serious post about playing poker professionally

stankphish · #1 04-19-2005, 09:11 PM

my situation is this, im 20 and currently in the process of getting prematurely discharged from the military under honorable conditions, i havnt been in long enough to get the GI bill or any benefits from it. i know that i want to be a professional poker player, i really cant see myself doing anything else and being happy. im still very intent on getting a college degree though. what i want to do is get into dealing poker then turn semi-pro while im in college then eventually pro. im thinking very long term though. i really have no interest in playing tournament poker or no-limit, just a great limit player. i feel i have enough talent to reach this goal over time, i just really lack experience.

i despise playing poker online and i only have 1.5 months of casino experience from when i went down to the casinos in seattle. while there my game progressed tremendously and i and others(floormen,experienced players) felt that i was a lot better than most all the newer players that that have been playing for a year or so with only 3 weeks of putting in 8-16 hour days at the cardroom and a couple of months worth of home games that i dominated.

so here are my questions and concerns. keep in mind i despise playing online and im genuinely thinking long term.

1. What is the best way to get into dealing? schools, on the job training, etc...
2. Where should i move to based on which games are the easiest to beat and dealing jobs/schools availability? im considering seattle/tacoma,vancouver b.c.,boulder colorado, foxwoods, and southern california.
3. Does this seem reasonable?

I sincerely appreciate any advice.

Thx

stinkypete · #2 04-19-2005, 09:17 PM

it's highly unlikely that you're a winning player.

start reading books now.

(this is my honest, sincere advice. not trying to be a dick here.)

Blarg · #3 04-19-2005, 09:37 PM

I'd write or e-mail or call up the personnel departments of various casinos and ask them about employment -- if you need any certificate or whatever, and what their hiring is like.

Just a note about Southern California -- state taxes are very high here, over 8%, and living expenses are very high too. The weather is great, but lots of the land is butt ugly. I'd consider living somewhere cheaper while trying to get a foothold on life. You're in the preparation stage now, not the permanent life decision stage, and you can always move to California or wherever later. But you'd be better served and putting that extra money into the bank instead of the landlord's pocket and into politicians' pockets.

stankphish · #4 04-19-2005, 10:06 PM

[ QUOTE ]
it's highly unlikely that you're a winning player.

start reading books now.

(this is my honest, sincere advice. not trying to be a dick here.)

[/ QUOTE ]

i appreciate the honesty. but i never said i was a winning player, just that others and myself think that i have potential. im just a student of the game. i have read books and im going to continue to, along with browsing these forums zealously.

i read alot of posts by kids who's cards have been running hot and are asking advice about whether or not they should drop out of college and play poker professionally for the rest of their lives. im realistic enough to know that i cant support myself off of poker right now. what im most concerned with is getting into dealing and making enough money off of that to put myself through college while learning the game well enough so that in time it can be my profession.

and that takes me back to my original questions, especially on where should i move and the best way to get into dealing. also any other advice/personal experiences from truly professional poker players would be much appreciated.

masonx · #5 04-19-2005, 10:11 PM

[ QUOTE ]
... and yes i do read books and 2+2.

[/ QUOTE ]

make sure they are the right books, dont stray far from the 2+2 publishing.

stankphish · #6 04-19-2005, 10:45 PM

I moved this thread to psychology.

TimM · #7 04-19-2005, 11:14 PM

Maybe try brick and mortar (B&M Cardrooms) instead. They will know more about places to live and getting dealer jobs.

potpumper43 · #8 04-20-2005, 04:38 AM

You mentioned you can't see yourself being happy doing anything else besides playing poker for a living, yet you have only been playing the game for a short period of time. I have been playing poker for 5 years now and decided a year ago to leave my job and make a go of it for a living online, after 3 solid years of success. I am now looking to reenter the workforce. Poker is a very stressful and lonely occupation. Go to college or a trade school and get yourself a marketable job skill. Poker is much better as a nice hobby w/ a side benefit of profit, which can be a nice supplement to a "day job".

lehighguy · #9 04-20-2005, 06:34 AM

It will be very diffucult to make a living in live poker. It can be done but its a lot harder, has bigger swings, and it will take a very long time before you've played enough hands to know if your a winning player.

EStreet20 · #10 04-20-2005, 07:49 AM

Hey,
Well let me start off by saying good luck, no matter what you choose I respect you serving your country and hope you succeed at whatever you do. However after that I'll be a bit of a bummer and tell you that it'll be very tough starting as a pro playing B+M with very little poker experience. The way I see it, anyone looking to go pro has to start online mainly because you can multitable and get a rakeback deal, thus you can support youself playing small stakes. We see many posters on this site who make a living playing mainly 3-6 due to the fact that they can four, eight, or even twelve table. To make a living in live poker at these stakes you'd have to play an extreme amount of hours, and even then it would be an extremely modest living. Also, to make the money dealing to build a big enough BR to play higher stakes games would be extremely tough. Now I know you said you'd start as a dealer/semipro, but with only a few months of poker experience you'd honestly have a huge chance of flushing all of your tips at the tables. My best advice (besides getting a job with good pay and benefits) for a course of action is to move out and get a dealer job. I'd say Vegas instead of SoCal, cheaper cost of living, and start playing online with a small portion of your job money. Build your roll up and take it from there. I know you said you "hate playing online" but remember, you're looking to do this as a job and not as a hobby anymore so you have to realize that live or online you won't consider it as "fun" as you do now.

Good luck,
Matt