Poker Pros Question

I am gonna play fulltime starting this summer once I complete my bachelors. My question is as follows: how much $ could one make playing fulltime 2040/1530 on an average year approximately. I know there are a whole lot of variables, but this is assuming playing on average 30 hours a week live and online. As for me, I have played exclusively online for the past year and have accumulated a $20,000 profit. Any input is greatly appreciated.


Regards,

Jaime

1 big bet per hour is the well established standard.


So $30 * 30 hours * 50 weeks = $45,000/year


or $40 * 30 hours * 50 weeks = $60,000/year

"My question is as follows: how much $ could one make playing fulltime 2040/1530 on an average year approximately."


2000 hours times $15 per hour equals 30K. You start each year stuck thirty thousand dollars. Playing fulltime, with an annual expenditure, rent and such, of 30K, you can expect to approximately go broke. Anything better than that means you were lucky enough to find hundreds of opponents who happen to play 60K/year worse than you do.


Tommy

Hate to disagree with an authority such as yourself, but the 20k I've made has more than paid any bills including rent, food, etc. with plenty left over to buy some nice new overalls and a brand new pair of dungarees... I don't need to live in the Ritz carlton, the holiday inn will do me just fine... =)


Jaime

he wasnt really clear, but i think he means that youll be paying 30k a year just to play (rake, etc.)


brad

Jamie, 20K/year is actually pretty bad in the real world. What if you get married and have kids? Not to mention how depressing the thought of playing mid-limit poker and making a small-time living is, imagine yourself 10 years down the road. If you're cool with that, great, but don't do this expecting to be the next Erik Seidel.

I guess the answer to your question doesn't really matter since you will find out real soon anyways. It's kind of like tuning into the traffic report when you're on the freeway. what are you gonna do if you don't like the news? walk?

I'm very curious, what sites have you been playing at and at what levels? 20k is an impressive showing for someone who doesn't have much experience in real cardrooms.


I am a winning player in B&M card rooms but don't do very well online, any thoughts anyone?

Yes. Keep your bankroll on Paypal. Download all the sites. Scout the games and move money as needed. Paradise has toughest games, easier LL games are on Party Poker, Pokerroom, WSEX, and others.


Jeff

Well at least you are finishing your degree. I got my degree and went to Vegas to be a sports bettor. I made plenty of money but the lifestyle just drove me crazy. Always better to be a semi-pro and get a regular job out of college because it will never be easier to be hooked up with a job than when you roll off the university assembly line. Believe me, you will have a lot of fun answering the question "so what did you do for the two years after you left college?" and the answer "poker pro" isn't going to go over too well much of the time. Regular job for awhile will keep your occasional poker play fun and interesting and you will avoid burnout. Not to mention avoiding the mental anguish of a bad streak. Have a job and you know the bills are paid, not so in gambling.


I will always remember the interview they had with Dewey Tomko in Card Player a few years ago. They talked to him about how could he possibly have kept his teaching job that was paying something like $20k a year when he was playing high stakes poker on the side (back when he first started out). Average man and even many pro gamblers couldn't fathom it, but to me it was like "been there done that". He quite simply answered "because I knew the bills would be paid". It may seem stupid to many people, but something as small and seemingly inconsequential as that can make the difference between keeping your sanity and playing well as a result of it or playing less than effectively and going broke.


One last thing...is it just me or do other people seem a little bothered that a guy that wants to go pro doesn't even know the answer to such a simple, yet fundamentally basic question? I know a lot of people that could never make it as a pro or even a long-term winner, but they have read enough to know one BB/hour is about the standard for middle limit games.