Quote:
Originally Posted by Badreg2017
How do you define marginal? I think a reasonably smart person with a solid work ethic can clear 80-100k playing 2/5. I personally made it my goal to clear 80k this year and I have a long long way to go in terms of developing my game.
How are you clearing $100k playing $2/5?
10 BB/hr for 2000 hours? OK. Then you're not accounting for any time off the table for study or improving your game. You're also assuming a pretty good winrate for a lot of "off-peak" times. I think those assumptions aren't particularly great. I think you're going to have fewer hours overall and the more you put in the lower your WR will get.
Then you're peeling off $15k or so in self-employment tax, $20k in assorted income tax, and $10k (??) in health insurance. That's leaving you with $55k *IF* you scored $100k in winnings. Before you even consider retirement savings.
$55k sounds pretty good to a single guy with no obligations. With a family? Notsomuch. But again, I think it's really going to be lower.
Definitely workable, but you've got a lot of risk.
Quote:
Originally Posted by branch0095
Agreed, and that's without even considering inflation. We all know how much less purchasing power a dollar has compared even to 10 years ago. It's an often overlooked fact when discussing the viability of LLS poker as a primary income, and probably due the to gradual nature of inflation (at least in the US). That said, it continues on while the game stakes continue to stay the same. You would have enjoyed a much higher standard of living 20yrs playing a fixed stake like "1-2" or "2-5" than you could today. As we look forward over the next 5-10 yrs, grinding these rigid fixed stakes of LLS poker will continue to provide you with a lowering standard of living even if you sustain a consistent or fairly improving winrate.
I miss being able to get a full meal for less than $9.
Now the exact same order is almost $15.
But to be fair, I've seen a lot of rooms go from $1/2 to $1/3, and there seems to be more $2/5 around. As inflation creeps up I wouldn't be surprised for the casinos to scrap the lowest limit games to increase the rake. And if the purchasing power of the money is lower, there's less real risk to playing $2/5 for a rec player, so they may naturally shift that way too.