For all those who wanna discuss going pro!

ummm...WAT?

I think this is one of these threads you never think is gonna take off and then they fill page after page.

Sure, I wanna go pro.. why not?








Umm... you mean poker right and not doing stuff in front of a webcam?

ITS OFFICIAL

All I need is a whistle

Its the thread of the day for sure

Yes pro poker but there should be a pro webcam thread hmmmm.....

YESS SIRRR

How many of ur threads got moved to the zoo chat all ready today?

I'm not sure how to answer the poll. I'm already a pro and would prefer if I weren't. But the only way that happens is if I get some gigantic job offer or win the lottery or something. So is "No" the right answer for me on the poll?

Yes you would need to put "no" as your answer good question sir

book it.

Microbob what stakes do you play at since you are playing professionaly?

lame always gets moved

in before pro

I posted this in someone else's thread a few days ago, but I think the advice is pretty universal w/r/t people who aspire to play poker (especially online) as their sole source of income:

First off, rethink your goals. Playing poker professionally isn't something you really aspire to do, it's something that you kind of fall into. It's such a sick lifestyle/mindset that very few "normal" people can handle it. Most of the pros I know are people who just....can't not do it. Not in a compulsive way, but in a way that playing poker is the only thing that makes sense to them, and they give it a passion and drive that they just can't muster for any other job.

Yes, that was super corny and hackney and I kinda hate myself for writing it, but it's true.

If it is something you want to pursue, then you should probably ditch the long term (and most of the short term) goals. It's a good idea, but when putting it into practice it's going to **** you up more often then not. Just the basics of poker lend themselves to such unimaginable variance that even month long 100k+ hand goals can easily be skewed off of what your true win rate is. Often what happens is, you set a goal for yourself ($x in y days), and you work hard at it and you don't get there. Then you get frustrated because you put in the time and you feel you should be there. So you either start getting a negative mindset, which makes you play worse, or you try to push yourself and end up playing more tables, more hours, higher limits, which also makes you play worse.

Your goal should be that you want to play as much as you can while still playing optimally. At the end of whatever period you allot yourself to try it out, look at your stats. See if your bankroll is where you want it to be. Analyze your allin EV to see how that is affecting your bottom line. Look at your win rates in different games and see if you feel you can make a reasonable rate to live off of for the future.

16-20 tables seems like a lot. When you try moving up to a new limit, maybe start off with less to try to judge how the new level plays differently from the level you were used to.

If you have the time in this experimental period, consider trying out grinding different game types. Some people just acclimate themselves better to different games, and you prob won't know unless you try it. If you've always played cash, maybe try out MTTs for a few days, and then SNGs for a few days. See if it makes you feel better/worse/the same. See if your results are better/worse/the same. Obviously you won't be able to get an accurate big picture/long term view from a few days of playing, but you'll be able to get a good feel for if a new game is something you'd like to pursue. At the very least, it'll allow you to add some variation to your day-to-day schedule, which is always good.

Don't play every waking hour. You'll want to, especially once you start making good money. Fight that feeling. You'll burn out super fast and poker will be the last thing you'll want to do. Is it better to play 14 hours a day for 3 months or 6 hours a day for 3 years? Set reasonable time constraints for yourself and plan those around the other things in your life. The longer you have poker as "the fun thing you look forward to doing", the better. Also, when scheduling out how long you want to play every day, set aside some time in there to study. It doesn't have to be indepth, but it should be planned out so you have structure. It could be looking over your PT/HEM stats and looking for leaks in your game or making notes on how regs play, it could be watching someone else's game to see what they are doing, it could be finding a poker buddy at your level to talk over hands with, or participating in hand/strat discussion on here. Even if it's just going over hands/situations in your head, thinking about poker while you aren't playing poker is going to help you.

Well said

wow tyvm for that great post

looks like most people wanna be pro. If you have made it to where you make your living soley playing poker you should post your stories

Its pretty lol how most people who make posts about going pro in general all have very new Reg Dates.....its naivety at its finest

everyone who posts here for over a couple years is already apro obv

well this is year 1 of solely living on poker, sigh how emotional this shyt is. Your on top of the world 1 sec cant lose then bamm all the sudden you cant win, i suggest to anyone that goes pro you need to have enough money to pay your bill for a year set aside, relying on profit month to month would be a mistake as it will put to much pressure on you and effect your play.

i agree

Interesting thread.. I'd like to see where this conversation goes

I don't know if I'd want to go "pro" now, but maybe eventually. Making poker a solid second income would be awesome for me now. But I'm content just slowing moving up the stakes

Finish college in one month and then i have 13months minimum to play poker.

Anybody tell me how tough the lifestyle is being a MTT grinder?

MTTs variance is the highest out there its rough you better have 100+BI if your going to solely play MTTs to cover the variance and i wouldnt try to play them for a living without grinding cash on the side to make up for the many losing trounies you will have

I see your MTT variance and raise you one PLO variance. Actually they both pretty much suck variance wise.