Semi Pro's.. Whats holding you back?

[NoChance]

[ QUOTE ]
and how were you playing in the past without a bankroll?
(if you don't mind me asking)

[/ QUOTE ]

Like most here, I started with $100 playing micro limits. I used that to climb to $0.50/1 and moved to Party. Then I made the move to $1/2. I set up accounts at about 10 different sites to take advantage of sign up bonuses and reloads. I stayed at $1/2 until my car and college debts were paid off. Once that was paid off I started building the bankroll for purposes of moving up in limits. In August I went to $2/4. My goal is to move to $3/6 in the next month.

I would need to make 80K per year just to replace my current job + benefits. Obviously the limits I was playing at will not do that. Maybe someday now that most of my debt is paid off.

Edit* - In other words, I had the bankroll for the limits I was playing at. I did not have the bankroll to replace my current job and lifestyle.

[cjx]

One, many of the very successful poker players are very intelligent and diligent studies of the game which translates to very intelligent and diligent studies in their chosen profession which translates to very lucrative and often engaging careers which translates to my long run on sentence.

Two, playing part time allows you to always play during the "best" times when the most fish are on. Playing full time I think would require you to play during some suboptimal times lowering your hourly rate and possibly hourly "fun" as grinding versus mediocre ABC's is not as fun as dragging huge pots vs maniacs and calling stations.

cjx

Oh, and my reason? I'm not good enough [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] . Though if they would ever lay me off from my job I'd take a David Ross shot at it (think 4-8 tables 3-6 style).

[ctv1116]

That school thing. And also the fact that online poker will become significantly tougher in the next year or two.

[LikesToLose]

My current plan is to gain experience so that I can make a profit on 15/30 of 2 bb/100. I will build the bankroll as I gain experience and move up accordingly. If need I will fall back in limits if I hit a bad run or get in over my head.

Then, I will pay off all debt except for mortgage debt. No credit cards, cars, etc.

Once that is complete, I will stay part-time/Semi-Pro and build cash reserves. Every $20-$30K I get, I will use as downpayments to buy rental properties. If and only if I can live off of the cash flow coming from rental properties will I consider quiting my current job.

At which point, I would be semi-retired. If I hit this goal within 7 years, I will be pretty much done working before 40 and consider that to be a great success. I will make one caveat to the 'if and only if'. It may become extremely obvious that I can make significantly more money just playing poker and working on real estate investment/management. It would have to be a very clear advantage due to the cons of playing professionally.

I see poker as being very similiar to internet stocks. It gets talked about in the smoking hut and around the coffee machines. Everybody is talking about the latest bluffs they pulled off or how much they won last night. (Very little talk about losses). Once that fad aspect wears off, I fear that the games are going to be much harder to beat, so I do not really want to try to count on earning a living from that.

[turnipmonster]

I have very seriously considered it recently. things stopping me:

- my field can be enjoyable and interesting, and I worry I would just slip into the vortex of pro poker and wake up 10 years later with no relevant experience in my field

- playing poker is profitable, yet very boring. I enjoy playing for a hobby, but would probably not enjoy it nearly as much if I had to play. Some people seem to have a genuine real love for the game, which I don't have. If I had to stop playing tomorrow I wouldn't care.

- social aspect. I definitely have some good friends that I've met through poker, but the majority of people I actually play cards with I don't really like all that much. and being around people I don't like is no fun. also, the net is too isolated.

--turnipmonster

[astroglide]

rental properties aren't the hottest racket right now

[nykenny]

my mother tells me all the time "you have a great job, many people only wish they had it. don't jeapordize.";

aside from that, my job is somewhat satisfying in other ways;

if i can clearly project 4x my salary from poker, i'd consider very seriously. but at this time, i still have some doubts on my ability to play many more hours and retain a similar earn rate from poker;

if i can be confident that i can play up to 7 hrs a day at my current efficiency, i'd go pro in a heart beat.

Kenny

[LikesToLose]

Not to get too off topic. I don't live on a 'coast' so there isn't much worry about a bubble. Prices have been pretty consistant at around 3% in Cleveland. Must be the weather [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

I have 2 rentals now with a total out of pocket investment of about 10% on both of them. They are doing very well. For someone looking for hands on investment, I truely believe that real estate is the best way to go.

If I lived in an area that was experiencing 10%+ housing values in the last couple of years, I would be cautious right now.

Not sure exactly what potential problems you are seeing with rental properties right now. Feel free to PM me if I missed your point. I don't want to go too far off topic.

[astroglide]

a decent thread on the subject came up in the stocks forum (i think). ray zee had some comments on it.

[sprmario]

This is close to my plan. I am playing 3/6 with a little 5/10 mixed in. I'm on quite the tear recently which I'm sure will not last but I'm enjoying it. I only started playing in May, and I've grown my bankroll from $80 to $3100 with $1500 in cashouts along the way. I've gotten my hourly rate to a decent point by 4 tabling 3 3/6 tables and 1 5/10 table. I hope my winrate will be around 1.5 BB/ hr which I think is doable at this level. That gives me an hourly rate of $42 which is good for me. I am hoping to work my way up to 15/30 but I will not push myself too fast.

I really don't think the pro poker lifestyle is for me... I would like to make enough to pay off my car by end of '05 and to put money down on a house/condo as well. I figure I need to put away about $50k in the next year for those purposes and I'm hoping half will come from poker.