Diet and exercise are important imo. When I lived in vegas the wsop was a very important time to play. Leading up to the wsop was kind of like the calm before the storm. Even though the games were not particularly good I would deliberately start ramping up my hours so that I was fully prepared to be ready and capable of cranking out 60+hr weeks with A+ focus. I also knew exactly that the july 4th weekend would be the pinnacle of action (main event, july 4 weekend, venetian deepstack tourney - a trifecta of events if you will). And then it was break time so I had something to look foreword to.

The ability to crank out hours and play kick ass poker takes work. I remember coming from online after BF I would be wiped out after only a couple o hours - cuz thats how I played online. I had to build up SLOWLY. Take an orbit off here and there to recharge, etc. That ability to focus is kind of like a muscle working out. You are not gunna be able to squat 2x yer body weight as a newb. That takes time and commitment. Same thing with logging hours with total focus

I'm not a pro I'm just temporarily grinding full time, but yes I'm very worried that in 20 years the game will be either unbeatable or close enough to unbeatable that it won't be worth my time. I really regret quitting my 9-5 back in the day to play online poker. Now I'm trying to finish a second degree to get back into the 9-5 world. I really hope a year from now I'll be playing 2/5 mostly for fun and won't be on this forum and the casino everyday.

I wouldn't recommend professional poker to anyone these days. Ever since Black Friday the games have gotten worse and worse both online and live. Just between this year and last year I've noticed quite a difference in the quality of Vegas games (thanks Doug Polk). In order for it to get better, there needs to be less pros (not gonna happen with this economy) and millennials need to have more disposable income so that a 25 year old is more likely to be a fish than a grinder (again not gonna happen with this economy). In addition, inflation and rake increase without stake increase will slowly make your hourly decrease unless you are improving and either crushing your current stake more or moving up. But like the gym, everyone will plateau eventually (let's not open a new can of worms and debate this).

The only good thing that's happened recently is a lot of 1/2 games turning into 1/3 games, which effectively increases your win rate by 50% if you're a 1/2 player. I doubt anything similar will happen to 2/5 games unless they get rid of anything lower and only spread 2/5 and higher in the future, making 2/5 the new 1/2 in terms of skill level (won't happen for decades).

It’s by far my biggest concern about poker by far and why I ultimately might decide to go back to practicing law. If I knew the games would always be as prevalent and as good as they are now I wouldn’t be having doubts about playing for a living at this point.

People arent going to stop playing poker in Florida. If the dog tracks cant offer poker anymore, the other poker rooms will be packed to the gills which would be fine by me. However, Ive heard that if the dog tracks are shut down due to animal cruelty concerns, a new bill will allow poker rooms to stay open as long as they have simulcast, which they all do.

I'm not sure what this means. The economy is booming. The unemployment rate is at a 49 year low. The stock market is at all time highs. Taxes are at historical lows...ect.

Lol what? Booming? Real wages are lower than they were in the 70s, except for the 90th+ percentile of men, whose wages have gone up significantly. Real unemployment has gone down since the recession but lowest in 49 years?. And underemployment is worse than ever. I know so many ridiculously overqualified individuals working crap jobs.

I think his main point though that as inflation continues and stakes stay the same pros are making less in inflation adjusted dollars is very important. 1/2 has been the bottom game for decades in a lot of places while dollars are worth about 50% less than two decades ago. Places that eliminated 1/2 and replaced it with 1/3 have partially addressed this but the same needs to happen for bigger games.

Show your sources please.

Just Google "real wages over time." Plenty of material from diverse sources

I'm not going to go do research to support someone else's point.

Really? Its actually the lowest its been in 17 years.
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wire...-hits-57009559

Based on empirical data if you graduated school before 2007 the economy is awesome for you. Based on some empirical data and a lot of anecdotal data from within my social and professional circle if you graduated school after then it’s more mixed.

I know law was hit harder than most industries, in part because it’s so tied to finance, but my school before 2007 placed 90% of its students at firms where starting salary was 160k. The remaining 10% mostly got prestigious clerkships and then went on to work for those firms. Between 2007 and when I graduated in 2013, people getting jobs at top firms was cut down to about 50-60% with the rest of the people making about 45-55k to start after spending 200k on the degree.

If the economy is so great why are so many millennials living with their parents well into their 20s, getting married and having kids later than in any past generation? If you graduated from college and had the option of playing poker for a living or working at Subway for the next two years what would you choose?

Games are undeniably getting tougher and will continue to do so for a myriad of reasons incl the economy/inflation with some regions less affected than others (eg; Florida). I think by the day it becomes a less appealing decision to become a pro at LLSNL.

Also, people get married and have kids later because who tf wants kids in their 20’s? I wouldn’t say this is economy related. Higher life expectancy will have played some part in this but it’s probably just a shift in societal norms/views. At 23 now I think my life would be ruined/over if my gf got pregnant (slight hyperbole).

Yep.

If you ask Mike I'm sure it's because millennials are lazy ****s. I tried for almost a decade to get a decent job and my credentials are outstanding. But all there was was graduate school. And even the good math grad schools place maybe half their students max in tenure track positions (typically after 4 to 8 years of postdoctoral research). I aborted that plan. Passed some actuarial exams. Couldn't even get an interview. Went back to school and completed a computer science degree. I got one real interview for a decent position and it fell through. The other 200+ applications I made were for entry level tech support crap for which I was way overqualified and yet I still received no job offers.

Not a booming economy in my experience or that of any other young person I know. I don't particularly care what official US unemployment and underemployment rates are. Their methodology is jacked. If you haven't applied for a job in the past 12 months you're not unemployed, you're just a "discouraged worker".

So technically I'm probably not even considered unemployed.

According to this Forbes article the main reason the unemployment rate has dropped is because of people leaving the work force. Only about 63% of working age people are actually working. And it is worse for millennials. I know so many brilliant people in their late 20s to early 30s still living at home and working as baristas or waiters despite having a college education and superb grades.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikshe...e-working-did/

Without poker I would be living with my parents forever, super grateful if I ever landed a Tier 1 tech support job paying 15 bucks an hour.

Don't forget about the huge elephant...that nobody is talking about....PENSIONS. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...vYkCSV&ampcf=1

More evidence to the contrary
"Recent college grads now more likely to have good jobs, opportunity"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...4-column.html#

Also, every major police dept in the Country is dangerously understaffed. There are plenty of jobs out there. Maybe not in a specialized field such as whatever a math grad school graduate seeks. I dont even know what that is but its pretty easy to realize that there are much better degrees to go after with much better job growth potential than a masters degree in math.

so you want to start at the top when Everyone else starts at the bottom and earns their way up the ladder
those other applicants most likely had internships and part time jobs on their resume, not just an entitlement attitude.
this is not an attack on you just stating facts
my niece couldn't find a job and wanted to teach high school math
she took a 3 month internship and after getting her foot in the door
landed her dream job teaching advanced math 3 miles from where she is building a house.
I know OBAMA told you its handed to you but in the real world you got to earn it.

My take is cuz they are lazy and self entitled. I have a kid thats 21 will b graduating from college this year and already has about a mirrion job offers for her field when she graduates - all are well payed positions.

Imho, the millennium offers information at one’s fingertips, getting lunch without getting out of your home or car, and not waiting in-line for coffee among other things. A millennial can easily fall into a trap that a career(s) path is the same. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Companies have diversity incentives in hiring. There are loads of accounting/finance positions across all sectors in the economy. Sometimes you may have to begin with a temp agency, but that could lead to being hired permanently by the client. There are also shortages in the health/medical sector.

When I was a kid, we dreamed of athlete and rock star $. Today there are also YouTube stars and Instagram models. Few of us fall into those categories (income), a reality one learns with time. Earning $100k year takes time, effort, dedication, and usually some risk-taking. Totally the opposite of getting a morning coffee.

GL!

Well, this thread took a dark turn.

Could go all econ degree on some people here, but would rather not, since it might start a flame war and derail the thread further.

Shai, I would B, but count the cost of driving per mile and subtract that from your session winnings. Obviously you could go full opportunity cost mode, but the truth is, if you're sacrificing a Friday weekend for poker, you probably don't have much going on, so it wasn't worth much in monetary terms anyway.

lol did you read this off a box of Cheerios

That doesnt even make any sense. It might be the worst insult ever...if thats what it was supposed to be. I cant tell...cuz its so dumb.

Ok, so I mostly started this. My bad.
But I'll also end it.

Let's bring this back to the topics of the thread.

More posts deleted. This is well off topic and mostly just a dick waving contest at this point. Continued discussion of this will result in infractions or temp bans.

apparently johnnyvibes said he wins at 15 bb/hr at $5/10. that sounds pretty unreasonable. anyone here have significant sample at $5/10? i have <200 hours at $5/10.