I am already there, in three weeks.

I have plans of course. Spreadsheets to keep records in. Plans for moving up. Ways to keep the money seperated (money for my bankroll, expenses, spending money). For example, I all money I earn goes towards expenses. Once those are covered for X amount of time, my money is split between luxuries, and bankroll. Expenses are budgeted. Etc.)

After X amount of bankroll growth I will take a shot at the next limit up if it looks rather beatable. The next two levels up from where I intend to start (5/10 is where I intend to start) are definitely beatable. So my plan is after say winning $1000 at 5/10 I will take $500 to 10/20 and play for x amount of hours to gain experience. This will allow me to move smoothly into 10/20 instead of a random, arbitrary burst. Even losing the $ for the shot is fine, because I am still far within my bankroll for 5/10 and all expenses etc. are already paid.

The reason I want to take these shots so frequently is because I have played, and beat the games before. I want to temper my more aggressive insticts with prudence and proof that I am beating the 5/10 game (after all, I could be a loosing player).

So what does this jabbering monologue ask again? Are there any tips that live professional players can give me? Thanks in advance.

[Bigdaddydvo]

I'm by no means a B&M pro, but I've done very well over the last year and half playing live so here's my 2 cents.

Unless you can play those stakes online and multitable, I'd hold off. Remember, a solid player earns 1BB/hr...so you'd only average between 10 and 20 bucks an hour. Plenty of jobs pay that without the pressure of only having poker as your only income. You have to be prepared for those inevitible, sometimes long lasting downswings. I don't think you can earn that good of a living playing those stakes.

[spoohunter]

Bump

[highlife]

where do you plan on playing?

I think at those limits (5/10), you will be MUCH more profitable online. I don't really think B&M is worth taking a shot at as a pro unless you are going to play 20/40 or higher regularly.

My advice, keep your day job, play 5/10 online until you build a big roll and get more experience, while working on your game. Then test the waters of the 20/40 and above in B&M.

[Boris]

You're never going to be able to build a bankroll playing 5-10. you might be able to cover minimal living expenses. That's the best you can hope for. If you're going to turn pro don't worry about the spreadsheets and all that nonsense. Take whatever bankroll you have and start out playing 20-40. If you go busted then get a job or borrow money and try again. If you're a winning player eventually you will get out of the danger zone. Then you can start building bankroll and taking shots at higher limits.

[PokerFink]

Agreed with Boris.

Also, if you can play 5-10 online, you can easily play 20-40 live. 20 grand is a plenty big enough bankroll to get going.