Hi guys, just made an account to ask this question, wasn't sure whether to put this in poker goals or here, might make a new thread in goals at a later date.

Basically, I've been playing poker now for about 18 months, recreational stuff really, couple of hours at night, live tourney once a month. I've done quite well and shipped a few tourneys, one for 1k+ at the local casino.

So, I might be losing my job shortly due to unforseen circumstances, I was thinking about going a bit more serious and trying to make enough money to at least get by for now, and who knows in the future.

I see a lot of people use tracking software and training software, the only real software I've used is a poker bot called NeoPokerBot that I play against on my phone.

My question is, which software should I invest in and what reading material would you recommend? I'm 23 years old, willing to put upwards of 10 hours daily towards this until I'm playing as close to optimal as possible for me, any advice is welcomed, if I don't bust straight away I'll make a thread in the goals section.

Thanks.

The decision to go full-time should not be taken lightly. If there is a way you can make a living for yourself that draws a steady paycheck, do that instead and play poker either as a hobby or to supplement your income, never just dive in with no back-up plan.

First and foremost, your bankroll is your most important considering factor as to whether you can jump right in or need a "day-job". Most everything I've read says you should have 100 buy-ins at your chosen stake to be able to consider "full-time" play (that may be off, but I know I've seen that number more than once). So for 2/5NL cash grinding if you were gonna sit with $500 each night that would mean you would need $50k to start and comfortably survive the swings that are part of poker (you will have losing nights/weeks, even the best get stuck). Can it be done with less? Yes, I did it for two years on significantly less, was I comfortable? **** NO! Getting a 3 to 5-day a week job that can cover rent/utilities/food/gas will let you play with a clear head, not having to go into a session thinking, ok if I don't win tonight, I don't eat tomorrow. I have busted people from cash games at my local casino, only to have them ask me/others at the table fora $20 so they can get home... sad.

As for reading/software - 2+2 has a wide range of books covering all forms of poker (online/live/tourney/cash/low stakes/high stakes), most of these will give you a base understanding of how particular aspects of the game work and ways to beat inferior opponents. For live MTTs (my favorite, but not most profitable form of poker) I enjoyed and profited greatly from reading Lee Nelson's series Kill Phil (WAY BASIC), Kill Everyone (intermediate with good charts for shove/fold scenarios and hand rankings by situation. Also has some commentary by ElkY in the most recent edition) and The Raiser's Edge (a good guide for loose-aggressive style play, not my preferred method but I like to study all forms so I know what the other guy might be thinking).
Another good book is called How to be a Poker Player by Haseeb Qureshi (I know the poker community does not like this man, but the book has good content, hate on Haseeb all you want but the BOOK is good)

As for playing online I use Poker Tracker 4 when I play, I like the breakdowns of info that it gives me and its very easy to use. Simulations to play against?
I don't use them/never really seen a good one (haven't looked that hard to be honest).

I hope I at least gave you some decent advice here, whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck.

PT4 or HEM2 is a must imo. It tracks progress and provides a HUD that shows your opponent stats. The Poker Math That Matters by Owen Gaines is a easy read and pretty valuable for a new player.

Good luck.

Poker Math that Matters - I have heard good things about this book as well, I haven't read it yet but I probably will the next time I buy a batch of books.

PT4 has a feature called Leak Tracker that shows you potential holes in your cash game play. While this won't be a HUGE help at first (due to low sample size) the more you play the better it will be able to tell you where you are missing value or chasing to hard.

It's VERY basic. I wouldn't recommend it if you're fairly experienced but I think it's one of the best book for beginners because it familiarizes you with common concepts and terms.

Ahh, thank you for looking out. I have a strong base in math (poker and otherwise) but I'm always looking to learn more, but if its too basic I will dedicate my time/money to other books.

This is all gold guys, thanks. As luck would have it, literally a few hours ago I found out all will be well with work. I'll be sticking to playing recreationally (almost a bit disappointed tbh, dreaming of playing the nosebleeds for a minute there haha), but I'm still gonna get a HUD, and put everything I can into it, see what happens from there.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Glad to hear it! Keep dreaming of playing the nosebleeds, its the first step to getting there.