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is it really that hard to turn pro?


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You turned a $50 deposit into $10000 in one month.. Let me put it this  way: You're the luckest SOB on the face of this earth. This post has just become silly now.  Phil Ivey look out.
not all that off. I took a 200 deposit into 10,000 in one month. And my buddy took a 100 deposit into 12,000 a month and a half. I still refuse to play online though for any significant period of time (i dont consider a month significant in poker standards). Sure we got lucky in our MTTs and at 600 nl and 30/60 etc., but we played great as well.
This is pretty hilarious.
it's hilarious true all at the same time. We were luck boxes in the MTTs as is any individual MTT really. After each of hit big in our MTTs we took the winnings into the ring games. 10k is still my biggest payout to date (online or B&M). I usually stick to the live 300-500 no limit games though because they are REALLY easy to beat. I'm much worse when playing online, thats why i dont do it much anymore.
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I don't think anyone else has mentioned this: Even if the legal issues are cleared up in favor of online poker play, the party simply is not going to last forever.Many of the old hands have seen it before: Hold'em introduced in California in 1987. Poker introduced in Atlantic City in 1993. The advent of Planet Poker in 1998. The pattern repeats over and over again: a sudden expansion of poker games, with an influx of new players who don't understand the game. For a while it's a Happy Hunting Ground, where you don't have to be very smart at all to beat the games. As time passes, some people run out of money. Others get tired of losing and quit. The soft bottom of the poker economy dries up. And the players that remain get smarter, more experienced. The win rates of even the best players go down, and some of the previously winning players now become losers.The current poker boom is booming now online and in brick-and-morter cardrooms alike, but it won't last forever. It will peak, and ease back, and approach a steady state. We're feasting in the boom right now, but not all of us who are winning now will be winners in that steady state.IMHO, the OP should stay in school -- and keep playing. Once OP graduates, he should get a job -- and keep playing. And all the while, he should keep working to improve his game, so that he stays winners.The fact of the matter is that recreational players have a huge advantage over the pros in one crucial respect: people making a living playing poker must protect their bankrolls; if they go bust, they need to scramble for more money until they can build up a new bankroll. But someone with a steady paycheck who has $50 per week in disposable income they can put into a poker game has the equivalent of a bankroll of $50,000.

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People always act like your ridiculous to even bring up the idea, but is it really that hard? I mean, all you have to do is beat the PartyPoker 15/30 game for 2 1/2 BB an hour, and boom, you've got yourself a $75 an hour job. And from what I've seen of the 30/60 games on Party, they're not much better.I'm not planning on dropping out of school right now or anything, but I'm starting to hate my major, and I can't imagine doing it for a living my whole life. I've made about $9000 on poker just in the last month, and I really don't see why this couldn't be a career down the road.  Thoughts?
It can be a career and if you are doing that well then go for it. Just keep in mind that internet poker is still a young industry and who knows what changes may occur. It could be outlawed in the US, the poker boom could go bust, who knows. And never forget that it could become a grind that you also end up hating.Stay in school, explore different majors and let poker pay for it all.
Great post Sam_Hard8
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I play for a living... if you would like some s0lid advice or just talk about it, PM me... I mostly play NL, but I could still give you some solid advice. I used to play 20/40, averaging 1.79 BB/100, but it became too much of a grind (and those 5k downswings were not fun either) , and I really enjoy NL better.
Just thought I'd point out how much I, and presumably many others appreciate posts like this and Alan Bostwick's latest ones.Daniel
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I play for a living... if you would like some s0lid advice or just talk about it, PM me... I mostly play NL, but I could still give you some solid advice. I used to play 20/40, averaging 1.79 BB/100, but it became too much of a grind (and those 5k downswings were not fun either) , and I really enjoy NL better.
Just thought I'd point out how much I, and presumably many others appreciate posts like this and Alan Bostwick's latest ones.Daniel
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Now being a successful professional poker player is what's difficult since you need to make enough money for bills and living expenses and also since you have no medical insurance, money for medical purposes, and not to mention money to sustain the downswings of playing poker. Every time I read something like this, I thank the powers that be I live in Canada.
We thank the powers that be for the same thing.(sw)
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It seems like some of the advice being given is valid, while some people are just sounding bitter and defeated. As if they have tried to make a living from playing and failed. Just because you cannot make a living playing online poker, doesn't mean it can't be done.It's not an easy road but it's possible to achieve. If you can manage your bankroll and win more than you lose. The best advice is to take out bits and pieces of your winnings and start saving.

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Man, I just love some of these numbers being thrown around when people want to turn pro, $75-80 an hour is far from the line needed to "grind it out", also those games could ruin you when you run into variance. It just shows a lack of planning, and dreaming way too much of becoming that next big thing, I mean $30 an hour is 60k a year at a normal 9-5 job.Now since you dont have benefits and have to pay taxes I would say you should shoot for $40-$45 an hour, to lead a 50k a year lifestyle. Probably $1300 a week would be the magic number, again this isnt going to live the flashy lifestyle but you would be "comfortableThis is of course if you have expenses saved for the down swings and all of that good stuff.Now NONE of this should be done without finishing school, it is an asset that you need to have should you fail.My advice, Stay in school, practice your game, build the bankroll.When you get out of school, get the "normal" post-college job, make the $30-$40k coming out of school, get a nice benefit package, start a 401k, see where life takes you. MAKE SOCIAL CONTACTS! Seriously, you wont stay friends with all of the guys down the hall from you after college, and work is a great place to meet and interact with people. Come home, play online for 2-3 hours if you feel like it, if you beat those games for $200 a night, thats an extra $1000 or so a week, you are now making somewhere between $80-90k coming out of college, you will have full health benefits, you will have a safety net. You can put some of your winnings into your bankroll instead of pulling it out for day to day expenses, If after 1-2 years you are still showing profits, you may have enough saved to take a legitimate shot, properly funded and having already seen the many expenses of the real world. And if you arent as good as you thought, you still are making a normal salary and can get a cast on your arm if you are in a car accident. You will be living a great life for a 20something either way, and you will have the potential to analyze everything before you end up "hoping things turn around". The game wont be a grind in the beginning, as its just a very lucrative hobby.

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Man, I just love some of these numbers being thrown around when people want to turn pro, $75-80 an hour is far from the line needed to "grind it out", also those games could ruin you when you run into variance. It just shows a lack of planning, and dreaming way too much of becoming that next big thing, I mean $30 an hour is 60k a year at a normal 9-5 job.Now since you dont have benefits and have to pay taxes I would say you should shoot for $40-$45 an hour, to lead a 50k a year lifestyle. Probably $1300 a week would be the magic number, again this isnt going to live the flashy lifestyle but you would be "comfortableThis is of course if you have expenses saved for the down swings and all of that good stuff.Now NONE of this should be done without finishing school, it is an asset that you need to have should you fail.My advice, Stay in school, practice your game, build the bankroll.When you get out of school, get the "normal" post-college job, make the $30-$40k coming out of school, get a nice benefit package, start a 401k, see where life takes you. MAKE SOCIAL CONTACTS! Seriously, you wont stay friends with all of the guys down the hall from you after college, and work is a great place to meet and interact with people. Come home, play online for 2-3 hours if you feel like it, if you beat those games for $200 a night, thats an extra $1000 or so a week, you are now making somewhere between $80-90k coming out of college, you will have full health benefits, you will have a safety net. You can put some of your winnings into your bankroll instead of pulling it out for day to day expenses,  If after 1-2 years you are still showing profits, you may have enough saved to take a legitimate shot, properly funded and having already seen the many expenses of the real world. And if you arent as good as you thought, you still are making a normal salary and can get a cast on your arm if you are in a car accident.  You will be living a great life for a 20something either way, and you will have the potential to analyze everything before you end up "hoping things turn around". The game wont be a grind in the beginning, as its just a very lucrative hobby.
This should be stickied. Fantastic post, sir.
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