Ed Miller's Going Pro II

[benfranklin]

[ QUOTE ]
A lot of the top pros quit school before they finished.

[/ QUOTE ]

So did a lot of the bartenders, dealers, cab drivers, etc., in LV.

[Xhad]

Speaking as a university dropout, I can identify with a lot of what you're saying. However, I don't think dropping out of school to play poker is correct. Actually, my philosophy is that no one should drop out of school for anything ... the only reason to drop out is if you don't have the motivation to continue.

[Shoe]

IMO, 3 months living expenses isn't enough even if you have a job.

[MicroBob]

2-3 mths is okay if you ask me.....but you'll have higher stress.

I play lower than I need to bankroll and skill-wise (imo) because I'm more comfortable that way.
If I have a 150BB downswing or more right now I'm playing low enough where I can laugh it off. This is the limit of my psychological bankroll.

I'm probably not going to be a regular 10/20 or 15/30 player (perhaps some stabs at it...but not regular) until I have a bankroll in the $30k range so that I can truly be comfortable with the swings.


Interestingly, when I started at 3/6 multi-tabling my bankroll was almost exactly where Ed recommends...in the $8k range.
My formula is to have 500BB's plus 2 months living expenses rounded up significantly (which is pretty much the same as 3 mths of actual living expenses really).


I didn't have a huge sample-size to prove that I could win consistently when I decided to go for it.
But I had nothing to lose. I was working at a low-paying BJ dealing job that wasn't worth keeping. And I made sure not to burn any bridges there when I left so as to always have the option of returning to work on almost a moment's notice if I needed to.
So the risk for me really wasn't as high as it might be for others who have resume and bridge-burning considerations in there.

When I did it I went in with a mentality that I was just leaving my job for a couple of months to try it out but that I would almost certainly get my ass kicked online and would be crawling back to work after I lost too much dough. Thankfully that didn't happen.



To address another one of Ed's points regarding spending one's winnings. I'm practically afraid to spend ANY of my money (I still don't even have a Dell 2001 FP and I still drive the same 96 Chevy Cavalier with 170k miles).
I am deathly afraid of a losing streak of the kind that David Ross went through back in January....and I also want to build my bankroll to a point where I can more comfortably take more shots at higher limits.

I can either:
- Spend money now on little toys when I have a good session
and keep setting $1k/wk as my goal
or
- Save it up and have a very real possibility of doubling or tripling my income at a higher limit in the not-so-distant future (not unrealistic at all if I find it within to actually apply myself to the games a bit more)

[lighterjobs]

[ QUOTE ]
From a personal standpoint, I wouldn't go pro until I had saved up at least 1 year's worth of savings. I wouldn't feel comfortable otherwise.

[/ QUOTE ]

definately. plus a 300bb bankroll. that's a lot but i do love plasma tv's, drum sets and new cars.

[lighterjobs]

ed-

do you think that a 500bb bankroll is necessary even if a person's best game is an eight-or-better game?