becoming pro and getting started

[alecman]

i really am interested in the game. i love to play but would love to make it a bigger part. i have honestly considered going pro and would love to kno how to get started. i am not sure how to get known and jus really start my bankroll. any one who can help me out would be appreciated.

[WildBobAA]

step 1 quit job
step 2 dominate unlimited hold them
step 3 profit

[Chopper]

you need experience first and foremost.

start low and build.

read here. discuss here.

keep playing, you'll start to figure it out.

[will641]

step 1: stage a coup
step 2: destroy H.R. 4954
step 3: GET THAT MONEY!

[BankItDrew]

1. start at bottom
2. become student of game
3. work your way up
4. quit job
5. pwn

[mcatdog]

step 1 build a time machine and go back to 2003
step 2 quit job
step 3 dominate unlimited hold them
step 4 profit

fyp

[sauce123]

you want an hourly rate of at least 100 before u go pro id imagine

[euphoricism]

God why does everyone fucking repeat that bullshit line. Christ that 100/hour minimum to go pro is fucking retarded. Hell if you're doing a 40 hour week thats over 200 grand a year. Hardly the minimums for survival there.

Whether you can "go pro" or not depends on a whole more things that just how much you make per hour. Like do you have dependents? Savings? Elderly parents who might need caring for? Will it be impossible to reenter your field if you leave for a year or two? What does the market look like for online poker in the coming year? Five years? 10 years? And foremost, what does going pro mean to you? 10 hour weeks and luxury cruises to the bahamas? Or does it mean 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year?

The answers to all of these questions and a whole lot more questions I can't even think of right now are way important than some dollar amount, line in the sand, that says you are pro when you cross it.

I'm 22, no dependents, cheap rent, no bills. "Going pro" for me means something entirely different to someone with a wife and kid and a mortgage payment.

[givememyleg]

1. write a bot program
2. let it run at stars 100nl
3. profit

[Miffed22001]

1. get a superuser account
2. $$$$$$$$$

[Renton]

God why does everyone fucking repeat that bullshit line. <blah blah extremely naive response>.

[Jonny_MEMPHIS]

What's a good strategy for a bankroll? Or does anyone know of a link to another part of the forum discussing this?

[Jack Sawyer]

1. get a superuser account
2. $$$$$$$$$

[biondino]

Euph on the money. Renton, what's the beef?

[Geanosssss]

bare beef

[ChrisTheFish]

Yeah it depends. I play for a living, but that's because i'm a student.
Grind 5k+ hands of 50NL a week, pay for beer, travel and food etc. 19 and never had a job. <3 poker.

[bigred]

God why does everyone fucking repeat that bullshit line. <blah blah extremely naive response>.

I was going to say hey sunshine, thanks for the positivity, but this suffices

[Jibalob]

I would go pro ASAP if I was 100% certain online poker will be around (and popular) forever but unfortunately this is not the case.

[Halv]

Make sure you have enough money to cover living expenses for 6 months without having to cash out of your bankroll. Start at 10NL or 25NL (or equivalent for minbetpoker) and build a big enough bankroll to play a high enough limit that you will make enough money to make going pro worth it.

"Worth it" means something different for everyone. I'll use myself as an example: I have an education that can probably get me a job paying around 54k a year (note that salaries as well as living expenses are higher here in Norway). With a job I can get a mortgage that will be worth, say, 5k a year compared to renting (note that I pulled this number straight out of my *). I'll also get retirement benifits, to pull another number out of my ass let's say that's worth 1k a year. This means that I have to make around $60k a year just to "break even" monetarily. There are a number of additional up- and downsides to have a job that needs considering; financial security, career advancement, regular schedule, set vacation time, feeling of accomplishment/contributing to society, friends at work, asshole bosses, etc etc. I also happen to enjoy the work I'll do if I get a job (programming). All in all I think I want to make around 100k a year to make it worthwhile all things considered. Once I was at that point I decided that I'd try out going pro. (also note that I don't know 100% that I'm at that point, could be variance, but since I have living expenses and opportunity I'm going with it).

If, however, your current job is flipping burgers and you hate it, then your minimum goal would be lower. Just make sure you have money tucked away if things don't work out and that you actually have the skill and dedication to go pro. You might also want to consider getting an education while playing and studying poker on the side.

[Halv]

Wow that post ended up being a bit long and more like a blog entry than an advice post.

BankItDrew nailed it, really. Maybe switch points 4 and 5.

Is there anyone on FTR who went pro and has since then decided to get a real job? I'd love to hear that side of the story.

Also, paging Fnord for comments on how poker is a great hobby and maybe not a great job.

[Jack Sawyer]

Very true, HalvSame.

I, for contrast, have very low living expenses. If I could steadily make $100/day, I'd be living like a king.


It varies per individual obv.

[WildBobAA]

1. be involved with BBJ twice
2. $$$$$$$$$

[Deanglow]

Play as a hobby for at least a year to increase skill/build bankroll/decide if its right for you. Read Jesus's post about why you shouldn't go pro. Finally, talk to Fnord.

[bigred]

l RPead Jesus's post about why you shouldn't go pro. .

THEN YOU'LL BE A SINNER

[euphoricism]

Is there anyone on FTR who went pro and has since then decided to get a real job? I'd love to hear that side of the story.

Also, paging Fnord for comments on how poker is a great hobby and maybe not a great job.

Uh, yeah, Fnord did ;p

[chardrian]

Eupho - I agree with you about the need to make $100/hr thing that is floated around pretty frequently.

My wife and I have agreed that I need to be withdrawing a minimum of just $3k a month for this career to be sustaining. That's less than I could/would earn for my actual profession, but the plusses involved in being able to determine my own schedule is huge for our relationship (since she works wayyyy too much, I can make sure that I am not playing during those rare times that she has time off - this wouldn't happen if I had a "real job" and we would basically never see each other for the next four years).

If I did fail the bar exam (like I think I did) I am also going to make sure that I pass it in Feb. so that I always have something to fall back on if this doesn't work out.

[jyms]

I play full time, I have a wife and kid, I don't make $100 an hour, not even close. There are way more short term and long term reasons why you need to make certain $/hr, but to define $100 as the number is just generalizing and not helpful at all. This conversation has been had many times, and it's usually when someone with no idea or playing experience asks that we have these conversations. Let's go with it depends and agree that you do need to have money behind for the swings, but that again is arbitrary to the point of a persons need for comfort/risk ratio's. I myself at this moment in time have only 2 months left in reserve, because October has been very cruel. But I'm not ready to go back to work yet.

[Renton]

urrgh. Don't you guys get that 30+ buyin downswings happen at cash? Hundreds of buyin downswings happen at tourneys?

These are the reason that 100/hour rule is tossed around. I don't care how good you are at poker, or how big your bankroll is, the risk of ruin in this game is VERY real. Ergo you can't consider a poker income to be the same parameters as a non-poker one.

Case A: You work for an engineering firm, making 20 dollars an hour, you work a standard 40 hour a week, have benefits, sick days etc, and therefore drag ~40k a year. Pretty easy to live off of this.

Case B: Well, since you can live off of 40k pretty easily, then thats all we should shoot for. 20/hour can be done at 50nl quite easily. Let's do that. OH WAITAMINIT, its a lot harder to do this 40 hour a week thing because every time i play longer than 2 hours i go on autotilt and start playing like a bag of asses.

Oh well, I can make 50 an hour at 100nl, lets do that instead. OH FUCK, 20 buyin downswing, weak. Guess i gotta move down to where I only make 20/hour for a while, bummer.

etc.

[chardrian]

Case B: Well, since you can live off of 40k pretty easily, then thats all we should shoot for. 20/hour can be done at 50nl quite easily. Let's do that. OH WAITAMINIT, its a lot harder to do this 40 hour a week thing because every time i play longer than 2 hours i go on autotilt and start playing like a bag of asses.

Oh well, I can make 50 an hour at 100nl, lets do that instead. OH FUCK, 20 buyin downswing, weak. Guess i gotta move down to where I only make 20/hour for a while, bummer.

etc.

But Renton, what you're not getting is that everyone advocating that you don't need to make $100/hr has played a long time and has a decent grasp on what his/her hourly rate really is AND they have enough in reserves to get through the downswings that we all know are inevitable.

If you're truly making $100/hr at this game in almost everyone's case the real advice would be that you SHOULD go pro (not that you CAN go pro) because you're probaby going to make more playing than you would at a "real" job. For those that don't make $100/hr it doesn't necessarily mean that they CAN'T make a living at this game.

Your case B isn't taking this idea to heart at all - it's the idea of someone who has had a good week and decides to go for it and then realizes it really isn't that easy.

[jyms]

If I make $50 an hour or $200 an hour it makes no difference in the variance involved. Over 2080 hours (1 year at 40 hrs a week) running good, bad or even makes me that hourly rate. Daniel Neagranu used to say when he played he figured out his hourly rate at something like $88 and hour. When he went to the casino, it made no difference if he won, lost or broke even, he made $88/hr. When he made $5K in one sitting, he made $88/hr. Are you saying he needs to make $100/hr when winning to make up for the -$50/hr he is losing on variance? If that's the case, then he's not making $100/hr. The hourly rate is based on earnings divided by the length of playing time.

So taking everything you say about $100/hr anyone playing poker full time must have earned $100 x 2040 hrs = $204000 a year in poker profits playing 40 hrs a week. Even I don't need that much to replace a $60K a year job.

[Halv]

You guys have sick work ethic. I'm struggling with getting in 25 hours a week.

[I Like Pie]

How would you guys figured out your true hourly rate or winrate?

I'd say you need AT LEAST 100,000 hands which is 200 hours (@ 500 hand/hr). But I even think that's kinda low, I don't even think I've played enough to know my true winrate. Anyone think they've figured out their winrate?

[euphoricism]

Just earn 100/hour then.

[Miffed22001]

1. Win the BBJ on party
2. $$$$$$$$$

FMP

[euphoricism]

How would you guys figured out your true hourly rate or winrate?

I'd say you need AT LEAST 100,000 hands which is 200 hours (@ 500 hand/hr). But I even think that's kinda low, I don't even think I've played enough to know my true winrate. Anyone think they've figured out their winrate?

You need at LEAST 10x that. Arguably more.

However if you have 6-12 months of solid earnings, you don't really need to know it to the dollar.

[Bmxicle]

don't

[|~|ypermegachi]

while there are exceptions to the rule, i agree that you should be making over $100/hr over a large sample before considering going pro.

it's not just OMG if i play 40 hours a week @ $100/hr i'm making $200k a year it's OMG i just played 40 hours of poker this week and i seriously want to kill myself.

the real beauty of knowing you can make $100/hr is that you can put in 20 hours a week, make a good living, and have time to enjoy the money you make rather than burning out every day and sleeping to rest.

[IowaSkinsFan]

Try going on a 30 buy in downswing and ask yourself if you want to go pro then.

[flomo]

it is far easier to go pro than what the other posters think. you just need a solid plan to be very successful.

1. get a new credit card
2. make a deposit with new card of $2000 into a fishy poker site, like fulltilt
3. whatever is remaining on the card spend ballla style
.....grey goose, cristal, ip3 players, lap dances, and a big ass monitor
(don't worry aobut the card, you will earn it all back and more )
4. learn poker while 4tabling $100NL against weak opponents
5. move up in stakes and number of tables, don't worry about bankroll management(that shit is for nits)
6. profit
7. you're a pro and a balla

i'm starting this as soon as Capital One sends me my new plastic

[sauce123]

God why does everyone fucking repeat that bullshit line. Christ that 100/hour minimum to go pro is fucking retarded. Hell if you're doing a 40 hour week thats over 200 grand a year. Hardly the minimums for survival there.

Whether you can "go pro" or not depends on a whole more things that just how much you make per hour. Like do you have dependents? Savings? Elderly parents who might need caring for? Will it be impossible to reenter your field if you leave for a year or two? What does the market look like for online poker in the coming year? Five years? 10 years? And foremost, what does going pro mean to you? 10 hour weeks and luxury cruises to the bahamas? Or does it mean 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year?

The answers to all of these questions and a whole lot more questions I can't even think of right now are way important than some dollar amount, line in the sand, that says you are pro when you cross it.

I'm 22, no dependents, cheap rent, no bills. "Going pro" for me means something entirely different to someone with a wife and kid and a mortgage payment.

ok euph enough of ur bullshit. u dont understand a lot about poker

1. variance
2. fatigue

about 1% of pro poker players have the stamina to put in 40 hrs/week multitabling and i can tell u that if u did, ur brain would be so tired that having fun would be impossible.

[Miffed22001]

dont most ballas find it tough to put in the hours anyway, even though they earn $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ per hour?

Also, ifg you wanna be balla bet you roll on red = instaprofit.

[BankItDrew]

I agree with sauce123.

I can't stand it when people say "Aim for $100/hr because of variance." That sentance makes about as much sense as "Your mother is 52 because you have an uncle."

You cannot consider variance a second time after already determining an average!

[BankItDrew]

If I had to guess, I think I make about $30-$40/hr.

*CONSIDERING DOWNSWINGS* you fucktards

prolly a standard deviation of $120.

Uh oh,I guess I can't live off of this because there's the possibility of a big downswing... omg i want to punch someone when i hear this

[euphoricism]

God why does everyone fucking repeat that bullshit line. Christ that 100/hour minimum to go pro is fucking retarded. Hell if you're doing a 40 hour week thats over 200 grand a year. Hardly the minimums for survival there.

Whether you can "go pro" or not depends on a whole more things that just how much you make per hour. Like do you have dependents? Savings? Elderly parents who might need caring for? Will it be impossible to reenter your field if you leave for a year or two? What does the market look like for online poker in the coming year? Five years? 10 years? And foremost, what does going pro mean to you? 10 hour weeks and luxury cruises to the bahamas? Or does it mean 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year?

The answers to all of these questions and a whole lot more questions I can't even think of right now are way important than some dollar amount, line in the sand, that says you are pro when you cross it.

I'm 22, no dependents, cheap rent, no bills. "Going pro" for me means something entirely different to someone with a wife and kid and a mortgage payment.

ok euph enough of ur bullshit. u dont understand a lot about poker

1. variance
2. fatigue

about 1% of pro poker players have the stamina to put in 40 hrs/week multitabling and i can tell u that if u did, ur brain would be so tired that having fun would be impossible.

My bullshit? What bullshit? Instead of telling me I don't understand poker, why don't you attempt to justify your position? Afterall, it's not just myself that disagrees with you, several other people have voiced their disagreement, and the best you have is the equivalent of "shut up u dont know shit"

As to your variance/fatigue argument...

1) Variance - Other people have covered this already. In particular I think Trainer_Jymz covered it quite well, and I'd like to think you would have read the thread before the reply button, but apparently not. Scroll up and reread it, and then you can post if/why you disagree.

2) Fatigue. Going pro means poker is your job. If you can do a 40 hour week at a "real job" then you *can* do it for poker (even if you'd rather not). I would contend that if you find yourself THAT fatigued after playing only 20 hours of poker a week you are not even close to cut out for a career in poker. It may work for the incredibly small percentage of poker players making buku bucks an hour and shipping around $20,000 pots, but that is not even REMOTELY the majority of the professional poker players.

[BankItDrew]

I agree with euphoricism.

I can't stand it when people say "Aim for $100/hr because of variance." That sentance makes about as much sense as "Your mother is 52 because you have an uncle."

You cannot consider variance a second time after already determining an average!

FMP

sauce, shut up you don't know shit.

[Ash256]

I disagree with the $100/hr thing, I'd go with $40/hr or so, but with 6 months living + 40 buyins backed up. Sauce makes a good point about fatigue.. maybe my figures are a bit off though, I live in a very cheap area and can get everything (survival, not beer and cool stuff) covered in a houseshare situation for $700/month.

Oh, and comparing poker to most jobs in terms of the hours you can/should put in is bollocks for most jobs IMO - working in a social setting where you know that you could work harder but don't give a fuck because the workload isn't bad (which is about 80% of jobs I guess) is 10x less tiring than pushing yourself alone because you have no-one to answer to.

[Dislexsik]

i made 95$/hour this month so far, i guess i cant quit my job.

[euphoricism]

Oh, and comparing poker to most jobs in terms of the hours you can/should put in is bollocks for most jobs IMO - working in a social setting where you know that you could work harder but don't give a fuck because the workload isn't bad (which is about 80% of jobs I guess) is 10x less tiring than pushing yourself alone because you have no-one to answer to.

I would contend that if you feel this way you are not cut out for poker as a career either. Everything has a cost/benefit. You take a harder job with no social interaction in exchange for working your own hours from home in your underwear while talking on AIM and surfing the internet. Contrast this with an easier job where you wake up at 7 am, sit in traffic for an hour+, work with some boss bitching at you and snobby coworkers, get 30 minutes for lunch, sit in traffic for an hour+ on the way home, grab some fast food because you're exhausted, and then veg out on the couch all night until you fall asleep just to repeat it the next morning. (I've just described my parents who both have over 100k a year jobs)

To me, that is 10x MORE tiring than 40 hours a week of poker. And I'd gladly make 1/3rd what they make to not have their miserable lives with the ticking of the clock controlling their lives. They make tons of money, but they're not really living life, they're just surviving it.

[Miffed22001]

Ilikeaces threw out the 100/hr shit.

Anyone who disagrees, meh.

[Vi-Zer0Skill]

i made 95$/hour this month so far, i guess i cant quit my job.

we need a "ballin" emoticon

NJ

[|~|ypermegachi]

some of you guys are completely underestimating what salary actually means.

i just did a quick search on salary.com. i put in engineer, and the median base salary was 54k. that works out to roughly $27/hr.

that's nothing right? if you're making $40/hr at poker you're owning what you'd make in a real job!

think again. with bonuses, benefits, 401/403, healthcare, pension, etc. the cost for this engineer is $133k. making $67/hr at poker is now equivalent to the $27/hr as an engineer.

[euphoricism]

This is true hyper. If youre making 60k a year at a "real job" and 60k a year at poker, you should not quit your job simply because you like poker better. As I mentioned in my previous posts, there are far more considerations to be made.

[Renton]

hyper and euph

you are both wrong

[euphoricism]

Excellent post, insightful commentary, well reasoned exposition. A+ Would read again.

[Renton]

its obvious that you are both naive to the subtle nuances of professional poker play

why bother explaining?

[|~|ypermegachi]

hyper and euph

you are both wrong

WTF? i agreed with you!

[euphoricism]

its obvious that you are both naive to the subtle nuances of professional poker play

why bother explaining?

Because simply telling people they're wrong with no particular explanation as to why makes you look foolish and lends absolutely nothing to the conversation. So in your words why bother posting in the first place?

[|~|ypermegachi]

i just wanna know why i got called out as naive when everything i posted in this thread was in support of Renton's $100/hr reference.

at least euph's arguments were in opposition...

[bode]

OMGLETSARGUEABOUTNUMBERSTHATDONTEVENMATTERTO99%OFU S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Frink]

I've been making about $0.12/hour this month. I'll be quitting my job tomorrow. WooHoo!!!! :P

[Renton]

lol hyper sry

[Halv]

Time to add {BF/ED} tag to thread title?

To keep this post from being a totally worthless contribution:
Variance can still get you even if you know you're x$/hour on average. You have a much higher chance of going busto running 0.1 ptBB/100 on 25/50 than you have running 10 ptBB/100 on 0.25/50. BR management is still one of the most valuable assets to a pro.

[biondino]

The answer to this thread is that every single person considering poker as a career will have different:

- qualifications (and the opportunity cost implicit therein)
- expectations
- financial liabilities
- familial liabilities
- attitudes to risk
- emotional stability
- external limiting factors - geography etc.

Realistically, the only things we can discuss here in solid terms are the factors that remain the same regardless of all the above, and the key ones appear to be a proven aptitude and a practical understanding of all the factors above. It's utterly facile to decree an arbitrary number - (and even if there was an arbitrary number do you really think it's be as round and convenient as $100.00?).

Perhaps if Euph, Renton and co were to offer a bespoke service to individuals who are able to express their approach to each of the variables listed above, we might be able to provide a worthwhile answer.

[Renton]

the only point im attempting to make here is that if you have a reasonable standard of living (we'll use a nice round number of 2k a month), even though yes its not that tough to win 20 bucks an hour or whatever at 50nl with a 1-2k roll, its still a very bad idea to quit your job to do that. The reason is because poker is extremely inconsistent living, and if you attempt to do that you will go broke for sure.

I consider myself to be a pretty reasonable player, and i went pro over a year ago with a 15k roll. I hit a MASSIVE downswing when party shut down to americans, breaking even for months at 1/2, eventually dropped down to 100nl in last december and at its lowest point my roll was barely 5k. Let keep in mind that my bills are like 2k+ a month. So I actually came fairly close to busto, EVEN GIVEN that i was following very strict bankroll guidelines, and had a life time winrate of over 50 dollars an hour at poker.

Since then, my winrate has increased to well over 100 dollars, i have a 50k roll, and there is NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER that i will ever go broke. If i have a 30 buyin downswing at 2/4, guess what, i can still play 2/4. If I go on severe life tilt and have to drop down in limits, well ive still got 1/2 and 5/1, where i could easily make 10k or 5k a month at respectively. Long story short, not only is my risk of ruin 0%, but my consistency of income > my monthly needs is extremely high, probably 90-95%.

[swiggidy]

I <3 that a zero post count generated this huge thread without responding to it. He needs to come back and write a sticky on how to start sweet threads.

[Fnord]

I think a lot of this comes down to quality of life issues and what money means to you.

If you love money, live cheap and get into finance. Poker is a great way to support this. Or put 100% of your energy into starting a buisness and really gamble for high stakes.

If you love doing more productive things with your time, focus on making that profitable. Poker on the side fits in well with that as well.

Unless you're making sick bank, focusing on just poker is really short-sighted. You also should certainly hedge your bets by putting time into your live game because good online games are not a sure thing.

I find that it really comes down to happiness.

[martindcx1e]

i am not sure how to get known and jus really start my bankroll.

lol

[spoonitnow]

I figured I'd throw this out there since I've read this thread like 6 times now and haven't contributed.

Right now I have a very very low level of expenses and am still in school. I don't consider myself "pro" by any means but because of my particular situation I'm able to support my financial needs with poker for the time being. If something happened to poker, I know 100% without a doubt that I could remain self-employed doing other things that would put me through school. Once I'm done with school, poker will be put aside with almost 100% certainty, though I'll obviously still keep it as a hobby.

[Fnord]

I figured I'd throw this out there since I've read this thread like 6 times now and haven't contributed.

Right now I have a very very low level of expenses and am still in school. I don't consider myself "pro" by any means but because of my particular situation I'm able to support my financial needs with poker for the time being. If something happened to poker, I know 100% without a doubt that I could remain self-employed doing other things that would put me through school. Once I'm done with school, poker will be put aside with almost 100% certainty, though I'll obviously still keep it as a hobby.

nh sir

[wufwugy]

Higher winrate = steadier income.

Internet gambling = gambling of the future.

Personally, I can make and am making more money from online poker than pretty much anything else. I'm not academically inclined like most of you, and I don't handle time consuming/stressful work well at all.

Online poker is pretty much perfect for me. I find it to be very low stress since I try to no longer play in games where I do not have a high winrate. I enjoy the practice, not like a hobby, but like a job. If I didn't want money I would never play another hand of online poker and possibly live poker again in my life. I got into it solely for the purpose of money even though I had miniscule experience playing it, and I actually did not find it enjoyable. Now that I am not completely lost theoretically, I do enjoy playing the game casually.

To each his own. I consider myself very lucky that I found online poker. Very lucky indeed. I am not yet pro, but might as well be since I set aside more for taxes now than I make from my part time restaurant job.

And if it ever gets banned in the US, I'm coming to live with one of youse overseas or in Canuckia or Mehico.

[Miffed22001]

I figured I'd throw this out there since I've read this thread like 6 times now and haven't contributed.

Right now I have a very very low level of expenses and am still in school. I don't consider myself "pro" by any means but because of my particular situation I'm able to support my financial needs with poker for the time being. If something happened to poker, I know 100% without a doubt that I could remain self-employed doing other things that would put me through school. Once I'm done with school, poker will be put aside with almost 100% certainty, though I'll obviously still keep it as a hobby.

seconded.
I did cool at school, made money from poker and then won 75k. Im not pro.

quals ftw?

I live with my g/f and we dont even earn $50k a year yet, and were both graduates. Sure, i might be posting later in the week i just got a 50% pay rise and promotion (or else ill be quitting to go pro for a bit while i find a better job lol) but i agree you cant quit your job just because you earn the same from poker.
Unless you work in a dodgy backstreet shop, any desk job you do is going to always be there, so building a CV or maintaining stability must be foremost.
I know for sure i can earn more playing 100nl on non-US sites than i can doing my shitty job, but the fact is i needed to develop quals and experience to be able to do any sort of job i wanted, so that if i do get my br up to renton/lukie/gabes level from cash games i can consider taking 12 months out o work and play poker knowing ill be financially secure.

It isnt just about 100/hr to play poker its about shipping cash into other stuff as well. I could have a 75k br right now but the first thing i did when i hit it big was to go and buy a house (meh fuck old bats who wont sell at my price ftw)
Im guessing Char should go pro after his 155k win, but im guessing he hasnt and i think people need to consider how not stable poker for a living is before even throwing aroud numbers in terms of $$$/hr
Sure, if your in school or single and can go do a shitty 15hr a week job to pay the fundamental bills and play poker for the rest of the time, poker is an easy way to may make it big, but it doesnt work for all those who have other concerns

*ends rant* (god i feel old)

[bigred]

i say find something you enjoy doing in life and if it's not the income you desire, subsidize your income with poker. I would be bored to death if poker is my only job. I need something that requires creativity and is always changing. Poker can't offer that. However, poker could give me the ability to take a less paying job that i love.

My two cents.

[Halv]

But poker is something I enjoy doing in my life!!1!

Edit: point being that if you enjoy poker now you might not enjoy it as much after being a pro for a few years.

[spoonitnow]

How many people here live off RB?

[badgers]

i say find something you enjoy doing in life and if it's not the income you desire, subsidize your income with poker. I would be bored to death if poker is my only job. I need something that requires creativity and is always changing. Poker can't offer that. However, poker could give me the ability to take a less paying job that i love.

My two cents.

WTF bigred made a serious post

I concur btw, 3 hours of grinding is usually enough to drive me mad/ mokey tilt me.