I have a staking deal at 200NL where my backer covers my losses (with no MU) up to $200 per session, in exchange for half of my winnings, capped at $500 per session. So if I win $1200 in a session, I get $700 and he gets $500. If I lose $300 in a session, he pays me back $200 and I only lose $100. It also costs me $35 in gas each time I go there/back, because it's a 5hr drive total.

The thing is, if I lose $200 in a session and continue playing, I'm essentially playing with my own money. But if I lose $200 and then come back the next day, I'm staked again. So if I lose $200, I have a huge incentive to end the session and come back tomorrow. But then I have the annoyance of only getting 1 buyin to work with (although I'll be reloading to max).

So far there have been 2 sessions for a total $525 profit ($262.50 for each of us). I suspect he will stop backing me only if he's around -$400 in total, so I would have to lose $200 3 sessions in a row before I lose the staking deal.

Question A) Should I always stop playing once I lose $200, even if it's a really soft table and it's a 5hr total drive?

Question B) I'm assuming the games are tougher on weekdays vs weekends, right now I'm only planning to play weekends, but is the staking deal good enough that I should play every day? Keep in mind I really don't want to lose the staking deal but I also want to maximize profit. I'm a 2.5bb/100 winner at 10NL fullring online over 400k hands, so I'm assuming I'm still +EV on weekdays, just not as much as on weekends, although I barely have any live poker experience.

The casino I'm playing at is Casino Rama in Orillia (Ontario), but I also have the option of Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls.

This sounds like a silly staking deal to me. Both of you are under-rolled to do this, I suspect, or you never would have set it up this way. Work a second job, save up $4K or so, and play on your own w/o staking when you can afford to make a 5 hour trip worth it.

I'm under-rolled, he is nowhere near. He doesn't really play poker and offered this deal kind of as charity because he knows I'm trying to go pro. Getting a job and then playing with my own money is my plan b. I wanted to try this out first, esp since the first 2 sessions have gone well.

Edit: Also I'm moving to Toronto in 45 days at which point the drive will be half as long, but just don't want to wait that long since the staking deal is good.

$400 isn't a staking deal. It's a 'here, go play some poker and give me half your winnings.'

He will be done with this deal within a couple of weeks if that's really the max he can lose.

this is obviously very silly also not to burst your bubble or anything but you will never go pro like this or at these stakes. Way better off getting a job imo but best of luck man.

Lots of things come to mind here...I'm guessing you live in canada and play in Niagara Falls based on your posts. Why not play online instead of driving 5 hours every day? Second, if you only want to play live, why move to Toronto?

If you are that good, work out a stake for 10k and move to Niagara Falls (which is where I'm assuming you are driving) ... Otherwise, playing with $200/day and driving 5 hours to do it is a good way to burn a LOT of money.

This is what I was thinking, but didn't want to sound like a dick

because there just aren't that many people willing to provide a $10K stake.

I'm moving to Toronto in 45 days. I've been going to Casino Rama in Orillia (~1hr from Toronto, 2.5hr from where I live now). I've been trying to grind online but been having trouble getting hours in due to boredom/getting burned out playing a lot of tables. I tried live recently and found it a lot more enjoyable and seemingly more profitable so figured I'd try doing that instead.

I know it's silly to drive 2.5hr and then leave after losing only 1 BI, but I would only do that while I'm in the danger zone of being really under-rolled. I have about 1k liferoll, 800 online (+200 in fpps), 1800 in available credit, and receive about 500/mo from unrelated past work. Given the "staking" deal I don't think it's that crazy to attempt this. It would be really great if I could grind live for a few months while "staked" and significantly built my roll enough to be out of the danger-zone and play on my own $.

I just realized after the 2nd session that it's a lot more +EV to start a new session if I'm down 1BI, but not sure if it's significant enough to justify ending the session if I'm at a good table and just made the drive out there. I think I'll probably just only play weekends and factor in weekdays if it continues going well, but given I essentially have a free 1BI to lose it almost seems like a waste not to play as much as possible while still "staked". Also, I made it clear to the "backer" that this isn't an amazing deal for him and more of a favor, so I don't think he minds me focusing on maximizing my own EV by ending certain sessions.

Find an underground (or home) game in Toronto. Then, continue with this staking deal, so you can comfortably quit after losing 1 buy-in in a particular session.
Or, save up enough of your own money (from a part-time job), so you can go play for 2-3 days at a time on your own money at Ontario, without worrying about driving back after losing a buy-in. In addition to $35 you spend on gas, consider that each trip also costs you $50 in the value of your time you spend driving back and forth.

Lock this thread please.

Before I post horrible things.