Playing Poker Full Time QUARTER 3.3 (10 Month Report)

[RollaJ]

Just to recap......
In November 2004 I left my Wall St. job and started playing poker fulltime. As you may have guessed it was really a long time dream come true. In February I posted my first progress report, and things were going bout as well as I could have hoped for. As you can see from my past posts, my goal is not to be world famous via a tourney win, or make millions. It is to support me and my family and have a more comfortable lifestyle without having to answer to the man.

Here is a link to the Q2.5 report: Q 2.5 Report

Well here we are again!

Since the last report things have been looking up!
After the Q2.5 report, I had finally gotten to the point where I felt comfortable moving up to $5-10 NL as my primary game. This was something that many people had suggested to me both on 2+2 and in the real world as well, for quite a while. But considering my aversion to going broke I wanted to be as sure as possible that I was ready to make the move. A big confidence booster was when PokerRoom got rid of their 2-5 NL game which I loved. All of a sudden all the players I was beating on a regular basis started playing 3-6NL and 5-10 NL..... so I followed them to the 5-10 game, and I felt comfortable with it.
So I had officially moved up, and was happy with the move as I was still doing well, in fact much better [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I have even played 10-20 NL a few times, and have won on each occasion. In my mind, considering this is now my job, I got a nice raise. And I love having a job that I now get paid based on performance.
As for the troll types who berated me last report for not making enough money, I think that was uncalled for. Some people make more, some make less, just like any other job. While I suppose they were just a bunch of losers (in all senses of the word) I have been making a lot more recently, just to make them happy [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Also, Id like to make a comment about all the quit your job articles. Just like when I first wrote about my plans (which you can find in the Q1 report), people tend to be very negative about poker as a job. Be advised however, that while it is not for everyone, and you should be very careful in making such a decision to play pro, it can be done. I think you have to be a very down to earth clear headed person to pull it off however. Be realistic in your goals though and it can be done. Those who say it is a tough way to make an easy living, I suggest that is not that much tougher than grinding it out at a regular job. In fact I havent found it all too tough yet, but time will tell.... G_d willing all will continue to go well.
Id also like to quote Mason Malmuth who said it all, when he wrote:
<font color="blue">
I suspect that many people who try to turn pro have similar motivations. They are simply looking for a better life, one they might enjoy. If it means they make less money, drive an old car, and don't live in a fancy house, then that's fine. This is exactly what happened to me and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. </font>


Some Numbers
**Again, in my mind this is a service to the community. I gain nothing by posting this, but hope to give others contemplating the move, an idea of what they can perhaps expect.

Some numbers:
10 Months 7 days:
+68,143
1429 hours
$47.66/hour
271 days played
39 days off
183 winning days
88 losing days
Longest Plateau 3/17-5/15 (255 hours of “break even” poker….. YIKES)
Best Day +2735 (8/5)
Best Month +$13,486
Worst Day -$2000 (2/10)
Longest Winning Streak 13 days
Longest Losing Streak 4 days
Win Rate Weekdays 44.71/hour
Win Rate Weekends 52.60/hour

<font color="red"> As usual, any questions are more than welcomed </font>