Can you please tell me why I don´t/shouldn´t go pro? (long)

[FishyWhale]

Before you answer, let me tell you the things that speak against it myself: a) because my bankroll is not yet big enough for 10-20 (it is over 300bb, but I´d rather prefer to be on the safe side), b) because I do not yet have enough experience playing 10-20, and c) because my running very good since December may cause me to see things in a too positive light (i.e. I may be just very lucky and not as good as I think).

Now to the things that in favour of taking this step:

1) I´ve been a (slightly below) break-even player from the beginning of May till the end of November, but since the beginning of December my total results for $3/6 alone have risen from -402 to +1935 within 9 losing sessions and 17 winning sessions (most of this comes from February in which I made +1564 playing $3/6 - i.e. a monthly rate of 4.739 bb/h! for 55 hours played). Now I know that you can´t be a pro playing $3/6, this is just the proof that I have got the basics down now for a while.
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2) My typical 10-20 opponents are pretty bad - generally more aggressive than 3-6, also one or two pros strewn around - but overall also many clueless ones, resulting in very beatable games like the one from last night where I made $1114 in 2h40 (i.e. 20bb/h) because a) the game became shorthanded, I love to play short-handed, and my opponents - like just about every poker player in my casino it seems - have no idea how to play short-handed, and were consequently run over/sucked in (management even suspended the rake to boot so as not to break the table!). It takes of course a great deal of luck to book such a win in such a short-time, but I also know that my skill is more than sufficient to beat these games, especially short-handed, but also full-handed (and no, this is not overestimation of oneself: I know about my mistakes very well and try to get rid of them, and I also know that many of you play better than I do - it´s just that my opponents are very likely worse than yours!).

As for the results: I´ve only played as little as six sessions for a total of 26h55, but I won money in 5 out of 6 session (the loss occured mainly from playing too long and getting tired, but that tought me when to quit: I don´t play longer than 6 hours [ok, maybe as much as 30min longer), period) for +2135 or 3.966bb/h, so I can´t be that bad at 10-20 either, and I also know all the other stuff, how to remain disciplined, meta-game considerations, how much you can make against weak/tough opponents, bankroll requirements, etc., etc., etc.
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3) I am currently a 24 year old student who is aware that a proper job with poker as a second income is much more preferable than being a full time pro for many reasons, but a) I´ve completely lost interest in my studies (philosophy and writing is my true "intellectual calling" for a few years now and you can´t really properly study this because you either write something or you don´t, and I also know for sure that I am very good at this, just don´t know when I will finish what I´m working at), b) the sort of job I would get through my studies (if I get one at all, because job prospects are pretty slim) wouldn´t be very well payed, apart from the fact that I cannot identify myself with that sort of trivial and boring stuff anyway any longer.

More or less the only reason why I go to university any longer is so as to keep up appeareances and not disappoint my parents who want their son to have a university education, but what really goes on in my head is "Why the hell do I still go to university and do stupid homework and stuff I no longer give a [censored] about when a) I already know what my intellectual calling is and/or b) I could easily be making $20 per hour in the casino???" (and university doesn´t cost much in my country, so it´s not as if my parents have spent a fortune for my future)
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So, knowing all that, can you please tell me why - after building up my bankroll and getting more experience under my belt to see if I´m really good enough - I (an unemotial, calculating, analytical type of guy who only wants to maximize his EV when at the table and nothing else) don´t/shouldn´t go pro, because this "author/philosopher/poker player playing student" stuff is slowly starting to make me angry.

[Matt Heuton]

I've come up with this..."It's a tough way to make an easy living."

[FishyWhale]

I know that too [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] . But with weak opponents and a personality made for poker it ain´t that tough. Apart from that, I would (and do) also write. And you can´t argue with 1k5 made in February playing $3/6 15 hours a week. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[Toro]

I think you should try it. If you don't you'll always be wondering what your life would have been like. So, either get it out of your system or if you're successful and continue to enjoy it, make a career out of it. Good luck.

[Bubmack]

I think you should finish school. Just "dog it" for a while and let the grades slip if you have to - just make sure you lock in that diploma. Play more poker and build your bankroll. Once you graduate - don't go and get that shitty job - try to go pro at that point with a larger bankroll and a degree to fall back on. If you are only playing 15 hours a week as a college student you are doing something wrong. I work 60 hours a week, play 17 hours a week and have 2 kids under the age of 2.

Bubs

[FishyWhale]

I think you should finish school.

Have you actually read and thought about my post or just written the first thing that came to your mind?

I said I have lost interest and job prospects (employment and payment) suck too + plus I know what I wanna do (i.e. write), so what point is there in getting a diploma I have got absolutely no use for??? So that I can say "Hey, I´ve got a diploma???"

[Ulysses]

Can you please tell me why I don´t/shouldn´t go pro?

Well, I made all my money taking entrepreneurial risks that most everyone around me thought were highly risky (read: foolhardy), but the risk/reward was worth it to me. A big part of that reward involved not having a boss and not having to do work I thought was stupid. So, I'm the first to say, if this is what you want to do, go for it. What's the worst that could happen? You blow through your 6k+ bankroll, decide poker's not for you, finish up school, and get a job. It's easy and fun to take risks when you're young w/ few responsibilities.

On the flip side, you're considering making some pretty big decisions based on 27 hours of 10-20 play and a couple of months of winning 3-6.

I´ve only played as little as six sessions for a total of 26h55, but I won money in 5 out of 6 session for +2135 or 3.966bb/h, so I can´t be that bad at 10-20 either

Not saying this is the case with you, but I've seen plenty of complete idiots win 1 or 2 racks a day every day for a week straight.

after building up my bankroll and getting more experience under my belt to see if I´m really good enough

Hey, that sounds very reasonable. Take a little time. Keep playing. Maybe a little more to see if you actually enjoy putting in the longer hours per week. See if your assumptions regarding your relative skill vs your opponents is correct. If so, and you're still having fun, go for it!

[ElSapo]

Not that my advice is worth a whole lot, but that's what it is - advice, what I would do, I think.

Both. As some others have stated, finish your degree and keep playing. Just make sure you graduate. Then go pro and don't look back. You don't want and don't need a "real job," no one can ever tell you to get one.

As for the $20/hour - I don't know about the philosophy part, but writing is an easy way to make a living and $20 an hour is more of a starting point, depending on where you're working. The "implied odds" if you will, of graduating and writing (again, depends on what kind) may be better. Well, better than 10/20 anyways. You start playing 300/600, screw writing unless it's lawsuits, but then who wants to be a lawyer?

Do both, that way there's no regrets. My advice, for what it's worth...

[FishyWhale]

after building up my bankroll and getting more experience under my belt to see if I´m really good enough

Hey, that sounds very reasonable.


Well, I think I said I was analytical and calculating. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

And I´m definitely not going to blow through my bankroll, still playing 3-6, not 10-20 exclusively, and if I should lose, well, back to 3-6.

[FishyWhale]

Sorry but what point is there in getting a degree I have got absolutely no use for??? (also see my reply to Bubmack)