Thinking of going Pro. Looking for feedback from those who made the switch.

switch0723 said:

live poker should never be played as an only source of income imo, unless you have enough money already to live off, so that you don't need to win everyday. As far as i see it, live poker is more of a social activity than a genuine money maker. Unless you are going to travel the world to play in major events, i.e. wsop, ept, wpt, wsop europe etc etc. or smaller ones such as irish open etc. I think that is the only real way to maintain living off poker winnings but once again you need a huge bankroll to start.

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I would've said the opposite was true - you can make a decent living playing live cash games if you're good enough, but you'd want to be financially set up already if you wanted to play the tournament circuit because it can be so long between cashes. It's an expensive lifestyle too, flying around the world and living out of hotels.

Live play also has some other advantages that online doesn't: when you finish a session in a casino, for example, the money's right there in your hand. No having to wait six weeks for a cheque to come in the mail or having to stress about whether the government is going to outlaw your preferred transaction method.

The only real issue with being a live cash game pro, in my eyes, is the availability of action (I'm making the assumption that we're good enough to beat whatever games we're choosing to play). There's a reason most of the world's live pros live in Vegas - outside of there, I'd want to do some serious scouting to make sure there was enough action to support me before I tried something like this. I know I'd be hard pressed to find it in my town.

Hey Eugenius, after reading through most of the posts here, I can probably offer a somewhat unique view as it appears that everyone here posting ***has never played live poker before*** So, while I would certainly say to heed to the advice given by Zach and the others (except Makwa...I don't know what his problem is, but he seems like quite the miserable pessimist), he himself said he has yet to step foot into a real casino. I, however, understand that one can make significant amounts of money playing $1/2 NL in a live game. It's not like online where people nowadays are complete NITs and still have no clue how to play what I consider to be "real poker," where you actually have to make plays and play more hands than JJ+ and AKs like all these online players do. So, I would certainly recommend taking a shot at it because I'm completely aware that if you're a competent player you can certainly make $1000+ in a 6-8 hour smooth session at a live $1/2 game. Additionally, have you ever considering playing $2/5? The skill level is literally the same, it just has more money (it's actually uncommon to have less than $10K+ sitting on the table---at least at the casinos around me). The swings would certainly be greater, but you can definitely make an incredibly comfortable living at this level putting in 40ish hours a week. However, if you are held to playing only $1/2 NL, then I'm sure you can probably still make a decent amount of money, although I would have to agree with many other posters that the $50+/hr is most likely not going to be a sustainable rate at the 1/2 level. Keep us posted, and best of luck to you.

creatorofYUM said:

It's not like online where people nowadays are complete NITs and still have no clue how to play what I consider to be "real poker," where you actually have to make plays and play more hands than JJ+ and AKs like all these online players do.

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LOL, not sure what games you play. If anything, today's online games play a lot more aggressively and looser than ever before. I run into enough 50/10 fish or 30/24 LAGs every day.

So, I would certainly recommend taking a shot at it because I'm completely aware that if you're a competent player you can certainly make $1000+ in a 6-8 hour smooth session at a live $1/2 game.

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Uh, so? It's not important how much you can make in a smooth session. It's important how much you average in the long run.
I've never played live, so maybe it is possible to average something crazy like 15 ptbb/100, but I shall remain skeptical until proven otherwise.

Poker as a business is a whole lot different than poker as a pastime is. We all know the fix it guy who can fix anything but to turn it into his daily life is a different story.
First you should consult the Small Business Administration. Look at their success and failure rates. Take their advice as to what you need to have behind you money wise. Make a business plan with a realistic goal for when you will reach your break even point and go for it if you have the money to do it. Good luck to you.

Daniel Negreanu busted went home and lived with his family until he could regenerate capital.
Jennifer Harmon busted borrowed five thousand from her mother to get restarted.

YOU NEED SUPPORT OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

I agree with juiceeq!!! Geez... didn't know it was this much drama here over a thread.Thanks for the other side of the coin juiceeq.Eugenius you can do anything you want.It's a free world.Well not free but you know what I mean.Don't sweat what people say to you here or live.I had everyday job and played.Where I worked shut down and I had a bankroll saved up.I lived off that roll playing poker and gaming for two years.That was before I even heard of online poker.It has it's ups and down's no doubt about it.I saved my extra $$ I had and it was a good thing on my part.You never know when your going to need it, you know that.I got a son that is a sophomore in college... lol...Thats not why but,it helps now lol.I've sat at a table with a pro before and held my own.It was a tourney of course.I can't play like that anymore since I got hurt.The travel alone just kills the body.I've played home games,local games,private,riverboats,and casinos.The best advice I can give you is,watch who you play with no matter where.Patience is the key for all.The good times and the bad.Mostly the game in general.Hope the best.Good luck in all.
The Dumb Hick!!

Good thread here.

Most of the time when asked about "going pro" the current professionals will tell you that it wasn't a particular decision in and of itself, but rather one day they just realized they were making more money playing poker than doing anything else. In other words, they didn't "decide" to become a pro, it just happened.

zachvac said:

By this definition, getting out of bed is gambling. Eating something is gambling, you're gambling that it's not going to kill you. Long-term poker playing is as much a gamble as that. It's as much of gambling as casinos gamble on their slot machines with the edge. Remember for a winning player as number of hands approaches infinity, chance of losing approaches 0. Obviously you can't play an infinite amount of hands, but you can play enough so that the odds of you losing are equivalent to the odds of having a tornado come through your house and kill you that night.

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Well anytime you risk money to make money, thats gambling. The stock market, gambling, real estate, gambling. I do completely agree that skill is involved in poker, but due to the limitations of being human and the world around us, I don't think the odds of any player losing will be equivalent to the odds of having a tornado come through, and I live in Oklahoma lol. No, we all gamble in poker, but the key is maximizing value and minimizing loss.

Chris_TC said:

LOL, not sure what games you play. If anything, today's online games play a lot more aggressively and looser than ever before. I run into enough 50/10 fish or 30/24 LAGs every day.

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damn it you run good!

it's actually pretty well established that games today are nittier than ever (at least stars etc) and like 2 years ago, 5/10 was the same as .05/.10 today



but w/e the guy's point is still null

Not trying to put a downer on you but you are seriously under bankrolled.

A realistic figure might be 20K starting roll plus another 25k living expenses.

Other thoughts should be on transport and overnight accomodation, the fish in your local casino won't continually give you their wages, as you become known you will have to move further afield to mind decent games.

Plus with the economic downturn there will be less loose money to hoover up and more good players after it.

Good luck what ever you try.

First, if you have the means and the opportunity to do this I would suggest you go for it. If you don't it's going to drive you nuts for the rest of your life. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, you can move past it and get on to what comes next.

Eugenius said:

I thought about doing the online thing, but, I just don't enjoy online play as much - it becomes too much like my day job - sitting in front of a computer all day long. I really enjoy the "interacting with people" aspect of the game.

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You can make this statement because poker is still a hobby - admittedly it's a hobby that appears to pay well but it's still a hobby. Once you put yourself in a situation where you need to do it and your well-being depends on it, trust me, it will be W O R K. You may actually think back to Software Engineering as being fun.

As far as B&M poker rooms go, after a while you'll find that all the guys there know each other and how everybody plays. If you are a truly advantaged player who cleans up all the time, you won't get a game. More likely, you and your new buds will be sitting around a poker table waiting for a sucker like me to sit down. At least online at a large site like PokerStars you can still remain somewhat anonymous at decent levels.