I want to play poker as my main income and hope to reach this goal by within the next year, before I start school. I don't think my goals are that far from realistic if I put in the effort, I just want to be able to make enough to pay for my apartment and make it through 4 years of school comfortably. I know the 6 months of expenses + 40bi thing but online poker being what it is nowadays I wanted to get some tips from full time players who pay there bills mainly through poker.

I see a lot of tips on the internet but I'm wondering what are the key tips to success that helped you guys when you made your transition from an enthusiast to a fulltime pro? And what helped you maintain?

Dont go into it wanting to be a pro, play for fun, if you end up making enough to be a pro then sure try it but its very tough. Being a pro shouldnt be the aim, have fun and learn.

I have been a full time professional gambooler since 1992

I advise all people trying to do this as a profession against. I think it is a wonderful secondary gig - but as a full time thing it is very hard to succeed long term. If you have specific questions I will do my best to answer.

As full time and play only, possible, but not too many can handle the grind. I have seen some college people doing it, trying to do it, thinking of doing it, and I never understand how could they possibly put all that energy and time into grinding online when doing full time study, or even half time study. In theory, it is possible, but you would then already be a pro player.

Some esports players and other sports players do college and play on the side, but they are all pros already before starting their studies. Even then, I doubt it is really working that well, other than as an occasional play, if one wants to succeed in studies, that are likely already up to too heavy even with no play.

The best tip I can give you is to get a job.

You can't gloss over the big bankroll required and the big liferoll required for living expenses. Do you have those already? If not, like previously mentioned, get a full-time job first. Preferably 2 jobs since you need to save for 2 big rolls before going back to school. So you need to be a workaholic for the next year.

Full time school and poker don't mix. One will have to take a back seat to the other. Poker will always be there. Don't let school suffer.

That doesn't mean you can't play nor can you make some money on the side. However, it isn't going to pay all the bills. Once you have choices (like with a degree and a job), you can start the process of figuring out whether poker is the right decision.

I only play live.
I play part time as a hobby. I keep records of ALL my sessions.
I am about a break even player. The way I see it I am having having fun and its NOT costing me a lot of money.
In my eyes just breaking even (over a decent sample size) means I am probably better than 80% of the guys I am playing against.
Making REAL MONEY consistently is far from easy.
Supplementing a pension or SS is a lot different than making a middle class type of living.

A lot harder to do this now days than it was back in say 2005

Most honest post Ive read on 2p2

Respect

I'd strongly advise against this. I played throughout school as a secondary source of income, and I still use it as supplemental income now that I'm out of undergrad; however, it's just so difficult to put in the hours to make enough money and deal with the variance if you want to do it at the level you're suggesting. Add on the time you'll be in class, studying, or having a normal college social life, and something will fall by the wayside. Furthermore, even all that is assuming you're actually good enough to do it. I'm not saying that you're not (I obviously have no idea), but a lot of people think that they're good enough to be a pro, and very very few of them are.

It will be almost impossible to juggle being a pro making enough to pay your bills + full time school, especially if you're not already a winning player at relatively high stakes (which it sounds like you aren't, as you say it's your "goal within the next year").

Go to college and play poker for fun and some money on the side.

For what it's worth, I've been a full-time online pro for about a year now. Trying to be a professional player and a full-time student is unworkable, or even if you can scrape by you'll have very little time for anything else in life. Enjoy your undergrad.

I also wouldn't consider putting school on hold unless you can reasonably expect to make mid 5 figures (maybe $60k?) or above in a year as a full-time pro. If you get to that point in the next year, then you might consider putting university on hold for a bit, but if not, school should be the priority. For full disclosure, I make far less than that atm, but I live in some cheap places and also already completed undergrad. I really wouldn't like to be in my position if I didn't have a degree, but even pulling $10 or $15k/yr out of the games will be very difficult if you're studying fulltime.

Bob148 has some pretty good advice for the thread starter in this thread from Oct 1, 2017

Nice. Now maybe they'll finally give me my damn official "White Men Can't Jump" analogy thread. Oh wait, here I go again if I may add on some wisdom about life, relationships, poker, and basketball all at the same time:

"Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you tie. Sometimes when you win, you actually lose. Sometimes when you lose, you actually win. Sometimes when you tie, you actually win or lose."

I'll go with Door #1, Bob

I played as a "pro" for some time when I was out of work from my regular job. I was still getting unemployment so not sure if that counts since cards weren't my only source of income. I can tell you however that I hated it. Up to that point, from '04 to '07, I played cards as a serious hobby that paid me on average rather than a hobby that cost money, which is the kind most folks have. I kinda felt pretty lucky in that regard. Once it became something I felt obligated to do, it no longer felt like fun. It felt like work.

My 2 cents...don't ever let what brings you pleasure in life start to feel like drudgery. I was out of the game for years after and even as of the last couple year ago would only play as a rare recreational activity just a few times a year. It literally took me from 2008 to 2017 to truly get back into the game. Not that my wife is pleased. I can't pull those til 7 AM sessions anymore of course where I was practically resting my head on the chipstack...and I work a lot more hours in my career. Still, I try to get to the card room and grind it out a few times a week for a few hours/ day. It's back to being a hobby/part time job and it's fun just in that way.

Despite all the good advice you will likely try it anyway. So take a shot. You will likely end up like most folks. Real job/career with poker as a hobby that can pay for itself, or supplement your income, or just cost you a modest outlay from your funds. This is NOT a bad outcome!

Out of curiosity, on what do you base your belief that your goals are realistic? When you crunched your numbers, what assumptions did you make for building up your bankroll, hours committed to playing, winrate, etc? What sample size of play are you basing your belief that you can achieve the necessary winrate?

I played to pay my way through university but stopped once the wholesale changes came to stars.

There are much higher EV things to do these days than trying to become a poker pro IMO

i feel my ambition to succeed is stronger than anyones and i feel i already have a solid edge over most micro stakes players

Awesome. Keep us updated on your progress.

Your feelings plus $5 will get you a nice chai latte at Starbucks.

On what do you base that? What is your win rate at micros, and what is your sample size? How do you measure your ambition, and how does that translate historically into hard work? have you had other goals that you desired that you were willing to put in 60 to 80 hours a week at?

Honestly, you want to be careful not to dunning kruger yourself into going busto time and again. Poker is hard, and there are a ton of smart, motivated players out there playing. There is so much readily available knowledge on poker that it is difficult to obtain and maintain an edge. Wanting it isn't enough, you have to have a combination of work ethic and aptitude. You have to be able to put in the hours (on and off the table). Online games are pretty tough (live games are softer, but the variance will make BRM critical).

Then go for it. Ambition is the key to anyone's success. You could be the worst fish in the world today but if you have a strong enough ambition to put in the hard work, patience and study and you are determined to succeed, that's really all you need.

just don't come to my casino in 5 years but if you do please take it easy on me ok

Cross posting from a Poker Goals & Challenges thread started a week ago.