Im sure this has been asked b4 but Idc Im asking again... Is 1-2 a beatable game overtime to make a living off of... I have a $100 phone bill a month .live rent free, normal gas $ for car and thats realy about it lol.. I have a bout 2k to my name..
I sit down at any random 1-2 table and rarely do I feel Like im not the most skilled or seasoned person playing at the table..Im not being cocky this is truly how I feel 90% of time....

The problem seems to me to beat 1-2 live is people constantly buying in short for there $50 or $60 and are NOT there to play poker, but are there to gamble and just get it in with one hand pre.... On top of this the players are so god awful it makes me sick lol....It really seems like 2-5 is an entire diff world live then 1-2.... maybe because 1-2 there is hardly ever ''real'' money involved and with inflation 1-2 is kinda like a live .50-1.00 game 7 years ago lol!

Im from south western ,MI and I travel and play alot at the Horseshoe in hammond and Majestic casino as well...Be nice to hear either some one who has ran up a good roll in 1-2 or some one who has tried to beat 1-2 live for a long time and could just tell me dude its not gonna happen ! lol.Or even am I supposed to just take a full time shot at 2-5?
I dont know what to do here and appreciate some feed back :/

Very beatable, just wait for hands to get in pre...

IMO, this is a very beatable game. Table selection is critical to maximize profits. While it is true that many people at this level do buy in short, looking for tables with lots of money on them can reap profits. Many of the players at this level are recreational, however, you will find some that are regulars.

Continuing to work on your game and trying different styles are things I would recommend to continue to be successful at this level. 2/5 does play differently, however, opponents at the lower levels in general tend to play either too tight or too agressive, so adapting to your opponents can be critical.

Moving up should be your goal, but only after you have proven yourself at this level. Begin to record hours and win/loss amounts to ensure you are ready. Also, bankroll management is critical, as your limited roll can experience a severe downswing. I would recommend that you build it up prior to continuing to play 2/5, as $2000 is grossly underrolled for this level.

Good luck in your endeavors...

I don't think that anyone can make a really significant living off of Live 1/2 NL. I do think it would be possible to build up a nice bankroll and work towards grinding it out in 2/5. I am just going off what I have seen in several posts that 1/2 is just a hard stake to live off of. Conversely, If one's living expenses are very low, as they are in your case, then you will most likely be able to live off of your profit assuming you actually are +EV, whatever "living off of your profit" means to you.

As a side note, the game is less profitable I believe if people are buying in short. At 1/2 the deeper the buy in the more profitable the game will be. You will just not be able to earn a substantial amount of money from short stacks to keep your profits afloat.

To be honest to hear you say the players are so awful and are just there to gamble yet you need to ask if the game is beatable makes me wonder if you are ready to make a steady income off of poker. You should love finding players like that. If you truely believe that you are better than 90% of the players there then prove it. Personally I don't believe 1/2 is able to provide any sort of meaningful income but gl to you.

thank you sir!

Its not the fact that I dont like gamblers at the poker table sir haha...Its the fact that they buy in short with $50 and you lose a flip with your AK vs. there 1010 or whatever then they double up again and leave and hit and run...

If guys sat down with $200 and wanted to play gamble gamble style Ide be rich by now lol

def beatable.

What I am actually hearing is someone saying they are better than most 1/2 players but can't beat the shorties. So go play 2/5. What would you happen to buyin for with your 2k roll?

In my experience the average 1/2 player is not good at all. If you're patient and wait for them to give you their money, they will. You don't have to get tricky or creative. At 2/5 and higher I think it can be a little tougher, but sometimes you have players just as bad as 1/2 that just happen to have more money.

i play about 800 hours a year in hammond. about 700 of it is at 1/2. Ive built up a respectable roll over the past 18 months alone. My biggest problem is FPS. I think too much about what player X has and waht am I repping in his eyes and blah blah blah. 1/2 doesnt require FPS. My other problem is I bluff too much in big pots. So many 1/2ers are stations, bluffing is not profitable in my eyes UNLESS you are playing again an above average player (yes, wierd, i know).
If you can control tilt (which is possibly my biggest problem) and you are patient enough to sit around for 4 hours and fold, fold, fold, then you can beat 1/2 for anywhere from 6-12BB/hr. In my eyes, anything over 16BB/hr is pretty much crushing the game.

Easily beatable. 1/2 live regs are worse than 25nl regs

2k is not enough tho...

this my main room as well after nOt being allowed in chip or four winds anymore lol... The game here is soft but the game at majestic is so soft it's incredible what I hear people say at the tables,but I don't really think its there fault there all just there for recreation and to gamble...

I guess my question wasn't if the game is beatable because I know it is even with shorts hitting and running... Guess what I need to know is if I grind out a year worth of 1-2 and keep same low bills and low cost living lifestyle Can I eventually go higher too 2-5 and eventually Mac daddy 5-10? ...

Poker is my passion and what I think about when I wake up and what I
go to bed thinking about lol.. I'm sure you got that passion too with those hours so I would hope to hear that I could make low cost living of this game?

Biggest leak in my game as I would think every most live cash solid players leak is making it Through the card deadness and mucking,and mucking and mucking....Sitting there thinking will I ever get a solid starting hand? Is this really what I should be doing with my life lol?

Just seems like poker becomes black and white after a while and the grey areas of being iffy on wich way to go during any givin hand totally disappear and 90% of time I know exactly what I am supposed to do during the hand ,whether it be betting to push some one off there 2nd pair or making folds with top pair cause you know guy luck boxed into a better hand...these plays are fine with me its just the massive amount of time sitting their disciplined mucking pre over and over for like a half hour to hour that drives me stir crazy lol...it's my only leak at least true leak that gets me into stupid spots for playing hands I usually wouldn't just cause I'm card dead and I don't know if I can over come it haha

Maybe poker isn't for you? If you don't have patience when you need to you won't be able to succeed. If learning/understanding/playing a 14/12 style bores the piss out of you then 1/2 live isn't going to be profitable.

Even if you FEEL that you're by far the best, it could still be you being cocky.

Much better off multitabling online nl25 or nl50. Easily make as much money, not as many related expenses and rakeback and bonuses. Onetabling with livetards is a horrendous way to make a living and its hard too see enough hands to overcome variance consistently.

online will be back soon

1/2 live isnt hard at all, its beating the rake thats a problem. I thought I would be able to cruise along 1/2 despite horrible rake but I got tired of it eventually, its better to move up in stakes asap

I agree with what most everyone has replied to your thread. There is bad players at EVERY limit. Example 5-10 in hammond last week board reads Ah3h7h7c2s I (33) C/R turn and fire river for 2/3rds the pot (~$500) dude thinks and calls I show the boat he flips over KK. The only hand he could beat is a stone cold bluff.

But regardless you are going to run into gamblers at every level. If you want to make money learn to adjust to their styles and know when and when not to bluff. If the people at 1/2 are all calling stations tighten up. All that means is you will get paid off with premium hands consistantly (JACKPOT!). Also dont be afraid to value bet medium strength hands against them. I have built up a crazy image in my regular omaha game and I get paid off when I Vbet top and bottom pair on straight and flush boards, sick thing is I get paid by worse hands than mine.

If your looking for ways to avoid boredom start talking to your neighbors, not only will you not focus on your run of "****ty" cards (its live poker you dont get premo hands every 10 minutes, learn to deal with it) but when you make friends with the people at your table they pay you off more and it makes the game much better. They also forget that you are only playing a small amount of hands which throws their reads off. None of the old nits and recreational players like playing with a hood, headphones and sunglasses save it for TV. I have an Ipad I bring with, some rooms have wifi (not hammond) but in the ones that don't I just tether my phone.

This website is a good resource, live poker is more than just seeing AK and shipping then moving to the next screen. It's a different beast interacting with people sitting across from you. read and learn.

Also, it would be easier to understand what you are trying to convey if you uses spell check and proper grammar.

This.

If you think that the issue of beating 1-2 is that you cant bluff people...well then you arent ready for anything higher

If you cant bluff people off of hands, then what is the proper adjustment?!

What exactly constitutes beating the game? Is it only $1 more than a break even player or an exact amount per hour after hundreds or thousans of hands? We all have different living standards so "living of off" is pretty vague as well.

I started keeping track of my poker bankroll(different than my life roll) in Jan 2011 and since then I am up about 5k. Up until a few weeks ago I had all the way up to 9k but right now I am on my biggest downswing ever. I recently started keeping track of my hourly rate which I encourage you to do either through an app or website.

Here in So Cal at the 1/3 NL level we can only buy in at 33 BB which is turns out to be a shallow game. The rake is 4 + 1 plus additional dealer tip. It is very difficult to beat the game but it can be done. I would say out a full ring game, only one or two are winning players on a table.

A main problem poker players have including myself wouldbe is we think we are better than we are. I say play for fun, keep track of your status, continue to get better, and in a few weeks reevaluate to see whether you should increase your hours or move up.

What should be the average hourly at 1/3 NL for a solid player??

I agree with stat tracking as heaters and coolers give a false interpretation of true skill. An hourly rate truly shows winning players.

That's unfortunate that your 1/3 has a $100 cap. Seems kind of silly to me as the bigger blinds should bring a bigger buy in. It reminds me of the people in WV that all wanted to play 2/5 instead of 1/2 but I was the only one that brought a full buy in, everyone else just brought $2-$300. True sign of people looking to gamble and not play poker.

My guess would be a good hourly win rate at $12-$18 For that game but I imagine it would take a lot of hours (500+) for it to show

1/2 is an absolute gold mine live, i dont see any reason why you cant make $100-$200 a night, even when u run like trash.

there should be minimal -$200-$400 days, and lots of $+600-$1000 days