I've played online poker for two years but just recently(2 1/2 months) started playing live (1/2), as I just turned 21, as well as I've started taking poker seriously off the felt. From my minimal experience I have developed a few questions.

1) Over the last 2 months I've played 32 hours with a win rate of $22.13 an hour. That's better money than I would make at any college job and I'm considering playing many hours over one month to see how viable playing is for me over a college job. So I am wondering whats a good sample size of hours to play in a single month to check is it is a good option for me?

2) Tips for playing longer hours? Most of my sessions stick to around the 4 hour mark and generally around that time I start to play worse due to fatigue/boredom (goes along with 3) and or I start to get nervous about stacking off all the money I've made.

3) I feel as if 1/2 is making me a worse player. It just gets old just sitting around waiting on a monster, raising big pre-flop to fold out 5 of 7 limpers, and maneuvering from there with no real idea about my opponents range. I feels like nothing I learn from studying or the edge I'm building ever takes shape because of who I play against. (I know this isn't a question but I felt as if I should share to get some advice)

Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks
petersenpoker is online now Report Post

About hours you need to put in, I say 4-6 hours a day is going to be decent for start..
You said something about being scared of playing deep when you have a lot of money.
It's normal for most of the beginners. I advice you to study poker math and implied odds.
It could make a huge difference in your winrate if you can play well post flop and deep.
Getting board is a common problem for players with online background. It takes some time to get used to 2-10 minutes per hand...
But about limpers, when you raise big and get 5 of the limpers to fold, that's awesome!
It means you need to widen your range specially IP.
I suggest you study a bit on isolating limpers that could be very useful for you.
To not be forced to use all the strategies and technics that you read on the advanced books is a good thing that all of us grinders go through.. 1/2 is 5NL online! So you see the most softest competition there.
You have to go through this faze to build up your defaults, experience and bankroll for when all the advanced stuff comes in play in 5/10 and above...


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