i'm sure there are plenty of plo pro wannabes (incl myself) who wonder what is the life like when your profession is grinding plo.

i started this thread so that those who play plo professionally would share a bit of their mindset, daily routine, money management, thoughts for future, are they doing something on the side...all kinds of issues, even if only for a few lines.

Elrazor already wrote a good piece "so you want to be a professional poker player".

i would love to read different stories how they got there, what keeps the going, what are they afraid about, what is the stress level.

even if you only play part time alongside studies, share your thoughts....there might always be new ideas out there that you are not aware about.

personally i don't have much to say since most of my time is spend in the office in a normal job, grinding a few hours in the evenings and weekends.

do you separate poker bankroll and liferoll? how strict is your brm?
do you see yourself as a poker pro still 5 years from now?
what is your daily schedule like? grind all night, sleep all day?
how much time do you spend studying the game vs grinding?
do you regret dropping out of university for poker (in case you did drop out)?
do you think working a normal job would be more rewarding overall?
if you are going for sne, how do you organize yourself so that you make sure you won't fail?
did you have a "aha!" moment when you realized you wanna play poker for living?
what is the minimum requirement to start as a pro? certain hourly rate over xxxk hands? how did you define it for yourself?

-how many hours per month do you play and how do you divide it daily/weekly?

-what would you do with your life if online poker was right now made illegal?

-do you save money or spend all the "extra" (w/e that means to you) income from poker? (keeping in mind that are no pension etc benefits and this is a huge issue in the later part of your life)

-do you keep a poker diary and if so, what kind of stuff do you write there? do you set goals and follow through with them to see if you achieved them or not? what kind of goals do you set for yourself?

-do you plan to crush plo5k someday or are happy gringing a "steady" income at low or mid stakes?

Cool idea naps.

Tried to make it less wall of text-like with bolding but that was even less attractive to the eye.

Nice post Napsus.
Pretty excited to read your Plo grinders stories

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From a part time pro, also studying at university.

I wouldn't even consider myself a poker professional, but since it has been about half of my income since I started playing bout tree fiddy years ago, I guess I could answer.

No, I don't see any need to separate them. If anything, I'm probably too conservative with my money anyway. From bankroll perspective I could play much higher than I currently do, but I don't think I'd have edge in midstakes games.

Possibly yes, hopefully not. I hope it would remain as a profitable hobby, but I wouldn't want to play poker for a living long term.

Grind whenever I feel like grinding (not very often lately)

Probably around 50-50, if reading strat threads and watching videos count as studying.

Yes (poker wasn't the main reason, but still it was a bad decision)

Yes, most definitely.

I don't want to. It's simply the easiest and most convenient way for me at the moment to cover my expenses.

If I was certain I could make over $100/hr, I would consider to temporary start playing full time.

good times, enjoying already

please don't feel yourself limited to the questions i stated, they were merely posted there for inspiration to get writing going, not necessarily for Q&A purposes.

either way, keep 'em coming!

I think at least 50k/year + a B-plan when u leave poker.

cool thread idea

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Never understood this. Do you really need to keep the money separately to realize how much money you can afford to lose in poker?

Say you want to always have at least $20k in liquid cash, how hard is it to just figure out from that how much you have to risk in poker?

sure i can do this.

yeah i guess i separate it in that i always keep enough money offline so that i wouldnt have an issue if site shut down.

very, very strict. gambling isnt a way to make it longterm imo.

no, but hopefully i can still pull in a little supplementary income

wake up early and grind in the morning when brain is fresh. rarely play at nights.

maybe 1:50 ratio or something like that? studying is overrated imo. the more you study the harder the games get when you could just be playing worse and making money through that period. the poker world moves so fast that when you think you have an edge you should take it.

dont get caught up in the 'im gonna be a student, move up through the stakes and beat the best' myth.

didnt drop out. if i had i would definitely have regretted it. if you cant poker + uni then you either have a uni course way harder than mine, or you are lazy.

depends on the job. i think some would, some wouldnt. right now im definitely focussed on finding one that would.

i never fail because i succeed at everything i do.

without that mentality, you will fail.

nope. was making probably $15-20k a year for a few years in uni just hitting up bonuses on crypto while watching south park to make beer money and not thinking too much about it. gradually transitioned.

not sure why this has to be such a serious decision. i think people overthink words like going pro because society forces people to define themselves by how they make money. its not hard to ignore once you realise that its a bs construct.

if you have a good job, then i simply wouldnt recommend "going pro". poker might not be around long enough. just make supplementary income, invest well, enjoy your life.

if you have a ****ty job, then "go pro" because who cares? if it doesnt work out then just get another ****ty job.

for myself ive never really defined it. i say im pro because poker has been my primary source of income for the last 6 years or so, which seems to be the common definition. im applying for jobs as we speak fwiw and have no intentions on losing sne at least til 2013.

I would like to a few questions :

As a pro, what is the biggest part of your income? Rakeback or being a winner with xxbb/100?
How many bb/100 do you guys are able to get on average?

Finnaly, what is your edge? What makes you a better player than the field?

Someone above made a comment that you "have to" or "should" make significantly more than your current job to quit and go pro. I remember a few years ago people on pocketfives saying stuff like you should make 3x as much as your current salary to make playing poker the "right decision." I never understood that mentality at all. I took a pay cut to start playing poker full time, as the flexibility in living location and vacation time and work hours was worth more than the extra money i'd be pulling in at my old job.
I have recently considered quitting poker to pursue some other career options, but it's definitely going to be tough to give up the flexibility i've come to know and love. I will probably end up switching into something that has short term contracts, so I can structure travel in between them.

I once quit my job to play full time. It lasted 18 months before I looked for a job again. I made about 2x the amount I would have at my 9to5 job. I loved the freedom and not having to work for anybody else gave me an amazing sense of accomplishment. I did not have to make 20k a month to be happy, going snowboarding or relaxing for a couple of weeks in the south of france whenever I wanted is worth a lot more to me then having a steady 'meaningful' job. I think that a lot of students itt are very naive thinking they will find a dream job just because they went to school.

Sorry for my rant I have a job now in a small internet company. I like my job and it's not your typical 9to5 company. People are very open minded and my boss loved the fact that I played poker and gave me a lot more responsibilities because of it.

Still, in terms of 'happiness' I'm not even close to how fulfilled I felt when I had all the freedom I wanted.

will post in here soon. very few people are "professional poker players". i most certainly dont consider myself one despite making money playing poker for many years.

what separates a person from "i play poker" from "i am a poker player"?

do you separate poker bankroll and liferoll? how strict is your brm?

no i dont seperate them. standard for me is 60bi for one limit

do you see yourself as a poker pro still 5 years from now?

we talk again if i win a major (ept,wpt etc.)

what is your daily schedule like? grind all night, sleep all day?

depends but i prefer playing at night

how much time do you spend studying the game vs grinding?

not much

do you regret dropping out of university for poker (in case you did drop out)?

no dropout

do you think working a normal job would be more rewarding overall?

no idea never had a normal job.

if you are going for sne, how do you organize yourself so that you make sure you won't fail?

i will never go for sne.

did you have a "aha!" moment when you realized you wanna play poker for living?

not really
what is the minimum requirement to start as a pro? certain hourly rate over xxxk hands? how did you define it for yourself?

dont worry to much about this stuff at all

valuable threat imo

do you separate poker bankroll and liferoll? how strict is your brm?

No they merge. Large unneccessary living expenses force this. Typical BRM, maybe slightly underrolled 60-80BI.

do you see yourself as a poker pro still 5 years from now?

No thank you, would love to play recreationally and live though.

what is your daily schedule like? grind all night, sleep all day?

Currently studying a MsC so able to grind when I feel like online and since I'm primarily a live player, I play at weekends.

how much time do you spend studying the game vs grinding?

not as much as I should

do you regret dropping out of university for poker (in case you did drop out)?

still going at it

do you think working a normal job would be more rewarding overall?

In the long term- Yes. Short-term - No (considering starting salary for graduates in current economic climate < Poker monies)

if you are going for sne, how do you organize yourself so that you make sure you won't fail?

Don't possess the relevant knowledge to answer this.

did you have a "aha!" moment when you realized you wanna play poker for living?

I don't consider myself a 'pro' atall.

what is the minimum requirement to start as a pro? certain hourly rate over xxxk hands? how did you define it for yourself?

depends on the person. if someone thinks poker can fulfill their needs/wants/goals in life and they are ofcourse a profitable player (maybe min $50k/yr) then it's fine to pursue. Personally, I think the lifestyle and lack of social interaction and networking forces a bad lifestyle (in long term obv) which outweigh's the six fig/yr they might make playing.

i see this comment often regarding starting slaries and wanted to give my thoughts on it.

these economic slumps are EXACTLY the right time to get in as an intern, trainee or entry level employee. you will have to earn your stripes anyway to move up the corporate ladder, so what's a better time to do than when everyone else is depressed. this way you are extremely well positioned when economy starts booming again and headhunters start calling, offering highers salaries...people move to different companies and then you're perfectly positioned for a raise.

i went to investment banking on july 2007, exactly at the moment when the markets peaked. my current position paid 150k+ bonuses at the time, nowadays there are no bonuses basically. those people who are motivated at these times are the ones banking in the big bucks when markets rally again.

hey napsus, how did you get involved in investment banking? it seems like it would be a really interesting, fast paced line of work.

applied for an internship, got offered a job...5yrs later looking to quit.
fast paced, stressful...yes. that's why i want out.

Ironically I'm studying investment analysis (MsC) and will be looking for jobs in finance and investment banking this summer.

But napsus, do you realise how difficult it is for people to get onto a graduate program? 10 of my undergrad friends (all acheiving a 2.1 minimum in accounting) applied for graduate jobs (in the big 4 plus smaller firms) and only one managed to get one at PwC. Obv i'm not giving you stats or anything but it seems the same with everyone around my age who I've spoke to. I'm still contemplating what I'm going to do ('poker pro' or job.. leading towards the latter) so I face a big decision soon...

from my personal point of view banking is not worth it. if you think it's your calling, then go for it. but you'll end up working loooong hours with ****ty hourly, get into bad habits, it changes you as person to be more money-centered and greedy, it burns you out really fast etc...then again some people have been there for 15-20yrs and they are having the time of their lives

Great idea for a thread! Will post my story later on tonight

why did you stop playing poker full time?