Found this to be an interesting thread. Some thoughts ...

1. I am happy to see that there are a lot of people on 2p2 who are like me: Married, kids, job, etc. I thought only kids with $5k gangsta rolls were allowed to post on 2p2 and I just somehow snuck in.

2. I don't care about the kids with the 5k gangsta rolls or their futures. They're not my kids. I don't feel bad for them. They're old enough to play poker, so they're old enough to make some decisions for themselves? Do I wish I could go back in time and spend every day in a casino environment? I DID when I was 21 and I blew waytoomuch money. I wasn't playing poker much, though. Wish I had. Bottom line is that no one should feel sorry for strangers unless they're strangers with major life afflictions. I've stacked mothers who play poker to feed their babies and grandfathers who have grandkids in destitute situations. I'm not giving them their money back, just like a one-handed troll or a drunk 19 year old kid won't give me my money back when they stack me.

3. Not only do I not care about th3 $5k ballerz, I wish I could play against them! I wish I could test myself against pros. Because of wife/kids/job/mortgage/stuff I am disciplined enough to keep a private bankroll just for poker. It's gone up and done and close to broke and up real high and all that, but I'm still grinding 1/2 NL once or twice a week. Do I wish I could roll like the next Durrr and play high stakes mixed games with rich Asian businessmen? Hell yes. I think I could do well in those games/any game. But because of my life and the choices I made -- all mainly safe choices -- I am stuck with a low four-figure BR.

Bottom line is this: Everyone's different and everyone plays poker for different reasons. I have enough income from my job to know that if I somehow lost my BR that I'd still be fine and my kids would be fed, clothed, etc. I have made plans to begin taking small portions of my winnings and put them into some sort of savings account, just to make my poker success bear some fruit (I did buy a bike with some poker money about two years ago, too). I should only hope that everyone is as responsible with their BRs, but it's not my place and not my concern to care if they don't.

You're still running those numbers off 75k which clearly he said he made less. Likely he makes around 60k - people tend to be generous in their rounding up. 4K a month, after some comfortable living expenses your spending atleast 2k of that to live. I mean your prob saving 1500/mo on average - I don't find that too comfortable. We always have expenses come up in life that we didn't anticipate and 1500/mo isn't going to make me feel too secure.

i know in my case i would have been fired over and over again from any job and probably be in a group home right now for mental illness if it wasnt for poker. Mainly just not showing up to work often enough would have gotten me fired. But in poker i just played a low number of hours and survived. And thats just for extreme clincal depression and not bipolar. (i have known other people who are bipolar and would not hold a real job but are able to play poker pro)

I think the OP is just mad he is to old to try to become a poker pro. i see these type of threads all the time.

95 percent of people in this world hate thier jobs and alot of them dont make as much as your average 2/5 nl grinder.

Ill take the freedom and the potential to make more money then i ever could working over waking up at 7 am every morning, not getting home till 6 pm and getting paid 20k a year.

I dont care about bettering society, or having a job that benefits society, society does not pay my bills or feed me. actors, and pro sports players dont do anything to benefit soeciety either but i dont see anyone complaining that those jobs suck.

If you love the game then your lucky to find something to do for a living that you can enjoy, and if you hate the game and just grind out money to pay your bills then your simply doing what most other people are doing, just with more freedom and mst likely more money.

I'll take the under.

I'll go with the under too.... following is from a news site

Do you hate your job?
Are you sick of the drive, crappy hours, boss drama, and the lack of appreciation or pay increases?
Well, you are not alone! In fact, you are part of a growing percentage according to polls. CBSNews reported in January 2010, that even despite the economy and so many people being out of work, 45% of those with jobs are unhappy.

Ok. Let's say its half that. Which is right around what I made grinding playing 2040limit live in so cal. That money is Net money. Tax free. You'd have to make what, 75k gross to achieve that net? You're right the casino scene gets old, the smell, sights, etc. But so does putting on a monkey **** everyday and listening to a boss who you are probably smarter than tell you how to do your job. You sound like a kinish who never made it but always has advice for everyone. I am envious (in a good way) of young guys my age playing high stakes and winning, more power to them.

If you are a semi-recent college grad, how is it you have been around B&M poker scene a long time? I added B&M because that is the discussion in progress.


Also on another unrelated point, becarefull in your use of ******ed. We have good manners in B&M and while it is probably okay to refer to a statement as ******ed, if you slip and call another poster ******ed, it can earn you some infraction points or temp ban. I mention this not just for you but there is a lot of new blood in the B&M due to recent events. and it is worth mentioning.

Not to mention 45% of college grads make less than $15k a year.

You're not going to have soul crushing expenses every month. With 1500/mo savings you'll build up quite a nice emergency fund very quickly.

I don't feel bad at all. Wish I could have found poker earlier and been one of these guys.

You might want to check with your accountant on that. Consulting a lawyer wouldn't hurt either.

I, like many other parents, would not trade anything in the world for our kids. YMMV obv.

It's absurd for anyone sticking up for poker playing as a career to complain about others being "on the tit". Poker players don't do anything productive: we are inherently parasitic (and before getting too outraged, note that I wrote "we", not "they").

OMG, I would be so styling with $60k a year. Right now with a wife and three kids we are getting by on less than half that (which included a couple grand a year from playing poker online, but not any more obv.; and the closest casino cash game is nearly 200 miles away).

Agreed.

My brother-in-law is trying to do this right now (become a golf pro, for those not familiar with the terminology). I think those tournaments are an incredible ripoff. One of my best friends took a shot at being a tennis pro, and although he didn't make it it was only $40 to enter those tournaments as opposed to $1500 or whatever.

It's not tax free. Dan Harrington strongly advises, in the excellent 2+2 two-volume HoH on cash games, that poker players should keep track of their income, declare it on their tax returns, and pay the appropriate taxes. If you don't, you're breaking the law and could go to prison if you can't explain to the IRS why you're not filing a tax return (or are declaring very little income if you do file), yet you have all this nice stuff. And incidentally, not paying taxes on poker income is parasitic squared as you're living in society and benefiting from the infrastructure and laws (try living in Somalia if you don't think you benefit) without paying for them.

Yeah you owe taxes on winnings the irs might wonder how you're spending all that money with no income and you're kinda ****ed lol. Seriously a buncha delusional people itt.

Seriously any live pro playing under 10/20 (what seems to be the vast majority of this thread) is not making more than they would if they're intelligent, got a degree, and got a decent job. If you like it more than good for you do what you love but people claiming they're making more money than they would with a real job are either ******ed or delusional and probably both. Won't go into too much detail here there's another thread on it but let's just say I doubt any 2/5 player is making more than like 20k/yr and lol and even if that's what you'd be making with another job you actually might have a chance to move up the ladder whereas with poker it's not gonna be this easy forever and if you're playing 2/5 right now let's just say you kinda suck and in another couple years will have a huge resume gap and gl making even 20k/yr lol.

Think of all the poor little Vegan children who never would have played mini-golf if I had never picked up poker. THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!

This isn't a real study. If you had gone to college you might be able to filter out fake news.

grunch:
i am not even 29 yet and i am already feeling this regret.
maybe would feel different if i was beating mid-high stakes.
i have more than 5k gangster roll from low-limits but this is not a sustainable lifestyle.

I am in the same boat jasnicas (def coming from MTTSNGs where there wasn't as much money to be made say 2-3yrs ago at them)

you think good 2/5 players are making like $15/hr?

where are you from topx?

No I think good 2/5 players aren't playing 2/5 anymore, and the players that stay at 2/5 longterm are horrendous and probably not making more than that maybe a tiny bit more. $15/hr is still 4.5ptbb which is considered higher than any non-super-bumhunter online ever can possibly make and the rake is way worse live than online (and you have to tip). So basically you have to be consistently playing in really soft games that make up for the tipping, the rake, and the fact that you suck compared to the online guys at similar stakes that can't beat their games for that much.

So yeah I don't think I ever said the good 2/5 players were making $15/hr but I think that's probably a decent estimate for the average 2/5 full-time player.

you think people playing 2/5 for a living are only making 15 an hour? thats absurd. i made 17 an hour at 1/2 in 2010.

Does anyone have the link to that article about how some company uses poker to test new potential employees, and how Theory of Poker is required/suggested reading?

What if you already have a huge resume gap? Wouldn't that be a reason for poker to look more attractive? My best friend and I already have monstrous resume gaps (more gap than non-gap, LOL). I'm just saying, there are some of us out here that are intelligent but too disorganised and slackerish to get college degrees or even hold down steady jobs.