The 1/3 500 at Sugar House and Harrahs is a nice tweener game also.

As for 2/5 my suggestion is play prime time with above average lineups (probably what you have been doing) and play 1/2 or 1/3 the rest of the time.

Ugh.. I have done well to not play drunk over the last 4 months. That has been a big time leak for me. Fell off the wagon a bit on Friday by getting absolutely obliterated ****faced thinking it would be a good idea.

Was up about $800 at one point before ending the night down $400. Not the end of the world but I guess I need to occasionally remind myself the hard way that drinking and playing just don't mix. I don't even remember many of the hands I just know I was making terrible plays - though I do remember running the K-high flush into the A-high flush twice which were big all-ins.

Ah well. Gonna get back on the horse and get back there tonight and resume my 'all business grind' mentality. Eff alcohol sometimes.

Props for acknowledging this as a major leak, because it really is. Keep working, and don't drink while you play. Good luck.

How many hours do you consider that you have "made it" to the next level? I was a very successful 1/2 player but I have a limited sample size at 2/5. (I just started playing 2/5 exclusively as of 1.5 months ago. Basically, when do I know that I am not on an extended heater anymore?

You may never know.

Just do the best you can and not worry about it. You will feel much better.

But a more helpful answer is if you recognise that your opposition is making mistakes that you are not.

Hi

I might be about to be made redundant and am considering trailing playing live cash games ($2/$5) at Perth's Crown Casino (Australia). I play on the side at the moment (both online and live) and was hoping that if my current hourly rate was sustainable I could avoid having to go back to the 9-5. Reading comments on forums (mostly based on the US) it seems like a $50hr profit is the best you can hope for.

In Australia poker is tax free so whatever I take home I keep. What is a realistic hourly rate I can expect? What further information do I need to post to help with any advice?

The rake is 10% capped at $15 and the max buy in is $500.

Any advice appreciated

Cheers

Start a new room next door with an acceptable rake structure.

holy rake!
there's your taxes bud

You shouldn't expect anything. It's impossible to guess given everyone has a different level of skill. Furthermore, games play differently in different areas. Thus the highest attainable winrates at one room may be completely different than at another room.

From what I've heard Australia's games are very good so I'm sure you will be fine despite the bad rake structure.

Thanks for the advice NeverLoses...

I usually think of it more in regards to BR than anything because really you should know if you are a top player at that level or not. If you can't tell then you are not. Once you make 20BIs in a game, you should remain comfortably rolled from then out.

I used to have a spreadsheet that calculated winrate confidence intervals. I will look around for it, but it may be disappeared.

I need backers for my wedding. My BR is about to be completely wiped out.

So we pay you for your marriage divorce or not?

Sweet deal bruh

Anyone willing to offer insurance on divorce?

Will give 2:1

I am willing to bet a good chunk of that rake goes to the government, which is why they say you don't have to pay taxes.

You play in Sydney from your posts? Before your room destroyed the 5/5 game by introducing the 2/5. I am almost certain that game was beatable to close to $100 an hour. Not a single good reg in that room apart from the guy with the afro who is only semi decent in comparison to the melb regs.

Now 70-80 is probably achievable with 100 every friday night. This is what you prob should be aiming for.

If we had 1/20th of the bad players you guys have in Sydney in Melb it would be a dream!

I mean, we can spend all night defining the parameters of 'good' but I definitely think 'guy with Afro' is a player who would achieve a top win rate at that level at any 5/5 game anywhere. He crushed the 5/10/20 game when it ran too. Omaha destroyed the big Holdem game in Syd and two of the other most successful Holdem pros now play PLO full time. You'd agree that AJ is better than 'good'?

Having said all that, I def agree that the Melb 5/5 is a much tougher game. I never play it when I'm in town unless 5/10 is running too. That 2/4 in Melb is way more profitable

This comment is ******ed

<insult scrubbed> You should be happy that your room is so soft compared to anywhere else in the world. For every 1 fish melb has, Sydney has 10 equivalent or worse skilled players. AJ is definitely good! The afro guy is good but would def not crush if he was in a normal regish 5.10.20 melb game, even from his own admission he said he never wins in melb. Its funny most of the sydney 'regs' who come to melb all complain they never win, I wonder why that is.

And for a good player 5/5 is more profitable than 2/4, I can see why you think otherwise though, if you struggle to win at 5/5 in Sydney. I would give up poker altogether if i wasnt winning in your 5/5 game for at least 50 an hour. Which any person with half a brain should be able to figure out how to do pretty easily.

Hey what's a small and what's a big downswing for you guys grinding 1-2 or 2-5 full time. Probably nobody is grinding 1-2 1-3 but If you are chime in.

5 buyins? 10 buyins? Doesn't even affect you one bit unless it's 20 buyins?

Cheers.

5 buy ins is pretty standard. 10 Buy ins is quite large. It is likely indicative of some big leaks in your game if you run into one without thousands of hours logged. At 15-20, you have some serious issues, and are unlikely to be beating the game for more than a few bbs/hour. I'm assuming at least 100bb BI.

Feel better now?

It's all going to be ok. I'm sure you're a very very good player

At the start of 2014 I swung 7bi down at 1/2.

As a disclaimer I didn't even know what size the pot was.

Nowadays my standard swing is 3-4 BI is a medium sized over about 1k hours

A long time ago, when the Mirage was "the place to play" (since the Bellagio hadn't been built yet and the Stardust poker room had lost whatever glitter it had) I had to be there on business 3-4 days a week, 3-4 weeks a month, for 5 months out of 12.

I met more than one grinder, got to know some of the sub-culture of the day (they knew I was a tourist but not your typical tourist).

The game was 10-20 limit and not today's game.

The guys I talked at length with, were all trying to "go pro"... I say "trying" because it was July, and one guy was even for the calendar year. Another guy was down $5000 for the year. A third was up $1500 for the year, which amounted to $250 a month. These guys wanted to "live the dream" and played 40+ hours a week every week.

(The rake was 10%, $4 max, and most of the pots were mountainous. The guys who couldn't beat the game didn't have "high rake" or "lack of action" as an excuse.)

Guarantee I would not continue if I were down $5,000 for the year to date!

Yes, the winners didn't want to talk, only the wanna-be's would discuss this stuff with me, but for sure, it's not "easy money".

Yes, LLSNL is a different game, it's a different time, and the players are different, but the math is not.