why does your giraffe say 4,634 days played?

Grind less, study and think more.

Invest in poker educational materials (books, video training sites, maybe coaching). Post hands.

Follow your dreams.

???

with that kind of hours u could make 2k a month playing micro sngs

I was thinking about this today. I like the idea. I was going by a 20 BI rule then moving up when I had 20BI at the next level ect.. Right now my role is at 950. I wont move up to NL50 till im comfortable at NL25 and feel I can beat it for +3bb/100.

I spend around 12+ hours a day playing, reading, or watching videos. It is hard to grind for 16 hours a day. I did it a couple times but it is to mentally draining. I would like to become good at poker, and not just a grinder. However on the same note, I need to get a bankroll together asap so I need to find a good medium.

To keep my mind off poker and relax I do lift weights. Its a good way to break up the day and have something to disconnect yourself from the game. I have an addictive personality and all I want to do is play ect... This can be bad at times

Thanks for the tips and support.

Definately +1 that quitting job was dumb, especially with so little saved up to invest in BR. In order to both pay bills with poker it requires play at higher stakes with a bigger bankroll. Since your bankroll has to both include your bills for the month, plus money to continue your bankroll at a decent(the same) limit so you can make enough for the next months bills etc. Say you need at least $1000 for bills (Rent, Electric, Insurance Food, this is still very low) You probably need at least $5,000 BR and even then your only gonna have enough BR to be playing 2/4. This doesn't leave much room for loss as well. Since at some point in time its likely you have a losing streak. Say u do and lose 3 buyins(often it will be more like 5+ buyins) at 2/4 or around $1200. Your now down to about $3800 + you have to use $1000 for bills. So $2800 (your bankroll just chopped almost in half and now your playing $1/2 which may not bring in enough for your bills and to maintain BR. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but its not as easy as it may first appear. Get a job so you can pay bills with it and focus poker on building your BR. You'll know when ur ready to give up the job and go full time from there.

I agree with you on that note about taking it like a real job. I absolutely try to make myself feel "professional" in the way I approach it. Like tilting in poker is just terrible, Its my job and I work hard for money, not to give it away ect..

Good luck at the tables, I hope you give it a shot.

This is my back up plan.

Thanks a lot, zdaddy. I love to look at it like this. I have no real responsibilities right now, and my failure doesn't effect others (like a family or anyone depending on me) Now is the time to take a shot!!

Lol I'm not sure to be honest. It does this like 90% of the time. Maybe its an issue with my PT3, or my settings in PT3.

Thanks! I do have a membership at Deuces Cracked. I cant afford a coach but would love to get one. Maybe in the future when I have a bigger roll.

Not a big fan of SnGs. I would like to mix my game up and play some Heads up in the future. Maybe start with some $10+.50 sngs HU, and work for the NL50 HU.

The difference between me and you is I'm willing to take the risk. I don't need to tap into my bankroll for the next 3months. During this time I want to run it up as much as I can. When i do need to use my bankroll for life expenses, ill need about 1k a month (some months a little more). Yes this is verrryy little. I live a very basic life style and I am good with not spewing money off.

I understand it may have been smart to keep my job. I just felt I could dedicate more time and live the experience.

OP one thing you appear to have in your favor that will help you in poker is a work ethic. Example, when I started i played 2hrs/day (lol) + 2hr study. For this reason alone, I wouldn't bet against you. Be diligent in studying the game, work hard and you can probably pull it off..even if you had a below average IQ (which i doubt).

countdown to busto...

u can drop a job when u r playing NL200 BUT you should not drop a job when you WANT to play NL200 sometimes...

at least not in 20 ****in 10

This guy lives with his folks and has like a $200 a month nut. Poor planning, sure, but it's not like he has anything really at stake.

level?

do we know his sn?

Playing poker professionally is the most miserable thing I've ever done. I cannot wait to never have to depend on it for bills again.

Goodluck sir. I'm glad you're giving it a chance.

Care to elaborate on why it's so miserable being a professional poker player?

If you're decent at the game and you can cover your expenses, I have a hard time understanding why it's worse than most other jobs, I mean, if you have expenses per year of 30k and you make 50k playing poker, would you rather work at an office for someone else making 50k instead?

Your income source is unstable and that messes with your mind. It can feel amazing when you're winning but bad months become pretty stressful. Everyone goes thru them.

Thanks.

Ok for me to play NL200. I think I will need more time after reading what others say and putting a lot of thought into it. I hope to get to NL50 soon. Ill go by a 50BI rule as mentioned above. However concerning the job, you should read up, as it has been discussed.

exactly! nothing at stake lol. I don't live with my parents, I live in their old house by myself
NL25 right now
No
Its something no one can believe until its experienced first hand. Myself, I imagine it being awesome. I don't play to make tons of money. I love the freedom of poker. The money is nice don't get me wrong and the bottom line is money=freedom.

Thanks!

Yikes. I have experience a downswing before but on the micro levels which probably doesn't count. Not looking forward to having a losing week/month ect..

There's no way you can eliminate variance. A series of 2-3-4 bad months in a row (below average) really, really f***s with your head. You'll drop limits, reduce tables, stop masturbating while playing, everything you can think of to run better. And it *will* *not* *stop*. You can't plan major purchases ahead of time, because one month you can put in 2k games (SNG's) and make 4-5k, and the next month you could make 1k.

People underestimate the value of having a steady, normal paycheck that you can depend on bi-weekly. When you have a mortgage and grown-up bills that depend entirely on the money you bring in from poker...it's not so much fun. In fact, it's no fun at all.

Congratulations on taking these steps to achieve your dream job so to say. You can certainly make $40k in a year as arcticbeatle is attempting and I am currently doing so with much better success than arctic. You seem to be a consistent winner at 10NL. As you move up you are right you'll see a little more tougher play. I've played up to 1000NL and honestly even up to that stake theres not much any difference. It all plays the same. Raise p/f in position (steal the blinds), make your c/bet and people for the most part respect your plays rather than play back at you cause the players that do play back at you they either have huge wins, or huge losses (its a volatile play). So play tight and take advantage of players that play back by waiting for a strong hand. Dont have your stack all-in unless having next to nuts and never presume somebody is bluffing. Playing higher stakes would improve your game cause at the lower stakes of 25 or 50NL you run into more goofballs so it may affect your decisions at these stakes. I was mentoring a micro stake player and he was making wrong decisions for the sheer fact that "these are 10NL players". Play each table no matter what the stake to the best of your ability. There should come a point in your career where it doesnt matter how high the stakes you play as you know you're a good player and can handle any situation. I find higher stakes more easier cause you dont run into K-4's too often although I have at 1000NL. And so the point is even at the much higher stakes you'll have somebody at the table who is new (not a reg), some players will be very short stack, some players play tight, some players play aggressive, some players limp, some raise, and most all of them play pre flop position. So its the same set up at every stake you play. Theres nothing special, or frightening about playing a higher stake. You'll see more playback from the blinds (if you raise in late position), or from late position (if you raise in early-mid position). If somebody is playing back at you its best for you to give them the pot before getting involved while they are representing the best hand unless you have a pocket pair or A-K, fold everything else. But its really about being patient and waiting for the right oppurtunity and understanding how the players at your table play. Although thats much harder to do when multi tabling. I've 16-tabled as well, playing 50k hands at each of the micro stake levels. Some advice I can give you is to put in 50k or more hands at each level before moving up to the next. You may have a large win streak at 10NL but a losing streak may be right around the corner and you dont want that to happen when you move up to 25NL. Its what arcticbeatle did and I warned him ahead of time. I told him to put in 50k hands at each level before moving up. What he did was move up to the next level after reaching a certain bankroll so he had only played 5k hands and made out big but eventually had his losing streak at 25NL. And since then he hasnt been playing much and is seeking a coach. I also want to mention you may run into a 25k hand streak of breaking even. Those would happen, and you may also have up to a 10 buy-in downswing. Just continue playing cause these things happen and is the norm after playing so much. If you're playing 16 tables and have a lot of time put in 50k hands at each level first. Even going from 40k to 50k hands, your bb/100 fluctuates a lot so 100k hands (may take 4 weeks if you put in 5k hands a day playing 5 days a week) is preferred as it would be more accurate. After you've put in 50k hands at each level you'll have a clearer picture of your winnings in terms of bb/100. You can make $40k by end of the year by being 1.3bb/100 winner at 100NL + Rakeback putting in 25k hands a week. You'd know if youd be able to achieve that by the stats you put up at the lower levels which should have a higher bb/100. So you have to build a track and stay on it to reach your goal of $40k.

I just noticed you did put in 50k hands here at 10NL and put up 3.77bb/100. Good job. I've been there and have done the same. My graphs are similar to yours having a steady trend though some graphs you'll have that 25k hand break even stretch which if you havent ran into yet, be ready for one =/. Not all your graphs are going to look like that after 50k hands I want to tell you. But a 3.77bb/100 perofrmance at 10NL I'm sure you can easily do 1bb/100 at 200NL which would be on track of reaching your goal =). Higher stake players make stronger laydowns so the guys at 10NL who call your all-ins with a straight when you have a flush, that wont happen as often as you move up in stakes and thats the difference in recorded winnings. The same is true if you're playing 10NL and have pocket Aces you'll get all-in called by pocket Queens but the higher you move up, those players will fold the Queens. So your 3.77 bb/100 will get smaller as you move up. Other than that, I think 2NL players play the same as 200NL for the most part (they all play the best they can), but what makes 2NL more profitable is because of a larger volume of "fish", or players who dont play very well / recklessly. Either way as you move up in stakes, the play will be very similar except there will be fewer reckless players who would make bad calls. Just stick with your A game and dont fear anything about 25NL as if its a challenge cause you can play and beat any sizeable table. When you move up from smaller stakes it seems that way and you'll hear a lot of talk about 25NL and 100NL being "tough stuff" ... its not. Continue playing, critiquing, and learning and no xNL would be tough for ya.

Meh, might just keep on masturbating then.

Ertai2,

I really appreciate the words of wisdom there. Makes me feel better about playing and not so timid to play new levels. I will do as you advised and play at least 50k hands per level. Its ironic, I played 50k hands at NL10 as that was not a goal or standard when I started.

What is you're advice in terms of bankroll management. I assume you would have a fairly conservative approach to it vs. an aggressive move through the limits.

Once again thanks for taking the time to write that out.

believe and you shall achieve! gl kodiak

You need to be able to beat 200nl right now before you start or you don't have a shot.

[x] beating nl2.