And please end the whole boston vs the world mini-thread brewing. Make it a separate thread.

Dynasty, do you have any leaks? You are such an honest guy and I respect your posts in this thread. Sometimes this type of honesty is really brutal and raw. Have you been playing online? If so, how are the results?

I wish you the best of luck.

I live in Chicago and have visited Boston several times. Boston is cool, a great city. But I couldn't live there (I'm black lol )

= 19


Nice work, ChicagoPoker; first thing I thought was 'busing riots of 1970's hub of racism lol'


Oak Park > any Boston suburb

Dynasty,

As someone who has, and still does, contemplate "going pro," this has been a great thread. I am sorry to hear about your dad, but best of luck in the future, and I hope you can cut it.

lol, i've been to oak park, you gotta be kidding me on that one. yea, Boston isn't the best place to be black unfortunately. there are a lot of cool black neighborhoods, but in the downtown area you won't see too many black people and there has always been a ton of racial tension. but chipwrecked, last time i checked chicago isn't that cool a place to be black either, you just stuff yours into cabrini and then demolish it leaving them with nowhere to go except a worse neighborhood on the south side.

No, actually, I'm not bitter at all and would probably still be in New England if not for the winters. Best years of my life. Boston is simply self-overrated. Ajaxx is the best argument for that. I heard all this stuff over and over from people who never got outside Southie. It's stuff they heard from other people and proved that repetition is truth.

"Hub of the Universe" was a phrase coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes--former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It's now kind of a joke among intelligent people who understand irony.

Sorry for the thread going off-base, but Dynasty had said all he was going to say in it. It was a resurrect, so I didn't feel bad about the tangent. I'll certainly let it go. I had to respond to the poster who went off on Vegas. No way that was the whole truth and was way off base. Just like Fox News, I prefer fair and balanced.

thats cool chicagopoker that your black. really cool, i mean so cool that you would have to live in a cool black neghborhood right. i dont get it. take that black shyt somewhere else guy. no one here wants to here how you cant live in boston cause your black. what a peanut brain comment.

yikes! what a turn...

if you are trying to say that fox news is fair and balanced, then your credibility just went out the window and argument is over. out of southie? i have been to 6 continents, and almost every state in the US. no wonder you don't like Boston, you spend your time in southie. maybe you went into Boston one lonely night thinking you were guna get laid but got rejected one too many times and decided to hate Boston for the rest of your life. Boston is glorious, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and it's better off without haters like urself. Go sox btches!

I'd guess that most who think it's a failure haven't played 'live' poker for a living. They also tend to miss the point that he didn't lose that chunk of roll on the table.

b

i dont get why you moved to nl after all these years, if your crushing a 30/60 game why bother..

I haven't answered questions in this thread for a long time.

Sufinillini
The highest limit games I regularly played and beat were 20-40 hold 'em at the Mirage and 15-30 stud at the Bellagio. I had occassionally played 30-60 hold 'em at the Bellagio and planned to move there full time in the summer/fall of 2003. But, the hold 'em boom hit and the Bellagio waiting lists became ridiculously long. So, I stayed the the less crowded 20-40 Mirage game.

At my low point (most of 2006 and early 2007), I was stuck primarily at 1-2 no-limit and looking for very good 2-5 no-limit games. It was incredibly frustrating being stuck at stakes where it was hard to win significant $$$ at.

In response to similar posts, the losses in my bankroll did not come from my play at the tables. I was a consistent winning player both live and online. The first time I had a losing month was in October of 2005 (online). My bankroll issues came from non-playing issues.

Rushmore
I do have a type of leak. I have never, from the day I arrived in Las Vegas, played what could be called a full time schedule. I've never put 160 hours at the tables in a single month. Usually, I put in less than 100.

This is by choice. One of the most appealing aspects of playing for a living is the freedom and flexibility it offers. I play when and how often I want. So, in 2004, when I felt burned out, I hardly played at all for nearly four months. That obviously damanged the bankroll. Likewise, there are several months where I've put in under 50 hours.

I went too far with it in 2004 and outside issues that added to the problem. Those were the root causes of my bankroll problems.

The problem has never been my ability to beat the games I'm playing.

Otherwise, I don't think I have anything which should be called a leak. Thought, like everyone, I have plenty of room for improvement.

PLOlover
I don't play online anymore. I stopped in late 2005.

I simply don't like it. It's not fun for me and I'm not interested in grinding out money online if I'm not enjoying it.

El Diablo
This is a variant of many questions in the thread.

I don't regret the past six years at all. There's no way I'd want to change the decisions I've made. Despite some financial pressue for about a year and a half, there's nothing I'd rather do going forward.

I love playing for living in Las Vegas.

the_casino_kid
NLHE is the future. I think limit hold 'em could be in serious jeopardy in a few years.

I noticed you didn't ask me why I switched from stud to hold 'em.


Update

Until now, I haven't provided a mid-year update. But, I'm tired of this thread depressing people. Besides, the information is available elsewhere on the forums.

On Father's Day of 2007, I participated in a freeroll tournament at Caesars Palace. A little over 300 people particpated.

Though the structure was exceptionally poor, I managed to avoid extrene bad luck and found myself with the chiplead with just three players remaining. A deal was made which gave me $25,000 and a seat in the 2007 WSOP Main Event (first place was actually $32,000 and the seat). So, my bankroll got a sudden 25k infusion that has me playing the limits I should be at.

My first WSOP Main Event ended on Day 1A. You can read about the hand here in a thread about the first day. Basically, with a 60k stack at 1am, my KK ran into AA and I busted.

This thread isn't depressing, it's real life.

If you're a journalist, maybe you should look into writing a book chronicaling your time since moving out to Vegas. This is something that countless people have thought about in the back of their minds since the poker boom started, and I'm sure people would be interested to hear about someone who did it, and has struggled; not because people are rooting for failure, but rather you normally only hear from those successful.

I don't think I've finished a poker book as I find them extremely boring, but a personal story is something I think people can get attached to reading.

I'd be interested in hearing about your progress, and nice job at the Caesars tourney.

This thread is really an ongoing one that Dynasty comes in and updates so graciously(he doesn't have to) when we ask. It isn't a "dead" thread that was just resurrected and will die again. I suspect Dynasty will post more updates in it again, like he just did.

Thanks for stopping though, Cactus(or at least saying you will). I'm not trying to single you out or anything. The other guys are pissing me off with this stuff too.

I think this thread is a lot easier to read when there aren't tangents going on about stuff that really doesn't matter and certainly has zero to do with the actual thread.

Dynasty, you continue to be an inspiration to a lot of players here. Congrats on the mid year turn around. If no one else does, I'll surely bump this up for an update once year 7 is complete!

great stuff Dynasty and thanks for taking the time out for writing this. Good luck to you..

damn man that sucks.

But do you occasionally play in a tourney or two a week or you stay away from them ?

FYP. Holmes also coined the phrase, "clear and present danger".

/SCOTUS nit alert-hijack

p.s. Props to Dynasty for both hanging in there, and for finally trying a donkament or two.

OP, were you playing 20/40 Thurs and Fri day/night? I was "the kid" and I think everyone thought I sucked.

because age obviously plays a big part in what you look for in a city to live in. I'm assume that most younger people would be more enticed by great nightlife and parties, while things like parks, good education, etc. wouldn't appeal to them at all. I think its necessary to say your age when having such discussions.

Dynasty, please don't take offense to my following comments. I think that you've been amazingly honest in this thread, and my advise/criticism here is just my honest opinion....

At first, I felt bad for you with the death of your father and your bankroll problems. But after reading this post, its much tougher for me to feel that way. You're putting in minimal hours and taking the easy way through your career/life.

Lets compare this to a "real job." Imagine some businessman came here saying how he wasn't doing too well and people started feeling sympathetic towards him. Then he reveals that he never works that much or puts in a lot of hours. How would everyone feel about that?

I've played professionally for about 3-4 years now(depending upon if you count my senior year of college or not). And I can honestly say that I work my ass off. Don't get me wrong- I love playing poker, so I'm not complaining here. But I'm sure I've put in 100 hour WEEKS before, and I probably average about 50 hours/week.

I realize that part of the reason people choose poker is that they want an "easy life." And please understand that I'm not saying all of this to be condescending. I'm moreso trying to challenge and inspire you. I'm sure that you want to be very successful, and I'm sure that you realize that behind every success story is a ton of hard work. Get out there and put in some hard work then.

Dynasty has made it pretty clear that he isn't complaining or asking for sympathy. He's just telling his story. I think a lot of people. myself included, have found it very interesting.

Dynasty has said straight out that he doesn't want to play more. He likes the flexibility of poker. That's the point. I'm sure he knows he'd be making more and be more secure if he worked harder but he's decided that it isn't worth it to him.

So what if he's "taking the easy way"? Why is it somehow unethical or offensive not to work a ton of hours? He doesn't seem to have a sense of entitlement about money and is conscious of the impact of his decision not to play that much.

I find it distasteful that his chosen work schedule impacts your view of his father's death.

People are delusional about what it is to be a professional poker player. The OP is actually making it. The options aren't just SBRugby or bust. How many big name pros do you think are worth more than $0. Some just have good borrowing power or can freeroll people occasionally to get buy.

I think your post is reality man and I appreciate your honesty and candor.

His version of events are more typical than the online poker god. The game is very very tough to beat after living expenses, especially after a few years of doing it. To be honest if your stuck at 1/2 NL or even 2/5 NL you better off getting a job that plays in a similar range as most won't mentally tax you the way poker will.

Dynasty should have never given up online poker. If he wanted to put in short hours he could always up the table hours.