Do you need to be EXTREMELY good to go pro and play full time to make a living? Can you make a living off of 2/4 B&M?

2/4 No Limit. Maybe

..How hard is it to become a mechanic? How hard is it to become a stock trader? How hard is it to become a contractor?

It also depends on what you consider "a living" to be. The bare minimum of "a living" like working at McDonalds or whatever can be achieved lower than 2/4nl for sure. If you consider "a living" to be the equivalent of an entry-level college degree job, then it's higher. If you're looking for like 6 figures, it's way higher. If you're trying to be durrr, then god bless you.

pretty much.



Dont be the guy who trys to go pro and quit your job when you are like a teacher or something. If you work a ****ty min wage job then yea obv go for it.

Well, at least that´s what you should try to accomplish if that´s your goal.

you should know yourself if its going to be hard to go pro or not, but i mean its not easy to make good money on a consistent basis from poker cause alot of people dont do it

It's really, really hard. But it's possible. If you're just starting out, playing professionally should be the last thing on your mind.

^^
what would that guy know

oops...don't let verneer read that

I'd go for it

If you've got a passion for (or an obsession with) it, it's really not that hard.

Not many people have that, though.

It's generally the players that try to force themselves into it that end up struggling.

If you live in a first world economy then it is very easy to go pro as an:

- accountant
- engineer
- IT professional
- project manager
- etc....

Its been said before but if you need to ask what it takes to be a pro at poker then you are nowhere near it anyway.

Poker is not as easy as most players think. They have no real understanding of how hard the game really is, their skill level, or their winrate. They just recall the one time they won $500 in 1/2NL in 1 hr and then think to themselves, "Yeah, I could go pro. $500 a day five days a week, $2500 a week, $10K a month, easy money"

but poker is not like that. Any donk can have a winning day. But only a decent player can be a consistent winner.

This is such a problem in live play, since you see so many fewer hands live, many live players have no idea if they are actually any good or if they are just on the + side of variance.

But to answer your question. In order to 'go pro' you need the following in order of importance.

#1, Demonstrated Winning Results over a 6+ month period of time
#2, Proper Bankroll Management (six months worth of living expenses saved up + 40 buy-ins)
#3, Firm Understanding of your Winrate
#4, An incredible work ethic and willingness to improve your game daily
#5, Incredible emotional control and willingness to work on the emotional/mental aspect of the game on a daily basis

When people fantasize about going pro, they always start at #4 and #5. They think "Gee, I'll work very hard and become a pro".

Truth be told, you almost need to start from the end and go to the beginning. You want to 'be a pro' first, have the skills, winrate, and winning record over a long enough period of time to know that it is not a fluke. And then, with all that, 'go pro'.

Instead, newbies, tend to want to 'become a pro' and 98% of them are doomed. They just aren't good enough and do not respect the game. The game is very complicated

great post

Is there a such thing as 2/4NL? Don't think i've ever seen it.

Six or so months ago, I had a 3/6 Limit player come up to me and ask me if she should go pro.

I asked her how long had she been playing, and she said, "three months".

Asked her what poker books has she read and she said none.
Asked her what her winrate was she had no clue what that was.
Asked her if she tracked her results and she said no.
Asked her if she belong to any poker forum sites she had no clue.
Asked her if she reads any of the poker articles in the casino (Bluff, Card Player, etc) and she says "not really"
Asked her if she played online any and she says "no".

But, she was more than willing to tell me how she was just crushing 3/6. For the entire week, she won $200-$300 everyday and that day, she had killed the game for $500 bringing her total up to around $1.5k for the week which is more than she makes at her job.

So, I asked her how did her 'other weeks' go and of course she just said, "I was really unlucky then, but now I know what i'm doing."

Anyways, I wrote down a list of things she needed to do in order to go pro including books, websites, bankroll requirements, winrates, etc. She took the paper with that "Whatever" look and went back to her game.

Fast forward 4 months. She comes up to me and starts the long con about how unlucky she had gotten and how that 'now' she understands the game, etc. etc. She then asks to borrow $60 so she can buy-in to the 3/6 limit game.

I tell her i'll give her $100 on the spot if she can tell me half the things I wrote on that list I gave her a few months ago about becoming a pro. Of course, she can't.

After a minute or so of begging she calls me an A-hole and storms off to find another mark.

Every so often, i see her short stacked at the 3/6 Limit game

This is good

being a live pro sounds miserable to me.......30 hands an hour for 8 hours a day?

At least play online where you can play that many hands in 15 minutes

Yes, it is slower, but the softness of the game makes up for it.

Plus, you are out surrounded by real people, there are TVs that have the game on, you can get free drinks (most places), eat decent food, stack donks, and then when you are done, you can go to the cage and CASH OUT right then and there.

So its not all bad.

I find that many online players really have no clue about just how soft a live game is. Seriously, you would not believe some of the donkalicious plays you see at the casino.

Then factor in drunk tourists...

Its like printing money. It oughta be illegal, but thank god it isn't.

Great post.....Best advice I've seen in a while.

I will mark your words and live by them bro!