Lol i really do live in a different world.

Lol at 150K being lol. How much of a roll do you think you should have to have poker as your sole source of income? I played for 10 years before I started playing full-time. I didn't spend any of that money since my job was paying the bills, and I just grew my roll and played in bigger games. Rinse and repeat until it was costing me money by keeping my job.

I weep for our future if this is what the younger generation actually believes. They're in for a rude awakening too....

his point was for people who don't have jobs and who can't play online starting from scratch and grinding out a 150k roll is basically impossible these days.so much has changes the last 5 years.

But this isn't true. Assuming $2k/month expenses, a good player should be able to go from a $5k roll playing 1/2 to a $150k roll in two years or less if 5/10 and higher are available on a regular basis.

I'll have whatever sards is having, please!

lol well yea if they have a full supply of the magic pills you clearly took and can sell those they can do it in 2 years no problem

have fun playing 5/10 for a living on a 15k roll
that usually works out well

Well I started when I was 18 and I'm 30 and married now with a kid and another on the way. I'm still grinding and I'm pretty well off. Only reason I wouldn't be doing it in another 10 years would be the games are completely dead. Hopefully by then I'll own enough rental homes to live off of and won't need to play anyway.

Guys who think it's an utter joke just couldn't make it themselves.

Obviously it is much harder to build a big bankroll if you are very nitty about bankroll management. But you claimed it is basically impossible to grind out a $150k roll playing live, and that isn't true.

lol in 2 years yea its basically impossible with a 5k roll, 2k a month in expenses starting at 1/2
You would have to run like jamie gold for 2 years and be a complete idiot with bankroll management for this to happen

Even a good player is far more likely to be busto after a few months that he is to be playing 5/10 with a 150k roll in 2 years

Hell you could break even for 2 months and you're broke

even if you run normal its just hard to pad your roll much when expenses are such a high % of your monthly income

expert plan

in all seriousness you would have a higher success rate putting your 5k roll on a number in roulette to get 150k in 2 years than you would grinding from 1/2

if you wanna say im nitty for thinking playing 5/10 with a 15k roll (which is a god damb joke of a roll for 5/10) when you have no other money to your name or source of income i'm fine with that

This is ludicrous.

I never suggested playing 5/10 with a 15k roll but it really isn't a joke of a roll for a good player in soft live games. It's less than ideal but still would provide a much smaller risk of ruin than putting your roll on a number at the roulette table. I agree that 15k would be a joke for 5/10 online.

15k is a complete joke for 5/10
you can lose that in a bad week or 2
not to mention nobody is going to play close to optimally when they are a few suckouts away from being busto and they start running bad. Its even worse for people who start out hot right out of the gate because they have no idea how to react when a bad run inevitably strikes.

hell you can get in a great 5/10 game run terribly and be back to your 5k roll before you even blink


your risk of ruin is obviously a ****load higher with the one number on roulette for 5k- i wasnt disputing that.Im not gonna pretend youre 97% to go busto with 15k for 5/10. but you're a lot more than a 38:1 dog to turn 5k into 150k in 2 years playing only live poker out of a 5k roll with living expenses.

Its not even close

Realistically
what do you think a good 1/2 player can make a month on average? then take away 2k a month for expenses. He's adding almost nothing to his roll every month which makes it so hard to move up.and thats if he does run bad or even break even for a while.or have any other unexpected life expenses/problems.

and this is assuming he has good game selection, is disiplined, doesnt have an ego (which is almost never the case when someone is running hot) is smart with his money etc

You're drastically overestimating what people can beat the lower games for, underestimating how high a % of your winrate goes to expenses at that level, how common break even and bad runs are that will ruin you at that level,how much worse people play when underolled and how much this game can **** with your head when you run bad.

There are very few if any people right now who are starting out live at 1/2 who have living expenses and a roll of around 5k who will have anything near 150k to their name 2 years from now solely from live poker. But there are a ton of people right now who play 5/10 regularly on short rolls who will be in 1/2 in 2 years.

who lives on 2k/mo? When you move out of your parents basement let us know

15k would prob work for 5/10 assuming your a significant winner, the game allows a deep buy in(200 bbs), and your always playing ur a game......i cant imagine not going insane though when you lose 5k and realize your not far off from busto

As long as they stay in their bubble they should be ok.

I have no interest in trying to "make it myself", nor would I ever want to, I've never tried to. And I don't really care whether I'd be able to or not. It's not something I've ever put 5 seconds of thought into, so let me assure you that my comments on it being a joke are not based on any personal experiences with playing for a living.

Your post does not address whether you are talking about online or live. If online, I can't really comment, I don't play online nor know enough about it to be able to say who can do what with regards to making a living.

As far as live, yes, for the most part it's a joke. There are definitely some out there playing medium to high stakes, or on the tournament circuit, getting it done, but 95% of people on a site like this one claiming to play live for a living are ridiculous. They're young kids who live at home and have no bills to pay, or are people who have no jobs, went on a 6 session heater, and decided that they were "turning pro". Few of these people are ever doing it as their sole means of living an adult life for an extended period of time.

I'd be interested to hear how you manage to get approved for home ownership and things of that nature as a poker professional. You fully declare what you make?

As far as X# of years from now, live games won't be completely dead, but the player pool will have shrunk considerably, as poker is a fad that is quickly going downhill. There will no longer be as many donks zooming full speed ahead to the casino to try their luck at something they watched Norman Chad narrate the night before.

I like your contributions to this thread, and I don't doubt that you personally are doing quite well and have a hefty roll, but honestly, what percentage of players on this site do you think have anywhere near $150,000+ for full-time poker play? Your average "should I turn pro?" thread here features someone wondering if they can make it in $1/$2 with the $1400 they have to their name.

It's true, anyone asking to turn pro probably shouldn't

Anyone questioning their decision to be a poker player probably shouldn't

etc

you can get a mortgage just like any one else self employed, that is unless your evading taxes - guess you assume thats the norm? Im curious what you do for a living - you've said online poker players are a joke in terms of a "career" so what is a respectable career in your eyes? I await your words of wisdom sir

Not at all. I have played for 12 years myself, and enjoy a good game as much as anyone here. I used to play pretty heavy hours, although I no longer do as much due to swearing off the underground game scene (this being the case, my playing options are now very limited, as the nearest casino is about an hour away). In actuality, I'm giving one of the most reasonable sets of responses in the entire thread - an unbiased one. Even though I play and enjoy the game, I recognize how silly a lot of the things people say on this site are.

I do not know as much about online, but I would imagine that there are plenty of online pros who pay no taxes. As far as live, I doubt many do at all. I have yet to meet someone who has filed a tax return for playing 1/2 or 2/5 NL live.

Again, the reason it's a joke is because the vast majority of people claiming to do it are very young people who are living with their parents and are able to play "professionally" because they have no bills or concerns. They clearly won't be doing this down the line, and everyone here knows it. Whenever someone starts one of the "should I turn pro?" threads, they almost always post a handful of times and then vanish.

I'm in the marketing/advertising/sales field for a medium sized company. I make good money, I'm not rich and I'm not poor. I enjoy what I do quite a bit and live a pretty good life. Regardless, this thread isn't about me so it really matters nothing what I do.

marketing/advertising/sales is surely one of the least respectable fields in terms of contribution to society fwiw

fair enough - thought you were referring to those who actually make significant money and live on their own...I definitely agree the term "poker pro" gets thrown around much too often.

As far as taxes, I think in all forms of self employment you have a lot of evasion, especially those who are young and stupid and make very little money....live players must evade like crazy with the lack of paper transactions at the cage.

I appreciate your filling me in, I'm putting in notice tomorrow morning and completely swearing off the business field. Since I'll be out of a job in a couple of weeks, it'd be great if you could PM me any openings at your local 1/2 game, figure I'll try and convert to living a balla lifestyle.

Owning a home isn't synonymous with prosperity nowadays. There's no shame in renting. I rent a great 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage house with a huge yard on a nice quiet cul-de-sac for $800/mth in Cincinnati, OH.