For the pro's, what would you consider a serious commitment and realistic expectation for someone looking to make a good income from poker?

I'm sure this is a very vague question, but so far here is my game plan:

1.) Get better at mental math

Speeding up my math skills by doing silly flash card games for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Reading mental math books and learning shortcuts.
Example of a shortcut (11 x XY) you would figure out by adding A = X + Y, and the answer would be XAY, (X+1 if X+Y > 10, X+2 if X+Y > 2, ect)

Practice recognizing and quickly figuring pot odds, by flash cards of different scenerios or program an application that would display scenerio and multiple choice question.

Learning poker math shortcuts

2.) Memorizing Probabilities of making top poker hand rankings, and starting hand strengths charts (with table count considered).

Using flash cards or programmed application to display flash cards with multiple choice questions.

3.) Practing micro limits no less than 1 hour a day but ideally 4 hours per day. With a goal of increasing table stack 1% to 3%. (Still continue playing to get familiar with variance)

4.) Read poker books (Super System I & II)
I think sticking to just these would be more benificial than reading too many books to avoid conflicting material and leave room for me to still figure things out on my own.

5.) Study Game Theory and other Probability Theories/Laws

6.) Practice games at home with family & friends
Get familiar with live play, Super System II has chapters on online play and detecting tells via betting patterns, but I dont think this would completely sink in until playing live a few times and experiencing real tells. Live play would be a different experience that will uncover things I didnt notice before by just playing online.

7.) Participating in this forum, and discussing my thoughts on a play and seeing where I may be misguided or where I'm on the right track.

I'm going to vegas for vacation in a few weeks. Some family asked me and my wife to go with them, I first thought it would be fun to see if I could learn enough to pay for the vacation by playing.

As of now I'm playing limit poker and know thats not going to do it. I'll have to graduate to no limit. The "free vacation goal" is just a personal challenge and not something I'm counting on. I'm a little more excited about the buffets.

The real nice thing about this is that I would have never thought of playing poker professionally if this hadnt come up. I've accomplished just about everything I've ever set out to do. Started my own business, moved to New York, and have been doing well. I did try Forex, havent given up on it, just havent had the time to watch the charts, and my math still sucks. Since poker is forcing me to tweak my math skills, I think that will make me a better trader too.

So, long post so far, in summary my goals are:

1.) Build a bankroll from $ 25.00 to $ 150.00 playing micro fixed limit holdem.
$ 25.00 - $ 50.00 (0.02 / 0.04) - (Estimated 40 to 96 hours)
$ 50.00 - $ 100.00 (0.05 / 0.10) - (Estimated 30 to 75 hours)
$ 100.00 - $ 150.00 (0.10 / 0.20) - (Estimated 16 to 40 hours)

2.) After $ 150.00 goal is met, start practicing micro no limit holdem.
$ 150.00 - (0.02 / 0.04)
$ 350.00 - (0.05 / 0.10)
$ 700.00 - (0.10 / 0.20)

No estimates for no limit yet.

So if I didnt put you to sleep, any critiquing or recommendations would be appreciated

If you're really looking to plan this out in such a way etc (I'm not really this type of person) I think you're best making it as short and simple as possible. Here's where I'd start editing it down:

Points 1 and 2 are best practiced by reviewing your own sessions. Get HEM.

Point 6 isn't necessary but might be fun nonetheless.

Don't worry about GT, but you can learn other core concepts by using the forum so point 5 and 7 can be amalgamated.

Other points:

Don't even think about making any sort of income from poker. See it as a hobby, a challenge, whatever. Being attached to monetary goals can have real negative impacts further down the line when you hit big downswings etc. Learn to devalue money. Be careful setting targets; my only target is to play my A-game every session.

FL and NL are two entirely different games; just pick one to specialise in. Learning both is a bit of a waste of time.

This forum > books imo





In all seriousness though, with a decent aptitude for learning and good emotional management, by posting on 2p2, having solid BRM and putting in the hours at the tables, you're near enough guaranteed to be a winner at uNL before too long. For those who love the game these things come natrually, whereas others looking for quick money find them a chore and tend to give up quite quickly.

You should. In no particular order.

1. Stop worrying about Fixed limit. The game is more or less dieing out.

2. Deposit a bankroll of 20 Buy ins for the level off NL cash game you want to play. I suggest you start at NL 2.

3. Learn how to manage your bankroll.

4. Donwload the trial of eather HEM, or PT3.

5. Download Pokerstove and play around with it for a bit.

5. Read all the stickies in the Fullring Micro section of 2+2.

6. Learn the rule of 2 & 4.

7. learn some basic things like counting outs. How much chance is there for and oponent to get dealt a certain hand with x number of players left to act. What are the odds of flopping certain hands when you hold certain holecards, and stuff like that

8. Learn some basic stuff about hand values & position preflop.

9. Work on how to control your emotions, when you lose to a bad beat. or things are just not going your way, getting bad cards all the time, and so on.

10. Profit.

Thanks for the response. I'll probably follow through with GT just because I like studying about that kind of stuff. (I'm a nerd)

My biggest weakness right now is sizing up other players. I've noticed that when I'm at a table where its getting shorthanded, my game improves. I've done great one on one.

When someone is tight, its easier to bluff and just steal the pot. When they are loose, its very easy to just pick up a bigger pot with a marginal hand.

If I can size the whole table up, who knows. That would be the biggest thing I'm missing.

This is probably a stupid question. But on point 2. Do you base that on the minimum or max to bring to the table? Ive seen buy-ins mentioned, but I've been going by $ x BB for bankroll requirements.

Ive read about bankroll management and am familier, its actually a lot more liberal in poker than trading. Downloaded PT3 last night. Havent heard of Pokerstove, going to check that out now. Read briefly on the rule of 2 & 4 the other night, will read it again and let it sink in if its not what I'm thinking it is. (% to get hand = (outs x 2)+1) probably not? lol

Will read everything on this forum. Working and Studying (borderline obsessing) on point 7 & 8.

On point 9, I work best under pressure. We'll see how well that benefits me in poker.

Thanks for your reply.

if this is how you feel, specialise in 6max NL.

and that's the jist of it yeah. to help identify player types, which you've correctly identified as being important (lots of new players undervalue this even though it sounds so obvious), get a tracker (hold 'em manager is my preference but pokertracker is also fine)

thanks. I'm liking PokerTracker a lot so far.

I tried Hold 'em Manager first, but for some reason it didnt want to run on my machine. Probably Windows 7 related.