I wasn't being funny, playing poker with 2-3BI is a stupid idea unless you're capable of reloading constantly, in which case you don't really have 2-3BI to play with.

If you have debt to pay off, a kid to look after and a mrs who is a student then it's not even a question which should be crossing your mind.

My point is that I already mentioned I was getting a job. I'm not looking to do this full time yet, I specifically said part time income.

It never was.

Does that answer your question better?

5bb winner with 70bb/100 std dev requires 1468bb for <5% risk of ruin.

probability of losing after 10k hands is 23.75%

Live games, like 40 hands an hour (massive overestimate from what I've heard).

10,000/40 = 250 hours

So, 7.5BI? I can do that over the ecourse of the next month or two.

Do whatever the **** you want to do.

I think your chances of bust are much higher than 5%. Also you're in the process of gambling with money you can't afford to lose. You should really stay away from gambling until this is recreational funds. What you're proposing reeks of bad outcomes.

Just continuing with the maths there, a solid live player makes wayyy over 5bb/100 which greatly reduces the RoR.

I thought I was being nice giving him >0 when he gave no evidence he was a winner except he can read a book.

+1

Notice how he talked about his reading list, instead of telling us about his track record as a winning player? Thus, I took his "is it possible to build a roll" to include learning. Even so, not many people play well buying in a poker game with rent and food money.

I have a 12bb/100 winrate at 25nl over 25000 hands on Carbon, withdrew the max amount last week. The reading list was more to show what kind of player I am, i.e. willing to put in the work to read mathematics of poker @.@

I'm just considering live because I think I can have a big enough winrate to do this as a part time job, and because I won't have to deal with ****ty us-accepting poker sites withdrawal systems.

Or, you're going to need some adjustments to play in much softer games with multway pots for 10x as much money as you're used to risking. I have no dog in this fight, but I think you're probably ignoring the very real issues of playing with a short roll. I'm concerned for your family.

How about you show your mrs the advice you have been given and if she says go for it you go for it.

That way when it all goes wrong you can share the blame a bit.

I know it's a very real issue, I'm just trying to make something out of nothing cause I'm having a hard time finding good opportunities in the 'real' world

Notice I didn't say *he* makes >5bb/100, I said a solid winning player. One needs a solid winning record before one can claim to be a solid winning player.

Without reading any of the replies you got ITT, you should forget this idiotic idea and get a job. You have a young family that rely on you, no record that you can generate income at poker and no bankroll. I feel sorry for your wife and child, having a wanna-be degen as a breadwinner. Prove me wrong and get a job.

EDIT

OK, one of your later posts show you can almost certainly beat 25NL online and therefore should be able to beat live once you've adjusted. It's still an idiotic idea because you can't afford to lose while learning or to cushion beats. So get a job and when you have an actual roll, give it a go.

"Hey, honey, I just quit my job without first finding another job because the pay is **** and the expectations were absurd. Since we have a ****load of debt, an infant, no bankroll, I'm going to play poker as a job until I land a job that doesn't pay **** and has realistic expectations.

In the event I run 3 standard deviations above my theoretical live win rate for a few months, the money for diapers and baby food will give me a decent bankroll and maybe start paying the mortgage. I'm not going to be one of those losers that you see delivering pizzas, scurrying to make ends meet; I'm going to scrimp on family necessities to gamble us out of a ****ty situation."


Good luck with that. Does your wife look like Demi Moore? Bill Gates plays poker in Vegas during trade shows. Try to hook up a game of pool with him if **** goes wrong.

Most folks here are just saying "don't jump off this cliff" ! Some are a little more sarcastic than others , but the message is true and coming from folks who have real understanding of the stark realities. Listen.

It is the irony of poker as a money making venture, that you need a decent chunk of cash to use your skill. When we had choices online, the ability to make real money at lower stakes helped with the issue of needing so much. Poker is a business that requires capital, and underfunded businesses just tend to go broke. Think about all the staking deals that go bad -- the stakee both is in personal need of cash and has a box full of it. How does that not end in tears?

In Mekhami's case, you then have to add in the difficulty of transitioning to a new game. Again, as a backer you want a track record in the game you're wanting to play. On a short roll, you're so much more likely to go broke learning how a new situation works.

He's basically asking his family to back him in live games. Sadly, they should pass.

this is excellent advice everyone should listen too. You need to be able to pay yourself still even if you have a minus day.

@mekhami, you've chosen the worst time to look into playing poker on the side. you need to get that job and then you are needed at home when you're not working and there's nothing wrong with it. spending time with your young kids is amazing and don't trade it in for time sitting with mostly grumpy people. even if you are +ev in the game, you are making a huge life-ev decision.

if you feel like you need more money cause wife wants it whatever, you need to work that out first. if she is bad with spending money, do the man thing and sit her down and tell her what the budget is. at that point you will realize that your budget for poker is also 0 btw. if you have alot of debt, you will be making more money from saving in interest once you focus on paying that down than you will from making poker.

edit: first make the decision if you want to play poker professionally and then make other life decisions like getting married/having family. most of the time, doing one before the other is not great.

Yeah I understand what you guys are saying. I'll just do the online thing for a while since so far I'm winning at that, maybe try to turn that into a real bankroll.

Ok I'm gunna put this out there.

I'm considering quitting my team leader retail job & supporting myself with poker (to some extent at least) for a while until I find a better job or longer if it goes well.

I am 28, luckily have no mortgage or car payments & about £5k in savings

Started playing about 3 or so years ago & was a typical beginner who I like to think has gradually improved

My problem whilst working has been a lack of volume but I spend lots on time watching videos & on 2plus2 etc. Trouble is I only make about 6/7k hands amonth because I only play 2/3 tables 6max 25NL & go days without playing
If I wasn't working I could do 25/30k hands a month definitely I think

I was hammering 10NL but struggled to adapt to 25NL for a while. It wasn't scared money, the opposite infact. I found it hard to release a hand with so much money out there & preflop betsizings were a pain etc.

I barely played a hand November through January because of work & other commitments & losing a few buyins @25NL didn't help but started again in Feburary & here are my graphs since I changed my screenname about September 2013

10NL

[IMG][/IMG]


25NL


[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]
25NL Last 5 wks


I withdrew a small amount before Xmas at some point but my bankroll is about $950 right now.
Ideally, I'd like keep winning at 25NL for another 10k hands or so until my roll is a few buyins over $1k & take a shot @50NL where the plays SEEMS somewhat the same standard

This isn't a idea thats come to me after a couple of good sessions, I may actually try this

Any thoughts?

Thanks

What are your expenses? How hard would it be to get a job as good as your current one?

Honestly, I think it is a bad idea. You probably need to match your career winnings each month, which isn't encouraging. You don't have a history of high volume, either. You'd also be much better off being established at the limit you want to go pro at, rather than moving up recently.

Few things you should want to do first.

1) Learn to play more tables, this will take you a while. If you're playing micro/low stakes the key is volume and you need to be putting in at least 100k hands a month imo.

2) Use some holidays at work to have a week off or whatever and make sure you're doing poker related stuff 6 hours a day 6 days a week. It definitely shouldn't be playing 6 hours a day it should be a mix of study, review and play and actually get an idea of what it's like.

You have 0 idea what it's like to play poker for long hours over long periods of time. I play much more than you (not even close to full time) and I spent about 10 days seriously putting in the hours, not much more than I suggested, and by the end of it I was just burnt out and didn't want to play and this was whilst I was running well and making money. If I was losing money I'd have just thought **** it.

Most the people I know who enjoy their life as a pro either have a seriously love for the game or do it because it allows them to live the lifestyle they want and I don't mean making millions I mean outdoorsy type people who don't need that much money to live off in the first place.

Expenses can be kept pretty low for a few months say $5/600 or £400. Could definitely live off £100 ($160wk) for a while I should think. Gotta sacrifice sometimes to chase a dream, haven't we? lol

As I say, I'm lucky I don't have house or car payments & health care is free in the UK. So we're talking food, £35 phone bill, Gas & electricity bill every 3 months (much lower in summer months), £50 petrol because I wont be driving every day if I don't have to. Obviously would like SOME money for myself too. Of course, expenses can come unexpectedly too, especially when u own a house as I do (with my brother )

I could get a retail job again if I had to, although possibly not immediately as a Team leader. But for £9.50hr I'm asked to do an awful lot of crappy work, take a lot of responsibility, for not a great deal of financial reward or job satisfaction. kinda had enough tbh

Have a degree from Uni ( graduated a several yrs back now & haven't made the most of it tbh even though it wasn't as strong a degree as I could have got) Being 18 & away from home for the first time doesn't always equate to work

Understand your reservations about volume but when I've had a rare week off at home recently, I clocked an 8k hand week comfortably. trouble is, whilst working & socialising I have gone weeks when I've barely been at the house/played a hand. I'm a night owl which is useful for poker but not possible when u have work at 7/8am the next day.

Cheers DougL & MMSS for your responses.

Bare in mind I spend almost as much time watching videos & thinking/ reading poker as I do playing. Before I was a Team Leader, I was clocking more hands. I actually sometimes play the most/best when I feel I'm playing well, but only breaking even. guilty of banking wins & losses sometimes (the losses maybe a good thing).

There's always gunna b an element of risk to this. Not for 1second am I considering this the passport to an easy life but the freedom would mean a lot to me.

Also, how do u qualify for rakeback & is it possible for a site u are already registered on?

Cheers