I am sure that many of the pretend pros that play 1/2 with limited bankrolls and aren't really doing it for a living since they have no bills to pay, are in fact losing players. But they all aren't.

I suppose your statement would depend on what you consider substantial money. Again, I have yet to meet someone who has declared. This includes people playing 10/20 and 15/30 Limit HE, people who play 50-60 hours a week, and people who play 2/5 and 5/10 in clubs.

Yeah, we covered that - everyone you play against is very open about their taxes. Maybe it's just a small-stakes thing.

Noticing resentful bitter posts that stick out like a sore thumb in these threads hardly classifies as following your posting history. I've also got no reason to be enraged by your posts as I'm not one of the 22 year olds making 25/hr in their parents basement and also am not the one grinding out the cubicle.

If you don't mind my asking, what is your other job that allows you to devote 40 hrs to poker. Just curious for my own sake.

+1

He said 40 hours a month.

40 hours/month = 10 hours/week is not much at all. I would think most jobs/lifestyles would support that.

FWIW, I have a combination of two particularly flexible jobs: I am an entrepreneur and a software engineer. More specifically, I'm Chief Technology Officer of an internet startup. Building this company over the last four years has been extremely gratifying, while also providing an excellent base income.

The 500-600 hours/year of poker I manage to get in provide an excellent source of additional income. For me, the game of poker is . . . a game. But it's a game that I take very seriously. For example, I have a dedicated bankroll with a calculated RoR, just like a fulltime pro. No money comes into or out of that bankroll, and I log each session with PokerJournal. I participate in strategy and I'm a voracious consumer of poker media. I have a mathematical background, and my business development has taught me self-discipline and fine-tuned my ability to read situations and motives.

I have the image of a business guy, which means the pros who haven't played with me dramatically misunderstand my play. . . but I know exactly what they are doing and why.

More importantly, I get to focus at the poker table on making the optimal decision on every street without fear of going broke being a factor. Money is a score for me, and I believe that is the optimal way to approach the game. The best pros can divorce themselves from the real world effects of wins and losses; for me that's natural and easy.

I think 10 hours / week is enough to stay sharp when combined with plenty of outside study and thought. I am very confident that I'm a huge favorite in the 5/10NL and 10/10NL games I sit in today, and my results have shown that going back several years. I also feel I was a favorite in 10/25NL, but I stopped sitting because the variance required me to keep too much money tied up in my bankroll, which I thought was wasteful for a "hobby."

I've thought about starting a well several times on what it's like to approach the game from my perspective as a serious recreational player, but I've always thought that no one would give a ****.

Anyhow, this is just a longwinded way of saying: my advice is to play poker on the side. You don't have to give up taking the game seriously to pursue your career. In fact, pursuing a career can actually enhance your game and the your enjoyment of poker overall.

40 hours a month is not that much. I have a full-time job and am able to log about 80 hours a month. I could do more than that if I wanted.

i think this is the right advice for 99% of poker players

Well stated, imo. I am in a similar situation that you are.

More to my point, it's good advice for WINNING players as well. ;-)

i agree this is great advice for 99% of winning poker players

OK, so then what's the problem? You don't seem to be attacking the accuracy of what I've said. If you're not one of those, that's great, I hope you continue to be successful.

As far as "bitter", again, this is a word that does not apply to me, you clearly need to learn the definition of it. I have nothing to be bitter about. Did you pick up use of the word from the other lunatic who got banned?

Off topic, but if one lived near a casino, or played at underground clubs, it would be possible to play 40, or pretty close to it, hours per week AND have a full-time, traditional hours job. There are clubs that are open 6-7 days a week, so as long as being a night owl isn't a problem, one could easily play 5-7 hours four nights a week, then put in some heavy weekend volume.

No problem other than the fact that you use these threads as some type of self-help therapy to make yourself feel better.You try so desperately to put down people you resent that are able to make a living playing poker on the internet as a way to help yourself cope and it clogs the thread. You can deny it all you want, who cares, but it's painfully obvious from your posts and just saying "nahh nahh, waaaah, thats not me, no " doesn't change it.

The next word for you is: Delusional.

Tough to take you seriously with these rants when you were thrown off the site days ago for them.

Please learn when to use "see" or "have seen" or "I've seen" as opposed to just sticking "seen" in there. If you continue to do it, I might become the site's most bitter individual when it comes to simple vocabulary.

Hey, if it makes you feel better to say this, go right ahead. I've contributed plenty in these types of threads. The problem with a guy like you is that you think all the responses are supposed to be sunshine and balloons, and you think anything negative said automatically makes the person saying it wrong and biased. Learn to accept dissenting opinions.

As I said if this is how you see yourself and view your posts then that's fine, but it doesn't make it so. As I said, the word is delusional. Btw, stop derailing thread, doesn't matter how many times you post in denial it won't change what's clear from your posting history ITT and plenty of others.

Jfc, where are the mods?

I normally like a very light moderation touch, but this unchecked bickering sux.

Are there any live poker pros that don't regret their decision to play professionally?

This thread was really cool at first, but for some reason you guys got so far off track talking about paying taxes, retirement plans, having to make >50k to live, and etc. That stuff is fine to talk about, but this back and forth arguing accomplishes nothing.

I've played poker professionally online for the past 4+ years, staked and coached players for 2+ years, relocated twice due to Black Friday, and now have moved back to Vegas (while still renting in Mexico). I didn't enjoy being out of the country for so long so I decided to transition to live poker and possibly explore other options.

I'm extremely interested in reading stories from live pros (and online guys transitioning to live) with years of experience so keep the stories coming!

Stop responding to him and block his posts.

Yep and i played professionally for 2yrs before black frinday and im am thinking about going live if the bill fails, waiting for state by state...so keep em coming.

What are you doing now?

No federal bill is going to pass.

State by state is going to be slow and sucky (everyone getting their piece like lotto's 50%+ vig), but we'll see what NV looks like.

This is spot on. The most effective way to play is detaching yourself from the money and not thinking in the back of your head I hope I have enough for rent/bills this month.

I find it interesting that people say they could never be a slave to working a 9-5 but basically are at a poker table. I like being able to play 10+ hours a week and take it seriously and still find it very fun. I always have the ability to improve my income, career, etc.

It seems that if you play professionally for an extended period of time it eventually limits your freedom due to the difficulty of getting back on the grind of life.