What does it take to make per month........

People often wonder what's an easy way to determine a level they can feel they are making a comfortable profit. Let me offer some light.

There are three factors that dermine how what game level you should be playing and have to ask yourself?

1. How much are you comfortable of making each month through gambling? (We'll call this "Profit")

2. How many hands can you play at per day? (We'll call this "Hands")

3. What are your true capabilities after some 10,000+ hands at the level you need to be at? (let's refer to this as "Rate")

Do the math and what you get is:

100 hands/day, $600 per month, at 10 BB/100 Hands (a pretty fair number), and 100 hands per day, and you'll have to be playing 0.50/1.00 NL Games.

100 hands/day, $3,600 per month, at 10 BB/100 Hands, and 100 hands per day, and you'll have to be playing $3/$6 NL Games. (MY PERSONAL GOAL)

100 hands/day, $6,000 per month, at 10 BB/100 Hands, and 100 hands per day, and you'll have to be playing $5/$10 NL Games. (IF I REACH THIS - I'LL QUIT MY JOB)

100 hands/day, $12,000 per month, at 10 BB/100 Hands, and you'll have to be playing $10/$20 NL Games. (IF ANYONE HERE IS AT THAT LEVEL - THEY ARE LIKELY A TRUE PRO OR VERY RICH).

So from there you can do your own math and figure at a fair and decent RATE & HANDS played per month at a level you are comfortable playing at.

Like speed x time = distance traveled. Your speed limit should be set to 10 BB/100 Hands, but if your better then that, either your good at that level and can't master the next level, or you just choose to be at the level you're playing because it's comfortable for you. Time is hands, the number of hands you'll play in a given month. 3,000 may be low and if you play 8 hours per day and 2 table, then you'll likely play 15,000+ hands in a single month.

GENERAL RULE OF THUMB: Take the first example, use the average number of hands you play per day and divide it by 100 (HANDS). Then take the level you're playing at (Amount of the Big Blind) and divide it by $2.00 (RATE). Now multiply RATE and HANDS times $600 and you'll have PROFIT PER MONTH.

We'll the Math Proffessor check my math though.

Regardless of your maths, stating that you'll make the same BB/100 at each level is just pointless. Having said that, thanks for doing the sums for us - if we're a little more situation-specific (and realistic) it's a useful tool to help gauge our expectations.

I understand all the math and its sound, but some of it is just unrealistic. Achieving and sustaining 10ptbb/100 at $10/20NL is something that is not possible except for a handful of players, and even this Im not too sure about. Using arbitrary winrates wont do anything but give people false hopes of achieving something that for most isnt realistic. Unless you have hundreds of thousands of hands then you arent going to have a very accurate estimate of your winrate, especially not enough to be setting goals based on a set rate. Its nice to sit down with a calculator and see what its possible to make, but a lot of times the goals are just not reachable. People should play as many hands as they can fit in, and at the stakes they feel they have the best hourly rate that they are bankrolled for. Move up when they improve and when their bankroll allows it, you cannot just pick a winrate and then punch in some numbers to see how you play, there are too many variables in moving up in limits.

you can't make a living playing only 100 hands per day.

More like 1000 at least.

Instead if going a few stakes higher, maybe putting some more hours into it per day and playing multiple tables at once is better.

If I can, say, 2-table 6max on 50NL 3 hours a day at 5BB/hour (around 5BB/100 at 6max) that gives me $900 per month or so.

Originally Posted by jackvance

Instead if going a few stakes higher, maybe putting some more hours into it per day and playing multiple tables at once is better.

If I can, say, 2-table 6max on 50NL 3 hours a day at 5BB/hour (around 5BB/100 at 6max) that gives me $900 per month or so.

I firmly believe that multi-tabling 2, 3, 4 hours per day is how most people with a consistently winning game make money. (even MTT players have to grind it out.) The value of multi-tabling is that you can play weaker players, it keeps you from getting overly wrapped up in personality contests on any single table, and it keeps you from getting bored and making plays out of boredom or frustration. (I'm talking about NL ring here. I haven't played limit since the turn of the milenium.)

To back that up, instead of playing NL200 (where the players are better than NL50), play 4 NL50 tables. You are playing weaker opponents (generally). You are seeing 150-200 hands per hour - which keeps you from being bored. And trying to get into personal pissing contests is harder because you attention is demanded elsewhere.

What's the downside? If you are a "read" player you won't be watching enough for reads. "Did that guy take 2 seconds to click or 8 seconds". "How many hands/hour is he playing"? etc. You're going to be playing more "rules" based poker. Some people think that's bad.

I won't express their oppinions for them. But I think if you can make 1BB net per hour at a certain level consistently, then you have a winning game. The question is do you take that winning game up in stakes or exploit multiple tables at once? It's up to you...

.... OK, here's the real deal. Want to know how much you can make playing poker? Well, how much did you make, NET over the last 10,000 hands? Can you play that same game against those same opponents again? Then (within variance) look for something similar... AND THEN ASK how much did you make Net over the last 20,000 hands? And continue that process. Anytime you change stakes or sites, be sure to play particular attention to if you need to change your game or your style.

The real pickle of it it, however, that playing 5,000 hands per week turns poker from fun and exciting into work and a job. Ask anyone who has actually done it for more than their 2 week vaction. Do it for 3 months straight. It's still cool, but it starts to warp your brain. So you need to be mentally tough.

The reason I say this is because this thread will draw those who want to do it. Just understand that you have to monitor your mental state as much as your table. Over the long term "poker toxins" build up and start to warp your game if you don't watch out.

gl