I am a University student who was introduced to the game a couple of years back and have been playing on and off online since, embarrassingly enough at 2nl and 5nl. I am very ambitious and hope to make it big one day but im not sure which route people actually take to make it big. I always hear stories of online giants making millions within their first few years of playing and it baffles me. Do they deposit hundreds of thousands in their accounts and work it up? Me personally ive started on a $50 bankroll with the aim of just working my way up, not withdrawing or depositing anything with the aim that i will get better as i move up. But this seems like a very slow process from playing micro stakes to suddenly making millions after a year. I want to know how they do it so i can adjust my strategy and start playing for some real money. Also sorry for posting this on High stakes category, i just figured the people reading this will know what they're talking about and i trust your opinions. Thank you so much and i appreciate all responses.

It’s been said that one way to have $1million playing poker is to start with $10million.

micros to millions......

while it did happen years ago (2004-2009) that A FEW players got wealthy playing poker, get-rich-quick is not really a thing anymore imo. "Making It" in poker takes countless hours of study, many more hours of playing (and review) and a fairly high percentage of Run Good. Without the Run Good...it may take a lifetime for you and me to realize that it will never happen.

Sunrunning mostly

Don't feel embarrassed about playing the micros.

Wealthy backers

It's not a few years, most of the people who make millions are playing for ten years or more. All are also completelly imersed in poker, dedicating 60+ hours per week and thinking about it almost every waking hour. Don't just think of unicorns like Fedor or Linus. Others also did it but took them much more time and have not achieved the same level of success. And it took Fedor several years to do it even if less than ten. The most important thing is you have to love playing and studying the game.

Sunrun donkaments. Basically buy lottery tickets.

There are many ways to mess it up. There are fewer ways to make it big.

Think about stakes that offer $40 an hour winrate(a wage that can support a healthy lifestyle). Maybe 5/10 no limit with full stacks vs mediocre opponents. I’m not sure about plo. Maybe limit holdem 30/60. These are the staple games of any decent poker repertoire. You wanna beat those stakes? Learn the important games.

There are huge games out there. Hint: if you see someone game starting high stakes, they are assumed to be quite good until proven otherwise. This is because bad game starters don’t last.

The main focus is to get a winning technique after some experience. As soon as you think you are ready, you move up. You should not worry about money that is worth much less than your time and the money you can make later.

Worry about getting to mid-limits (100 and 200) as soon as possible and then come back here some year to tell us how you made it at 1k.

Along the way, you will be playing vs. a couple of pros from 25 up, as you can see using a tracking site. I see some at NLH25, having been there 3 to 5 years making a thousand dollars per month. At PLO25, it seems difficult as its rake is sick and it is harder to multitable. That limit has bacically no rake cap. A limit up it is like 6 big blinds, and after that 3 big blind, 1.5 big blinds. Because of rake, there is basically no winrate difference between limits, so not moving up to mid-limits is a big mistake, and all one needs to do is add a table or two for that.

$22 micro millions main event is on this month. win that if you have access to pokerstars.
then you got 10 $10,000 buyins. win one of those and have hundreds of thousands if not over a million dollars.

or go and grind for several years and hope online poker doesn't die.
or go to a casino and play some sats into bigger events.

plently of options really.

study, working on basic poker mechanics, study more. having good mechanics mainly knowing when to call, bet, fold in routine situations will get you pretty far. Bad players I see repeatedly bet to get no better hands to fold and no worse hands to call.

So true. I don't love every session but poker gives me something positive in the end which makes all the difference. I think you can become an expert in poker even if you don't love some aspect of the game but you won't be having any fun doing it and what's the point of that?

do this until you maybe bink a score from a lottery ticket. you will need the cash to purchase the mtt buy-in however and will probably need to win a few more lottery tickets for people to believe your good at poker. then sell your services online teaching players.

You're about 10-15 years too late buddy. Some people made a few million back in the day, thanks to the help of ultra soft games and running hot at the right moments.

But these days, it's basically impossible to do that. Players are too good now, there's too many software aids, lots of bots and not enough fish.

All good answers here. Everyone's situation is different but the main theme is that the 'rags to riches' stories are fewer and farther apart. Certainly anywhere that online poker is available there's a chance. Although most would agree that live poker is 'quicker' if you have the bankroll since the play is much weaker.

MANY of the known names these days were decent at lower stakes and then got a staking/backing arrangement and hit it well off in some larger events. Another major factor is Players having a secondary income via sponsor/podcast/stream/real job in an effort to keep the pressure off the poker bankroll ... which allows them to move up without needing to withdraw for 'real' life expenses.

And then there's 'run good'. Unfortunately even the best efforts still have the possibility of meager results. GL

It was easier back in the day for a couple of reasons:

1) There was a pokerboom, everyone was playing. And they learned how to play in cash games with 100 bbs from watching televised tournaments in the later stages with average stacks of around 20 bbs.

2)When Paradise Poker introduced nl cashgames, the lowest stake was 50$. So if you can beat 2nl today you could make 25 times as much back then.

3)No one understood bankroll management. If the whole pool of players took wild shots, some where bound to make it by sheer luck to the highest limits.

4)There were fewer rungs on the ladder. To climb to the highest limits you needed maybe to move the same number of steps as someone who today moves from 2$ nl to 50$ nl.

But it is still possible for talented players. Today there are good books, training sites, solvers and coaches, but it will probably take at least five years of hard work.

5) You actually had fish, where as now 2nl is infested with GTO nerds, unbeatable bots, or both. At least that's what people make it out to be like

I have been a pro gambooler since 1992. I have made a nice little life for myself. The way I did it was I worked my ass off. I tell young dudes today that if I worked as hard at being a doctor I would have been pretty good doc. That is how much work it takes.

Firing up some games, knowing some jargon, and "wanting to make it big" will not work. You have to be that much better than your opponents and that takes hard work. Both on and away from the tables. It means having pals that you tirelessly discuss hands and lines with. Not watching but studying videos. Reading and digesting everything possible. Breaking down every aspect of your database. Working on solvers. Figuring out how to properly exploit all of your opponent types. Figuring out what your leaks are - how to plug them, and how to combat people trying to exploit you.

It takes an absolute ton of discipline, focus, emotional control, and a work ethic second to none. These are qualities that if you have you will be FAR better served doing something else. The glass ceiling on poker earn is not only getting lower but thicker as well.

So its pretty straight foreword and ez.

best wishes

Simply put, since Black Friday, they don't really make it big. The ones that do either hit a few massive lottery tickets in tournaments or spent hundreds of thousands of hours grinding it up.

I am lazy and dont study poker whole a lot. But 5 years hard work to become good enough for 50nl. I might be wrong but that dont sound right. Implementing easy stuff and good tilt control shold make one survive 50nl envairment. 5 years hard work to become a pro who chush nosebleed i can buy this. But not for 50 nl lol

Excellent post. BQ noobs should read this and absorb it. But they won't.

It's not about the number of years; its about mentality, IQ, work ethic etc. And it does not really matter whether it is 2nl or 50nl, neither of them will build you a life worth spit.

As SF says, if you have all the tools to go on and be a real, successful poker pro, you have all the tools to be successful in any manner of careers.

Wanna see some sad stuff...go track the PGCs where people are still shooting for the stars even though they are still in 5nl after 12 years...true story.

Having a real job and beating the game as a hobby is the best poker life choice for almost anyone. You need an unusual mindset to be a crushing poker player and as mentioned above, put in so much effort that you’d be better served doing something else. The time when a phenom could get served with a few months of run good and end up raping the likes of laliberte or whatever his name is for millions is long gone.

How can anything that happens suddenly be a very slow process?

start spending less than you earn now.