That was inspiring.

Congrats

I can't help asking though: do you enjoy it? And do you plan to do this for a long time to come?

P.S. Thank you for helping out my game over the last couple of years.

That's one hell of a story, Dynasty. You definately have the heart and the discipline to be a successful gambler. I'm sorry that we didn't meet up this trip, but all the best to you, and I'll see you on my next trip to Sin City.

I think its safe to say that someone would be hard pressed to find two more different people than Bryan and myself. I think we have both benefitted because of it. No doubt that Bryan is an acquired taste, but I'm very glad we became friends.

If one of you were stupid you'd be more different.

~D

"If one of you were stupid you'd be more different."

between if and one add *only* and youve got it!

Thank you for sharing this story. Talk about brass balls.

I would not be surprised if you aren't playing poker in 5 years. You will have found another mountain to climb.

Very nice read.

I find it interesting that you can remember all those dates and stuff. Or you just keep a diary.

Definitely the best post I've ever read. Also one of the better stories I've read.

Great story. The key, as you put it, is discipline, and you apparently had that from the start. Hell, I can't think of very many people that 5 years out of college would've had enough saved up to bankroll the move.

What a great story! Many thanks to everyone at 2+2!

Thanks for the post. I thought you were much more experienced in poker than you are (years wise - hands wise you're probably quite experienced ). I've always thought your analysis of hands played was excellent. I remember emailing you some time ago about some EV calcs you did that I was impressed with. I find that kind of analysis very valuable and very rare. Hope you continue to enjoy playing. I know you'll like the money.

I'm still fairly new to the world of 2+2, but have often wondered about who some of the carpal tunnels and pooh bahs that post here are, and how they worked up to the games they play in. Thanks Dynasty for sharing your story. If anything, many of us can live vicariously through your tales, as most wouldn't have the guts to make a move like you did.

Congrats on your successes!

And you apparently did all of this without a pattern map! Wow!

Great story man! Looks like you pulled into town the same week as me, with the same ideas, and a lot more success. but I'll be back.

I hope you answer the questions about how long you plan on doing this.

Hey, he's just finished his three year thinkin'-it-over period. Let him decide whether to go pro or not first.

http://************/398px

Obviously, Negreanu, Ivey, Juanda, & Cunningham are far out on the right side of the bell curve, as far as starting out primarily as tourney pros. And they all also play live; in fact DN & PI now mostly play live, and JJ & AC are 'semi-retired' from poker, supposedly.

Ted Forrest played mid-limit before winning the three bracelets in '93, then used the money to move up(UP!). Howard Lederer has written extensively about focusing more on tourneys now, which has worked out nicely for him. Of course, he's a pretty good player to begin with.

As for TJ, Hellmuth, Men, Scotty, Miami John, the few, the proud, I guess. Look what happened to Huck. Daniel recently wrote (my paraphrase)that Chris Ferguson was the only self-financed, successful, full-time tourney pro over the last ten years.

Good thing, as he doesn't exactly have anything else to fall back on!

Ni pos, Bryan. Obviously, you got VERY lucky right at the beginning, but three years ain't luck.

"If I hadn't played in card games, I'd prolly be a CFO in accounting..."

Great post Dynasty!

Now if only the Sox could win it all this year, life would be complete.

Thanks for all your help.

Peace,
Joe Tall

The other weekend, F-Su, I played 15 & 20 stud at B for 3 days(mostly 20), 5-6 hours a day, btwn 1pm - 8pm. Very small sample, of course, AND I'm a MUCH better stud player than HE player. I can't play anything but HE at home(great games), and hadn't played anything but HE in LV for years.

But those games seemed soooo much better than the 20 HE at M and 15 HE @ B. Not even close. Not a wide selection of stud games, of course. The 40, 60 and/or 80 stud games looked good, too, but those are big steps up for me.

What am I missing? How are the day in, day out stud games in LV, inc. the 5-10 at M? I remember in the mid '90s that there would be three-four, 5-10 stud games at M, as well as rammin' 10, 15, & 20 games.

Like Biggie said, things done changed. What's it like now?

I'd also like to hear about stud & stud8 games in L.A., A.C., or anywhere else; limits, # of tables, rakes-collections, etc. Thanks.

friend that dealt at the wsop said tj is backed/broke, too many sportsbetting and cash game losses

I see myself playing for the indefinite future. It's hard to know how long that will be. After all, three years and one month ago, I never would have imagined where I am today.

I'd have to go through my records to know the exact answer. However, a couple weeks ago, I sent a PM to Clarkmeister which said something like this.

Shoot me. -96 big bets in my last three sessions.

My friends were just shocked. Because I made the decision so fast, I didn't see some of them before I left. I told them through e-mails. I actually made my final decision to move to Vegas just 7-10 days before doing it.

I did not tell my family exactly what I was doing in Las Vegas until I returned to Massachusetts nearly a year later. I didn't want them to worry about it. My parents knew that I had considerable money to live on so paying the bills wasn't something they would be concerned about.

I don't think there was much that could convince me that I wouldn't succeed. While running chess tournaments and acting as President of the Boylston Chess Club in Boston, I interacted with quite a few chess professionals. So, I had some understanding of the effort it would take to do this.

However, I was prepared to fail. I decided before I left for Vegas that if it didn't work that I would just have to regard it as a 1 or 2 year super-vacation. Then, I'd go back to the regualar workforce and move on.

Why lucky?

There was 0% chance of me being a dealer.

He's still plays and still reads the forums. He just doesn't post much anymore.

I intuitively knew that it could be done although I certainly had never heard the phrase "one big bet per hour". I must have also heard something about professional poker players existing but I don't remember anything specific.