Poker and future

[MickyKK]

How many here is making their living with poker?
I'm almost there but not quite. I've been mostly grinding limit hold'em but I'm starting to lose my mind doing that..

[Ash256]

I do at the mo, but I don't know if I'm gonna do well with it.

Believe it or not I grind 50NL for about $30/hr (not including awesome rakeback deal) and it beats local minimum wage.

Problems: Motivation - I should be playing right now and I'm pissing around on MSN and FTR.
Lack of social thingumybob and physical activity - If I grind for a couple of days, I feel totally ill on the third because I've been sitting in front of a monitor all day.
Downswings - Trying to make the rent when you've had a losing month hurts.

[Reidak]

Theres a life so far removed from playing poker for a living its ridiculous. There are only certain types of people who can play poker for a living. Its nothing glamorous; personally I wouldn't be able to handle it. And also, you get nothing for it on your resume, so in a couple years, if all youve been doing is playing poker; employers want to know what you were doing. "Uhhh, playing online poker for teh rents". Won't look too good on you, especially if they aren't gamblers themselves.

Its hard to make them understand.

Poker is perfectly fine on the side, I beleive, as a second source income. I think its a little overbearing when it becomes a primary source. N2M what i just said about your job experience.

Work a part time job, or if you can't land one, work for a volunteer organization. That will get you job skills quickly, and employers see that as being just as good as job experience; since it is; only your volunteering your time instead of receiving wages.

[Galapogos]

I've been playing for a living for a little while now. It's by no means something I want to do. I'm just doing it to make some money while I get something else set up in the meantime.

It gets boring real fast. I honestly envy the guys that are taking shots and trying new things out with their game because when you play for a living that money is pretty important. In about two months everything will be in place and I'm glad I can start playing this game for fun again.

[Jack Sawyer]

...or find something you're good at, and become selfemployed,
and then play all the pokah you want

[gabe]

i havent had a job in years

[DreamWeaver]

I've been playing for a living for about 3 years. I've made a lot of money doing it, but through that time I've been right on the border of brokeness several times due to unexpected costs like my car going kablooie and needing some heavy repairs. This has kept me grinding low stakes for far longer than I ever wanted to.

The moral of the story is, if you don't have atleast 6 months of savings behind you, dont even consider going pro or it's incredibly tough to get out of the small stakes world. You just end up spending everything you make and never get to move up in stakes where the "big money" is.

So, make sure you have a big wad of cash behind you first. Don't go into it thinking "I can make $10/hour and live off that" because yes you CAN live off that, but you'll NEVER move up because you have to spend every fucking penny you make, and unexpected costs really, really hurt you.

[Fnord]

Great post Dream Weaver.

[Galapogos]

Great post Dream Weaver.

Except for the use of the word "kablooie"

[UG]

Great post Dream Weaver.

Except for the use of the word "kablooie"

I rather liked the word "kablooie" and from now on I will look for situations to use this word.

[sauce123]

poker is my "job"

[Galapogos]

Great post Dream Weaver.

Except for the use of the word "kablooie"

I rather liked the word "kablooie" and from now on I will look for situations to use this word.

I hope you're either working for Disney or are a saturday morning cartoon character, otherwise I just don't see this working for you my friend...

[lolzzz_321]

poker is my "job"

[lolzzz_321]

sauce, you go to school too, right?

[zook]

I make more playing poker than I do at my "job". But my job is also my school, and when I graduate I should be able to get a job that will pay more than I make at poker. But having poker as a side income will continue to be sweeeeeet.

[Halv]

Problems: Motivation - I should be playing right now and I'm pissing around on MSN and FTR.
Lack of social thingumybob and physical activity - If I grind for a couple of days, I feel totally ill on the third because I've been sitting in front of a monitor all day.

QFT!

Edit: maybe..
wtf is thingumybob? Does it involve my "thing" and Bob?

[mcatdog]

I make more playing poker than I do at my "job". But my job is also my school, and when I graduate I should be able to get a job that will pay more than I make at poker. But having poker as a side income will continue to be sweeeeeet.

Me too. You're a grad student too right?

It's nice to have a guaranteed income, even if it's barely enough to pay my bills, because it gives me the freedom to move up when my bankroll is ready instead of constantly having to dig into my bankroll to pay for food.

[EzDuzIt]

i quit my old $10 an hour job awhile ago. dont plan on going back to any kind of job til atleast after ive gone to college. hopefully not then either but maybe then.

[sauce123]

yea i go to school i guess

[zook]

You're a grad student too right?

Yep. My stipend's not that bad actually. More than I made my first year teaching middle school (but that was 9 years ago in a city with a much lower cost of living). They don't treat us too bad in the biological sciences. Still not enough to pay for the baller dinners I like to go to, but that's what poker's for

[Ash256]

wtf is thingumybob? Does it involve my "thing" and Bob?

lol not quite. :P

Find a more apt word than "thingumybob" for what I was talking about..



Wait, interaction.. OH SHIT.

[Jack Sawyer]

I guess this is one of those "if you have to ask, then, uhm, you're not prepared" kinda questions

[BankItDrew]

I quit my $16/hr after 6 years job in March, to play poker. I've made more money in the past two months than I would have made working march - present. September will bein to bring in $15/hr in fpp @ Stars, so I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

A couple things I'd like to add to my schedule are part time classes (correspondence), and some volunteer work, just in case online poker goes kablooie.

[euphoricism]

I'm in the same spot dreamweaver is, really. If I looked at my net winnings, its huge. I just seem to spend every cent i make, keeping me in the small stakes world forever.

Another problem I have is that I just cant play 40 hours a week like I'd like to.

I'm almost done with my degree, which is a good thing in case poker goes kablooie, but once I gradumakate (in may, hopefully) I'm definitely making a full go of it. If I fail, its a good time to fail. No known dependents, no bills, no career I'd be dropping, and I'll have a good backup plan.

[Galapogos]

Excessive... use of... kablooie... can't... handle... GNUHHH!

[euphoricism]

holy hell thats awesome

[givememyleg]

hey that guys head went kablooie

[TylerK]

No known dependents

lulz

[spoonitnow]

Around here cuz I live in the middle of nowhere it's hard to find work without having to commute 45 minutes or more each way. After sophomore year, took a year off to work for my dad and my uncle (two different people, to clarify) framing houses and doing remodeling jobs and shit, stuff I've done most summers since I was 12 or 13, and made $10/hr, which is considered fairly decent around here.

In the meantime, I got good enough at poker to make more than I was at my job, so figured I should play enough to keep a roll growing while I'm in school instead of working at a cash register for $7.50/hr at a job I hate. I wouldn't really say I play "for a living", but it's my primary source of income while I'm in school. As such, I try to keep a pretty deep bankroll in terms of buy-ins and play enough so that I save more than I spend.

P.S. Ten-hour days in 98 degree heat working your ass off are long, but they're longer when you know you could make almost a similar hourly at 10nl and easily make more at 25nl.

[euphoricism]

I spend too much. Mostly spoiling the girlfriend. I take her out to dinner a good 3-4x a week.

But she just came by and cleaned my bedroom, and now shes going to cook me dinner. I sat here googling shit for my fishtank and playing poker and she told me the only thing I could do to help her clean was sit there and stay out of the way.

Soo... umm.. when you get that kind of setup you do whatever you can to keep it.

[spoonitnow]

I spend too much. Mostly spoiling the girlfriend. I take her out to dinner a good 3-4x a week.

But she just came by and cleaned my bedroom, and now shes going to cook me dinner. I sat here googling shit for my fishtank and playing poker and she told me the only thing I could do to help her clean was sit there and stay out of the way.

Soo... umm.. when you get that kind of setup you do whatever you can to keep it.

qft

[Jack Sawyer]

If I ever make it to 25/50, I'm doing this

And be a part time freelance photographer, with a business degree (hopefully), and keep studying economics

In my country, students don't pay taxes, hence I'm very interested to keep "studying" a looong time

[MickyKK]

Great answers guys. Now I feel like I can actually do it. I'm in university at the moment but I get some pocket money from poker. I hope I can change it soon

[Bmxicle]

I play pro in no uncertain terms. I have actually never had a Job in my life. It's an awesome job if you play poker 6 month of the year, and are on vacation or at school for the rest of the year. If you are only playing poker i think it's pretty bad though. I always feel like a completely useless human being when i am (rarely) home for a month or so and really playing full time. I just don't feel like i accomplish anything, and my life revolves around a trivial unimportant game. However, when i'm travelling, playing maybe 30k hands a month, it's awesome; i get to do so many cool things because of poker (like getting to see every starbucks in the world) and it definately enriches my life.

To sum up: If you are making enough money that you can use it to enrich your life, and if it would allow you to do things that a job would prevent you from doing, and if you have the right personality and money management skills then poker might be right for you, but that's a lot of "ifs".

[Jack Sawyer]

^

U R one of my new heroes

[DBL0SVN]

GG to the guys who can make a decent income from poker. But I can't figure out the ones who grind it out at the small stakes and are unable to move up because the car needs repairs or whatever. Gotta be more to life (and to poker) than just grindin for 40+ hrs a week.

[Ash256]

GG to the guys who can make a decent income from poker. But I can't figure out the ones who grind it out at the small stakes

All local jobs = $12/hr
Poker = (minimum) $30+/hr

Add in a hatred of authority, a fairly introverted personality and sheer despisal of getting up before midday and it all begins to make sense.

[spoonitnow]

All local jobs = $12/hr
Poker = (minimum) $30+/hr

pretty much sums it up

[euphoricism]

GG to the guys who can make a decent income from poker. But I can't figure out the ones who grind it out at the small stakes and are unable to move up because the car needs repairs or whatever. Gotta be more to life (and to poker) than just grindin for 40+ hrs a week.

I would wager he's still in school, and $10/hour is pretty good for a college kid. I doubt he's supporting a family of 3 or anything.