Here's the thing.

I play with the same regs all the time, and I understand them better than they do of themselves.

I also know all the big whales, ones that can add bb to your monthly WR.

So on the occasions that I play during weekend, why would I prefer a table full of unknowns?

I can understand if your game is built around strategy of "stack a donk" and pool is big enough, then I can see that it's probably higher EV to play with strangers.

Just cuz there's more than one game going doesn't mean there's more unknowns. My room still has outbreaks of 4 or 5 games going; pretty much everyone is a known. I very rarely play with anyone I've never played with before.

I'm simply guessing that your winrate in a room full of 5 tables going at your stakes is >>> your winrate in a room with just 1 table going at your stakes. No?

GcluelesswinratesnoobG

You mean my loss rate is lower.

I am a losing player playing for the social aspect of the game.

Yes, of course that's what I mean!

GlolzG

I would also assume that if there are more players around, there is higher chance of bigger fish to fry.

I'm running pretty well this last month boys. Fish on a heater!

Edit: got it to work

Lot of regs just don't care. They have jobs / disposable income so it's not a big deal.

But generally speaking yeah it's a big mistake for a live pro to play in reg only games.

They log a few k hours at a solid WR but most likely running above EV. Then their ego gets them- they take lots of time off, they play in reg infested games (which they don't have the proper skill set to win at), they take weekends off and play during non peak hours.

Their true expected bb/hr plummets but they still think they're making 10bb/hr and spending like it too.

LOL...smh. Just flat out wrong.

Love how PonyBoy drops in randomly for one post every 5 months.

Gbuthowsyourwinratewiththeladies?G

Can't be running good both with cards and with love

Yeah.

I wouldn't discount ego, though. I see a bunch of meh regs playing 2/5 against each other at the mgm and I get the sense that they feel like table changing would be an admission they don't have much of an edge against the other regs, so they stay despite the fact that there's a juicy table right next to them. These are guys who play for a living and who ought to know better, but don't.

At what point should a poker professional look at home ownership?

We have very little debt, the only debt we have is 240/mo on a car. No student loans, no credit card balance or other stuff.

MrsDeadfish makes 30k or so and I expect to bring in roughly the same. We live a pretty comfortable stress free life, obviously more money is better but we are very content and low maintenance. We are not materialistic and are a very pragmatic people.

our rent is currently 850/mo and our expected mortgage is between 500-650.

I currently have about 18k to my named and about 5k would go towards all of the expenses of home purchasing (down, inspection, closing, ect)

That would leave me with about 12k to play the 1/3 and a 1k emergency roll.

What are you thoughts?

Any advice or insight is greatly appreciated!

My answer would be never own a home until you have too because you have too many damn kids to fit elsewhere / need a yard.

The fact that regs don't care or need a job/ disposable income to keep playing?

If you're contesting the latter then I don't know where to begin with you Richard.

As for the former, you've never heard a conversation that goes something like this at an all reg table "so.. who's winning here? Looks like we are all passing money back and forth.*laughter*" NOBODY MOVES.

We are a species of habit. And one regs reasons to be playing might be very very different from a pros

Ha. Yeah I'm still playing constantly not sure why I dont post more. I've had some pretty cool hands recently. Have had a gf for about a year now. Out of the hunt unfortunately.


As to playing with regs, I love it. I would gladly sit at a table full of regs at my casino. I know they're bad, and know how they play.

I see this ALL THE TIME

Plus all that time used chasing those kids off the lawn could be better spent pokering.

and

Some don't like the idea of moving down, because they are a 2/5, 5/5 player and have moved on from being a 2/3 or 1/2 player. They think they are better than that now and it jolts their self esteem/belief system

Some think they are better than they are and are still a favourite in the tough line up

Are there 2/5 games running in your area? If so, I'd be focused on trying to increase my income by moving up in level, rather than taking on the financial burden of buying a house which will likely slow your move up in stakes. Also, as I previously stated, I think it's best that people with normal jobs have 3 to 6 months of living expenses saved up in an emergency fund.

Before making any decision, I'd like to understand the real estate market. Right now prices in my area are a bit inflated which is why I probably won't be buying any properties here in the foreseeable future.

If you are going to compare your costs you really need to use an excel spreadsheet an compare all costs. Mortgage vs rent isn't really a valid comparison considering there are other significant costs in owning a home. My property taxes run $300/mo plus another $100/mo for insurance. If anything breaks you'll be fixing that out of your own pocket. Also, depending on the size and structure type of your apartment and potential house there could also be significant differences in cost for electricity. Some apartments include certain bills in the rent. Also, lawn/yard maintenance etc.

two reasons to own a home

- emotional. (not saying this is illegtimate at all btw). the need to feel rooted to a spot/community, to have 'settled down', want to have a place of your own for your family etc etc

- financial. it seems it may not be the case in many parts of the US over the past 10 years, but at least where I live, home ownership provides a significant opportunity for wealth creation and again, where I am, there is no cap gains tax on your own home. of course you can benefit from property market with investment properties but often, you have to pay a slightly higher mortgage rate, you can't borrow as much (= less wealth creation multiplied when market rises) and you have to pay cap gains tax on profits. Again, this may not be relevant to where you live

against that....things go wrong/need fixing and upgrading in houses and this costs $$ every year and is sometimes a **** load.

plus opportunity cost of what you could do with the $$ on your deposit

plus debt is an impediment to innovation in a million ways.


I'm a net believer in home ownership and have done very well from it over the years but I do sometimes get emotionally weighed down by the debt I'm attached to and I also think having a mortgage definitely stopped me from going harder in the early years of my business which may (or may not) have resulted in more growth and a bigger business

why are you still playing 1/2, stranger?

the mortgage + tax + insurance+ PMI is still about 200-300 less then what we pay now, so the only concern I would have is maintenance. I guess in theory that could be mitigated by home inspection.

In regards to moving up to 2/5 I think my 100-300 1/3 with a 2x-5x MS straddle is probably pretty close in achievable WR to a 500bb cap 2/5

If your rent is currently $850 and you think mortgage+property tax+homeowners insurance +PMI is $200-300 / month less than you are buying a real ****hole of a house and I would recommend not doing it as you will be In a real bad neighborhood or spend a lot on a fixer-upper that you just can't forsee.

I think it is much more likely that you used a mortgage calculator online and just have no idea how much property taxes really are. It is the mistake I made on my first house. Not sure where you live, but in the North East I pay $650/month in property taxes on a house assessed at just over 200k.

NY times has a good rent vs buy calculator to at least get you started.