how long did it take you...

[Mr. Blonde 0]

to become a successful poker player? I've been playing low limit poker games (Holdem, NL HE, PL Omaha, $25, $50, etc) for about a year, and online for about 8 months. I'm up about $1,000, but for the huge amount of time it's taken me to make that much, I pretty much consider myself a break-even player. I know the answer is different for everyone, but I'm just curious anyway. It's not that I'm not trying, recently I've purchased some more books (HOH 1, SSHE, and TOP).What did it take before you started to see major changes in your BB/100 hands? And for professional players, how long did it take you before you were successful enough to live off your game?

[Feltster 0]

I've been playing for about 6 months now and I was a consistent loser for the first 4 months. The past 2 have been much better. I still have lots of ups and downs, but in general I'm a winning player now.I play NL sit n gos almost exclusively. Normally the $22-$33 buyins at stars!

[DarthBrunson 0]

I feel like taking a shot at answering this question based on my personal experience. My first year in 2001, I made about $2,000. My second year I made $9,000. My third year I made $18,000. My fourth year in 2004, I made $37,500. My fifth year in 2005, I made about $30,000 so far.99% of my games were limit holdem. I started out at the $1/2 or the $2/4 tables 10-handed. They didn't have anything lower back then. Back then, paradise poker was the site to play. Then I came to party poker because they had a lot of bonuses. I was there when they had only 900 players. Exposure on WPT made partypoker rich. Then I moved to play 6-handed $5/10. Love the action. Big learning curve to play at 6-handed. In 2003, I moved to $10/20 6-handed and I've been there ever since. People are getting better. I think eventually it will be hard to make $ in poker. People are reading books, and TV made people better poker players. In 2002, if you can calculate pot odds, you are the king of online poker. No one seems to know .I play about 2 hours a weeknight for 10 hours a week. I know I am one of the lucky ones to make $.As far as making a decent living from poker, only you could know if it's possible. If by one year's mark, you haven't felt confident enough that you could win on any given night, you should give up poker. It's not for everyone. Do it as a hobby.