playing poker for a living

[Matt Miner 0]

this thread is about playing poker for a living not in the sense that daniel negreanu plays poker for a living but in the sense of making $800 a week playing forty hours of $5-$10 limit hold 'em online (2bb/hr. = $20/hr.; $20/hr x 40 hrs. = $800).anyway my story is this: i've been playing poker for about two years; pretty seriously for about six months. in august i started playing a lot of $1-$2 and $2-$4 limit hold 'em at pokerroom. got off to a great start winning $1,380 within the first eight days. so i started playing higher. $3-$6 up to $5-$10. once i got up to $5-$10 i was making about $3,000 a month playing cards (which was a considerable amount of money for me given that i was basically a college student at the time taking night classes at berkeley) and at that point poker essentially became my full time job.unfortunately i was playing with a dangerously small bankroll and in november i ran into a really bad stretch of cards and basically lost the whole thing. so then last month i started playing $1-$2 and .50/$1 at ultimate bet. i made about $700 which obviously isn't enough to live off of. this week i scraped together enough dough to play $2-$4 and $1-$2 at pokerroom but i had a really lousy week and my bankroll has shrunk to $200. so basically i'm looking at the harsh reality of looking for a job next week unless i have a pretty good run. really not a whole lot of fun. anyway i guess i'm just curious how many of you play professionally or semi-professionally. i'm curious where you play, what you play, etc. (specifically i was wondering if any of you just play tournaments for a living).oh and i could also really use some moral support since i've made beans the last six weeks and am starting to wonder if i'm just a terrible poker player. lol.

[Wilderness 0]

I don't play professionally by any stretch of the imagination so I can't help you with most of what you asked. However, when you wondered if you were just a bad player or not, I don't think you've really had a chance to prove one way or another because of your bankroll. It sounds like you didn't have a bankroll that was big enough to sustain the natural swings of playing poker professionally so you can't tell if that was the problem or if it was your game.Just work your way up slowly, build your bankroll to the point where it can easily withstand normal downswings, and then give it another shot if you feel up to it.

[Matt Miner 0]

yeah the bankroll is obviously my main problem. i really need at least $3,000-$4,000 to play $5-$10 regularly ($3,500 sound good to you?) and right now i just don't have that due to some unforseen financial difficulties (part of which obviously being my recent lack of success at the poker table). i'm not really sure what to do. if i get a real job then i won't have enough time to play $2-$4 or whatever to get my bankroll back to where it needs to be but if i don't get a real job then i risk going broke. awful catch-22. anyway i was mostly joking about the being a terrible poker player bit. i think i'm a pretty good player then again i suppose everyone does however i've had very, very few losing weeks since august (2-3). trouble is recently i've just been struggling to keep my head above water.

[Wilderness 0]

Having never played limits that high, I'll defer to some of the others around to give you an idea about bankroll for that.What about getting some kind of part-time work? That way you can have steady income to pour into your bankroll while you work back from the smaller limits? Its a lot less riskier than either trying to take shots at limits where you don't have the bankroll for or starving because you can't make enough money playing 2/4.

[Matt Miner 0]

What about getting some kind of part-time work? That way you can have steady income to pour into your bankroll while you work back from the smaller limits? Its a lot less riskier than either trying to take shots at limits where you don't have the bankroll for or starving because you can't make enough money playing 2/4.

that was precisely the kind of advice i needed. thank you.

[Wilderness 0]

What about getting some kind of part-time work? That way you can have steady income to pour into your bankroll while you work back from the smaller limits? Its a lot less riskier than either trying to take shots at limits where you don't have the bankroll for or starving because you can't make enough money playing 2/4.

that was precisely the kind of advice i needed. thank you.

Well great. I'll expect you to send me 10% of everything you make from here on out. You can send me the checks once a month.Thanks.

[Matt Miner 0]

[jonnyz 0]

Hey DudeWe all go through tough runs keep playing smart and it will come back.Not sure where you play but 2BB and hour at 5-10 might be a little unrealistic. Not that the 5-10 level is filled with pros its just that the rake is usually a killer that those levels. On top of that if you tip a $1 thats a nice chunk as well. My suggestion would be to work a job to pay the bills and play poker on the side. Build your BR up and then take a shot at full time play. for 5-10 4-5k would be a solid roll. But if you want to make a living keep working your job until you can beat the 15-30 game for close to 1 BB/HR. That means a 10-15k BR. There was an article by Barry Tannenbaum (sp?) on poker pages which talks about how difficult it is to reach 1 BB an hour. Its a good read take a look.jon

[justblaze 0]

bankroll requirements for 5-10 would depend on the purpose: if you are playing for supplemental income (i.e. to make money but not to live) 3k should be fine. If you lose that, you probably cant beat the game. If you are playing for a living, however, which it sounds like you want to do, you are going to need 500BB (5k) + 3 months living expenses (you'll have to figure out what those are) in order to minimize the risk of ruin. Of course, this is assuming you can beat 5-10. PS 5-10 online plays much differently from live 5-10. Depending where you play, its either much harder, or much easier but with wilder swings due to the maniacal play of others. 5-10 6 max on party is pretty soft if youre halfway decent...

[TylerMayes 0]

The most important part of playing poker for a living successfully would in my mind have to be bankroll management. If you are depending on it for a living you have to have a sufficient bankroll. You have 2 options in my mind really.1. Borrow enough money to make a real bankroll for 5-10. I'm not saying credit wise...as the interest is insane.....but from a friend or family member. 2. Get a part time job and partially support yourself and fund your bankroll. Part time will give you enough time to play/build bankroll. Myself I have a bankroll of 2,140 for 5/10. I play live so I get far fewer hands per hour and work about 52 hours per week outside of poker play. I started with 500 on 12/05/04 and have under 80 hours . Most of my winnings go to my bankroll . That is one benifit ... faster BR growth.Cheers and luckTyler

[Matt Miner 0]

thanks reading the barry tanenbaum article now.

[GoBucksIndy 0]

I made a living for a little over a year playing NL 33-55 S&Gs and MTT. I played three tournies at a time and probably put in 30-35 hours a week online. It was great at first, but really became boring after awhile. When people say "it's a hard way to make an easy living" it really is the truth. When your playing the lower limits and I consider 55 and below lower, you really need to just play solid poker. Players are generally not good enough in those levels to lay anything down, so bluffs are pretty much useless. The only spot you can get away with some bluffs is later on in the MTTs. My suggestion would be to get a job PT, maybe as a waiter or something and get yourself on your feet. Maybe your lack of bankroll is causing you to play scared or causing you to push too much. Either way its good to have a source of income non-poker related even if you are doing well at the tables.

[Bubba83 0]

It sounds like you are a bit too impatient to get into the higher games to make a living. Here is my suggestion if you are serious about becoming a safe, playing professional. First step, get a part-time job, maybe even full-time... Then, play poker about 20 hours a week at the .50/1 tables, (200 big blind is as close as i'll cut it for a bankroll in limit) Gradually work your way up, when your bankroll hits $500, move to $1/$2, when it hits $1000, move to $2/$4, When it hits $2000, $4/$8, and finally when it hits $3000 move to $5/$10, or you could move even slower than this and play with 500 big blind bankrolls, which would be my suggestion, the key as a professional player is to ease into it, your life cannot take the swings of poker with a small bankroll. If you must rely on a good run of cards to keep playing poker professionally, you're not being a responsible professional, and right now your situation warrants that you start over rationally with a part-time or full-time job until your bankroll is safe.